Page 70 of Sun Elves of Ardani

“Maybe you should try it.”

“I don’t think I could even if I tried. Give me your arm.”

He held out a trembling arm, wincing. Dark blood oozed from puncture wounds.

She muttered a curse. “You’re losing a lot of blood. I should have worked on you first.”

He forced another smile. “You’re scaring me, talking like that.”

She took his arm, turning it gently so she could see the tears in his skin. “I can fix it,” she said, already working on stopping the bleeding. “There will be some scarring, that’s all.”

“Now that is truly frightening. Marring this perfect skin? Tragic. But I suppose there’s nothing for it. This is what happens when you go running toward danger instead of away from it.” He gasped in pain as Kadaki’s magic worked through his wounds. She pulled back, cautious.

“It was very brave,” she said.

His smile faded a little. “It was utterly foolish.”

“You saved Eliyr.”

He glanced over at Eliyr, who was still sitting on the ground, head in his hands. “Rhian’s going to be furious,” Neiryn said.

“At him?”

“At herself.”

That surprised her. Her people probably wouldn’t have died if she’d released Kadaki straight away, but Kadaki doubted any other Ysuran would have done anything different in Rhian’s position. “She couldn’t have known the magic-eater would be so resistant to your attacks. I’ve been trying to research them for ages now. There is very little available information about them.”

“We become too complacent sometimes,” he replied. “Fire is a quick solution to a great many conflicts, but not all. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled by it.”

When she finished her healing, his skin was mostly whole again. Beneath the blood, the punctures had been sealed over, leaving pale marks on his skin.

“Thank you, Kadaki.” By the look he gave her, she knew he was talking about more than just the healing. Her compliance with Rhian’s annoying demands, maybe. Or the fact that she’d rescued them all and not just Neiryn.

“We are friends, right?” she said quietly. “We decided that. We have to try to help each other.”

He lowered his voice even more. “I think we are more than just that, aren’t we?”

She stared at him, her eyes fastened on his xanthous gaze. There was something uncertain, rather than seductive, in his expression. Like he was asking her something and he didn’t know how she would react.

Suddenly nervous, she took a deep breath and stood up, wiping her hands on her vest. She turned around to find Rhian standing behind her.

“You’re welcome,” Kadaki said to her.

Rhian held up the collar.

Kadaki stared at it. After all that, she was being called to heel and collared like a dog again? “Is that really necessary?”

“Yes.”

“Haven’t I proven myself trustworthy?”

Rhian took a step forward. “No. You will do as I say, and if you question me, you’ll regret it. Turn around.”

Neiryn stepped in behind Kadaki. “Did you not see what she just did?” he said in a harsh whisper.

Rhian was very stiff, hiding irritation. All of them were aware of the quiet crowd of soldiers and miners witnessing the argument. “I did. And that is why I kept her here with us instead of sending her back to Ysura to face justice. She is fortunate she has found a way to make herself useful to us, otherwise she’d be in a prison camp somewhere with all the other rebellious Ardanians.”

“She deserves some leniency, Rhian.”

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