All I could think of was how the princess had sprinted into the path of that sword to save a child she didn’t even know.
She will not die. I won’t allow it.My bargain with Calista be damned.
I had to find a healer.
There was one place I could take her, but it was risky. The healer who usually tended to my injuries lived in the village, and she was much more discreet than the healers at the palace. However, she was still very loyal to the queen. If Calista had gotten to her first, or if the healer recognized Eira, we were doomed.
But I had no other choice.
Shouts echoed in the street as I crept out the back door, using alleys I knew well to avoid the main road. Either the forest animals had retreated, or the soldiers had killed them. I hopedMauro and Frisk and the others had gotten away. What they’d done was a great risk, but it had saved us. We wouldn’t have been able to escape or get the children to safety without them.
“Hang in there, princess,” I whispered, trying to keep her awake. Her pallor had taken on a grayish hue, and her eyes rolled back. Each inhale was ragged, but at least she was still breathing.
Taking the back roads meant more twists and turns, more jostling that elicited whimpers of pain from Eira. But I could move more quickly. Fewer people traversed these roads, and those who did tended to mind their own business.
Eira was strong. She would make it. She had to.
At long last, I arrived at the healer’s doorstep and pounded relentlessly on the door. Dusk had fallen, and most of the village was silent because of the curfew. My frantic knocking echoed along the street, but I kept it up until the door finally swung open.
A white-haired fae stood in the doorway, her sleepy dark eyes narrowed at my haggard appearance. She glanced up and down the street in curiosity. “What the hell are you doing here, Harlan? Don’t you know the place is swarming with soldiers?”
“Heal her,” I ordered through clenched teeth. “Please.”
Only then did she seem to notice the woman draped in my arms. Her eyes widened, and she stood back to let me in. I hurried inside without another word.
The healer, Lavinia, closed the door behind her and crossed her arms. “What is this, Harlan? I won’t harbor any fugitives.”
“Just heal her and we’ll be on our way. I beg of you.” My voice broke on the last word.
She dropped her arms, her jaw slack with surprise as she took in my drooping form and broken expression. “Blood and ice, I’ve never seen you like this before. Who is this girl?” She squinted, scrutinizing the princess.
“She’s my—my—” I fumbled for the words before I finally said, “We are bound. Her life is tethered to mine. I have to save her. Please.”
Lavinia sighed and nodded. “Bring her to the table.” She strode toward the back of the house, and I followed. With quick work, she cleared the kitchen table, and I laid Eira’s prone form atop it. When Lavinia peeled open the blood-soaked tunic to inspect the gash, she hissed out a long breath. Then, she mumbled something unintelligible and ran her fingertip along the jagged edge of the wound. Slowly, she looked up at me, her eyes full of accusation.
“What happened to her?”
“A soldier struck her,” I said.
“That’s not all. This mark is infused with fae magic.What happened?”
I said nothing because I wasn’t even sure myself. Whathadhappened? I’d seen Eira get stabbed, and something in me had exploded. I’d felt my fae magic roar to life and spear forward, desperate to save her. But I couldn’t explain what it was or how it had happened.
I had willed her to stay alive… and she had.
“I can’t heal it if I don’t know the extent of the injury,” Lavinia went on, her tone sharpening. “Tell me, Harlan.”
“I—I don’t know what happened. I used my magic, but I’ve never done anything like that before.” Quickly, I explained to her as best I could how I’d thrust my power toward Eira in order to save her.
Lavinia rubbed her chin in contemplation, then dropped her gaze to my hands. “What color was the magic?”
“Blue. Light blue.”
Her eyebrows shot up, and she hurried over to the kitchen cabinets, digging through drawers until she withdrew a long chain with a pale blue crystal dangling on the end. “Like this?”
I frowned. The gem was the exact shade my hands had been. “Yes. What is that?”
“Larimar. It’s used for necromancy.”
