Theodoric’s stoic expression broke with the widening of his eyes. The duke turned sharply to him, but Theodoric trained his focus on Amaris.
“How do you know that?” he asked, his words coming out quick with his breaths.
“As I said, well-versed in the medical field.” Amaris sharpened her eyes, attempting to give him that soul-piercing glare his father was immaculate at.
“Is anyone able to corroborate Miss Carter’s story?” the duke shouted.
Gris hadn’t told them about the river or that Amaris had given up multiple opportunities to escape. She scanned the crowd, but Gris was nowhere to be seen.
“She’s lying,” Bennet snapped. “Gris pulled him from the river.”
Amaris glared at Theodoric, begging him to remember somethingand stand up for her, but his cheeks were stark white, and he widened his stance.Is he going to faint?Amaris tried to stand and lunge for him, but Alan slammed against her shoulders and forced her back to the ground.
“Captain,” the duke barked, “can you attest to any of this?”
Theodoric jerked his gaze from his father, back to Amaris, but his eyes were wide, and his chest heaved. He rapidly blinked as his fingers released the hold on his dagger and twitched. Her gut tightened. He staggered and reached for his head. She struggled once more to run toward him, but she was too late. Theodoric collapsed.
A gasp hung over the crowd, but Amaris was out of Alan’s reach and kneeling over Theodoric before the duke was out of his seat. She dropped her cheek to his face and slipped her finger over his pulse. Thankfully, he was breathing, and his heart was beating. A crowd gathered behind her and a hand gripped her wrist.
“Step back!” Bennet seethed.
“Let her,” the duke ordered, kneeling on Theodoric’s other side.
Amaris didn’t stop to question him. She opened Theodoric’s eyes and checked his pupils, but neither of them seemed larger than the other. Her hands brushed the sides of his face, but he didn’t feel feverish. Why had he passed out? She fussed with the tie around his collar, opening the top of his shirt. Maybe his concussion was worse than she expected.
She reached for his wrist to check his heart rate, but her hand felt a warm substance. Blood seeped from small crescent moons in his palm and stained his fingernails red.What if it’s not the concussion?She rubbed her knuckles into his sternum. He needed a hospital, or at least more than whatever a mystique was, but what if a hospital didn’t exist?
Theodoric grimaced and squirmed beneath her hand. His eyes fluttered open, and Amaris sank back on her heels. His stunned gaze jumped to the faces crowded around him as he pushed up to his elbows.
The duke settled his hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Theodoric ripped his arm from his father’s touch, and he stood. Heswayed for a moment, and Amaris gripped his arm to steady him. His eyes bore into her, and she quickly pulled back.
The chatter of the room stilled as Theodoric headed toward the main doors.
“I have a proposition,” the duke announced, and Theodoric stopped short. “You can prove your innocence as Luana Bay’s mystique.”
How would that prove anything?“But I’m innocent!”
“That is still to be seen,” the duke roared. “You’ll remain here and provide care as you have my son to the people of Luana. In time, you will either prove your allegiance, and therefore innocence, or”—the word was a threat in itself—“if you prove to be a murderer…well, I have no problem with my son spilling your blood on this very floor.”
Amaris swallowed. His threat was almost like a promise that, one day, he would personally fulfill. It filled her with dread. The doors slammed open and startled her as Theodoric stormed into the hall, fuming.
Chapter 12
Theo
Why did shesave me?Again, Theo had been spared from death when he didn’t deserve it. The Goddess of Life laughed at him, as if Kata pulled the imaginary strings of his life. His fate might have been in her hands, but he didn’t want to cheat death anymore.
He wiped the blood leaking from his palm against his trousers and stormed through the halls. Theo couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. He needed to know how he’d survived after being thrown from his horse. He threw open the training room doors. His eyes fastened on Gris. Her leather-clad legs were drawn tight to her chest as she ducked behind a rigged barricade of chairs. Her breath halted, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence until her fingers released her bow, and her arrow landed in the center of the target.
“What happened in the river?”
Gris met Theo’s furious glare with her lips scrunched and a knowing glance in her eyes. She relinquished herself from her hideout and settled on the edge of the archery platform, her feet skimming the ground. “Who brought it up?”
“Amaris.” Theo couldn’t control his anger or whatever else was swirlingbeneath. He crossed his arms to keep his fingers from drawing more blood.
Gris’s shoulders dropped, and she sighed. “I figured you’d find out sooner or later.”
