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“What’s going on?” I asked.

Beric didn’t treat me like I was stupid for completely missing what the man standing five feet in front of me had said. Instead, his voice was dark as he, once again, answered my question without truly answering it: “The king needs you. Urgently.”

CHAPTER23BERIC

I knew what we would find in the king’s room before we even entered—the heat radiating from the interior as soon as I opened the door told me all I needed to know.

That the king, far sooner than I’d anticipated, was dying.

Normally, Vi only dealt with this once a month—healing the king to keep him immortal, to keep his body from rotting and dying. But I kept a calendar of those days, as consistent as the moon cycle.

This shouldn’t be happening for another two weeks.

The king lay curled up on the floor, black smoke rising from his body.

He hadn’t even been able to make it to his bed after ringing the bell to alert Kat. Why had he waited so long to seek help? Perhaps he was just as confused as to why this was happening.

“What’s happening to him?” Cali gasped.

This was not the time or place to have to explain.

I thought we’d have more time.

“Humans aren’t supposed to live for two hundred years,” I said.

Despite her hesitation with the king in general, how much she’d wept on her wedding day, she rushed into the room without being told, kneeling beside him. I joined her on the other side, ready to assist.

Cali sang over his body, her magic searching for the source of his injury. Experience told me there’d be more than one, and she found the most vital one first—his heart—and placed her hand over it.

Cali might not have needed me, but I wouldn’t be a very good squire if I allowed my knight to become fatigued, no matter how capable she was.

“Just let us die,” the king murmured, black smoke puffing from his nostrils, from between his lips.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” said Cali, and I let her comfort him because bedside manner seemed to be part of her process. But because he said some variation of that every single time, I didn’t bat an eye. And though I longed to grant his request, I didn’t say anything. Simply remained on the floor, cross-legged, amplifying Cali’s magic, and allowing the king to grip my arm against the pain, as he did every month.

There was a cost to everything, immortality included.

Cali worked through every vital organ, each one too delicate to be rushed. We worked until the king released my arm and seemed to relax, closing his eyes to wait for it to be over. Almost finished, I helped Cali more as her magic fatigued, pushing her power through to the end.

The king remained on the floor, staring at the ceiling as the black smoke dissipated, mingled with blue and gold. Being healed from injury was one thing. Coming back from creeping death required a bit more time to get over.

He looked at Cali from his spot on the floor. “You’re faster than Vi was.”

“Thank you, sire,” said Cali, smiling.

The king grunted, shifting his attention back to the ceiling. “Calm down, girl, don’t get a big head over it.”

“Of course not, sire,” she said, quickly, lacing her fingers tightly in her lap as she stared at her hands.

“Do you need anything more from us?” I asked him, if only to move this interaction along.

The king thought about it, before letting out a long sigh. “Blissfully, no.”

“Your Majesty,” said Cali, “might I have a word with you? Alone?” she emphasized, looking at me.

She looked nervous. Like she didn’t want anything to do with what she’d just requested. Still, I nodded and stepped into the small connecting hall, going into what would eventually be Cali’s room. As casually as I could, I left both doors open, leaning against the wall to listen.

“Your Majesty,” Cali began, her voice quiet from here. “Do you remember seeing my cousin in the receiving line at the wedding? She was the Black woman in the purple dress.”