I laugh grimly. “At least you're honest.”
“I’m a realist.” His golden eyes flicker up to mine. “I have no qualms about admitting that my interests lie in serving the king. I won’t fail in my duty. If it’s a Dragon Rider he wants, then I intend to make you a Dragon Rider. That is my sole mission right now.”
And what about this? You and me?I almost ask. We had a moment last night before he went from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll and practically ripped my head off for flirting.
But to even open up that topic would be more pain than it’s worth. It would require both of us forgetting about Sorscha. Me forgetting about Jack. Replacing him in my heart for a different male with the same face. And worst of all, it would mean admitting that I have real feelings for this person, this hard-crusted warrior, that I have been trying desperately to stomp out.
Gnorr bustles through the door, cutting my reverie short.She pushes a cart of medical supplies over to the foot of the bed.
“Heard you had quite the episode.” She winks at me, her robes billowing as she stops before me. “Off you go, Captain.” She tosses him a look, but he doesn’t move.
“I’m staying. She is my responsibility,” he says nobly. Gnorr looks to me for confirmation.
“He can stay,” I say reflexively.
“Very well. At least give me some room to work, Captain.”
He releases my hand and goes to sit in the chair across from the bedside, watching Gnorr go to work. She lays me back on the pillow and makes fast work of healing my minor cuts, lifting up two soft, crinkled hands and floating them an inch above me. The splinters extricate themselves from my skin and hover just beneath her fingertips as if her hands were magnets drawing them out. I watch in amazement as she lowers a bowl beneath them, and they gently fall into its waiting depths. She places them aside and douses a linen with a pungent clear liquid. I hiss at the sting as she dabs at my scrapes.
Gnorr asks us to give her a recap of my “episode.” Jace does most of the talking because I have no freaking idea what happened when I blacked out.
“I would recommend, Captain, that you not provoke her in future. There are other ways, safer ways, to extract magic.”
She finishes up with me, then insists on checking Jace for any injuries. Aside from a couple of already healing cuts, he’s fine. As Gnorr is leaving, a steward passes a note to Jace. He opens it and looks at me.
“What is it?”
“The king,” he says, holding up the folded paper, “heard of your episode this morning and wants to sit in on training this week.”
“You’re kidding.” I try to stand but get dizzy and fall back onto the bed.
“Easy, little witch. Don’t go blacking out again.” He helps ease me back. “This isn’t a massive deal. He just wants to observe.”
“And if he doesn’t like what he sees?”
“Just behave and do as I tell you.”
I bite my lip. I’m probably going to dream about those words coming out of his mouth tonight, only in averydifferent set of circumstances.
Speaking of which…
“I need to find Zadyn.”
“He’s probably?—”
“Do not say he’s probably with Cece.”
“I was going to say he’s probably settling into his new rooms since you turned his old ones into a pile of ash.” Jace looks down at me.
“Well.” I slowly get to my feet. “Here goes nothing.”
“This I have to see.”
“Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Better than watching you lay into your little guard dog? Absolutely not.” He pauses. “But you should probably change out of that rag first.”
I glance down at myself. The still-damp nightgown clings to me, leaving very little to the imagination. I open the armoire, throw on a pair of dark brown trousers and a thin knit sweater, and join Jace in the hall.
