asked him to leave. It took a great deal of convincing from Krey that Inara would not die simply because Melu was not there to watch over her.”
“He likes her,” I said.
“Yes, I believe he does.” Sigan left the bathroom and returned with his supplies. “Drink this.”
My hand trembled too badly to hold the bottle of juice. Sigan held it to my mouth and I gulped down the sweet juice, breathing a sigh of relief when it helped the nausea almost immediately.
“Better?” he said.
“Yeah. I don’t think I’m going to vomit again.”
“Good. Drink some more. Do you have blurred vision?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “I suspected you had a concussion. You should be receiving serum.”
“Hey, I appreciate that the king is giving me juice,” I said.
Sigan didn’t reply and a large stone wedged itself in the pit of my stomach. “Did the king give you permission to give me juice?”
“He did not not give me permission,” Sigan said.
I immediately pushed the bottle of juice away. “What are you doing? You need to get out of here right now before Adrix tells the king that you’re trying to fix me up.”
“I told Adrix I was here to simply say goodbye before you go to Iron Gate, not to heal you,” Sigan said.
“Oh God,” I moaned. “Now you’re lying for me? Sigan, you gotta go, buddy.
“I will not leave you here to suffer,” Sigan said. “I am a kadana and it is my job to help those who need healing.”
“Not when the king might chop your head off for it,” I said. “I’m fine, okay?”
“You are not fine,” Sigan said. “You need juice for your concussion and your wound needs to be cleaned and closed. Tilt your head back.”
“No,” I said. “No one else is getting in trouble because of me.”
“You are tiny and weak,” Sigan said. “I will easily overpower you if you do not do as I say.”
“You’re the worst, Sigan. You know that, right?”
“Yes,” he said. “Tilt your head back.”
I tilted my head back and tried not to wince when Sigan poured the pink liquid over the wound in my head. It burned and Sigan squeezed my shoulder in sympathy. He used the cloth and more liquid to clean the wound then picked up the silver pen.
“Shit, no,” I said. “You’re not using that thing on me again. It was like my skin was on fire the last time. I’d rather have an open wound.”
“The wound needs to be closed and the turing carver will close it quickly and efficiently,” Sigan said.
“I’ll just drink a lot of juice instead,” I said.
“I could not smuggle enough in my bag to heal you of both your concussion and the wound.”
“It can just heal naturally,” I said.
“If it does not become infected, you will still have a terrible scar,” Sigan said. “They will not give you juice in Iron Gate, human. You will be sent there in an hour or two, and it must be healed before then.”
I blew my breath out and drank the rest of the juice in the bottle before gripping the side of the tub. “Yeah, okay. Do it.”
He turned the carver on, and I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Hey, Sigan?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Ellis.”
* * *
Galan
“Why do you stop?” I scowled at Krey and lowered my sword.
“You are not paying close enough attention,” Krey said. “I have no wish to gut you.”
I bared my teeth at him. “The day you beat me in swords is the day I give up my position as head of the King’s Guard.”
Krey wiped the sweat from his face. “I see your mood has not improved.”
“My mood is fine. Let us fight.” I raised my sword again, biting back my urge to smack Krey with the flat side of it when he shook his head and kept his sword lowered.
“I am fine,” I insisted.
“You have not been fine since she was taken to Iron Gate two days ago,” Krey said.
My hand tightened around the handle of my sword. “I do not wish to speak of her.”
“I know you miss her.”
“So what if I do?” I said. “She is gone and there is nothing I can do about it. I cannot see her, I cannot talk to her, I cannot touch her. I can do nothing but sit and worry that she is alone, that she is afraid, that she is dying from her head injury, and -”
“Sigan healed her head injury,” Krey said.
I stared at Krey. “What?”
Krey grinned at me. “Sigan healed her