Page 140 of Shadows and Roses

Several boots entered the edges of her sight. Trying to focus, she looked up, her head spinning faster.

"We heard enough. You killed Kev. You killed my brother! Are you denying it?"

Damon’s sword lowered, and he muttered something in reply.

"Butcher. At least you’re not a coward. And do you deny this is yours? That key you gave me unlocked it."

Small objects clattered to the ground. One rolled near enough for her wavering vision to pick out. Claws. Gleaming, shiny, sharp. Red dotted the edges of a smaller one, smeared the floor.

"...didn’t intend for her to die."

Her consciousness was slipping. There was silence in which perhaps Damon spoke again but her senses were all too dull.

She blinked.

"Find a healer!"

A face suddenly hovered over her. She must've laid down at one point. Castien. He looked so sad. She thought about lifting a hand to wipe his tears buther arm was too heavy.

"I can’t lose you," he choked. She smiled and tried to open her mouth to comfort him.

"Anais, please. I love you. Anais, please don't die." He touched her face, her shoulders, her hair. His hands were warm and soothing, so she closed her eyes.

"No! Anais!" Blinking, she groggily focused her eyes again, Castien's panicked expression summoning a laugh that didn’t quite make it up her throat.

"I'm not… dying." She wasn’t sure if the words made it out before the darkness closed in.

—

Anais woke in her bed with sunlight peeking through the edges of the curtains. Dried lips, a parched throat, and a headache were her first concerns. The glass of water at her bedside soothed most of her problems.

"Castien!"

The courtesan was asleep, slouched in a chair against a wall. Her unintentional outburst woke him and he lurched to his feet, rubbing his eyes as he approached the bed.

"You're ok," he sighed. "The healer said you'd be fine, but I had to be sure. I couldn’t—" He reached towards her arm, then let his hand fall. The fear and concern melted from his features, and he took a step backward. "I’m glad you’re well, my Queen."

"So all I had to do was die for you to finally come to my side?" she teased.

He looked miserable. "I'm sorry. I couldn't— I didn't know how to— I'm sorry."

Her voice softened. "For what?"

He hesitated, his body stiff and fingers twitching as though he wanted to flee. "I don't know where to start. I wasn't ready to come back to court."

"That was Octavius' decision. No, you weren't ready, but you weren't making any more progress out there either."

A small nod was his only response. He was withdrawing from her.

She tried again. "Thank you for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come."

He winced. "I never thanked you for rescuing me."

"You don’t need to—"

"Yes, I do." Although he finally met her eyes again, the troubled storm in them wasn’t what she’d hoped to see. "You could have left me there. Perhaps you should have. I heard what you did. You nearly started a war for me. I’m not worth that. So, thank you—but please don’t do it again."

"Castien…"

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