“We don’t have time to develop a treatment plan, an antidote, or a cure,” she finally snapped.
Likely thinking she meant to let him die, Magda went for her throat, but Thalia dodged and acted as if the big cat hadn’t moved. “He’s taken enough from Tavros. Connect him to the IC machine now, dialysis mode. It won’t be quick, but it should clean up his blood. Animari natural resilience ought to do the rest.”
Dr. Wyeth stared at her. “That…is brilliant. You heard the queen. Move!”
Confident now that they were on familiar ground, the medical team worked efficiently as Thalia let herself lean against the wall, more weakness than she’d normally show. She’d almost lost her prospective mate before the marriage talks began. This had to be some kind of record.
“Sorry. I misunderstood.”
Glancing up, Thalia found Magda beside her, offering an unexpected apology. She shrugged. “It was a stressful situation.”
“But you saved him…and I’m the one who agreed to protect him. I should have stayed close.”
Thalia shook her head. “There’s no gain in debating who is to blame. I could argue that it’s all my fault for not guarding my lands better.”
Janek joined the conversation then. “Perhaps it’s because I’m old, but I’ve lost my patience for this sort of thing. The blame always rests with the one who did harm, not those who failed to prevent it.”
“Wise words,” Lileth said. “If only these young fools would heed them.”
Thalia laughed quietly over being called young. She had nearly three hundred years behind her, twice the average lifespan of the Animari. Which meant the youngest wolf was hardly more than a baby, yet he’d freely given his blood to save his lord. She had a lot to learn about these people.
The wolves were all clad in robes, and they must be cold, yet they didn’t budge a foot from Raff’s bedside. Skylett and Bibi seemed quietly anguished, casting anxious glances at Magda, as if the tiger woman could heal him through sheer force of will.
Maybe she can.
The infirmary was cold and uninviting, like the rest of Daruvar. Now that Raff was out of danger and the IC machine was working to tip the balance, the environment had to improve. With bare stone walls and blood stains on the floor, this looked like a place where people routinely died in agony.
She made a swift decision. “Get a portable heater in here and call for domestic staff. I need a meal for our guests and some chairs they can use to wait.”
Thalia understood that it would be pointless to try and shoo anyone out. It spoke volumes that Raff was loved so well by his pack. In passing, Thalia wondered who would mourn her so passionately. Gavriel, certainly, and Lileth…. But had she inspired such devotion in her people?
Perhaps not.
Therefore, since the wolves loved him too much to leave him alone, the infirmary must become a waiting room as well. In short order, her will was accomplished, and Bibi bowed deeply in gratitude over the food and hot, sweet tea. She joined them for the haphazard meal, eating only enough to keep the shakes from setting in.
A queen is calm and gracious, under all circumstances. Thalia had been reading and memorizing passages from that old etiquette book for as long as she could remember, and there was a truism for every event. She had been trying to meet the standards of that long-dead ancestor for most of her life.
Odd, it was only that adage that kept her from crying.
Raff woke with a pleasant hum in his head.
A few seconds later, the sound resolved as distinct from him, emitted from machinery attached to his body. His eyelids weighed several kilos each, but he lifted them with heroic effort, the room swimming into focus.
Six meters away, his people dozed against the backs of their chairs. Magda had curled up on the floor in tiger form, and nearest to him—how unexpected. Thalia had pulled a cot up beside his bed and lay curled on her side, facing him. It seemed to be the middle of the night.
Must’ve been out for a while.
His shoulder still hurt like hell, and the rest of his body didn’t feel much better. As he studied her sleeping face, her eyes flickered open, instantly alert. She slept like a soldier, he thought, and not one who watched battles from the wall. No, more like a seasoned veteran who recognized that danger often crept in during the night.
“You’re awake,” she said, smiling.
Thalia sat up and leaned forward, touching her fingers to his forehead.
She was probably checking for fever, but it felt more like a gesture of possession, as if she was about to etch some arcane sigil on his brow and his thoughts might never be his own again. Raff half-smiled at that fancy, relishing the cool feel of her skin against his. The Eldritch didn’t burn as hot as the Animari, and he wondered whether it was possible to warm her from head to toe.
Maybe he even wanted to try.
Those were probably the meds. Seemed like they had given him some good shit.
“What happened?”
It was an open-ended question, meant to let her say whatever she wished. He lacked the energy to ask more, but he didn’t need to. She summarized everything he’d missed succinctly, starting with the attack and ending with the treatment for beryllium poisoning.
Sounds like I owe Tavros and Thalia my life.
“Do you have any idea what House Manwaring’s true objective was? To kill me, kill you, stop the wedding…?” His voice sounded hoarse.
Before answering, she set a straw to his lips. He sipped and cool water trickled into his parched throat. Raff wouldn’t have guessed that the Eldritch princess would be such a capable attendant. At Ash Valley,
