Page 32 of Reaper’s Curse

Was the queen purposely torturing me?

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Winter paced a line into the carpet covering the floor of Raven’s receiving room, his gaze constantly swinging to the visible space beyond the open bedchamber door.

He had told her he would heal her, and he had failed.

He rubbed his lower lip as he gazed at her shivering form upon the bed. The tremble of her mouth, the blue lacing her skin, the flutter of her eyes.

Before his grandmother had him tossed from the room, he happened to notice that when he’d brushed his lips beneath Raven’s ear, the frosty magic had retreated from her skin. Been drawn to him. The same could not be said for when he had tried to rub the cold away with his hands.

His grandmother might have banished him from Raven’s immediate side, but he would go no farther until he not only knew Raven would be all right, but he got solid answers regarding his grandmother’s demands, and the arrangement between her and Raven, that somehow involved Valen.

I am the prince, and should the weight of the crown someday rest upon my head, I deserve to be kept informed. I should be included in matters that concern my citadel. Whatever is happening between the individuals in the next room, I suspect it very much affects my citadel. My people.

Raven was now in the palace because of him. And his magic…slivers of it, possibly more than slivers, appeared to be nestled under her skin. And that mystical element called to him something fierce.

He stopped pacing and fixed a stare upon Raven in the next room. His magic caused her suffering, and so he should have the ability to pull the magical infection from her…just not in the way he had considered and first attempted.

Her eyes fluttered open, her gaze locking upon him.

Following Raven’s line of sight, Winter’s grandmother turned her attention toward the door. She tilted her head in a silent order. Winter couldn’t see Valen from his vantage point, but the shift of shadows and shuffle of footsteps marked the royal healer’s motions.

In long strides, Valen swept from the bedroom, collected Winter by the arm, and dragged him straight out of the apartment to the central gathering hall beyond.

“Unhand me.” Winter jerked his arm free.

“Stay out of the girl’s room. Queen’s orders.” Valen pivoted and walked away, ignoring the growl of irritation rumbling in Winter’s throat.

He shook his fist and contemplated slamming it into the wall. Instead, he paced outside the door, not caring what the guards thought of his actions. When pacing grew long and tiresome, he dropped into one of the many seats in the center of the hall and waited―leg bouncing, foot tapping.

Time moved slowly and sluggishly, and despite how the turn of the clock appeared to crawl, Winter would not depart without news of Raven’s condition. After all, her current suffering was because of him.

While he waited, and waited, he summoned two of his most trusted servants and assigned them to the palace’s new guest.

The guard detail was in the process of the midday shift change when the door to Raven’s rooms finally swung open, and the queen appeared, leaning heavily into Valen’s support.

Winter leaped to his feet and rushed to her aid.

He held her elbow, taking on some of her weight. “What happened? Are you all right? Was the situation that draining?”

“Slow down, my boy.” She patted his hold upon her. “I will be fine. Just tired and in need of a good rest.”

“This way, my queen.” Valen escorted her toward the end staircase.

“We need the girl to get better,” the queen said to Winter. “But she does indeed have a healthy dose of your magic hunkered down inside of her. Quite a curious thing how that came to be.”

“Because it is my magic, I can probably help.”

The queen shook her head. “Leave her be for now and let her rest. Sleep is what she currently needs. We’ll see that staff is assigned to keep watch in case her condition should change for the worse.”

“Already taken care of,” Winter said as two servants came into view, climbing the stairs on approach.

At the sight of the queen, they stepped to the side and bowed.

“Very well.” The queen paused and turned to Winter, ignoring Valen and the servants. “But I implore you to let the servants handle any care the girl needs. She is not your charge, nor your problem. Not anymore.”

“Noted.” He bowed his head.