Page 34

Thirty-Four

Princely Responsibility

A sher tugged on the bottom of his tunic, straightening it. He glanced sideways at the cane Nina had brought him to use until his leg healed. Of course, she had actually put him on bed rest, but he had too many responsibilities to attend to. He left the cane leaning against the foot of his bed and limped from his bedroom and out to the main patio of the palace—where he stopped dead in his tracks.

It seemed like every person in Vasha had gathered in an enormous crowd.

Trayden cleared his throat and took a few steps up. “It seems some of the fliers and runners have spread the word about you being home and everyone wanted to see for themselves.”

Asher nodded to him. “Thanks.” He tried not to be obvious as he steadied himself on the railing at the top of the stairs.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Trayden asked just loud enough for Asher to hear.

“I have to be,” he whispered back. “I’ll be fine.” He rounded his shoulders and turned to address the crowd. “It is good to see all of your familiar faces! I’m sure you’re all wondering what happened. The humans entered Vasha because they wanted the location of our ancient tree, the tree in which Rose is bound. They got the location from my memories, and they will return. We must be ready for them this time.”

Murmurs spread through the small crowd. A couple of the older women put their hands over their mouths, men’s brows dipped, others placed a hand on their chest.

Asher raised his hand, drawing attention back to him. “I’ll give more information as it’s available, but we must focus. First things first, I called for fliers and runners because I need you to increase scouting. In the past, we’ve only monitored our borders now and then. Right now, we need to have frequent shifts evenly divided, night and day. It can be every three hours, six hours, whatever you agree on. Report it to me when you’ve decided. Now, we need construction to begin.”

Ramile stepped forward, her blue hair vibrant in the sunlight. “I propose we make the lookout posts as hidden as possible. This will keep our scouts secret and give them enough of an opportunity to fly or run and warn us without being seen. I’m more than happy to help choose the locations.”

“I’ll gather a group together to get materials to build,” Peter offered, raising his hammer into the air.

Asher let out a breath of relief. “Theo and Jon, can you start making swords? We also need arrows and bows.”

The blacksmith and his son exchanged glances before Theo lifted his chin. “Many of us have no experience fighting, Asher. Making swords...”

“We will need to begin teaching everyone too.” Asher felt his heart sink as voices escalated. “I know this is frightening. I know none of this is what we want to be doing right now. I wish I could say that we wouldn’t—”

“We can hide! Evacuate,” someone shouted.

“And where will we go?” another answered.

“Anywhere but here.”

“We already lost the queen and almost the king and prince. My husband was captured and taken with you, and you escaped without him!”

Asher’s throat tightened.

Leslie looked at him with such anger, he didn’t know how to address it. She was right. He had left all of the men behind in the human kingdom. He hadn’t tried to save any of them.

Trayden skipped a step and stood in front of Asher. “Asher, go lie down.”

He blinked and shook his head. “No. No, this is my responsibility.” He cleared his throat and pushed Trayden’s shoulder to move him aside. “Whatever I say will not be an answer you’ll be satisfied with. I’m sorry, Leslie. I’m sorry to each of you whose men are still there. I promise you that as soon as we can, I will personally return and retrieve them.” He wanted to argue that he had been too injured, that he had to flee for his life, and that he didn’t even know where the others were. But how could he?

“Asher is doing the best he can,” Trayden said, coming to the defense of his best friend. “We all are. Give him a—”

“Trayden,” Asher interrupted. He shook his head when Trayden turned to him. “Let’s get started, everyone.” He limped down the steps and began heading west.

The crowd dispersed, with a group following Asher without being asked.

For the next few days, Asher would wake and leave to help where he could: scouting, building, carrying supplies, whatever was needed. And each day, he ignored the persistent pain in his leg. He made sure to sneak out the side door so Nina couldn’t catch him and stop him. Every evening when he returned to the palace, he was exhausted and took his dinner in his room.

On the third or fourth day—he’d lost track—someone called, “Is that Khalil?”

Asher turned his attention toward the sky and shielded his eyes from the sun. In the sky was an eagle, and he watched as it swooped down to Khalil’s perch on the cliff. Excitement burst into his chest and he wasted no time transforming into his tiger form, as he had discovered he could keep most of the weight off of his injured leg.

He shifted back before entering his father’s room. “Father, I saw Khalil land on his perch.”

His father was standing beside his bed, actually bearing weight. He smiled. “He’s returned to us? I would like to go visit him.”

“You look well,” Asher pointed out.

“Lily’s healing potion is working wonders. My leg hurts significantly less than it did.” He looked at his son’s leg and raised a brow. “Asher. Have you even rested?”

Asher was steadying himself on the wardrobe, bearing no weight on his leg, but using it only to balance. “There’s too much to do.”

His father’s lips pulled down in a frown. “None of which is your responsibility. It is mine. Go to Lily and see if she has any medicine left. You’re worse off than me.”

“Father.”

“Asher, you’re no good to me without a leg. Or worse, dead, because I imagine your wound is infected now. That’s an order from your king.” He winked.

“I...” He heaved a sigh. “Okay. But I wish to go with you to greet Khalil.”

Mardai placed a hand on Asher’s shoulder. “Go speak with Lily first.”

Asher turned, but stopped. “I want to take her with us to meet Khalil.”

“You truly think she might be his daughter?”

Asher nodded.

His father ran a hand over his face. “Have you mentioned this to Lily?”

“Yes. When we first entered Vasha. I tried not to give her hope, but I want them to meet. He’ll know, won’t he?” Asher noticed his father didn’t answer right away. “You’re hesitating.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know why Khalil has returned. If she is his daughter, we must reunite them as quickly as possible. I hesitate only because I do not know how her own healing has come. Nina has been bringing the healing potion to me and only tells me that Lily is improving. I assumed you would know more than I about her well-being?”

Asher rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn’t checked on Lily in a few days. He’d been busy and distracted and...he had also intentionally avoided her. Part of it was avoiding Nina, but another part of it was something much deeper that he couldn’t explain. The strange emotion of suddenly finding her attractive and the possibility she could be Khalil’s daughter, but also knowing that none of that was important when the humans could very well enter their kingdom any day now.

“Go check on her now. If she’s well enough, have her join us.”

Asher nodded and left the room.

He heard voices from down the hall before he made it to the door and knocked softly before slowly opening it so he could catch a peak of who was inside before entering.

Falu and Tara sat on Lily’s bed while Lily animatedly told the story of the barbarians and how even the women had conspired against her.

He smiled softly.

Lily was sitting up, her cheeks had normal color back, and it looked like she’d let his sisters braid her hair in small, mismatched braids. There was a flutter in his stomach as he watched Lily puff up her cheeks and hold her hands as she described casting the spell with the vines that had helped them escape. She turned as part of her story and stopped mid-sentence when their gazes met.

Asher’s smile grew and he waved. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He pushed the door fully open and took one step in, practically dragging his leg along.

Lily immediately frowned. “You haven’t been taking care of yourself, have you?” It wasn’t actually a question, and she was out of bed before he could protest. She moved easily. Clearly, her ribs weren’t hurting her too significantly now.

“I needed to get our defenses up before the humans returned,” he explained.

“And none of that matters at all if you aren’t able to help us fight. Can I see your leg?” She stood beside him now.

He looked at his sisters. “Both of you, out.” He motioned toward the door.

“Yeah, he’s going to take his pants off,” Falu giggled.

Asher scowled.

“I’m going!” She took Tara’s hand and they ran out the door, closing it behind them.

When he looked back at Lily, she was taking each of the little braids out.

“Do you really need me to take off my pants?” he asked.

“No. And I think you should send for Nina, because judging by the color of your pantleg, and the smell, you’ve got an infection.”

Asher looked down at his pants, only then realizing the wound juices had seeped through his bandages. He sighed. “You can smell it too?”

She nodded.

“I’m only trying to get things done,” he mumbled.

Lily took his hand and guided him to the chair. “Sit. Let me get you a potion. The stronger ones, like the one I gave you the second time in the castle, take longer to make. It’s completed and I was going to give it to your father to finish his healing, but I think he’ll be okay if I give it to you.” She walked to the window and picked up a large bowl, which she then carried back to him. “This is the strongest one I’ve ever made. If we’re lucky, it will heal you instantly.”

“If?” he asked, looking down into the bowl she held out to him. It was pink, like the other potions she had made, but a richer shade, like she’d squeezed beetroot into the bowl.

“It’s going to heal you,” she said confidently. “I just don’t know if that will be instant or almost complete.” She shrugged.

Asher tipped the bowl and almost gagged when the liquid touched his tongue. It was extremely bitter. But he swallowed it all and felt warm tingling running through his veins before he even handed the bowl back to her.

She looked him up and down. “Well?”

“Uh.” Asher lifted his hands. The little slivers from building the watchtowers were already pushing out, and the sheer exhaustion he’d felt that morning left his mind. The sensation continued downward to his leg, which burned and ached in a sudden pulse. He gripped the arms of the chair and hissed at the momentary pain.

Lily quickly set the bowl down and dropped to his side, concern curling her brow. “Did I do it wrong? Please say I didn’t!”

The pain slipped away and Asher was left with an overwhelming sense of relief. There was still a dull ache in his leg, like he had pulled a muscle, but the agony of the wound was long gone.

He relaxed and looked down at his leg in shock. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

He turned to her, smiling. “It worked.” When he stood, he didn’t realize her hand had been over his, so he turned his hand to pull her to her feet in the same motion. There was no pain in standing. No pain as he crouched. No pain as he walked. He laughed and rested his fists on his hips. “Lily, you are remarkable.”

Lily blushed and played with the ends of her hair. “I told you I knew it would heal you.”

“You need to keep that confidence.” He closed the gap between them and took both of her hands. “I don’t think you realize just how important you are, Lily. If it hadn’t been for you...” He didn’t even know where to begin.

Lily grinned. “You wouldn’t have escaped the barbarians, made it through the pass, or made it home?”

He met her smile. “Exactly.”

They stood in comfortable silence a moment, just holding hands.

Lily licked her lips.

Asher cleared his throat again and let go of her hands, aware of the disappointment on Lily’s face, which she immediately masked. “I’d like to go wash up, but there is someone I want you to meet.”

“Who is it?”

“Khalil.”