Page 254 of Salt Between the Wolves

Soren rose to his feet.

"If she returns, it must be because she chose to."

The old woman held his gaze for a long moment before slowly nodding.

The corridor outside the healer's chambers felt colder than before, and the door closed behind them with a dull thud.

For several moments neither man spoke as Soren started toward the council wing, with Kael following—not because he had been invited, but because he wasn't finished.

The silence stretched through one corridor and then another while servants stepped aside as they passed and guards straightened, yet nobody interrupted them.

Finally Kael said, "How long?"

Soren kept walking. "For what?"

Kael stopped, and Soren took several more steps before realizing he was no longer beside him. When he turned, Kael was standing in the middle of the corridor, his face pale—not with fear, but with anger.

"What do you mean, for what?" The question echoed softly off the stone walls.

Soren looked at him for a moment, then said, "She doesn't know."

"Don't." The word came immediately, sharp and uncharacteristically so, and for a second both men seemed surprised by it.

Kael took a breath, then another, trying and failing to regain his usual composure. "Don't do that. Soren—" He stopped himself, then started again. "The healer just told me the bond is killing you."

A servant appeared at the far end of the corridor, but one look at their faces was enough to send him retreating in the opposite direction, unnoticed by either of them.

"The healer told us she doesn't know enough to make predictions."

Kael stared at him, then laughed once without humor. "That is your answer?"

"It is the truth."

"The truth?" Kael took several steps toward him. "The truth is that you've looked like death for weeks."

Soren said nothing.

"The truth is that you're barely sleeping."

Still nothing.

"The truth is that you nearly collapsed after the council meeting three days ago."

Silence.

"And now a healer just told me she's never seen anything like this and might not be able to stop it."

The corridor fell silent as Kael's jaw tightened. "What in the hells am I supposed to do with that?"

For the first time, Soren looked away—not because he had an answer, but because he didn't, and the realization irritated him more than it should have.

"I don't know."

The honesty seemed to hit Kael harder than any lie could have, because Soren always knew—or at least pretended to.

For a long moment neither spoke, and then Kael asked quietly, "Are you dying?"

The words settled heavily between them, simple, direct, and impossible to misunderstand.