Curse of Blades (Blades #1)

Chapter 24

[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.]

It was late morning by the time Anil made it into the castle and remembered where Coulta's new room was. There were two uniformed guards outside the door, and Anil wondered why they were there. Of course Coulta wouldn't be able to fend off any attackers if he was injured, but why was anyone bothering to guard him? She didn't think being a protector of the Crown Prince really made him important enough for guards.

"May I visit him?" she asked one of the guards.

The man nodded to her. "I will see if he would like to see you. What is your name?"

As soon as she gave her name, the guard slipped into the room, closing the door all but a crack. She could just barely make out the quiet sound of voices, but not what was said. A moment later, the man returned and held the door open. "He will see you."

"Thank you," Anil said as she stepped inside.

Coulta didn't look as unwell as she had expected. Aside from the bandage over his left shoulder and the fact that he was sitting in bed, she wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with him.

"Have you spoken to Wildas?" he asked as she approached the bed.

"No, but his brother told me a little of what happened. The one in charge of the Guard." She sat down on the chair beside the bed. "I didn't expect your room to be guarded."

"Wildas ordered it. They found a list of people Varin wants to have killed, and I'm on it for turning against him." He tossed the book that had been on his lap onto the other side of the bed, where the blankets were rumpled. Apparently he wasn't in so much pain that he didn't move in his sleep.

"That makes sense," she supposed.

"Could you come here for dinner?" he asked, giving her a look she couldn't read.

She nodded. "If you'd like."

He smiled. "Yes. How is Quiver?"

It was so strange to see him smile, and she was caught for a moment thinking that he should do it more often. Even scruffy and wounded, it made him look good. He gave her a curious look when she took a moment to answer, and she felt herself blush.

"I don't see him much," she explained, trying to hide her sudden awkwardness. "I did see him this morning when I went to visit my Starlight. He seemed well, and let me pet him for a while."

That made Coulta smile again. "I'm glad he wasn't hurt when we were attacked."

"What happened?" she asked, looking at his bandaged shoulder. "I wasn't told much."

"We went riding outside the city," he explained, leaning back against the pillows piled behind him. "Wildas, Shelton, Rohan, and some other Guardsmen were with me. At the end of the day, three archers started shooting at Wildas. The curse made me use too much magic to protect him before Shelton could help, and it almost drained me. The arrow wound wasn't as bad as the fact that I used too much magic. Though, the arrow was poisoned, but Shelton was able to draw it out."

Anil tried not to cringe at the thought of what the poison could have done to him. Surely it would have been a swift killing poison, not the torturous kind. "And Myri has been healing you?"

"Much to her frustration," he replied with what might actually have been a laugh.

Had Myri given him some sort of herb with more than healing effects? "What do you mean?"