Page 10 of A Court of Truth and Thorns
Alexa sobs.
“Rune,” Luca says after a moment, his voice strained like a bow as he breaks the silence. “You healed Kalianna. I heard you say it. What do you want in return for healing this child as well?”
My heart tightens.
“I can’t heal her,” Trace replies.
Luca is on his feet in an instant. “Because she does nothing for your cock?” He spins to me. “What did you do for him toearna healing?”
One moment I’m sitting against cold stone and the next I’m on my feet, my fist swinging hard into Luca’s jaw.
7
KALI
Luca’s head jerks back, a bit of blood trickling from his lip. His eyes flash, his right hand cocking over his shoulder, the knuckles aimed at my lip.
I throw up my arms and—
A pair of hands grips me from behind, wiry arms hauling me away as Trace tackles Luca to the ground. I struggle to join them.
“Stop, Kal,” Wil’s voice commands in my ear.
I let my hands drop slowly, my body shaking. My breaths come in short, heaving bursts.
In front of us, Trace now straddles Luca, pinning down the man’s wrists. “You don’t raise a hand to her,” Trace shouts into Luca’s face. “Or I will rip your eyes out myself and feed them to the hogs. Understand?”
“She did strike him first,” Calvin points out, staying well away from the fray.
Trace twists toward the older man. “And you think that makes it all right?”
“I think none of this is all right, Prince Rune,” Calvin answers calmly. “Starting with the fact that, of the seven escaped survivors of the coup, one is blazing with fever and three are brawling like cats in heat. If you might kindly release Master Luca and explain why you will not heal the child, I believe we would all value the insight. I presume that healing does not, in fact, have anything to do with the patient’s desire to procreate.”
Trace snarls once more at Luca, then jerks himself away and walks up to me. “Are you all right?” he asks, his fingers touching my elbow.
Wil wisely steps away.
“Of course not.” I wrap my arms around myself and glare at Luca, who is watching me warily, tugging his disheveled clothes back into place. “Trace can’t heal Jasmine because he used all the power of his only healing crystal to save my life after Viva Sylthia captured me. I understand that your preference would be different, but we can’t exactly change the past.”
“Captured by Viva?” Luca repeats.
“That’s what I just said. Is there a bloody echo?”
Trace touches my face, his eyes finding mine. “You don’t owe him a story,” he says softly.
“Like hells she doesn’t,” Luca says.
Calvin clears his throat. “Master Luca, what is it that has you so homicidal just now? The fact that an Everett prince concealing himself in King Firehorn’s personal guard decided against revealing his origins to you? Or that a scout followed that same king’s orders instead of telling you who she was?”
Luca’s jaw tightens. “They didn’t seem to have a problem sharing as much with each other.” He sighs and slides down the wall until he’s sitting on the ground, his head in his hands. “Bishop Bahir is a violent traitor who murdered my king. Thedead Prince Rune of Everett has been protecting Prince Wil, the son of Everett’s chief enemy. And the boy I’ve been training to fight is a girl who doesn’t need any guard training because she is a scout. I don’t bloody know up from down anymore.”
“You think that’s bad?” Wil says, settling beside Luca. “Try getting a throne and losing it in the same two minutes.”
Luca shuts his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Stars. Wil—”
“Don’t say it.” Wil’s words are clipped, his forearms resting on his bent knees. His gaze finds the ground, drilling into the hard-packed earth. The cave falls quiet for several heartbeats until a low sound from Wil’s throat rumbles through the air. A sound suspiciously close to laughter.
“Wil?” I say, feeling Trace’s heavy hand on my back.
