Page 127 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

My shoulders shook, and his hands soothingly glided up my back.

“You want proof?” he asked. He pulled back the bandage on his cheek. The cut was barely there, his face hardly swollen. What should have been a black eye was only slightly discolored skin that wouldn’t have been noticeable without direct light.

“And here?” I asked, grazing a finger down his abdomen.

“Here, too,” he said and pulled back the bandage. The wound had been an open gash last night, but now it, too, appeared stitched up, as if he’d received it months ago.

I pushed back the bronzed, tousled curls that covered the scar running through his left eye. It seemed to be the only mark on his body that refused to heal.

“My leg also feels fine.”

I nodded.

“You’re worried about them,” he said.

I nodded again and buried my face in the crook of his neck.

“It’s okay. We’re going to find them. I swear.”

“I know.”

He stroked my hair, and we sat like that, just breathing, until a sharp rap at the door made me stiffen.

“It’s breakfast,” Rhyan said. “That’s all.”

I crawled off his lap and moved toward the edge of the bed, but he grabbed my arm.

“I’ll do it. You took care of me last night. Wait here.” He grabbed his soturion cloak and hastily wrapped the green cloth around his waist and tucked it into his pants before throwing the remaining material over his shoulder to cover his chest, bracing for the cold morning air.

I watched him carefully, saw that he was walking normally, without any apparent pain, and breathed a small sigh of relief. He greeted the Elyrian woman at the door and requested as I had, that she fly our meals onto the table. He also asked if we could have two lunches packed before closing the door behind him.

I started toward the edge of the bed, but Rhyan shook his head. “Oh, no. You’re staying right where you are.”

“I’m not the one who—”

“I may have been slightly inebriated last night, but I do recall you saying we should have only beds instead of chairs.”

Just as I had the night before, he pushed the table across the room so I could remain on the bed to eat. He took it upon himself to add the extra log to the fire—though I was pretty sure he did so more for my benefit than his. Coming from the northernmost part of the Empire, he always seemed more comfortable in the cold than I’d ever been.

“Warm enough?” he asked, uncovering the silver trays.

A tomato stew with eggs lay before me along with a heaping pile of pita bread and fruit.

“You only took a few bites last night,” he said, sitting beside me. “Lyr, you’ve got to eat. For them. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, my voice shaky. I was hungry but also slightly nauseated. My nerves were fired up. Had been since the moment the bells rang.

“Just take a deep breath,” he said. “As soon as we have some lunch packed, we’ll go. We’re heading straight for the north.”

“Are we traveling?” I asked.

He lifted an eyebrow, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “We’re running.”

My mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am deadly serious. Just because we’re on the run doesn’t mean that I’m not still your apprentice in charge of your training.”

I glared.