Other palace inhabitants started to gather around Sebathiel. Attendants and courtiers, other members of the palace guard.
And then, Selene herself.
The small crowd parted to let her pass. Only Seb held her back from entering the room where Darion stood. Seb’s hand rested on Selene’s shoulder, while his free hand glowed with growing light.
Selene sucked in a sharp breath. “Darion.”
He dropped the sword at his bare feet. “Taebris and these other men tried to kill me. I only acted in self-defense.”
Sebathiel’s face was hard with suspicion. “A likely excuse when none of them are alive to dispute it.”
Darion kept his gaze on Selene. “It’s the truth. I will never lie to you.”
She nodded, and then she went to him, slipping from under Seb’s protective hand while he and the rest of the spectators watched in shocked silence.
“I believe you,” she said, worry in her lovely face. She touched his bare chest with tender fingers. There were burns on his skin from the light, along with a few minor cuts and abrasions. Her brows knit as she inspected him. “You’re injured.”
“I’m fine. I’ll heal.”
She gave him a tight nod, then turned to address the crowd. “The dead must be attended. The rest of you, disburse. There is nothing more to say or do here.”
Four men stepped in to deal with the bodies of the fallen, while everyone else went back to whatever they had been doing.
“You too, Seb.” Selene ordered quietly, when Sebathiel continued to study Darion with misgiving in his eyes.
The adviser nodded to her in deference, then turned and strode away.
CHAPTER 37
Selene brought Darion up to her quarters, ignoring the whispers and astonished gazes of her people.
Taebris and the other two soldiers’ deaths would fly like wildfire through the palace and the settlement outside the tower walls. So would the equally shocking news of their queen’s plainly intimate regard for Darion.
Let them talk and stare.
Let them think her a fool.
All that mattered to her now was the fact that Darion had been attacked and nearly killed under her own roof. Obviously, he’d handled the assault with proficient, lethal skill, but seeing him standing in the midst of all that carnage had opened up a hole of stark panic in her breast.
“I’m fine,” he said as she steered him to one of the velvet sofas in the living area.
She went into the bathroom and returned with a cool, wet cloth. Seating herself beside him, she pressed the soft compress to some of the burns and abrasions on his chest and arms.
While she tended him, his fingers began to play in her unbound hair, distracting her with the pleasurable feel of his touch. “Stop fidgeting.”
His chuckle vibrated through her, warm with amusement. “Selene, I’m already healing.”
And so he was.
The burns seemed to absorb into his skin. The minor cuts and lacerations stopped bleeding, the wounds knitting tightly closed before her eyes.
“If you want to continue touching me, you won’t hear me complaining,” he said, his brown gaze dancing with amber sparks.
“How can you make jokes? Darion, you were almost killed.”
He scoffed lightly. “Three against one is an easy fight. You should see some of the things the Order runs up against on our patrols.”
Selene frowned. “I’m certain I wouldn’t want to. It was bad enough seeing what I did just now. I had no idea Taebris would dare something so heinous.”
