Aspen’s voice comes out strained. “Take it to the Twelfth Court.”
I don’t know what he means, nor can I find words to respond.
Instead, I burn, burn, burn.
32
My next coherent thought is a sudden awareness that I’m surrounded by water from the waist down.
As if waking from a dream, my mind grows sharper, my vision clearer. Up until this moment, all I saw was smoke and flames. Blood. My mother’s corpse.
Fire threatens to consume me again, but the water seems to quell it, returning me to neutral.
I blink several times as I take in my surroundings. The domed ceiling overhead is familiar, as is the quality of moonlight streaming into the room and sending the surface of the water glittering.
I’m in the moon baths at the Lunar Court, half-submerged in one of the three pools.
Something soft brushes against my back, a soothing touch. I crane my neck to find Aspen behind me in the pool, a sponge of silky moon moss in his hands as he runs it over my shoulder. I wince, eyes roving to where the sponge made contact. All along my arms are bright patches of raw skin, surrounded by darker charred flesh. The sleeves of my shirt are nearly burned entirely off—or perhaps they were torn by Aspen in order to do what he’s doing.
He dips the sponge in the water and returns it to my shoulder, letting the water trail down my arm. Each trickle of water and brush of the moss eases a pain that I’m only just growing aware of.
“What happened?” My throat feels raw, my words coming out hoarse.
“You were burning.” His voice is quiet, gentle, although it carries a hint of strain.
“How long?” I’m barely able to finish the sentence as I choke on the last word. My lungs feel like they’re filled with smoke.
“Hours. It’s just before dawn at Lunar.”
I’m surprised it’s so quiet, considering this is when the palace is most active. “Where is everyone?”
“Queen Nyxia ordered the moon baths and the hall outside vacated when I brought you here.”
“Why?” I wheeze. “Why are we here?”
“In Lunar, or in the bath?”
“Bath.”
“Like I said, you were burning. You burned the entire way here.”
That explains my scorched skin. I remember how I erupted with fire, how I burned relentlessly until I slipped out of awareness. If it took us several hours to get here, I must have been unconscious for most of the journey. “Why did my fire burn me?”
He dips the sponge in the water again, then trails it lightly over my burns, easing my wounds some more. “Your powers got out of hand. Fae magic can hurt even its wielder if one knows not how to control it.”
“Could it have killed me?”
“Your own fire can never kill you, but when allowed to consume you that way...it’s debilitating.”
I watch as he dips the moon moss again and returns it to my arm. “I thought water was harmful to fire.”
“An attack by water, yes,” he says. “However, your fire got out of balance. An opposing element can bring it back to healthy levels without harming you. It’s helping you heal.”
That much is obvious, but I thought perhaps it had more to do with the moon moss.
“These pools are more than just for daily cleansing,” he explains. “They are constantly purified by the light of the moon and stars, charged with energy when the moon is full. This was the only place I could think to take you.” His voice sounds pained, expressing an undercurrent of worry beneath his composure.
Aspen pauses, and I realize he’s finished soothing my arm. In fact, he must have already tended the first arm, because both seem unmarred save for their deep pink hue. I turn to face him fully but freeze, startled by what I see. He wears no jacket, no waistcoat, and what remains of his shirt is nothing but charred tatters. His chest is covered with what looks like mild burns, and an angry red color marks his neck...as if...
