Chapter 15 #2
For a moment, there was only silence, then the sudden rush of magic hit me, flooding back into my veins, so sudden, so violent, it nearly stopped my heart.
It was like inhaling for the first time after almost drowning.
A violent, searing surge. A howl of ancient ice and storm and life itself roaring back into my broken body.
I gasped, arching off the table, pain and magic colliding inside me like two warring gods. Lights flashed behind my eyes. My bones rattled. My heart slammed so fiercely it felt like it might burst from my ribs.
Maelis barked orders. Ravin cursed as he tried to hold me down. “We need help here!”
“Let’s go, Captain,” Lord Kaelven said. “Grab the collar and let’s leave the healers to their job.” Then he turned to Ravin. “Rest assured. Your affront to me won’t go unanswered.”
“Go suck on Skadi’s left tit,” Ravin spat. “Unless you rather suck on the qu—”
“Ravin, don’t,” I gritted, knowing his next words could land him in the gallows. “Let it go.”
He shot me a heated look of disbelief, of betrayal, but he swallowed whatever reckless comment burned behind his teeth. Kaelven spun on his heel, his robe billowing behind him.
Varik prowled closer before marching out behind my mother’s chancellor and sneered at Ravin, his lips twisting into a mocking grin. “Good dog.”
Ravin didn’t take the bait, thank the Goddess, but a curse rumbled in his chest as he watched the acting captain exit the infirmary.
The world blurred at the edges, a half-formed canvas of shadow and light as my magic gnawed through my ruined flesh, slow and wild, stitching bone and muscle back together one savage heartbeat at a time.
“There will be plenty of time for you to scheme his demise,” I rasped, every word dragging razors through my throat.
“But right now is not it…especially not when I’m strapped to this fucking table. ”
He knelt so we were at eye level, his angry scowl softening into something that almost resembled his usual rakish smirk. “You do look pretty miserable.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I groaned, “and help me get these cuffs off.”
“You shouldn’t have yanked on my leash in front of him,” he muttered as he unbuckled the shackles at my wrists.
My entire body shivered from the clawing sensation of my magic threading itself through my broken back.
“Under different circumstances,” I grunted through clenched teeth, my breath stuttering, each inhale tasting of blood, “I would’ve loved to see you beat the shit out of that asshole, but he’s not worth what my mother would do to you. ”
Ravin exhaled sharply and moved to unshackle my ankles. “That dirtbag doesn’t deserve to be captain. Not even sure why Sylvi chose him as second.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t her choice.” I hissed as Maelis dabbed at my wounds with something wet and cool. “It was probably my mother’s.”
“You’re doing well,” the healer murmured at my side, her hand feather-light against my skin. “The magic is knitting the torn tissues. Slowly, but it’s working. You’ll heal. Though…” Her voice dipped low. “The scars will remain.”
The scars were the least of my worries.
When all the shackles were removed, the freedom felt hollow. I could still hardly move without sending shocks of searing white-hot fire down my spine. My limbs hung limp, too heavy, too foreign to command. Frustration rumbled out of me.
“You’ll need time,” Maelis said, her fingers ghosting along my forearm. “Days. Maybe longer. Magic cannot mend what Soulstripper tore without cost.”
I turned my head slightly, wincing as my muscles protested. “I don’t have days. At first light, I ride with the envoy to meet the Unseelie King.”
Across the room, Ravin barked a humorless laugh. “You’re joking, right? After what she ordered done to you? You think you’ll be able to sit on a horse, much less lead a fucking envoy?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” I said grimly, flinching as Maelis worked another layer of balm into the ragged ruin of my back. “It’s what my mother expects.”
He grunted, unsatisfied with my answer. “This whole thing is senseless.”
Ravin was right, but there was no use arguing about it. Regardless of my condition, my mother would expect me to be ready to ride at dawn. “Sylvi. Where is she? Can I see her? I want her to know I’m okay.”
Ravin came closer, his boots thudding against the blood-slicked stones. “I left her in her chambers before your mother gave her address. Two guards are stationed outside her door—by order of the queen. She’s not to leave until you ride out together.”
Relief bled into me, though it wasn’t absolute. “And she’s…unharmed?” I asked, my voice breaking at the edges.
Ravin hesitated. His mouth pressed into a tight, grim line.
“Depends on what you mean by unharmed. Look, Jack. If I’d known what they’d planned to do to you, I would’ve never—” He broke off.
“I told her to watch the speech. I thought it would help her understand what we were up against. I never expected your mother would do this to her own son.”
“She would’ve watched anyway,” I said hoarsely. “Her balcony faced the courtyard. My mother knew that; she wanted her to see. It was her way of punishing both of us.”
Ravin swore under his breath, pacing, eyes lost in thought.
“If that’s true, then it really makes me wonder what her true motives are for sending her with you on that envoy.
If the queen truly wanted Sylvi hidden, she could keep her locked away here or in one of the country cottages until the arrival of the Unseelie Court, no risk.
Sending her out on this envoy? It makes no sense.
The risk of someone seeing her, of one of the guards or any of the other attendants talking is too great. Something is not adding up.”
I ground my teeth against a fresh surge of pain. “I know. But I can’t presume to understand my mother’s motives.”
Ravin’s jaw flexed, a vein ticking in his temple.