Page 28 of Blood Weaver
I nodded.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry!” Without further prompting, Marcellus spun on his heels and rushed down the street toward my clinic.
I pressed my lips into a thin line to keep from laughing. Before I left home, he was barely ten and couldn’t stand the sight of a girl. Now, he’d grown into a man.
While Marcellus raced ahead, Caelan and I walked together down the street in stilted silence.
He finally cleared his throat. “Did you … spend last night at the pleasure house …?” By the way he left the question hanging, he really wanted to ask if I was with Ronan.
I shook my head. “No. I was at the Twisted Oak …alone.”
“Oh …” he murmured. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just a little stress relief,” I laughed, and he did the same. “What did you do last night?”
“Marcel and I spent it along the riverfront where they were lighting lanterns and sending them down the river. It was quite a sight.”
“I bet.” I looked ahead. “Did you make a wish?”
He chuckled. “Yes.”
“Care to share?” I pushed.
He sighed. “What do you think?” I shrugged. “To find Princess Lyanna, of course,” he stated like it should have been obvious. Maybe it was.
“You’ll find her,” I promised. “One day you’ll be reunited.”
“I hope so,” he said wistfully. “I just … the thought of her in the clutches of the Crimson Clan makes me sick to my stomach.”
I shook my head. “I told you, Your Highness, they don’t have her.”
Though he nodded, he was obviously unconvinced. “You mentioned that before, but Ronan seems so confident. I just – I’m not sure.”
I faced him. “From my understanding, Princess Lyanna comes from a line of blood mages, which means she must be extremely powerful. I doubt she would allow herself to get captured so easily,” I said to reassure him.
“That may be, but Lyanna was only ever taught defensive magic. She never learned offensive magic.”
While that was true, in the years after I escaped the castle, Sir Edric taught me how to fight. He also managed to locate a mage trainer to teach me more about my magic while keeping my identity as a blood mage a secret. It wasn’t easy, but he did his best to prepare me. But Caelan didn’t know any of that.
“It might be different now,” I muttered reluctantly.
“I hope so,” he whispered. “I hope Lyanna is stronger and braver and can hold on until I find her.”
“She will,” I reassured him.
We arrived at my clinic and found Selene waiting outside with Ronan and his friend, Silas. I gave an inward groan, knowing this wouldn’t be good. “What areyoudoing here?” I pushed past him to Selene and handed her the two loaves of fresh bread.
Ronan followed me inside. “What do you think? I’m making sure you’re okay after last night.”
“What happened last night?” Caelan asked as he followed us. I looked behind me and saw Selene and Marcellus standing together outside.
I walked to my mixing table to start working on prescriptions. “Nothing happened,” I replied breezily.
“She was attacked by bandits. Probablyyourdoing,” Ronan accused.
Caelan looked taken aback. “I did no such thing!”
Ronan snorted. “Oh, pardon, Your Highness. I forgot. You would never lower yourself to such levels.”
