“Not when your orders are stupid,” Judd answers jovially.
I need to punch something. I really do.
But then he moves aside just as a slight man clad in a long coat with red bands stitched around his biceps walks in and closes the door behind him.
Hojat.
Relief floods into me, and my eyes widen, flashing back to Judd. “You went all the way to the army to get Hojat and bring him here?”
“Yep.”
Surprise, gratitude, irritation that I didn’t think of it—all of those things knock around inside my skull.
“You’re welcome,” Judd says, flashing me a smile as he pulls off a satchel from his shoulder and sets it on the ground.
“Thank you.” Having Hojat here to check over Auren is already loosening some of the panic fisted around my gut.
Both of them come into the living room, and then Judd helps our army mender out of his soaking wet cloak, while Hojat checks his own bag that’s slung around his shoulder. I can hear vials tinkling together as he rummages around. “Good, everything in this stayed dry.”
“Your other bag wasn’t so fortunate, I’m afraid,” Judd tells him, motioning toward the satchel that’s now not much more than a puddle by the front door.
“That’s alright, Captain Judd,” Hojat says as he shakes off some of the water from his brown hair.
A tired Lu appears from down the corridor and takes in the scene. “Took you long enough,” she says through a yawn.
“You know I hate flying,” Judd replies as he strips off his cloak and hangs it on the peg, beside the fire where the rest of our cloaks are already hanging. “Plus, we went right through the damn storm. That rain turned to sleet, and that sleet turned to hail. Ever been pummeled by hail while you’re trying to stay on a frozen saddle with a mender who hates heights?” he asks as he yanks off his boots.
“Not recently, no.”
He gives another hair shake. “Well, it’s hard.”
Hojat frowns. “It was my first time on a timberwing, Captain Judd,” he says, shuddering slightly as he too takes off his wet boots. “And your flying...it is not the best.”
Lu snorts. Ryatt walks back in with a pair of steaming tin cups. He hands them to Judd and Hojat, who take them gratefully, gulping the broth down.
My patience has gone paper thin, this banter tearing right through it. “Does anyone want to explain why you’re not all back with the army like I told you to be?”
The four of them look at me like I’m a kid throwing a tantrum. They give me this looka lot.
“Calm down,” Judd says as he comes over to clap a cold hand on my back. “Os is with the army, and they’ve already moved out on his command. He’s got everything in order. Besides, Lu and I agreed that you’d need Hojat. For Digby and for...” He trails off, glancing down at where Auren is still lying on the sofa. “She still hasn’t woken up?”
I give a terse shake of my head.
“Excuse me, Captain Lu,” Hojat murmurs before scuttling around her to stand in front of Auren. He looks down at her, the left side of his burned face creased with concern. “Captain Judd said we cannot touch her skin during daylight, yes?”
“Correct,” I tell him. Aside from my Wrath, Hojat is someone I trust implicitly. He knows quite a lot of secrets, and now that he’s here, I’m so fucking relieved, because he can help Auren where I’m failing. “But she never gold-touched the cushions or Lu’s leggings. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. She could just be too drained.”
Hojat hums thoughtfully. “Well, it’s night now. May I?”
With a nod, I move away so he can begin to carefully look her over. He starts by feeling the temperature on her forehead, holding his fingers in front of her lips to count her breaths, checking her extremities, and then pressing his ear against her heartbeat.
“Well?”
“All appears as if she is simply resting. Perhaps the power drain, as you said. I seem to remember a few times that you passed out from too much power use, Majesty,” he says with a reassuring smile.
“I left a piece of my rot in her,” I blurt. “I can’t get it out.”
Creased brown eyes blink at me. “Does it seem to be doing any damage?”
