Chapter 13
Thirteen
When I opened the door to the infirmary, I was met with the scent of garlic and dandelion.
Queen Jade of Voldina stood there, stirring a pot that was boiling with the two.
I had almost forgotten she was a healer.
She rushed to my side after seeing my broken nose and pulled me to the bed to sit down concern lighting up her features.
The room was half infirmary, half laboratory, with tinctures and jars of things that looked more like experiments than any type of medicine I had ever seen.
It was a far cry from Sienna’s innate abilities to heal through words and touch alone; however, it was no less effective.
‘I need to reset your nose. This is going to hurt, a lot,’ Jade said, worry etching her features, as she placed her fingers on either side of my nose and, without warning, shifted it back into place.
The pain seared through me, followed by a wave of nausea.
More blood poured from my nose as Jade moved back to her boiling pot on the fire and soaked a cloth in it.
‘I had this prepared, knowing there would be far too many injuries for so few healers today. Let me clean the blood off you so I can see what we’re dealing with.
’ Every time she wiped the blood off my face, my shattered nose throbbed with pain and more blood spluttered out.
Being of royal lineage, Jade’s abilities were much stronger than those of other healers.
She placed her bare hand on the cut on my arm and another on my nose.
Her touch was gentle and her fingers were cold; it was soothing against the pain I felt radiating through every bone in my face.
She whispered in Voldinian—the language of her people—and slowly the pain faded away.
I could feel the bones move before fusing into one piece again, and my skin knit back together with each passing second.
She almost looked shocked at my lack of reaction to something that should have undoubtedly caused excruciating pain, but I had felt worse.
‘Raleigh would have laughed at me for seeking treatment after a fight—there was no one tougher than your sister. Had she been a Skin Seeper, I would have chosen her as my second instead of Vivianna,’ I said to her.
Jades eyes brimmed with tears. ‘Your sister would be on death’s door, yet something would still leave her standing and fighting.
I don’t know where she found such will or where it had come from, but I…
envied it. In everything she did there was some grander purpose she was working towards that kept her going.
It made me feel inadequate, as though I didn’t deserve my throne.
She had a vision for the future. I’ve never seen beyond ending my enemies.
When she died, a piece of my hope shattered along with her.
It’s people like her who should be leading these realms, not me.
They took her, and with her, they took any hope for a better future. ’
Jade was crying, her whole body shaking.
She whispered to me desperately between sobs.
‘Thank you, thank you so much, Queen Skylar. I want to continue her work; I want to be a ruler that my sister would be proud of. I’m surrounded by traitors who killed her and didn’t shed a tear when she was gone.
They hold my mother captive saying she has gone mad, but I knew it was because she was pushing back.
She wanted better for her people, while others wanted more of the same.
Please, please help me. I know I am asking for too much, but you are my only hope.
I need these people gone, I need my throne back and I need to help wipe out Morgad for everything they have done.
King Sebastian ruined my court, poisoned their minds, and I lost my kin to his greed.
Please, I am begging you,’ she pleaded with me.
The flame within me hummed in acknowledgement that what she spoke was true.
‘I didn’t know you weren’t truly one of them, that you hadn’t almost let it happen.’ She flinched at the accusation but levelled a stare at me.
‘Not long before my sister was killed, she told me you were the only other leader I could trust, the only one who would fight for the same things as us. The only ruler of these realms who had not been corrupted by power, greed and the poison of Morgad. Please tell me she was right. Please fight for me, so that we can fight together,’ she asked and for a moment I was no longer looking at Jade, but rather at Raleigh’s fiery green eyes that shone with such determination.
This girl was not meek, as I had thought; no, she was clever.
Biding her time until she could strike back and make it mean something.
‘For Raleigh, for our lands and for our people, I promise you. I will free you from Morgad’s grip and we will fight together the way Raleigh and I dreamed of,’ I said, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
She let out a relieved sob and pulled me into a hug.
I sat there as still as ice before relaxing into her arms and placing my own on her back, comforting her as sobs racked through her.
‘Meet me tomorrow morning before dawn. There is someone I need you to meet,’ I said, just as Everett burst through with Demir, blood trailing on the floor behind him.
I pushed Jade off me before the others could take in the scene.
Everett snarled at me, producing a most primal sound.
Demir could barely raise his head from the blood loss to look at me.
Jade ran to his side to begin treating his wounds.
While at the Academy, every healer was bound by the wards to heal anyone injured before them, no matter their allegiance.
She couldn’t have fought it if she’d tried.
I left the infirmary and went back to my room. I was slightly surprised to see Prince Acheron sitting by Viv’s bed, holding her hand, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Visarous whirled around as soon as I closed the door.
‘Are you fucking insane?!’ he shouted. ‘How could you? There is no excuse, no matter how angry you are, what she did, or with whom!’ I stepped past him, not even acknowledging that he had spoken, before he pulled me back by my hand.
‘You will not walk away, and you will not ignore me, Skylar! What is wrong with you? How fucked up are you?!’
I looked from him back at Viv on the bed. The worst of her wounds had been healed, but she was still swollen and bruised, and I knew that every movement would cause her excruciating pain until the morning. It was a lesser healer who treated her, not an instant fix like it had been in my case.
‘You know the rules of the duel. We can only leave the arena if one of us is on the brink. We are not children anymore, Visarous,’ I spat.
‘You think this is some game where friendship trumps all? No. Our goal is what matters more, and I am Queen because I am the only person who will always remember that fact and must ensure no one else forgets it. We have an enemy that will do anything to obliterate us. Look at what he did to Raleigh and Jade. Do you think he’s not beneath doing that and so much worse to us?
Trust, right now, in this battle is everything, and ours is fragmented at best, exposing us like we have never been before.
What they did to Voldina would be child’s play compared to what they could do to us now in our sorry state.
The moment you deceive me, no matter your intentions, he wins.
Do you know why your sister is lying there so broken?
Because she knows this is true. Do you really think Viv could not have taken better care of herself on the field?
She chose this. She knew the cost of her actions, and understood it had to be paid for us to have any chance of moving forward and the next time you think of grabbing me like that again I will slice every last one of your fingers off. ’
Visarous couldn’t think of anything to say in response, but it was Viv who spoke next. She tried to sit up, but the pain was too great. Acheron supported her so that she could lean against his strength.
‘Thank you for the blood oath,’ she said, glancing into Acheron’s eyes.
He looked at her with such adoration. She turned to me.
‘Thank you for not making me choose and for accepting him. I know what this means to you. I know how this hurts you and how I have hurt you, so thank you,’ she said, tears welling in her eyes.
I stepped towards her and embraced her gently, careful of her still healing wounds.
She whispered into my shoulder, ‘Thank you, thank you so much, Sky. You don’t understand what you have done for me. ’
Acheron nodded in agreement before turning to me.
‘I need to thank you as well. For seeing what we mean to one another and allowing us to be even if we deceived you, I know what my father and any other ruler would have done, and they would not have afforded us this kindness, this chance. You play the villain well; you even had me convinced of your brutality. All those years when Vivianna told me you were different, I didn’t believe her.
I thought she was blinded by loyalty. But you have put me to shame.
After this, even if I were not oath bound, I would still stand with you.
Thank you.’ He inclined his head towards me in acknowledgement.
‘How can you sit here and thank her after what she did today?!’ Visarous screamed at the couple.
I whirled on him in an instant. ‘Would you rather I exiled her? Stripped of her titles and land? Executed her? That is what was required of me. When our people and the noble families catch wind of what happened today, that is the question they will ask me. “Why spare her? Why keep her close? How can you trust her?” This moment of mercy is enough to shatter my reputation; it is enough to undermine my authority and my rule. I took a very big risk in what I did today. Your sister being temporarily bloody and bruised is a very small price to pay. Be grateful, Visarous, for if we were not on warded grounds, the rules of that duel would have been very different, and we both know what the outcome would have been.’
His anger faded as his body relaxed. He knew I was right. His need to protect his sister overwhelmed his common sense and the lines of authority that were already blurred between us.
‘Visarous, find somewhere else to sleep tonight. I will do the same. Let Acheron lick her wounds tonight.’ The tears Viv had been holding back suddenly spilled over.
Acheron looked at me in complete disbelief.
I was a stranger standing before him. I barely recognised myself; perhaps years of Sienna trying to heal my mind had finally broken something.
I thought that if I were backed into a corner I would kill, I would isolate, I would hurt, but here I was, desperately clutching to those around me—pathetic.
I was tired and sore and needed a shower before I found another place to sleep tonight. I scrubbed away all the blood and dirt and stood there soaking in the water, which was far too hot. I didn’t think a single thought. My mind was far too fatigued to do so.
By the time I was done, Visarous was gone, and Acheron had pushed my bed next to Viv’s as they slept with their foreheads pressed together. It made me gag, but my heart clenched.