The door to the main room opened and closed. Discussions flew through the air and among the hasty words, Vi gathered the head cleric’s name was Julus.
“I’d like a salve and potion there, suppressants, mostly—something with mint and valerian,” Julus commanded.
“Understood, sir.”
“You two get rid of these bloody rags.”
“What can I do?” Aldrik asked.
“Just stay back, my prince. You’ll only risk contamination.”
“He’s my brother—”
“Let us handle this.”
Vi lingered in the room, somehow retaining her job as the blood collector and mouth wiper through the night. She watched as they poured potions down his throat that the prince instantly coughed up. Vi was there to catch everything in the bucket—exchanging it for a fresh one when it was full of fluid and soiled rags. The clerics were relentless, determined to find something that would stick on Baldair’s sweat-slick skin or stay in his stomach.
Aldrik paced in the main room. Now and then he would come in carrying something Julus ordered, only to be sent away again. Vi watched him drift in and out and an idea crossed her mind.
There was something the crown prince could do.
“I’ll exchange this one myself,” Vi murmured, standing with her bucket. Another cleric instantly filled in the gap she left behind. Vi wandered out to the main room. There were definitely fewer clerics as the night dragged on, and it made the lone man dressed in black stand out all the more.
Vi set the bucket down in a corner. She wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs and approached.
“My prince,” Vi said quietly.
He nearly jumped at the sound of someone addressing him. “What?” Aldrik said curtly, staring down the bridge of his crooked nose.
“I’d like to request something of you.”
“Youwould like to request something ofme?” He arched his eyebrows.
“Yes.”
He sighed dramatically and looked back out the window. Vi would’ve interpreted it as dismissal if not for his sharp, “Well, what is it?”
“Do you know where to find Raylynn?”
“I don’t concern myself with my brother’s concubines.”
“She’s the best swordswoman in the world, far from a concubine,” Vi said and allowed her tone to communicate she didn’t appreciate his word choice.
“Yes I know where she is.” Aldrik sneered at her. But Vi remained passive in the face of his gruff exterior. That confused him all the more.
“Please bring her.”
“Who do you think you are, commanding me?”
“You want to help, don’t you?” Vi snapped back. She gave him an intense stare that she usually reserved for people she was threatening. Aldrik straightened away, as if she’d slapped him. More likely, he had seen his own expression used against him. “Get her.”
Vi walked away, satisfied when she heard his retreating footsteps.
She continued to help the clerics. As Baldair finally seemed to settle, they left the room one by one to get some sleep. Soon, she was one of three, and there was still no sign of Aldrik.
“One of you should stay. I want him monitored around the clock,” Julus commanded. “I’ll be of no use unless I get some rest, and the Emperor will want a full report in the morning.”
“I can watch him until dawn,” Vi volunteered before anyone else could.
