“Go to the infirmary.” The witch, Agnes apparently, pointed at his leg with the sword. “The poison is killing witches, you ninny. Tend that. I’ll talk to the others while you see the healer.”
She was pointing with the stick that moments earlier had been a sword. It shifted shapes at her will—which was undeniably cool aside from the fact that she was terrifying.
Agnes strode away, and then Sondre pivoted to look directly where they were standing. “Not bad.”
Dan tensed. Axell squeezed Dan’s hand twice.
Before they could take a step, Sondre’s voice rang out. “Leaving would be unwise. Show yourself. I know someone is there.”
“Someone,” he said. He doesn’t know it’s us.
For a split second, Dan considered stopping, but instead, he squeezed Axell’s hand again. Three times. They took off running.
Dan worried Sondre would catch them, but he was stumbling from his snake bite, and a few minutes later, he popped out of existence.
“Keep going,” Axell urged.
So they ran all the way back to the castle, and when they got there, Axell didn’t let go of Dan’s hand until they were inside the castle.
Inside, Axell closed the door and said, “Stay with me, Daniel.”
Despite the demanding phrasing, Dan knew it was a request, and today it was one he was happy to accept. “Your room or mine?”
20Prospero
All the new arrivals received a health assessment. It wouldn’t do to have people walking around in pain—and the beauty of magic was that it healed everything over time. They didn’t heal people who weren’t staying, though, so the intake was more of a patch and stitch. It bought time, rather than giving away near-perpetual health to every arrival. Magic sustained its host, but some of the arrivals would return to the Barbarian Lands with no memory of their time here.
Not Ellie, though.
Dr. Mae Jemison, the doctor in charge of all significant injuries in Crenshaw, was waiting for them. Despite the hour, the woman looked like a doll, perfect bow-shaped lips and a figure that had no need for a corset. It was a mask to hide a dangerously keen mind.
“Sondre will have kittens when he finds that you saw her before him,” Mae murmured.
“Should’ve been paying attention then.” Prospero resisted the urge to stroke Ellie’s cheek. “Is she well?”
“Drained herself making snakes for whatever reason,” Mae said. “She needs a bit of a recharge before her magic is able to focus.”
“I will watch over her,” Prospero announced. “I need to investigate her mind to see what I need to repair from her life over there. Please, pull the door closed behind you.”
“I ought to be allowed to stay. She’s my patient.”
“I can’t focus with anyone in the room,” Prospero objected.
Mae crossed her arms, lifting her ample bosom upward in the process. “Anyone you don’t trust, you mean. You don’t trust anyone but the madam, do you?”
“Cassandra is my friend, and you just said that this witch”—Prospero gestured at Ellie—“was fine. So I would like to do my job.”
“And you won’t do it with me in here,” Mae said. “Do you think I’ll hurt you while you’re skating around her mind?”
“No. I simply don’t want interference.” Prospero gritted her teeth.
“You know you could trust me, but you’re as bad as he is.” Mae shook her head. “You both use people up until the next victim comes along. I was nothing to you, then?”
Prospero stared at her for a moment before glancing at Ellie. It wasn’t as if Ellie would remember anything about their almost-romance after today, but Prospero still felt a twinge about talking to her ex-lover in front of Ellie.
Fortunately, Ellie appeared to be unconscious.
“I never lied about my intentions, Mae.” Prospero hated that their world was so tiny and lives so long that there was an extensive history of spurned exes for many of the residents. She lowered her voice even more.
