Page 114 of These Fractured Bonds

“Vanessa…” Yareli said, touched by her willingness to stand against a general.

Augrys looked at Vanessa. “Rest assured that I am not here to dole out punishment. We will provide her with the medical care she needs.”

“Once she is stable enough, we will transfer her to her room for recovery,” Erick added.

Vanessa made eye contact with her, and Yareli nodded, confirming that it was okay.

“Go get looked at,” Yareli told them. “I’ll be okay.”

“We’ll have to celebrate another time, Ines.” Dre grinned at her, despite the brooding general standing less than a foot away from him. “Don’t forget.”

She smiled at him. “I could never.”

Erbert patted her hand. “Thanks, Ines.”

Vanessa was the last to leave. “Well done, Ines. Swing by the Fire Court in the future.”

“Of course.”

Yareli’s smile dropped as soon as Vanessa turned away; the dread that ballooned in her cut the joy of winning short.

She flopped her head back onto the pillow, refusing to meet Augrys’s stare, and asked, “What?”

What could he possibly be angry about? She had won, hadn’t she? She watched in confusion as his face softened, and he looked concerned.

“You pushed yourself too far again,” he said.

She looked away, feeling guilty for a moment before she frowned. She had done it to win.

She snapped, “I did what I had to.”

“Augrys,” Erick said, “Have this conversation later.”

“No, we can have it now if he wants,” Yareli said, petulant.

Here she was, proven victorious in the Fire Court’s most renowned festival, and all he cared about was reprimanding her.

Erick pressed down on her ribs, and she hissed, black dots clouding her vision. “No, in fact, you cannot have it now. You’re in bad shapeagain.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he snapped his fingers, and her mouth closed. She glared at him, shocked that he had used magic to silence her.

Erick ignored her, turning to Augrys. “Go sulk elsewhere, Augrys. I need my patient relaxed, not with high blood pressure because she’s busy arguing with you.”

Augrys’s jaw muscle twitched, but he acquiesced. “Fine, but I’ll be on the other side of this tent.”

“I don’t care where. Just go.”

His footsteps faded away, and Yareli’s anger melted with each step, exposing the sadness she had stuffed beneath.

“I’m going to put you under, Ines. When you rouse, you’ll be back in your room, okay?”

She nodded, avoiding his gaze as her eyes burned. Even though she had proven herself countless times, why did it feel like she was always fighting an uphill battle with Augrys? When sleep came, she welcomed its cool and quiet reprieve from the distress that consumed her thoughts.

Chapter 44

Twogirlstrampledaroundthe countryside, one blonde and one dark-haired, calling to each other as they ran toward the tree line in the distance. Yareli, a specter in her dream, followed them, curious. At the forest’s edge, the blonde one tripped on a root, and the other came back to help her up. Their brightly colored dresses that had sparkled in the sun lost their glow as they entered the forest, and she lost track of them. She flew closer to the ground, hovering between trees. Glimpses of their vibrant dresses danced at the corner of Yareli’s vision,disappearing when she looked in that direction. Voices floated toward her.

“Over here!”