Page 4 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

Chapter Four

The Patient

“Are we going to talk about this, or are you planning to make all the decisions from now on?” Kerrigan asked as they headed out of the war chamber.

“Kings have to make decisions.”

“ We make decisions together,” she argued. “That is how we work. We’re better together. Don’t forget that. If you don’t want to do this denouncement thing, then don’t do it.”

“It is a part of the official coronation.”

“Then let’s get married,” she suggested instead.

His smile made her toes curl in her slippers. “So eager?”

“Maybe,” she said as her cheeks heated.

“I would marry you today if you would have me. I’d have married you already. None of the pomp and frills matter to me. Just that you are mine.”

She wiggled her fingers, showing off the bright diamond. “For someone who doesn’t care about pomp, you gave me an awfully big ring.”

“I simply care that everyone knows that you’re mine.”

“Subtle,” she said with a laugh.

“Anyway, I don’t want to force a wedding under duress.”

“This isn’t duress.”

“It would be. Can you imagine us getting married in my home where the people hate half-Fae?”

Kerrigan sighed. “No.”

He kissed her knuckles. “I couldn’t do that to you. I want you to have your dream wedding.”

“I don’t have a dream wedding, just a dream groom, and I already have that. The rest we can figure out.”

“But on our own terms,” he argued, “not theirs.”

“Yes, but I don’t want the alternative to hurt you.”

“I’m fine.”

Kerrigan grasped his arm. “You’re not fine. Neither of us are. Not after what we went through. I know what Iris did…”

Fordham hissed through his teeth at the name of his enslaver. The woman who had put a collar around his neck and harnessed his magic for herself.

“I know,” she said, softer. “Okay?”

“It’s too late,” he said after a moment. “I’ve already agreed. I will accept the consequences. That’s the price of war.”

Kerrigan nodded. The cost weighed on her as well, but she wouldn’t back down from what was needed. She was sure that she would have to do many things that she didn’t like before this was all over. And if this was what Fordham had to do, then so be it.

“Here we are,” Fordham said.

“This isn’t your chamber.”

“No, it’s not,” he said and then pushed the door open.

She shot him a suspicious look before stepping into the room.

It was a large infirmary with rows of empty beds and a window that was currently open, revealing the bright moon and the Vert Mountains beyond.

The place smelled sterile and clean. A pair of women huddled in a corner on the opposite side of the only occupied bed.

“Dad,” she said as she hurried across the room.

Kivrin Argon, first of the House of Cruse, the playboy prince of the Bryonican royal line, had always cut a formidable figure, and somehow he even managed it in a hospital bed.

Kerrigan had spent so long hating him for leaving her on the steps of the House of Dragons, and now she wished she could get every one of those years back.

He’d done it to save her, and after meeting Vulsan, her mother’s husband, she understood why.

He would do anything to kill Kerrigan and keep her from claiming her right as the first heir of the Domaran Empire—not that she had any interest in that.

But it was her father’s fear of Vulsan and his enduring love for her mother, Keres, that had kept them apart.

All that time, he had been suffering alone.

He’d lost his spot in the Society, his potential dragon, and the love of his life all in one fell swoop when he’d been in the dragon tournament.

And then when he’d found something worth fighting for, he’d had to give up both Keres and their daughter for her own safety.

She’d felt justified being angry about her abandonment at the time, but she cringed thinking about her reaction now.

“Kerrigan,” Kivrin said with relief. “How did it go?”

“Fine. Fine. I mean they hate me, but what else is new?”

“They’ll learn,” Kivrin said.

“How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. “Just happy to be out of a cell.”

Kerrigan was still furious about how everything had gone down the night of the council election.

Her mentor and mother figure Helly had been slaughtered by Bastian, Fordham had been mortally wounded, and Kerrigan had lost her magic, but her father had continued to suffer after the events of the arena.

When he defended Kerrigan, he’d been paralyzed from the waist down.

Then the assassin Isa had driven knives through his palms, staking him to the arena floor.

After Kerrigan had disappeared, they’d healed him enough so he didn’t die and thrown him in a dirty cell to waste away as political leverage.

“I still can’t believe that Isa got you out,” Kerrigan said.

Kivrin’s gaze went far away. “Yes, my jailer and savior rolled into one.”

Isa was more than a mystery. Clover had claimed that she was on their side and had gotten Kivrin out of a cell to prove that, but Kerrigan would never believe it was anything more than an act.

Isa was daughter to the Father, and Bastian would use her in any way he saw fit to get to Kerrigan and her friends.

Considering a host of dragons had been waiting for them when Kerrigan returned, someone had leaked their location.

Kivrin reached for her hand, and his eyes lit up. “What is this?”

Kerrigan flushed. “Ah, well…”

Fordham cleared his throat behind her. “I asked her to be my wife.”

“Good,” Kivrin said smugly.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Kerrigan said.

Kivrin laughed, a choked sound. “He asked my blessing first.”

“You did?” Kerrigan asked, whipping around.

Fordham shrugged. “I thought I’d do something properly.”

Kerrigan snorted. “Typical.”

“I’m happy for you,” Kivrin said. “This is what you deserve.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. She squeezed his hand. “What did Amond say about your injuries?”

Amond appeared around the corner. His brown skin was sallow as he shuffled forward. His black eyes were cast down, and he looked like he was about to pass out at any moment.

Fordham took a step forward as if to catch him from falling, but the healer put his hand up. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Kerrigan said.

Amond was one of Dozan’s men. Dozan had always collected talented magical users—he’d tried to collect Kerrigan at one point—but Amond was the clincher of his cohort.

He was the most talented healer that Kerrigan had ever seen.

Traditional healing used the energy from both the healer and the recipient and could take hours for injuries, but Amond used a blue light to heal within minutes, without any of the extra problems from traditional medicine.

Kerrigan had never learned how he did it.

“Yeah,” Amond said as he came to Kivrin’s side and checked him over. “Withdrawal.”

“Oh,” Kerrigan muttered. “But Clover…”

“Would be worse off without the loch than I am,” Amond said.

While Clover used the substance for her illness, Amond was just an addict. It had been a good deal with Dozan—healing for the drugs. But now the drugs were too limited. Kerrigan couldn’t imagine what he was going through.

“Can the healers…”

Amond glanced up at the two Fae on the other side of the room with disdain. “They don’t know half as much as they need to ease my symptoms, and nothing can fix it. I just have to…” He gestured dismissively.

“Should you be healing then?” Fordham asked.

“Don’t worry about me,” Amond said. “If it gets too bad, Clover and I worked out a deal.” He clapped his hands. “As for your father…”

“Give me the bad news,” Kivrin said.

“You’ll walk again.”

Kivrin gaped. “What?” he asked in a strangled voice.

“Oh my gods,” Kerrigan whispered.

“It’ll take a few sessions,” Amond said as a blue light appeared in his hands. “It would have been better if I’d seen you straightaway, but considering the world was falling apart, I’ll make do with what I have.”

“You’re sure?” Kerrigan asked, tears coming to her eyes.

“Nothing is ever certain, but I’ve seen something like this before.” He went silent for a minute, a catch in his voice before he said, “In a war far from here.”

The blue light disappeared into Kivrin’s body.

A sigh of relief hit her father like a painkiller straight to his veins.

Amond started at Kivrin’s hands, which had been hastily healed so still had damage in the tendons.

Then he moved from one hand to the other before shifting lower to his abdomen and working at his spine.

Kerrigan had always been so focused on the healing from Amond, she had never paid attention to him while he was doing it. Now that she was, she couldn’t help but see the way Amond almost glowed gold as he used his powers.

She put her hand to her mouth. “Amond…”

With a resigned sigh, he released his magic and let the blue glow fall away. He sank down into the chair next to Kivrin.

“It’ll take a few weeks,” Amond told Kivrin. “Longer if I can’t get my own shit together.”

Kivrin nodded. “Thank you. I never thought…” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to hope.”

“Your work will be compensated,” Fordham told Amond. “We’ll look into the loch situation as well.”

Amond tipped his head at him. “That would be appreciated.” Then his gaze swept to Kerrigan. “Ask me your question.”

“Are you…” She paused because it couldn’t be possible. “Are you Doma?”

He put his head into his hands. “Demi-Doma.”

“You’re half,” she whispered, shock written on her features. Then after a moment, she added, “Like me.”

He cleared his throat. “Like you.”