When she finally tears her hands away, I roll Lyra again. The wound is covered at her back, a lattice similar to the one I used on her stomach stretched across the jagged edges of her wound. “She needs more than this, but it’s enough to move her.”
“Back to Solvandyr.” Reena straightens, and the three of us stiffen. “I can have the healers work on her there. Perhaps they can do more now.”
“She needs you.” I lean over her again, brushing hair from her forehead. Her eyes are closed. “This will keep her alive, but not for long. We have to go, and we have to gonow.”
“Umbraxis is closer.” Kaelen steps forward, his eyes dark. “Bring her back. We have things to discuss, if you’re the new Commander. Safe passage.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,wielder,” Reena snaps. Her mouth twists in distaste as she scans him. Her eyes lower to Lyra’s still body, and then to me. “Would she make it through the Veilspire like this?”
“Would shewantto?” Darian says tightly. Reena’s gaze swings to him, considering. And then to Lyra, flame-filled eyes taking in the riftlines that carve her skin.
Beside me, Darian and Kaelen brace as if to argue further, but I hold up my hands. “Let us bring her home.Please. There’s much to discuss, and Umbraxis is right there. I have the drawings she needs for healing.”
“I guarantee your safety,” Kaelen says, his voice short. “And if you wish to bring a guard, you can, though any violence will not be met well. You can stay with her. Eres will assist with her healing.”
Her shoulders pull back. “Four will attend Umbraxis with me for— for discussions. The rest of you, go back and assess casualties. Send scouts for regular reports.”
Around us, the circle instantly disperses. Several gold-clad soldiers wait as Reena straightens, and looks around at us. “Umbraxis, then.”
Kaelen
After six days of dealing with Lyra’s sister, I have the strong sense that I might have preferred being at war.
“This bedroom is an insult.” Reena glares across the bed at me, and I stare back, incredulous. “And your food is barely fit for consumption.”
“This ismybedroom.” Which I’ve given over to Lyra’s healing. And since she won’t leave Lyra’s side, toher.My irritation softens the smallest amount. “And the person in charge of our food is currently… away from duties. We’re making do. I apologize if it doesn’t meet your expectations,Commander.”
Settling myself into the chair beside Lyra, my hand reaches for hers. Squeezing, I wait for a sign. Any movement.Anything.
“Eres believes that her body is sleeping off the effects of the healing,” Reena says tightly. “There was significant damage to her heart. We won’t know until she wakes up.”
“I know.” He’s repeated it to me, over and over again, his patience unwavering, whereas Darian and I are almost climbing the walls.
She looks at my hand, her nose wrinkling. “Then stoppawingat her, Duskbane.”
The already slim chances of this ceasefire holding are growing slimmer by the moment. “I am notpawingat her.”
She sniffs. “My sister begged on her knees for your life. I’m failing to see why.”
“That’s because you’re not her,” I almost snarl back. My grip on her hand tightens.
Wake up, witch. Before your sister and I come to blows.
“No.” She’s watching Lyra closely, as if waiting for any movement herself, despite her sharp words. “My sister has always been the better between us.”
Reena looks up. “You know that I intend to take her back to Solvandyr with me.”
My shoulders curve. “It’s Lyra’s decision.”
Nobody else’s. Not mine, and certainly not hers. “If you care for her so deeply, where were you when she was being tortured by your father? Foryears?”
Reena… flinches. The movement is so unusual, at least from the rigid, regimented Lightbringer she’s shown since her arrival, that it takes me by surprise. “I tried to help, where I could. My father made it clear that any involvement would only make it worse for her.”
“So you do care for her, then.”
“Yes.” Her eyes shoot sparks in my direction. “And so do you. All… three of you.”
I nod.
