Curse of Blades (Blades #1)

Chapter 23

[Note: This was originally included in Curse of Blades: Book 2, but as of July 28th, 2021, I began combining the 3 Curse of Blades books into a single one.]

Myri was on her way to Coulta's room at dawn when she nearly collided with Prince-General Rohan. The man was wearing his uniform as usual, but it was dirty and rumpled and he looked tired.

"Were you going to see Coulta?" he asked when she apologized with a curtsy.

"I am," she answered. "He woke up at midday yesterday and he's recovering. Did you need to talk to him?"

He shook his head. "I need to speak to my brother. I thought he might be visiting Coulta."

Myri also had a feeling that was exactly where they would find Wildas, but she hoped they had listened to her. "He might be," was all she said.

"I'll walk with you," he offered.

She nodded and continued on her way with him beside her. He was quiet company, not flirting or flattering her like the few times she'd interacted with him. She could tell he was exhausted, but it probably wouldn't do for her to try telling him to rest, she speculated.

"Wait out here," she instructed when they reached Coulta's guarded door. "If he's in there, I'll send him out. If he's not, I'll come tell you."

Rohan didn't seem to mind being ordered around by her, just thanked her and leaned against the wall.

She slipped inside and sighed as she shut the door. Of course they hadn't listened to her. If she had been in a more pleasant mood, she would have tried to find the most amusing way to wake them up, but she didn't think Rohan wanted to wait much longer.

"Do you ever listen to what healers tell you?" she demanded loudly as she roughly gathered the prince's discarded clothing. "Either of you?"

She marched to the side of the bed to find them both looking at her with more amusement than her chastisement should have gotten. She glared at them both, then threw the clothes in the prince's face. "Your brother is waiting in the hallway for you."

Wildas hurried to get out of bed, pulling the bed curtain closed on his side to hide himself from her. She just rolled her eyes.

Turning to Coulta she pointed a finger at him. "And you are going to wish you had died already. Twice as much of that tea for you, whether you actually need it or not. Now, let me make sure you didn't make your wound worse."

"It's not bleeding through," he stated as she sat on the nearby chair and began to remove the bandage. "I couldn't have made it worse. And I thought you said you wouldn't put extra effort into healing me."

She chose to ignore him, instead muttering, "Men. You're impossible. I can't trust you to let yourselves heal."

"Maybe you need to keep a closer watch on us," Wildas suggested, pulling on his shirt as he stepped around the bed.

She snorted, finally tossing the dirty bandage away and looking more closely at Coulta's wound. "I'm only one healer. I can't chase after the two of you like some concerned nursemaid."

"Nursemaid wasn't what I had in mind," he replied. "I thought wife would be better."

She turned to look at him, completely caught off guard. "You can't mean that. I'm not some rich lord's daughter."

He smiled and shook his head. "So far, both of the people I've asked to marry me seem to think I couldn't possibly choose to marry them." He moved closer and gently grasped her hand. "I'm horrible at following instructions from healers, and I'm sure I'll be terrible as a husband, but I trust you and I count you as a friend. I would rather have friends than strangers of my father's choosing. I understand if you don't want it, though. It's your choice."