Relief was so instantaneous that Lunara was breathless with it. The fog lifted, evaporating from her head and limbs, clarity returning with each spark of life down her reviving nerve endings.
The melting came next, a sweet exhaustion that laid over her like a blanket.
Her eyelids began to droop and?—
Snap out of it! You can’t fall asleep yet.
Right. No matter how much she wanted to.
Lunara gave herself a few hard slaps on the cheek and sat up. There was no controlling the groan that escaped as she stood, dragging her leaden body across the room.
Those who cared about Baldrir needed their own relief.
A young Demonshot up from a bench across the way. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five or thirty, all round cheeks and wide eyes. Her hair was stunning, too. The deepest black, knotted and braided over and around her tawny horns in an intricate pattern that reminded Lunara of a crown of flowers.
And made her a little envious. She’d never been able to tame a single strand of her own wild mane.
“Please, my lady,” the female said, her voice ragged. “Is he well?”
“Yes, he will be?—”
With a cry, the Demon pushed by and rushed into Baldrir’s room, falling to her knees beside the bed. “Bal? It’s Nyri. Can you hear me?”
“—fine.” Lunara propped herself against the doorjamb, too tired to bother with trying to interfere. “No, he can’t. Which is better for him right now. And you would be?”
“Nyriadne, my lady,” she said. “Baldrir’s sister. But everyone calls me Nyri.”
“Ah.” Lunara softened instantly. “Well, Nyri, he won’t be waking up tonight. I’ve made sure of that, for his sake.” Stars above, it was so hard to keep her own eyes open. “I don’t suppose you could tell me where I might find the Wolflord Thaddeus, or any of his companions who called me here?”
Nyri wobbled as she rose, dashing a tear away with the back of her hand. “Thank you.” She crossed the room and threw her arms around Lunara. “Thank you so much, my lady.”
Lunara winced, squeezing her eyes shut against the searing pressure. The blood helped her to function, but she was still sensitive, every inch of her like a tender bruise. “Right, um…”
Nyri released her, at last. “I’m so pleased to see you up and about as well, my lady. We’ve all been worried sick for the two of you these last few days.”
Days. Plural.
No wonder she felt like a comet had landed on top of her.
“Please, call me Lunara.” She tried to subtly rub at her temple, to relieve the headache threatening there. “I am no one of note, and certainly no lady. Just… me.”
“Lunara,” Nyri said, offering a bubbly curtsy. “Oh, it’s such a weight lifted! I thought I was going to be all alone, but now I’m not. He’s well, you’re well, and the others will want to see you right away.”
Nyri hooked an arm through one of Lunara’s, her long legs taking one step for Lunara’s every stumbling two down the hallway. “Um, Nyri?”
“Yes, my lady? Erm, Lunara.”
She nearly fell over when they careened around a corner. “Perhaps we could walk a bit slower? I’m not quite up to running at the moment.”
“Oh!” Lunara crashed into Nyri’s side when she stopped dead. “Of course. I’m so sorry. I should have thought. I’m just so excited!”
The pace was far more manageable as they came upon a connecting corridor. “It’s nothing,” Lunara said, hushed and distracted, her eyes taking everything in. “I’m just tired, is all.”
Twenty people could have walked down the passageway side-by-side, with room to spare. Beams and trusses soared above them, supporting glass panes that made it seem like they were walking amongst the towering trees outside. Massive stones had been embedded up the length of the wooden supports, most of them bigger than she was tall, and they glowed with a golden light that made everything seem like a dream.
“It’s no wonder you’re tired, with all that work.” Nyri squeezed her hand. “They tried to keep me out of it so I wouldn’t know how bad it was, since everyone is always underestimating me, but I have my ways.”
Lunara could hear in the tone of Nyri’s voice that she was just waiting for someone to ask exactly what thosewayswere. “Do tell.”
