Page 40 of Winter Queen
“Arc, now!” I hear from far away, but my ears are no longer working properly. Nothing is working. I can’t see, I can’t speak, and I definitely can’t breathe.
The black magic is burning me. I need to get away from it.
I draw further into myself, cowering in the cave my magic usually resides in. I can feel her fight against the intruders, but I’m not sure if she’s strong enough.
I’ll wait here.
And sleep.
I need to sleep.
So tired.
* * *
“She’s breathing again!”
“Finally!”
“Wyn, can you hear me?”
“Give her some space!”
I blink my eyes open, expecting darkness like earlier, but I can see again – and it’s no longer night. I’m not in the gardens anymore either.
“Ehm… where am I?” I groan, very aware that it’s the oldest question in the book.
“In the healing wing,” Arc answers.
I’m about to say that I’ve seen the healing quarters and that this room doesn’t look at all like it, when Arc grins and interrupts my unspoken protest.
“This is the Royal hospital room. You didn’t think the Queen or any of the Gods would lie on the general ward with the common Guardians?”
“That makes sense. Why was there a second Crispin?” I point at my blond healer who’s standing on my right, worry filling his eyes.
“Long story,” he sighs. “Maybe you should rest first. Your wound still isn’t healed completely.”
“My wound?”
He points at my throat.
“Don’t touch it. I put a dressing on it so it won’t get infected.”
I look at him in confusion. “You didn’t heal me?”
He cringes. “I tried. It was a Summer blade… I couldn’t do anything.” His shoulders begin to shake and Frost puts an arm around his shoulders.
“Not your fault, mate. Nobody can heal wounds inflicted by that knife.”
I frown. “So how am I alive and talking?”
“You healed yourself,” Crispin says quietly. “Your magic fought the Summer poison. When you stopped breathing though… We thought you’d gone back to the Library, but when you didn’t wake up, we knew that you hadn’t. Your heart was still beating though… I didn’t know what to do.”
He looks so lost, so full of despair, that I stretch out a hand and pull him onto the bed. Surprised by my sudden gesture, he trips and almost falls on top of me, but Storm manages to catch him just in time before he crushes me.
“Careful, don’t squash the Princess,” Storm says sternly but there’s a small laugh in his voice.
I laugh. “Did you just make a joke?”
