But still the thoughts nagged at my very soul.
Nightmares overwhelmed my mind, never allowing me to rest. Hallucinations from an infectious fever plagued me with a distinct feeling of being crushed. I struggled against an unseen energy I couldn’t name as I drowned in a pool of my own sweat. In my visions, a pair of red eyes watched me as I writhed in pain.
Was I dying? Was evil there to claim my tortured soul? I didn’t know. But when I woke again, the red eyes and the prince were gone, replaced by a resting Sameen. A mixture of relief and some unknown emotion rushed through me, pumping blood through my weakened limbs. An unstoppable groan bubbled from my lips before I could silence it. Sameen sat up, jarred from her slumber.
She placed the back of her hand to my forehead, then probed the bruises on my face. She stood, moving to the door, and whispered something through the crack. I made to sit up, but pain laced the attempt.
“Hold still,” Sameen said as she returned to my bedside. “I’ve sent for the healer.”
I licked dry lips. My voice croaked. “It’s not nec—”
“Necessary? You wouldn’t say that if you saw your own reflection.”
I closed my eyes, almost embarrassed by the pronouncement. I rotated my head side to side to soothe the stiffness in my neck. “I’ve had worse.” I was sure of it.
Sameen’s voice was thick with annoyance. “I don’t doubt that.” Her shrewd eyes watched me.
Lucan hadn’t meant to kill me. Compared to others my uncle employed, he could be considered nice. I almost laughed at my ill-humor, but then my breath caught in my throat. Anxiety eddied in my chest.
Lucan.
Had he seen the magic I had used to fight? Would he tell my uncle? I had always been so careful in the past. My fingers nervously clenched at something other than the clothes I had been wearing.
I peered down to see a fresh nightgown. I had been cleaned, my hair brushed and braided by my temporary lady’s maid. Unease ripped through me. How could she take care of me after what I did to her? Did the prince not know about her unwilling assistance? If she had somehow escaped her punishment, my heart was glad for it and I would keep that secret. It was the least I could do after my abuse of her.
Sameen moved about the room, intermittently rearranging a nearly empty space between pacing. It wasn’t the room they had taken me to before. This one was plain of any decoration, with only a bed, nightstand, and a rather uncomfortable looking wooden chair. A window gazed out into a new morning, still lowly lit by an unhurried sunrise.
Was she nervous I would tell? Tension was thick upon her delicate brow.
“I won’t tell anyone you helped me.”
She froze, pinning me with her sharp eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“You have my silence. I won’t tell anyone you helped me…to escape,” I clarified when she only continued to stare.
“Your silence is unnecessary. I went and told the prince of your tricks the moment I realized what you had done to me. You won’t need to confess what I’ve already declared.”
“I’m…” But words left me. Was I sorry? Was that the feeling that settled like a boulder in the pit of my stomach?
Almost on instinct, my eyes searched her for some kind of injury, but whatever she had endured because of my treachery, they were careful not to let it show.
A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts. An old man with white, balding hair and kind eyes opened without waiting to be permitted.
“Is she awake?” he asked, and Sameen nodded.
She stood back, gesturing with her hand. “Lady Anna, this is Gedeon. He is the kingdom’s healer and—”
“I do not desire a healer,” I said, pinning him with a direct glare.
His brows lifted as if to say he cared very little for my desires. “I guess that makes sense, now that I’ve already healed the worst of your injuries.”
“I—”
My fingers flew to the stab in my stomach, but there was no pain and no indention. Nothing. My face flushed red.
“You’re welcome.” He sat in the vacated chair and took my hand. I yanked my fingers from his grasp. His hand froze mid-air as he considered me.
“I was told you’d be difficult. You should know that my king and his brother the prince have requested that I see to your instant care.” He waited for me to answer, but when I didn’t, he tipped his head to the side. A curious expression wrinkled his already wizened face. “I healed the more serious of your wounds last night while you slept but waited until you were awake for the rest.”
My swollen eyes narrowed. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I’m getting on in years, tired from my many travels. A simple healing is harder now than it once was. Some of your scars are too old and too deep for me to completely erase. I have potions and ointments that will heal your lesser injuries, letting me take care of the others without becoming too weak.”
“Then save your energy, old man. Leave me.”
“I have never disobeyed my king, and I never will. I will see to your injuries with your acceptance, or I will sedate you and see to it while you sleep.”
The muscles in my neck twitched, my heart panicked. Slowly, I reached out my hand, allowing him to take it. I looked away and braced against the desire to bolt. Where would I go anyway?
“I had a feeling you were a smart girl. You have the most remarkable eyes I’ve ever seen.”
I swallowed, not knowing what to say.
He chuckled. “Age?”
I jerked back. “What?”
“Maybe not as smart as I thought. How old are you, child?”
Heat infused my checks. “Seventeen.”
“So young,” he said beneath his breath.
“I come of age in three months.”
“You don’t say.” A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “In our country, when our children come of age—”
“What makes you think I’m not from here?” I asked, interrupting. According to Castiel, I had been given a false identity for my protection. Had he gone back against his word? I knew better than to trust the word of the prince of Anolyn.
The doctor pushed up my sleeve to expose a blood-stained gauze wrap around my forearm. He pulled a pair of scissors from his bag and removed the old bandage, giving Sameen the scraps and instrument. A cut ran from my shoulder to just above the inside of my elbow. He inspected the wound, not meeting my eyes.
“You’re too pale to be from our country, and your accent’s not right.” He lifted the other sleeve, examining the injuries there. “Besides, I make it a point to introduce myself in each town I visit, seeing to the needs of their people whenever I can. You…” He cupped my chin to examine my eyes. I flinched, just barely managing to keep my seat. “I would have remembered.” His gaze traveled to the burn that scarred my neck.
I jerked back. “That one you don’t heal.”
The King
“The burn?”
I only nodded.
His eyes consumed mine. Even though the color was muted by a milky film that came with living hundreds of years, intelligence and even cunning lurked behind those simple brown eyes. “Why would you want to keep such a horrible mark? The damage you sustained is still relatively new, but it will leave a scar I cannot remove if you do not let me heal it completely.”