In one stride, Karwyn was next to her. He tore the jacket from her hands. “I will return it.”
Amira stood up, trembling. “I’d rather do it myself, to see how Rhay’s feeling.”
“How do you think he is feeling?” Karwyn asked as he looked at Amira’s trembling hands with delight. “Thanks to you, he was attacked. Luckily, the almandine did not get to his heart, but all this commotion could have easily been avoided if you had followed my order and stopped dragging him into your mess.”
Amira balled her hands into fists to stop from shaking. “I never asked him to become my friend. He made his own decision.”
Karwyn snickered. “Friend? Is that what you think he is to you? You are just a broken doll he would like to fix. He cannot resist playing the knight in shining armour. But eventually he grows tired of his broken toys.”
Hiding the pain in her voice, she snapped back, “So why is he still friends withyou,then?”
The slap took her by surprise. She didn’t even see Karwyn launch his hand, she just felt the dry pain on her cheek. Her vision blurred for a few seconds. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Karwyn not only using his voice, but also physical violence, to strike her?
“Your brother assured me you were accustomed to following orders. I will surely write to him about your behaviour. We will see what he will make of it.” Karwyn stormed out of the room, the shiny jacket in hand.
Amira stood there, her cold hand on her cheek to soften the burn. Coming to Turosian, she had thought that she would be able to leave the violence behind. But pain seemed to be following her along the way and now she was going to marry it.
* * *
It was dawn when Amira decided that everyone must have gone to sleep or was not awake yet. A dressing gown wrapped around her, she carefully moved around the palace until she reached Rhay’s room. She was relieved to see that no guards were standing in between her and the door.
She knocked twice and entered before hearing a reply, as she was worried someone would catch her in the hallway. The bedroom was dimly lit, but Amira could still make out the general layout of it. Instead of paintings, the walls were covered in strange pictures that Amira quickly understood were representations of fae made by humans. The room was a complete mess with clothes, books, and weird-looking objects scattered everywhere. She noticed a large square box surrounded by what looked like very flat books. On the strange surface, she saw people moving around, living their life like they weren’t imprisoned in this tiny box.
But what truly mattered to Amira was Rhay lying peacefully in an extravagant canopy bed. His back was raised by an abundance of silky pillows and his pale pink hair was swooped to one side.
She sat down on the bed beside him. “Rhay, how are you feeling?”
“He’s better,” said a voice that wasn’t Rhay’s. That’s when Amira noticed the man sitting on the other side of the bed. Half hidden in the dark, she couldn’t make out his figure at first.
“I’m sorry, I thought he was alone.” She stood up, completely panicked by the stranger’s presence. At least it wasn’t Karwyn. “I’ll go now.”
Rhay grabbed her hand. “Stay,” he softly pleaded. He turned his head to the mysterious man. “Saydren, could you leave us for a bit?”
Saydren. Amira remembered her encounter with him at the court meeting.
Saydren turned his iron-grey eyes to her. “She can stay, but don’t forget to get some rest, Rhay. You had an eventful day.”
“Thank you, Saydren,” said Rhay. Still a bit uncomfortable, Amira once again sat down next to Rhay while still maintaining an appropriate distance between them. They both watched Saydren gather vials of ointments and medicine in silence. He left one tiny clay jar on the nightstand.
“Don’t forget to put this cream on before you go to sleep,” Saydren said as he made for the door.
“It’s engraved in my head,” Rhay joked. Saydren left and then there were two.
Amira turned her gaze to his injured hand before moving to his chest wound. “I’m really sorry, Rhay. I could’ve gotten you killed.”
Rhay took her shaking hands. “Nonsense. Do you think I’m made out of glass? I don’t break that easily. Plus, I love that everyone’s taking care of me. Including you,” he said the last words with fire in his eyes.
Amira tried to defuse the lingering tension. “Still, I should have convinced you to just drop it. It wasn’t worth it.”
“Yes, it was. The only thing I regret…” His eyes met hers. They were burning with something that resembled fever.
“Yes?” she said in a heavy breath. What was he trying to imply?
“Actually, could you put the cream on? I worry I’ll forget.”
Amira snapped out of her thoughts and stared at the angry red scar on Rhay’s exposed chest. She couldn’t help but blush.
Rhay let out a laugh that turned into a coughing fit. When he caught his breath, Rhay raised his injured hand. “I’ll just need some on here.”
