“Threemonths? How could I have slept for three months?”
Holding out my arms, I looked for signs of emaciation, but my wrists and forearms appeared just as they had on the last day I could remember.
Surely if I’d actually been unconscious that long, I would have starved or dehydrated and died.
“There’s a healer here,” Pharis said. “She kept you alive while you… rested. And contrary to your assumptions, we’re not in the royal city.”
“Where are we then?”
I sat up again abruptly, trying to get a better view out the window, but winced and sucked in a breath as the pain flared.
Pharis’ expression changed instantly. He leapt from his chair, coming to the bedside and whipping the covers off of me.
“What’s the matter? Are you not healed?”
“What do you care?” I challenged as I hurriedly pushed down the nightgown that was bunched immodestly around my thighs, leaving far too much skin exposed.
When I shot a glare up at Pharis, I was surprised to see the troubled look on his face at the sight of my bruised and scarred legs.
Had he not considered the possibility that I might be injured when concocting his scheme to spirit me away for whatever despicable purpose he might have in mind?
He spun on his heel and headed for the door, calling back over his shoulder in a strange, dead-sounding voice.
“I’ll send in the healer.”
Chapter 2
Cruel Joke
Pharis
I strode down the hallway of the family wing, yelling for Elanor.
She was somewhere here in my castle, and at the moment, she was also on my bad side.
She must have been nearby because I heard her mental response.
On my way, My Prince. What is it? Are you hurt?
It’s Raewyn,I said.She needs you. Youtoldme she was healed.
I loved the woman like a second mother, but she hadn’t done her job well enough. Raewyn was still suffering.
I told you I did my best for her, Elanor answered after a moment.I’m almost there.
My body was shaking all over, and my heart felt as if it weighed hundreds of pounds.
I hadn’t felt like this since the night I’d arrived here at Stormcrest to learn that Raewyn had been grievously injured by the dragon’s talons.
Technically, my plan had worked—my sister had been wrong when she’d said, “no one can control dragons.”
Using the combined siphoned glamours from my family, I’d done it. The beast had followed my orders and delivered Raewyn here after plucking her from the arena.
But it was still a wild, powerful creature. Nothing in it knew how to be gentle.
Like me.
Every day since then, I’d mentally scourged myself over the riskiness of my plan. Honestly, with so little time to work on it, I’d been unable to come up with a better one.
