Two statues stood alone in the corner of the clearing, a man and a woman, a king and a queen. They stood close together, though they didn’t touch, their gentle expressions cast in the cold stone forever.
Their feet danced in a bed of ever blooming flowers. Fyar had told Killian they were poisonous, the most beautiful, tempting things always are.
“He was a good king. Once.” Killian stared up at the statue of King Numar. He had only known him as a mad king, ranting and raving and sometimes not there at all, an empty husk. He could still remember the feel of royal blood between his fingers, the weight of his body as he collapsed, wild white eyes full of betrayal, and worst of all, the sound of Fyar’s grief as he sobbed over the body of his father. “All he’ll be remembered by are his shortcomings.”
Kade just grunted.
“Here,” said Killian, tugging Kade over to a small patch of green growing close to the ground. He pointed at a viney plant with nettle like leaves. “Tell me what this is.”
It took a moment for Kade to catch on, still in shock from what he was seeing, but soon enough he was listing all kinds of medicinal properties for the leaf, the stem, and even the roots.
It was a common herb, found all over, and was especially good for soothing the itch of allergies. It was difficult to harvest because if you prick yourself on the nettles then blah blah blah.
Killian soon tuned Kade’s explanation out, content to just sit and listen. He could listen to Kade talk forever, just bathe in the sound of his voice, smooth and soft and excited.
Killian moved on. Asking again and again for Kade to identify the plants and herbs around him. They were pressed shoulder to shoulder even though they didn’t need to be, there was so much space around them, but every time Killian stepped away, Kade followed within seconds.
A time later, Kade stopped, and turned to eye him suspiciously from where he was knelt in the dirt, Killian crouching next to him, like he’d just had an epiphany. “Do you have any idea what I’m talking about?”
“Not a clue.” Killian could only imagine the obnoxious grin plastered on his face. “I’m a soldier, Kade. What do I care of plants?”
Kade elbowed him, a look of outrage on his face even while his lips were quirking into a smile. He looked so relaxed, so open and full of wonder. “So I could be completely wrong and neither of us would know?”
“Pretty much. But we both know you’re not. You know this stuff, Kade. You do.”
“What if I don’t? What if I panic tomorrow and forget everything I’ve ever learned?”
“Hokda will do that to you,” said Killian, nodding like he understood, because he did. “He’ll try to get under your skin. It’s what he does best. You can’t let him.”
“How do I stop him?”
“Remember why you’re there. Remember what you want.” Killian smirked. “Or you could do what I do and fantasize about all the different ways you’d kill him if you could.” Kade looked horrified. “What? It works. It’s very therapeutic.”
Kade shook his head in disbelief.
They stayed a little while longer before Killian decided to cutit off and herd Kade back towards the palace. He only convinced Kade to go with the promise of returning again if—when—he passed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
UNEXPECTEDLY, KILLIAN RECEIVED a summons at midday.
Having been lounging on the sofa after finishing giving his reports, picking at the snacks the servants had brought Fyar earlier that morning, Killian had frozen when a servant appeared with an embossed invitation on a silver platter. He’d instantly recognized the small and anally neat letters of the palace healer. It filled him with a sudden and horrible sense of dread.
“What do you know about this?” Killian had accused with a finger pointed at the king.
Fyar had only chuckled evilly and waved him away with a simple call ofgood luck,and then, “Take the rest of the day to recover. You’ll need it.”
Horrified, Killian had blinked at him, and then he’d gone.
Walking the halls to the infirmary felt like walking the gallows to his execution.
The entire wing was empty. There were no patients, no apprentices, no other healers. No one except Kade.
Kade who was wringing his hands and pacing the length of the lesson room outside of Hokda’s office when Killian walked in. He looked stricken. “Why are you here?”
Killian shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Right. Okay. Well.” Kade smiled, it came out a bit wobbly.“It’ll be nice not to do this alone, I guess.”
