“Come.” Griff drew me away from the healer and the boy, as a second healer joined the first. “Let them work.”
My mind stumbled over every possible meaning as we attempted to clean ourselves up as best we could with the small towels in thetraining yard. But my hands, and his, were stained with blood. He threw on a vest as my thoughts continued to whirl.
Cormac had never talked about his army service, only saying it had been for a distant king. Was it possible he had fought for Zachariah? Or my father?
Nana and I had somehow made it to that town from here. It wasn’t inconceivable that someone else would have. But there was one question pressing on me like his anvil.
Had he known who I was?
Shoving it away to examine when I had more time, I saw a flash of green out of the corner of my eye and turned. “Freya?”
“Lexie!” She rushed over to us. “Lexie, you did so well! I had no idea you had any healer training!”
“I don’t.” She looked shocked, so I added, “Andrei gave me the basics, but otherwise, nothing. How is he?”
“He’s going to be fine. You bought us enough time to stabilize him. They’re working on transferring him to the healing wing now.”
I sighed in relief.
“Healer Abgrall!” a demanding voice called out.
She made a face. “Gotta go!”
Freya scurried through the crowd that had formed, drawn by the excitement.
Finn approached us. “Heads up. Lady Ambition is looking for you,” was all he had time to get out, before we were set upon by the person who was quickly becoming my least favorite person here—after Zachariah. Aine.
“Griffin,” she cooed, her eyes immediately taking in his bare arms. She pressed against his side, one hand trailing along his bicep. “I heard you saved that poor little soldier boy.”
I wanted to kill her.
Griff took a deliberate step back, dislodging her wandering hands. “That was all the princess.”
Aine’s eyes flicked to me with barely concealed disdain, taking in my bloodstained clothes and disheveled post-training appearance.She sniffed delicately before she moved in again and placed a possessive hand on his chest. “How can you even spend time with her Griffin?” she wailed. “She’s so… rough. So… unrefined. So… common.”
Finn made a choking sound that might have been suppressed laughter.
I was starting to vibrate with the effort of keeping myself contained. I really wanted to kill her.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Griff kept his calm facade, but I could hear the steel and irritation underneath. He removed her hand from his chest with deliberate precision.
Aine’s lower lip trembled. “She attacked me during Ignistar! She burned my arm!”
“I know exactly how much power I hit her with,”I thought to Finn.“It would have faded within a day if it left a mark at all.”
“Our little schemer will take any excuse,”came his amused reply.
“You need to think long and hard about accusing the princess of bodily harm.” Griff’s voice was ice.
He thrust her aside, as her mouth fell open in shock.
“But, Griffin,” she spluttered, “we were so good together! Think of what we could accomplish! What we could do for Serentyn?—”
“Serentyn,” Griff interrupted, his tone brutal, “does not need schemers like you.” He roughly shouldered her out of his way and, to further cement his point, held out his hand to me. “Princess.”
I took it gratefully, blood-stained and all. Followed by Finn, we left her gaping like a fish gasping for air.
Finn could barely contain his mirth as we entered the passageway back to the main castle. “Did you see her face?” he was chortling. “That was delicious. And to think, she tried to accuse Lexie of causing physical damage to her. What is she thinking?”
