“And in the wider city?” I hesitated to ask one more question, but I needed to know. “Have babes been born healthy? Younglings remained so?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” the Master Healer answered slowly. “We’ve had quite a run of healthy births. Fewer illness too. I haven’t seen anything like it in many turns.” She tilted her head in a manner that made me think she was considering what else to say, but what she said next, I never would have guessed.
“Did you know I worked at Frostveil Castle?”
“How long ago?”
“Ten turns back I came here, but before that I worked in the capital.”
“You knew my family then.”
“Your mother in particular. She studied at the White Tower at the same time I did. We weren’t in the same classes, but seeing as she was from a prominent noble house, I knew her. Everyone did.”
I cast a glance at Thyra, who was listening.
“When I began working at the castle, your father had been king for some time. I didn’t know him well, but well enough to see some of them both in you. To compare you to the current king, as well.” She inhaled deeply. “I wasn’t sure, you see, because of how King Harald ended, but these questions and your care for others helps to relieve my fears that if you win the war, more will be hurt in that castle. In that kingdom too.”
“You mean hurt in the way my father did?” Stars, more than anything I wanted to tell her the truth, but I held my tongue.
“And King Magnus. I was charged with patching up many more of his victims than the late King Harald. The fae in the royal harem, mostly.” She shuddered. “In the early days of Magnus’s reign, those poor females were horribly used and abused.”
I swallowed, remembering the time I’d been to the harem. How awful it had been to bear witness. Even Roar had thought so, and though he’d twisted a lot of truths, I did not think he’d been pretending that night. “I’ve seen it. And I hope to free those fae. End that practice.”
“That’s very good to hear.”
“Sister?” Thyra interjected. I’d taken too long.
“Thank you,” I said to the healer as I entered the king’s quarters.
The doorsnickedshut behind me, and I found the King of Dergia sitting up, a tired smile on his face. He appeared cleaned up and groomed, his blond hair brushed back and tied with a leather strap.
“I’m afraid I can’t welcome you properly, but please, take a seat.” He gestured to two of the four chairs that surrounded his bed.
I settled into one next to Thyra and smiled at my ally. “How are you?”
“Alive, and thankful for it.”
My throat tightened. He wouldn’t have been injured if we weren’t allies. If he hadn’t yoked his fate to mine.
“I’m so sorry.” I glanced briefly at his leg, lost at the knee. It felt impolite to look, even if it was raised to avoid swelling.
“For saving my life?”
I blinked.
The king laughed. “You think I don’t know exactly what you did, Isolde? How your shadows held me together, and your vampire helped? I know and, despite my state, I do not regret my actions. Nor what you did to save me.”
Thyra’s lips pursed. “You’ll never fight again, King. Might not do a lot of things you relished. I can’t understand not regretting that, at least a little.”
King Tholin’s eyes crinkled at the corners, and I was reminded once again how easy he was to like. To want to be friends with. “You’re young and have much life left.”
“You do too,” I said. Fae could live for centuries upon centuries, and while there was gray in his beard, he was nowhere close to ancient.
“I recognize that my life will not be as it once was. Truth be told, the moment I allied with you, I hoped it would not be. To lose something so small for a new life, a new world—for my people to walk beneath the sky whenever they wish—it’s worth this small price.” He gestured to his leg.
“So you will still call us allies?”
The king’s lips parted, but he recomposed his features quickly. “You thought I’d change my mind?”
