Page 26 of The Shattered King

We trekked to the throne room with his guards tailing us, and while I worried what the Noblewights might say—were they moving Renn to the war camps, and I was to go with him?

—I noted with pleasure that Renn was not out of breath by the end of the walk.

He really had come remarkably far in such a short time.

How anyone could detest the wonders of craftlock was beyond me.

Inside the main hall, which looked much larger when nobles weren’t bustling about it, sat the king and queen on their respective chairs.

For once, the queen kept her wedding pendant concealed beneath her dress, though a peek of gold at the king’s throat revealed his.

I knew it would be a damning meeting when Physician Whitestone was among them; Renn had used his services less and less, able to now occupy himself physically.

A few guards stood at the walls, and that was it.

For the first time, King Grejor addressed me personally. “Nym Tallowax, have you undergone any practices while here outside of healing my son?”

“Father,” Renn began, but the king held up a hand, and Renn held his tongue.

The question confused me. “I ... have healed a few other servants, and a soldier, Your Majesty.”

“Have you committed anything other than healing?”

He worded it like healing was a crime. It made me uneasy. Made me think of Ann in the shrine, so dubious of her returned sight. I considered carefully. “No ... unless you mean reading from the library?”

The queen frowned. “That is forbidden.”

Renn leaned onto one leg. He hadn’t used his cane for some time. “Books I gave her. That’s hardly an offense calling for such ... drama. What is this truly about?”

I’m glad he asked, for while it was one thing to speak my mind to the queen in a private chamber, it felt very different doing so to a king on his throne. Heavier, like the air had grown thick around me. My palms sweated. I worried my cincture.

King Grejor said, “Our castle physician has presented me with research regarding the macabre nature of misaligned lumie, and it is very damning.”

My breath caught. The what of what now?

“So answer me clearly, Miss Tallowax,” he continued. “Are you in cahoots with devils?”

“Devils?” I repeated, incredulous. “Hardly! Such things don’t exist.”

I felt Renn’s eyes on me, but did not look away from the king as he asked, “Are you sowing unrighteous thoughts or nightmares in my son’s mind?”

Renn actually laughed.

“I wouldn’t know how, if such a thing were possible, Your Majesty.” I took a step forward. “Forgive me, but what is the validity of this research?”

Whitestone spat, “How dare you speak—”

“This is my court, Wald,” the king said. He did not yell, and yet his words had a booming effect.

Whitestone grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Addressing me, King Grejor explained, “This comes from highly acclaimed physicians of Whitestone’s acquaintance. Three have signed their names to it.”

Rage boiled in my gut, but I dared not let it vent. “And is one of those names Whitestone’s?”

The physician glowered.

“It is.”

“Whitestone has been a physician in this palace for decades,” the queen added. “His reputation has far more weight to it than yours.”

I did not allow the queen to sidetrack me.

“Your Majesty.” I opened my hands, palms up.

“I am a healer and only that. I do not have the power to read minds, or to bind souls, or to do anything before unseen.” Well, that wasn’t technically true, but I wasn’t going to mention it now.

“I can heal, and that is it. I am aware the healer who came to my aid described my lumis as odd, but, with all due respect, most healers of the craft have not been allotted the time nor resources to develop their abilities, which means they could not have possibly seen all the lumie there are to see, nor experienced their variations. Every lumis is different, even among twins. Mine is darker in color, and perhaps of an architecture he was not familiar with. That said, I do believe my lumis to be unique, so I don’t know how these physicians could possibly have studied another like mine, let alone several, to come to any sort of scientific or evidence-based conclusion regarding them, especially given they cannot access craftlock. Or so I assume.”

The king touched his chin, considering. Even Queen Winvrin looked doubtful.

Renn sighed. “Father, Whitestone is jealous.”

The physician’s face turned red as beets. His lip quivered, but he did not speak. The air in the room pressed on him as well.

“Renn,” the queen said by way of rebuke.

King Grejor raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“This is merely jockeying. He cannot do what Nym does.” He gestured to me. “She has magic; she has an advantage. One that has been reserved for me, but I have been the physician’s patient my whole life. Through her, he sees his failings.”

His words bolstered me. His defense lightened the air.

He planted both hands on his hips. Perfectly balanced. Only a few months ago, he would not have been able to attend this hearing and offer his opinion. So much change in so little time. “I think these doctors should be called into the capital and asked to explain their research.”

Now Whitestone did speak. “That is unnecessary. They don’t live close; the trip is taxing!”

“Then how did you get the report back so swiftly, Whitestone?” Renn countered.

“You showed no interest in craftlock before Nym’s arrival and have never mentioned any interest in lumie.

You would need a healer in order to study them, and neither you nor your attendants are that, unless you knowingly ignored the draft of the queen. ”

He blanched.

King Grejor frowned. “What say you, physician?”

“No ... no, the research is pure, I am sure of it.” His eyes filled with fear.

Renn strode past me, until he was three paces from the throne. “I formally ask that Whitestone be removed as my physician.”

The chamber’s heaviness shifted my organs. I was sure I’d look down and see my stomach on the stone.

Whitestone asked, “What?” at the same time the queen spouted, “Surely not!”

“He is a good doctor”—Renn met the physician’s eyes—“and his skills should not be pulled from the many other people here who need him. But if this is such a sore spot that he will defame an innocent woman who has gifted me my legs, I want nothing to do with him.”

The king leaned back in his chair. “You feel so passionately about it?”

Renn made a disbelieving sound in his throat and merely gestured to himself. Three months ago, he was bedridden.

Every tight muscle in my body unclenched when the king nodded. “I will make it so. Wald, we will speak. You two are excused.”

Letting out a long breath, Renn passed a hand through his hair and turned back to me, gesturing subtly to the far door with his head. I curtsied before following him, and kept my head down the entire time. A shadow. I’m only a shadow. In the corridor, Ard joined us.

Once we were in the west tower, my embers burned. “I cannot believe the gall of that man!”

“He is ridiculous,” Renn agreed. His mask had come off, and he seethed. “He has merits. Many of them. He is almost like family, I’ve been with him so many years ... but this I cannot understand.” His tempered his fire. “Why can’t he just be glad for it? Why must I be a competition?”

We reached his floor. “Renn, I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be.” He pressed forward, his stride blessedly even. “You are an unwilling competitor.”

I thought of what I’d said to the queen before. It had been truth—I was kept here against my will—but thinking of it now hurt.

Inside his suite, I said, “I did not mean to offend you.”

Renn dropped into a chair. “Offend me how?”

“When I said my stay is involuntary.”

“It is.” He put his boots up on the table—I never let my own brothers do such a thing. “I don’t need mirrors and shadows. One thing I appreciate about you is your honesty, however brutal it might be.”

His words were like a dagger to my heart. Honesty.

That thickness returned to the air tenfold, so much so that I could barely stand. Fear and anxiety warred within me, hot and cold, faster and faster, until my ears began to ring.

I half wheezed, “Please excuse your guard.”

He pulled his feet off the table. “What?”

Ard said, “I would not advise—”

“Please excuse your guard!” I rushed, eyes shut. The pressure built within me, and if I did not let it out, I was sure I’d faint again.

He must have done so wordlessly, for Ard grunted and stepped into the corridor, leaving us alone in the parlor. I opened my eyes.

Renn stood. “What’s bothering you?”

“Sit.”

He did.

I sucked in one deep breath, then a second. Paced to the window and back. “My lumis is different, Renn. I am different. And I suppose it is ... macabre. Any healer who dowses into me will say the same thing as the first.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I died,” I confessed, and all the pressure swept out, leaving me empty and cold.