Page 28 of The Chains You Defy

Oh. I was basically bandaged all over. “Did you undress—”

Ireas’ blood rushed into his cheeks, and an expression of pure horror dominated his face. “Gods above, no. Believe me, I value my life.”

Although I did my best not to follow the intrusive train of thoughts entering my mind, I understood exactly what he’d hinted at. Not that the riddle was challenging to solve, since there was precisely one specimen who’d escalate about a medic simply doing his job. “Who then?”

“A female.”

Narrowing my eyes at the vague answer, I winced as the motion caused pain to bloom behind my right brow, but I ignored the discomfort as best as I could. Instead, I kept my gaze glued to Ireas, but the male just shrugged.

“I had to swear I wouldn’t disclose too much. Dion wants to inform you of everything himself.”

“What a crazy world I’ve woken up in.Dionwants to tellmesomething of his own volition? Maybe I did die, after all.” Thinking of the fae prince drew a small sigh from me. Conflicted feelings battled in my chest—I was still upset with him, but he’d saved my life. Again. Also, I couldn’t deny I’d broken my promise to him, and this shook me more than it should have.

At least my voice didn’t waver or betray any of my inner turmoil—maybe because I sounded extremely hoarse. “Where’s the princeling then?”

Instead of answering, Ireas’ lips twitched up as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or not. After a moment of fighting against the mirth that had crept into his eyes, he chuckled. “New nickname for him, hm?”

“It’s only fair, considering the one he picked for me.”

“Ah, you found out what Jama means?” The medic huffed, displeased. Obviously, he disagreed that I deserved such an unkind pet name. As fast as the humor had vanished, though, amusement returned to his expression. “Please let me be present when you call him that for the first time.”

“I’ve already done so once. Back in Amalach in anger, but maybe he doesn’t remember.” Sighing, I dared to repeat the question that had churned in my mind from the moment I’d turned lucid enough to take in my environment. “Speaking of Dion—Ireas, where’s he? And more so, where are we?”

“I had to throw him out. He was disrupting my work by growling, breathing down my neck, or, when he refrained from acting like a primal beast, his constant pacing distracted me. It’s a miracle he didn’t leave a permanent trail imprinted in the carpet.”

“And he allowed you to evict him?”

“Oh well. Yes, for a while, when I reminded him of how much you’d need my treatment. Still, he always returns much quicker than I like. Can’t take him much longer.”

The sigh stuck in my throat freed itself. Now that I’d been saved and was recovering, the betrayal, lies, and secrecy speared into my chest and had me reeling with another kind of pain. Even Ireas had been dishonest about his true nature. Some of the bitterness bubbling under my skin crept into my tone. “So, you’re fae.”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me.”

“Since I followed orders, I wasn’t allowed to. But for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry.”

“Somehow, I do understand whyyoukept your identity to yourself. Doesn’t mean I’m ecstatic, but I tolerate that your duty comes first, so it makes sense you don’t tattle to a stranger you picked up somewhere at random.” The attempt to insert humor into my words was valid, and for once, the roughness of my voice helped my cause—I sounded alien enough for my declaration to be funny all on its own. Ugh, I hoped my throat would recover and my tone would return to normal.

“Thanks for understanding.”

“Ireas?”

“Yes, Nayana?”

“You’re not younger than me, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“How old are you, then?”

“I recently celebrated my ninety-sixth birth anniversary.”

“Oh my, that’s four times my age.” Wrapping my head around the fact that Ireas was the youngest of the group, and still he’d been alive for almost a century, was harder than I’d expected.

Suddenly, a thought struck me like a lightning bolt. If Dion had indeed been a vital part of the massacre of Amalach—and I had to face the fact that his involvement was reality—he must be well over two centuries old, if not more. “At what age do fae reach adulthood?”

“We obtain maturity at the age of seventy-five winters. So, if you applied our scale, you’d be a toddler.”