The woman barely seemed to notice. “You must come quickly,” she gasped. “Princess Sadia was injured. She’s in the carriage with Princess Jayveh—”
Samuel bolted.
Ahmi’s gaze shifted to Carver. The distress in her watery eyes made his stomach drop. “Something’s wrong with Amryn,” the maid said. “We can’t find any wound, but she lost consciousness. She won’t wake.”
Dread pooled inside him. A curse fell from his lips as he darted after Samuel, Ahmi right behind him.
Samuel reached the carriage first. Sadia was on the floor, pale but breathing. Jayveh held a makeshift bandage to the young woman’s shoulder, and she assured Samuel that a needle and thread had been sent for. One of Jayveh’s bodyguards was kneeling near Sadia, but he immediately exited the carriage to make room for Samuel to jump inside.
The prince gently cradled his wife, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he murmured soft words of comfort. The bloody arrow that had once been inside Sadia lay in two pieces at Zacharias’s feet. The high cleric sat on one of the cushioned benches, silent, for once.
Amryn was lying on the opposite bench. She was always pale, but at the moment she was completely colorless. With her eyes closed and her body slack, she might have been dead. Carver’s lungs compressed. He jumped into the crowded carriage, ignoring everyone else as he crouched at his wife’s side. One hand settled on her brow, the other dropping to check the pulse in her neck.
Strong. Steady.
His head bowed in abject relief, though panic still writhed inside him. He had no idea what was wrong with her. Didn’t know how to help her. There was still too much he didn’t know about empaths. He knew violence caused her pain, but she’d never lost consciousness from being around a fight.
“I think it was Sadia,” Jayveh said softly.
Carver’s pulse quickened, ice sliding into his veins.Sadia’s injury.Blazing Saints. His wife had healed Sadia.That’swhy she was unconscious. She’d used her gift of healing, draining her own energy to save her friend’s life.
And Jayveh had seen.
“I think the blood made her feel faint,” Jayveh continued. “The moment the arrow was pulled out, she fell.”
Carver’s heart still beat too fast, but some of his alarm faded. Jayveh thought Amryn had fainted at the sight of Sadia’s blood.Of course that’s all she thought.It wasn’t common knowledge that some empaths could heal, and Jayveh didn’t even know that Zacharias suspected an empath had—
Zacharias.
Carver’s breath ground to a halt. Zacharias had been in the carriage when Amryn had healed Sadia. The high cleric wasn’t a knight, so he had no way of discerning empaths, but he knew they had the ability to heal. According to Felinus, it was the supernatural healings at the Feast of Remembrance that had convinced Zacharias to send for knights to come to Esperance.
Zacharias had also been standing with them when Amryn had grabbed Carver, trying to warn him of danger before the ambush. There was no way the high cleric had heard their words over the rain, but . . .
“I don’t know how that arrow didn’t pierce your lung,” one of Jayveh’s bodyguards said to Sadia, awe in his voice. “You’re blessed by the Divinities, that’s for certain.”
Tension bracketed Carver’s spine. He angled a look over his shoulder, just catching Jayveh’s relieved smile as she squeezed Sadia’s hand. “It’s a miracle,” the imperial princess said.
“Yes,” the high cleric murmured, his eyes sliding between Sadia and Amryn. “Miraculous.”
Chapter 7
Amryn
Amryn’sheartpoundedasthe carriage rolled to a stop. Men called out, their voices punctuated by the sharp clack of horse hooves against stone. Anticipation hummed in the air, underscored with a sense of relief.
Amryn’s stomach knotted. After seventeen days of exhausting travel, they’d finally arrived at the emperor’s palace in Zagrev. The very heart of the empire. A place no empath would dare go, for fear of being discovered and killed.
Amryn prayed her fate would be different.
The carriage door tugged open, and stunning blue eyes met hers. Just the sight of Carver’s familiar face made it easier to breathe.
He had been extremely attentive since the ambush on the road. She knew it was because of the anxiety that still hummed in his veins. She’d scared him. Not just because she’d pushed herself too far to heal Sadia, but because she’d done so in front of witnesses. She knew she’d taken a great risk. Perhaps it had even been foolish. But she couldn’t regret her decision. Not when Sadia still breathed.
The carriage rocked as Jayveh—who was nearest to the door—exited the carriage with Carver’s assistance. Then he offered a hand to Amryn.
The simple touch of his callused skin against hers sent molten heat through her body. Saints, the way this man could affect her was almost disturbing. Would have been, if it wasn’t also delicious. The tightening in her belly, the flush of warmth that covered her skin—every touch from him made her body thrill, even now when she was so nervous.
She stepped down from the carriage, grateful when Carver didn’t let go of her hand. She needed the reassurance of his touch as she stared up at the emperor’s palace. It was vastly different from the rugged beauty of the gray-stoned castle Amryn had grown up in. But then, everything this far south was different from what she knew in Ferradin.
