Page 54 of The Dark Prince
I remembered the blood as I’d stabbed the witch in the chest. I had a sudden urge to scrub my hands, but they looked clean. I didn’t care. I needed to scrub her off me.
Carefully, I made my way to the attached bathroom. My ankle was still quite sore, but at least I could move and limp across the room. Someone had already filled the tub on the ground with hot water. I winced as I caught a glance of myself in the small mirror. I couldn’t go around looking like this—Tyr would have kittens. Besides, with all the bandages, I looked far worse than I felt.
“My lady! You shouldn’t be out of bed!”
I almost slipped getting into the tub as Bessy startled me, shrieking at me from the doorway. She hustled inside to catch me and helped undress and lower my body into the tub.
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re only scratches. Help me take these off.”
Bessy bit her lip but did as I asked, and together we unwrapped me like a present. All the bandages were stiff and caked in poultice. Underneath, there were only a few faint lines to show the forest had scratched or torn at me.
“Wow, whatever is in this works a treat,” I muttered and moaned aloud as I sank into the bath. Immediately, I scrubbed the remnants of poultice from my arms, legs, and face.
Bessy frowned. “Lord Tyr insisted on Arne seeing you. His ways differ from ours, but seem to work.”
I paused in the middle of scrubbing my neck. “Arne? Tyr? That means he’s back?” I hunched in on myself, knowing he was likely furious with me.
Bessy snatched the washcloth from me and took over, scrubbing my back. “He’s back and insisted no one touch you but Arne.”
I wondered about that. “Where’s Arne from?”
Bessy’s brow furrowed as she worked. “Very south of here, from parts unknown to our mapmakers. South and across the sea, he says, across from Lyoness. He names places and kingdoms I’ve never heard of. He claims up and down his folks are superior in medicine. Can’t say that I can argue with him, seeing the results.”
I stood up as soon as she scraped the last bit of herbs off me, not having the patience for a nice soak or to even wash my hair. I had Bessy put it in a quick braid over my shoulder.
“If Tyr sent Arne to me, that means he’s back, right?” I asked again. After learning the curse on Tyr was real, I needed to see him. I needed to know that he was alright. I needed to know if I’d broken it by killing the witch.
“Don’t you go bothering him. He’s abed,” Bessy lectured.
Alarm shot through me. “What do you mean he’s abed? Is he ill? Did he get injured hunting for the bandits?”
I remembered a figure standing over me, shooting the beast. Had that been Tyr? Had the beast attacked him?
I didn’t let Bessy answer. I was rising out of the tub and throwing a robe over my body. I hurried to put on some slippers. I slid across the smooth stone floor as Bessy ran after me, still holding the washcloth as she ran after me.
“Milady please, he forbade anyone from bothering him, specifically you!”
A bolt of hurt lodged in my heart, but I shoved it away. Tyr didn’t know me well enough to hurt me. In fact, I’d bet anything his entire attitude of pushing me away was because of the curse. If it affected everyone close to him, it made sense now why he was trying to keep his distance from me. And I loved him even more for it.
I streaked down the hallway half-naked, dodging servants and skidding to a stop in front of Tyr’s door. Maddeus stood there as a guard, and frowned at seeing me in nothing more than a robe over my bare, dripping legs.
He opened his mouth.
“Don’t you dare tell me I’m not allowed to see my husband,” Iwarned him, drawing up every inch of my small frame.
His mouth snapped shut, then opened again.
I glared at him.
He glared at me.
“I’ve already seen him without his mask. He cannot hurt me.”
An expression of such remorse crossed Maddeus’s face. I paused. “Milady, with all due respect, that’s not true.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. He was serious; deadly serious.
“I …please,Maddeus.”
