“What do you remember?” She continued checking each bandage to see if any of his wounds had started bleeding again.
“Pain,” he breathed. “Arguing with my father.”
“Your father put a stop to it before Bennet could finish.”
He closed his eyes, taking as deep of a breath as he could. The lazy strands of his hair brushed the side of his face as he released it.
Amaris stood from the cot, clearing her throat. “I’m putting you on mandatory bed rest.”
“That is quite the formality.” His scoff jerked the muscles of his back. His jaw tightened.
“As I’m the one who bandaged you up, I make the decisions.” Amaris folded her arms.
“You are a stubborn woman.” He tossed the blanket over his back, sliding it past the jagged scar on his arm.
She rolled her eyes and began cleaning after the morning fiasco. She wiped down the worktable and placed the various jars back in their homes.
“As you’ve saved me not only once but twice now, will you finally tell me your secrets?” he asked.
Amaris froze with her rag wound tight. “What kind of secrets?”
“Cornelius was a brilliant mystique, but not in the way you are. Gris told me I wasn’t breathing when you pulled me out of the river.”
“Did she? I hardly noticed.” Amaris draped the rag over the windowsill to dry and dug her fingers into the grout between the stones.
“Amaris,” he whispered, and a shiver swept over her. “Please.”
She chanced a glance over her shoulder. He may have been from Magoria, but he sure knew the effect of puppy dog eyes.
She leaned against the window and folded her arms. “Fine. Yes, you stopped breathing.”
Theo hesitated, unsure. “How did you heal me?”
“Your heart was still beating, so you had that going for you.” She pulled a stray hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I performed CPR. Compressions and rescue breathing.”
“Rescue breathing?”
“When one is giving rescue breaths, you pinch their nose and put your mouth around theirs, and you breathe for them. For adults, you want to do it about every five seconds until they start breathing again. For kids, it’s more like three.”
“And if they don’t start breathing?”
“A story for another time,” Amaris sighed. By the quizzical expressionsettling over Theodoric’s face, the rescue breaths might have been too much. He’d likely never understand compressions.
“How do you see it and not…” His voice broke, and he tugged tighter at the blanket. “How do you still carry on healing people?”
Amaris moved to the worktable, a light shuffle in her step to avoid the flutter his question brought to her chest. She’d seen a lot in her career but had never panicked in the middle of a call before. Her thoughts meandered toward the mystique journal instead of her bounding heart from the morning. “I’ve been around it all my life, and you get used to it.”
She decided to busy her hands, flipping through the pages and avoiding his lingering gaze. Her cheeks flushed, and she set her eyes on the open window.Would it kill the gods to offer a breeze or a signal gust of wind?Amaris hadn’t deciphered the extent of their religion, but she’d seen statues and paintings of the different gods and goddesses throughout the halls.
“Can we not have a simple conversation where one of us isn’t busying themselves or screaming?”
“I’m a member of your staff, aren’t I? I’m supposed to stay diligent, especially in the company of someone of your status.” It was harsh, but it kept her from saying anything she’d regret. Why did she want to sit beside him and ask him about his world, his life, what his favorite color was?
“Do you take me for the kind of man to look down upon you for your status in society?”
“I don’t know what I take you for.” Her mind told her one thing, that he was a nosy asshole, but his actions spoke something different.
“As I said earlier, I’m truly sorry.”
