“It’s far more likely than our friends betraying us,” I added.
“Neve. I really don’t think so. I?—”
The door to the cottage flew open and a sharp wind gusted inside, and snowflakes dusted the stone ground. Rynni did not come in, though. Rather, she stood at the threshold, three vials of potion in one hand, a poster in the other.
“Care to explain why a wanted royal is in my cottage?”
Vale grabbedSkeldafrom a table she’d been resting upon, ready to cut the healer down if need be.
Rynni shut the door behind her. “Don’t bother. I’m not going to hurt her. She’s a patient, and my oath to Eirial forbids that I harm a patient.” She dragged three fingers down her breastbone in a gesture common among the faithful and nodded at something behind me.
I twisted to find an eight-spoked wheel, the healer’s wheel. I’d seen the same symbol on necklaces that the healers wore in the royal infirmary. The wheel was the very symbol of the Goddess of Healing and Gentle Deaths. Woven through the spokes of the wheel were dried vines and flowers. An offering.
“I can’t harmanyonewho isn’t harming me,” Rynni added. “However, I do require answers.”
Vale kept his sword in hand but allowed Rynni to come closer and pass me a vial. The contents looked identical to the other vials and tasted the same as I drank the potion.
“Now, tell me why a Falk princess is in my cottage. One who should be dead?”
“I—I’m not—” My words faltered; the lie unable to escape my lips.
“You can’t deny it,” Rynni snorted. “Even if you could, I would not believe you. This looks like you, and there’s a written description. Down to that scar on your temple. Seeing as I’ve seen a lot of your skin, I can say with surety, this is you.”
Silence rang through the room, punctuated only byCaelo’s occasional snores and Anna’s shifting. How in the world were they still sleeping?
“I gave them a draft for peaceful sleep. They won’t wake. Now, answer me.” The dragon healer’s eyes narrowed. They were slitted, reptilian.
“You’re right. That is me,” I said. “Though my past was a mystery to me for a long time. I used to be a blood slave.”
Her eyes widened. “Well, that sounds like a story. Tell it.”
Unless Vale wanted to kill this healer, which seemed in very poor form, seeing as she’d saved me and Caelo and healed Vale, I had no choice. So I swallowed and began my tale.
Once done, I took a breath. I wasn’t the only one who looked like they needed one. The healer was gaping and shaking her head at what I’d told her.
“So,” I began again. “Will you turn me in?”
She did not answer me but looked at my mate before meeting my eyes again.
“The king would imprison his own son’s mate?”
Though I’d told her about myself, I’d neglected to mention anything about Vale’s blood connection to Lord Riis. That was his tale to tell when he saw fit.
“The king has a deep hatred for my family,” I replied. “Although he has no clue that Vale and I are mates yet. Even if he did, I believe that yes, he’d imprison me. Or kill me.”
“That’s atrocious.”
“King Magnus is not known for being lenient.”
“That’s not the only thing he’s not known for,” shemuttered and, after realizing what she said, her hands flew to her mouth. “No offense, Prince Vale.”
My mate’s lips twitched. He was holding back a laugh. “None taken.”
“Many in Vitvik think your father should do more for Winter’s Realm,” Rynni said, emboldened by Vale’s reaction. “Now that I think about it, if your mate is Isolde Falk, who do you plan to side with should things go sour?”
They were already going sour, I wanted to say, but Vale clasped a hand on my shoulder.
“My mate. She’s my everything.”
