Page 74 of The Forsaken Heir

I could only assume he wanted to see Sahalie again, but I was too worried about Aurelius to get caught up in Vince’s love life. Titus led us deep into the castle until we came to a remarkably modern medical facility deep in the basement.

“Lady Brielle would like to see the prince, if possible,” Titus informed a nurse at the door.

“Not yet. The king’s in with him right now, and there are about a hundred people working on him. Even if I wanted to, there’s no room. She’ll have to wait,” the woman said in a clipped tone.

“Please,” I begged. “Just for a second.”

“Bullshit,” Rasp said. “She’s going in. Got it?”

The nurse looked at Rasp like he was dog shit smeared on the bottom of her shoe. “Sir, there is delicate healing going on. I can’t simply?—”

“Come on,” Vincent said, pushing past her. “Let’s go.”

“Now wait just one minute,” she said.

Titus nudged me toward the door, then took the nurse by the arm.

“You must understand, this is a very special case. We can…” His voice faded as I left him and Delphine to try and calm the nurse down.

Six healers swarmed around Aurelius. He was awake now, though he looked more exhausted than anyone I’d ever seen. Cassius stood to the side, looking on with a worried expression on his face.

“Elle.” Aurelius smiled weakly.

“Aurelius.” I lunged forward, but a healer caught my arm and hauled me back.

Rasp and Vince growled low, their eyes narrowing.

“Let her see him,” Vince said.

The healer patted the air in a calming gesture. “Let us work. I assure you, you’ll get to spend time with the prince soon. We’re almost done. Why don’t you hang back here until then? Please?”

All I wanted was to go to him. He’d slept on my lap for nearly three hours as we’d driven back, but that wasn’t the same. I wanted to talk to him, to look into his eyes, to make sure he was fine. My body yearned for him, but he needed to be healthy. Nodding, I moved to join Cassius.

Unconsciously, the old king took my hand. “My boy is strong,” he whispered. “He’s going to pull out of this just fine.”

I squeezed his hand. Aurelius continued to steal glances at me as the healers worked. He was already looking better. Most of the color had returned to his face.

“Cut off his shirt,” a healer said. “We need to see the extent of the damage.”

I gasped and put a hand to my mouth when his bare chest was revealed.

Cassius’s hand tightened around mine. Bruises, cuts, and gouges crisscrossed Aurelius’s chest. Many looked old, though that was most likely from the healing Freddy’s friends had done.

Whatever had happened to him, his shifter healing had yet to fully kick back in.

Just the sight of the injuries made my eyes ache with unshed tears.

He’d been through hell. All at the hands of my bastard of a brother.

“What did they do to him?” Cassius murmured.

The worst wounds were the angry red welts around his ankles and wrists. Those didn’t look like they’d healed at all.

“It’s Dragon’s Blood,” the healer said. “Get me a healing balm, the one with mugwort, and make sure it’s got a high concentration of wellspring magic in it. Go.”

“Animals,” Cassius hissed.

I vaguely remembered learning about Dragon’s Blood.

The fibers and sap of the plant had the same effect on dragons that wolfsbane had on wolves.

When we were kids, Freddy had brushed against a wolfsbane plant.

That glancing touch must have felt like a wasp sting because he’d screamed and cried like crazy, and I had to carry him back to our family’s house to get help.

His leg had hurt for days afterward. The thought of someone binding my wrists and legs with it nearly made me gag in horror.

Aurelius let out a low, guttural moan of relief as a healer smeared a gelatinous balm over his wrists and ankles.

The red welts lessened almost instantly.

It truly was amazing to watch. Wolf shifters had accelerated healing as well, but it was nowhere near as quick as what I was seeing now.

And, it looked like the dragon healers were more powerful than any of the healers I’d known in the wolf shifter world.

It went on for nearly an hour until the healers deemed they’d done everything they could do. Before the lead healer left, he told us that some of the Dragon’s Blood wounds would take a day or two to heal.

“Thank you,” Cassius said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “You’ve done me a great service. I’ll find you and your team later. I want to thank all of them in person.”

The healer bowed his head. “Thank you, my lord. I’ll leave you with your son. He’ll be quite tired for the next twelve hours. We gave him a healing draught. It will expel the remnants of whatever poison he was given, but it will make him sleepy.”

With that, he left me, Cassius, Rasp, and Vince alone with Aurelius, who looked almost drunk with sleepiness.

I sat on the stool beside his bed and took his hand. Up close, the wounds on his wrists looked horrible. His coveralls had hidden them on the ride back, and it looked like someone had wrapped his arms in red-hot steel, the skin nearly blistered off.

“Hey there,” he said, brushing his thumb along the back of my hand.

“How do you feel?” I asked. “Do you need water or anything?”

“Or a beer?” Rasp offered.

“I’m fine,” Aurelius said with a weary smile. “Just tired. Exhausted, really, but other than that, I’m all right.”

He yawned, and his eyelids drooped.

“You rest, son,” Cassius said. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Aurelius nodded and closed his eyes. “I’m so glad to be home.” His breathing evened out, and his hand went slack in mine.

“We’ll leave you guys alone with him,” Rasp said.

Vince gazed down at Aurelius, chewing at his lower lip.

Rasp nudged him. “Let’s go, bro.”

Vincent frowned at him. “You meant me too?”

Rasp rolled his eyes. “Yes, dude. Jesus, come on.”

The two of them left, and I stroked Aurelius’s arm.

“Are you hungry, dear?” the king asked. “I could have food brought down.”

The last thing I wanted was food, but at the mention of a meal, my stomach gurgled.

“Honestly, that would be great.” I stood. “You stay. I’ll go to the kitchens. He’s your son.”

Cassius was quick to put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to stay put. “No, dear. You stay. It’s fine. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Before I could argue, the king slipped through the door with a speed and grace that belied his age.

I stared down at Aurelius, taking inventory of his wounds.

Each one was an affront to me. A signal emblazoned on Aurelius’s skin that my brother Bastien was a madman.

Silently, I vowed that he would answer for each and every one of these wounds a hundred times over.

When the door opened a few minutes later, I assumed it would be the king returning with food. Instead, I found Freddy stepping into the room.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hey.”

“Can I sit?”

I nudged the other stool toward him, and he took a seat beside me. We sat in silence for several long moments. The exhaustion of what happened had drained us so thoroughly that neither of us had the energy to talk much.

“I’m sorry,” Freddy said at last.

“About what? Aurelius? That’s not your fault. Bastien did this.”

He shook his head, and his face crumpled into a miserable mask of self-hatred and loathing.

“No. About everything . What Mom and Dad did to you. Sending you away.”

A knot formed in my stomach as the old pain and sadness threatened to bubble back to the surface.

“You didn’t do that either,” I mumbled, unable to add any life or volume to my voice.

“But I could have. When you left I was a kid, sure, but later? I could have written to you. Called you. Could have found you on social media and sent you messages. I didn’t.

” He pounded his fist into his thigh. “I was too goddamned scared of what our parents or Bastien might do if they found out.

It was the same with Sophia. We sort of left you in the cold.

“When I saw you at the house before that disaster of a ceremony? I was certain you hated me. I watched you guys pull up through one of the windows and wondered what you’d do when you saw me. Slap me, slug me? Maybe spit in my face?—”

“Jesus, Freddy.” I gripped his arm. “Never. I know what they’re like. I never held any bitterness toward you or Sophia. Not once.”

He nodded and swiped a hand across his eyes. “I was on one of the upper landings, watching. When Sophia went running toward you, I held my breath. Shit, I even winced , waiting for you to slap her across the face, but…you hugged her.”

Freddy dissolved into tears. He hiccuped and choked back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm him. My own eyes grew wet as I watched him struggle with his emotions.

Finally, he took a steadying breath and laughed while wiping his eyes. “When I saw that, I knew you’d forgiven us. That’s when I came to find you. I had to see you, Elle. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he sobbed.

I let go of Aurelius’s hand and dragged my little brother into a hug, holding him like I had when he was little.

“I missed you so much,” he mumbled into my shirt.

“I missed you guys too.”

We sat like that for a long time, holding one another. Years of lost time passing in an instant. All that time vanished as if I’d only left yesterday. I had my brother back, and he had his sister.

The door opened, and Cassius stepped in with a tray of food. We both sat up and wiped the tears from our cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” the king said. “Did I interrupt?”

“No, it’s fine, sir—er, Your Majesty,” Freddy said. “I was just going.”

“Are you going back to your room?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Freddy cast a nervous glance at the king. “If that’s okay?”

Cassius nodded. “The exam room you were in should do for now. I’ll have Titus find a more comfortable spot for you soon, though. You helped get my son back. You won’t be spending your time in some dungeon. You’ll be an honored guest of House Decimus.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Freddy bowed. He hugged me again before showing himself out.