Page 129 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

And I had a feeling it wasn’t just Quinn who needed protection.

I made my way down the familiar corridor toward the Healers’ Quadrant, the scent of herbs and salves growing stronger with every step. The halls here were quiet, the kind of silence that didn’t feel peaceful, just tired.

As I turned the corner, I passed a healer I didn’t recognize. A tall man, pale with sharp eyes, robes too new to belong in a place that thrived on wear. He didn’t look at me, didn’t smile, just walked past like he belonged.

Odd.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on it because just ahead, Meri appeared from one of the rooms, wiping her hands on a cloth already stained with dried blood and salve.

“Ashlyn?” she asked, brows rising. “Are you hurt?”

I gave a small smile. “No, Meri. I’m just… checking in on you.”

She blinked. For a moment, she looked so caught off guard, it almost made me laugh.

“That is… kind of you,” she said, brushing a loose curl from her cheek. “I’m well.”

I didn’t miss the tired crease between her brows. “Are you really?”

Meri hesitated, then sighed, leading me to a bench near the corridor wall. “There’s been an uptick in injuries. Minor things,mostly, but… the numbers are rising. More falls during training, more power-related wounds. I’m treating burns again, and that hasn’t happened in months.”

“Is that why there’s a new healer?” I asked. “The one I passed?”

Her lips tightened. “No. He’s from the castle’s reserve, sent in after two of our senior healers were reassigned.”

“To where?”

She glanced around and lowered her voice. “Outer regions. Small villages and military outposts.”

“Is that normal?”

“No.” Her tone was clipped. “We usually send apprentices or rotating trainees, not specialists. And we’re not told why they’re being moved. They just go.”

A chill crept up my spine. “Do you think it’s tied to the warder deaths?”

Meri looked at me for a long moment. Then nodded. “Partly. But there’s more.” She lowered her voice even further. “There’s talk, quiet, cautious talk, that some of these transfers are tied to that sect that’s been recruiting commoners.”

“The rebellion?” I whispered.

“Some call it that,” Meri said. “Others call it preparation. Either way, a number of those reassigned had common backgrounds. High magic. Quiet reputations. And now they’re gone.”

“Vanished?”

“Officially? Reassigned. But no one hears from them again.”

I leaned back, pulse quickening.

“Be careful, Ashlyn,” Meri added, her voice quiet but sharp. “You’re more valuable than most. And that makes you a target, on all sides.”

“Thank you, Meri,” I said softly, rising from the bench.

She gave a small, tired nod. “Watch your back, Ashlyn. The castle isn’t what it used to be.”

I stepped back into the corridor, my thoughts a blur, each new revelation folding into the chaos that had already begun to fray at the edges of my understanding. Healers being reassigned. Commoners vanishing. A rebellion that wasn’t quite a rebellion. The pieces didn’t fit, but I felt the shape of something larger—looming.

Maybe one of my squad has a friend in the First Guild,I thought absently as I stepped into the crisp air of the Yarrow Gardens. The light was softer here, filtered through the hanging vines and lavender blooms that brushed the old stone walls. A place meant for quiet.

But my mind was anything but.