Page 24 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Cole removed himself from Eirwen’s shoulder. “Are you going to do some sewing?”
“Er...” Eirwen grimaced.
“Terrific,” said Cole, his face paling further. “This just gets better and better.”
Oakley and Merry laid out the equipment, did a quick tidy, and then slipped outside together, leaving the two of them alone. They would doubtlessly be reporting back to the others. Onyx was not going to be pleased about this.
Eirwen took Cole’s face in her hands. “Look at me,” she said.
“If I absolutely must.” His eyes settled on her. “Although, I must say, you are a lot prettier than I remember.”
“I was always pretty. The only thing that’s matured over the years is your taste.”
His gaze dropped down. “Not quite theonlything…”
She pressed the cloth to his wound. “Eyes up top.”
“I’ll remember that when they stop rolling in my sockets…” He sniffed the rag. “What even is that?”
“Best you don’t know. Now…” she caught his gaze again, “mind telling me what you’re doing here?”
“I came to give you back the amulet,” he said. “I… don’t need it anymore. I figured you might still have a use for it.”
“Did it not work?”
“Yes. It just didn’t give me the answer I wanted.”
So he knew what it was for, which meant for all his protestations that his motherhadn’tordered her death, he knew something wasn’t right. “It… it was for your mother, wasn’t it?”
He swallowed. “I… I hoped, that maybe–”
“I know,” she said. “You don’t have to explain. I understand. My parents weren’t exactly what I wanted them to be, either.”
“I liked your father.”
“He was likable. He just… wasn’t a great king, from what I understand.”
“I think my mother has moved beyond ‘not a great queen’.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything…” She cracked her knuckles. “Hmm, that’s probably long enough.”
“For what?”
She flicked his wound.
“Hey, what’s– Wait. I didn’t feel that.”
“Drugs have kicked in. I can probably sew you up now. Let me know if you need to vomit.”
“What?”
“Common side effect.”
“You couldn’t have mentioned that before?”
“You still would have taken it.”
He groaned. “Could you be a little less right, at times?”
