Page 41 of Spirit Rites
Kaldar is at my bedside a moment later. “How’s your arm?”
“I don’t feel any pain. Did they cut it off?” He frowns at me.
“What are you babbling about?” Harper asks, coming to stand on the other side of the bed.
“My arm. I don’t feel any pain, and I’m too scared to look. Is it still there?”
Harper rolls her eyes. “You are so dramatic. Yes, your arm is there.”
“Is it black?” I can’t help but ask. “Or charred?”
“You know, I would ask you if you hit your head, but this is normal behavior. Your arm is fine; you can look at it. Your head, not so much. It needs serious examining,” Harper says dryly.
I finally look at my arm, relieved to find it intact and whole. The skin is red, but it isn’t black so I’ll take it. “How do I even still have an arm? Not that I’m not grateful.”
Harper glances at Kaldar and then back at me. “I don’t know,” she says softly.
“The guivre’s fire only brushed your arm; it didn’t make direct contact. If it had...”
He doesn’t have to say anymore for me to understand. I think of what happened to Arielle, and my stomach feels sick. “I’m sorry about Arielle,” I say quietly. Kaldar gives me a tight nod.
“Thank you. I have business to attend to. My cousin is coming to help you get settled and show you around. If you need me, she’ll know where to find me.”
Kaldar is gone a moment later, and I'm left to stare after him. I glance at Harper who’s scowling in the direction he just went. “What?” I ask warily.
“Just trying to decide if we made a monumental mistake coming here.”
“We didn’t.” I push myself off the bed and take stock of how I feel. Surprisingly, I feel fine. I hold my arm up and examine it.
“They put some kind of substance on it to stop the burning. The woman did say it will eventually wear off, and you would need more,” Harper explains.
I take that in. “Okay. Good to know. So, what else did I miss?”
“Oh, nothing much, just a certain King losing his cool when you got hurt.”
I frown. “That doesn’t sound like Kaldar.”
“Denial doesn’t become you,” Harper says pointedly.
I sigh and don’t argue with her. “So, what happens next?”
“How should I know?”
I take in the room we’re in. It’s nice but simple. The wood floors are clean, and the bed is made with white linens. Several windows let in the sunlight as well as a light breeze. I walk over to one of the windows and look out, catching my breath as I do. There’s water everywhere. “We’re out in the middle of the water?” I can’t keep the panic out of my voice.
“About that,” Harper starts. “This whole kingdom is like built over the water.”
My eyes widen, and suddenly, I don’t want to be stuck inside anymore. “I want to go out and check it out.”
Harper takes in my expression like she knows she’s not going to win. “Okay, just...it’s a lot.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll see.”
With those ominous words, I walk out of the room we’re in and walk down a short hallway to where it opens up into the living room. I take in the details briefly as I head towards the open door. There are windows everywhere letting in a warm breeze beckoning me outside. I step through the sheer netting of sorts in the doorway and out onto a wooden walkway and look around in awe. Everywhere I look, there are houses like this one, built right over the water. I take a few steps forward and stop at the white railing that obviously is to keep people from falling in. The wooden walkway I’m standing on connects every house and stretches further than I can see. The water laps against the wood poles that the houses are raised up on. I’m standing directly in the middle of all the houses; at least it looks that way. A forest of trees make up the borders on both sides. If I understand the layout right, Kaldar’s house is right in the middle with the walkway splintering off in both directions. I’m assuming it’s Kaldar’s house that I woke up in; I’ll have to ask for sure.
“See what I mean?” Harper asks, leaning her elbows on the small ledge made by the white railing.
