Showing surprising strength, he caught Gwen in his arms as Lydia slid the other girl off the saddle. Dismounting, Lydia helped him carry Gwen inside, laying her on one of the many cots that had been set out. Straightening Gwen’s legs, she looked up to discover the healer was no longer an old man, the age having receded from his face. It was both strange and magical, made more so in knowing that the same thing happened to her when she used her mark.
He looked up and caught her staring, and Lydia recovered by asking, “Will she be all right?”
“Yes, yes. We’ll send her back to the Princess when she’s rested. Now get that animal out of my temple.”
Heat rose on her cheeks, and she hurried to the door to retrieve Surly’s reins, leading the horse back outside. But instead of mounting, she stood next to the animal’s shoulder, watching as the healer gestured for two boys in white robes to attend him. With bloody hands, he gestured as he worked, obviously instructing them, though Lydia was too far away to hear.
But she was desperate to know what he was saying, to learn how her mark worked, even if she was never to use it. Dropping the horse’s reins and muttering at him to stay put, she crept back inside, leaning against the doorframe.
“… broken ribs … perforated … must repair them manually prior to…”
She caught only snippets of what he said, but as he slid a scalpel down Gwen’s abdomen and then reached inside to right her broken rib cage, Lydia found she could see where he was directing the misty flows of life. That she could see his essence, as well as that of the two boys, diminishing, while Gwen’s gained in strength.
Then the healer lifted his face and caught her staring, his brow furrowing as he studied her. Lydia’s skin turned to ice, certain that she’d been discovered, but he only said, “Get back to your mistress, girl.”
35
KILLIAN
They reached the palace without further incident, though the city simmered with tension and fear.
“Keep the gates shut,” Killian ordered the old men standing guard. “I’ll arrange for reinforcements.”
He turned back to Malahi, wanting her inside the palace and behind locked doors, but she was striding across the lawn toward the stables. “Update the men on guard,” he said to Bercola, and then started after the Princess.
“Malahi!” he called, but she ignored him and kept walking.
Breaking into a run, he caught up to her, catching her elbow, but she jerked it out of his grip.
“What are you doing?”
“What I should’ve done a long time ago. What I would’ve done, if I’d known just how desperate they were.”
Pushing open the door to the stables, she walked down the rows of stalls, stopping in front of one holding a chestnut carriage horse. Clipping a line to its halter, she went to the stall and retrieved its teammate, leading both animals down the aisle.
He stepped in her path. “I’ll get someone else to take them.”
“No.” She lifted her chin, wet hair clinging to her cheeks. “You were right that the city is dangerous, Killian. But you are wrong to think that means I should hide from my people. They need to know that I will stand by them. That I’ll fight for them.”
There was one of the corrupted prowling the city—Lydia had seen it. But he couldn’t very well admit it without compromising her secret. “You could’ve been killed in that riot. And if that means nothing to you, remember that Gwen nearly was killed.”
“Then I’ll go alone.”
“Malahi—”
“I’m going, Killian. Whether you follow is your own choice.”
“The Six grant me patience,” he growled, but he stepped out of her path, following as she led the animals to the palace gate.
Malahi walked down the street, Killian and the rest of her guard following at her heels. The civilians who caught sight of them followed, but the feel of it was different than it was before, the animosity gone. The Princess reached one of the city squares, leading the animals to the fountain at the center, where she stepped up on the edge.
Without saying a word, she gestured to a tall woman standing nearby to approach and handed her the lead to one of the horses. “Share with those in need.” The woman nodded, leading the animal away. Malahi did the same with the other horse, the crowd calmly accepting the animal—a far cry from the frenzied mass they’d been less