Chapter 30

Raven

I winced as Ember cleaned the wound on my hand with some kind of sanitizing solution that stung like hell. The knife had gone straight through my palm, leaving an ugly, raw hole that would likely never fully heal.

Not at this rate, at least.

“This should be closing by now,” Ember muttered under her breath. “Your wolf is still too weak.”

I stared down at the hole in my palm, in too much pain and shock to speak. She wasn’t wrong. I should have begun to heal from this by now—plenty of time had passed since the helicopter crash. Even being here, in enemy territory, shouldn’t have held back my wolf this much.

No, something wasn’t right. My wolf had been far too weak and quiet lately.

“Maybe it’s…” I trailed off, hesitating. I hadn’t spoken about Nathan, not to anyone, and I wasn’t about to tell Ember of all people about it. She’d likely just find a way to use it against me somehow. “Maybe it’s something else.”

Ember’s golden gaze flicked up to meet mine. “Whatever it is, you were reckless today,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “You should have run when we told you to.”

Her gaze dropped to my hand again again, where she was tightening the bandage with a little too much force. I grit my teeth, trying my best not to cry out in pain, although a tiny squeak slipped out from between my lips. If she noticed my discomfort, then she gave no indication.

“Now our prince’s hand will be injured too, thanks to your mate bond,” she finished as she tied the bandages off.

Guilt twisted through me at that. I hadn’t even thought about how my own injury would be mirrored in Neil. The one thing that we were both trying to avoid.

“I just wanted to help,” I whispered, my voice smaller than I wanted it to be.

Ember’s hand stilled for a moment. “Help?” she repeated, releasing my hand and looking up at me with daggers in her eyes. “You could have gotten yourself killed, and then what? What would happen to Neil?” She let out a breath, clearly frustrated beyond words. “He needs to be at full strength for the succession battle.”

The way her voice wavered when she said Neil’s name snapped something inside of me. I’d had enough of her jabs and misplaced anger. It wasn’t my fault that Neil didn’t notice her.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself from saying them.

Ember froze. Her face drained of color so quickly that I thought she might faint on the spot, and she wasn’t the one with a damn hole in her hand. “What are you talking about?” she rasped, shooting to her feet.

“I’m talking about Neil.” I shrugged and leaned back in the plush armchair by the fireplace. “It’s obvious that you have feelings for him. Why don’t you just tell him and stop blaming it on me?”

Her reaction was immediate—a momentary look of pure panic crossed her face, and then she quickly turned away and began cleaning up bloody gauze from the floor. “I don’t—” she started, but I cut her off before she could finish the lie.

“Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “I see the way you look at him. Don’t lie to me.”

She stiffened again, her shoulders tensing. Her back was turned to me, but I could picture the deep red color of her face without even having to see her. She knew that I’d seen right through her. Thanks to Castor, of course. But I wasn’t about to throw him under the bus for tattling on her.

“He is a prince,” she finally said, sounding… tired. “And he is engaged. I never stood a chance.”

“How do you know?” I asked, my tone softer now. “How do you know if you never tried?”

She went silent after that. I watched as she took a deep breath and finished gathering the bandages, which she tossed into the crackling fireplace. The coppery tang of burning blood briefly filled the air before it fizzled away.

Suddenly, the door burst open and banged loudly against the wall. Neil stormed in, still covered in soot and streaks of blood, his face grim. He hesitated in the doorway for a moment, bare chest heaving.

Then, without a word, he stormed up to me and dropped to one knee beside my chair, his hands moving immediately to mine.

To my surprise, he gently took my injured hand in his own. Only to inspect it, of course, but the tenderness of his touch wasn’t lost on me.

As he turned my hand over in his, though, I barely registered the pain in my palm because all I could see was the identical wound on his—red and raw but already knitting back together faster than mine.

It was just a gash for him, and he probably hardly even felt it, but the sight of it made my stomach twist. It wouldn’t heal as quickly as it should thanks to my own shortcomings.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, assuming he was angry due to his silence. “I should have run when they told me to, but I panicked.”

Neil was silent for several long moments before he released my hand and shook his head, rising to his feet. “Castor told me you fought well,” he said, his voice shockingly calm. “Especially considering your lack of training.”

I blinked at him, caught off guard. “You’re not… mad?”

“Mad?” He momentarily glanced at his wounded hand, inspecting it in the flickering firelight as if there was nothing more than a mildly fascinating speck of dust on his skin. “No. But you need to be able to defend yourself properly next time.”

His eyes shifted to Ember and Castor then, the latter of which had just stepped into the room. Eric was nowhere to be found, and I honestly wondered for a moment if he was okay.

“She needs weapon training,” Neil said firmly, pointing at me. “Starting tomorrow. Archery and knives.”

Castor’s eyebrows shot up as he glanced at my hand. “But her wound—”

“There may come a time when she will need to defend herself, regardless of a scratch,” Neil grunted.

The guards fell silent at that. I knew I was going to be in for a lot more brutal archery training with Ember, probably even more vicious than usual after the conversation we’d just had, but I couldn’t help but feel a little relieved.

After all, if I was going to be stuck here in this country for much longer and rogues had already attacked during my first week, then I wanted to be able to protect myself more than I had today. That much was clear to me now.

Before anyone else could speak, a male guard who I didn’t recognize appeared in the doorway. “Prince Neil,” he said with a slight bow. “The King requests your presence in the throne room immediately. Your brothers are already there.”

Neil nodded, turning on his heel to go. But before he could leave, the guard spoke again, glancing at me.

“He requests the presence of your fiancée as well.”

My blood ran cold.

Why would the King want to see me?