Open mouthed I observed as Karmuth’s eyes closed and his head fell back while his hands formed fists at his sides. Then he ran a hand over his face, looking pained while doing so.

“May I see her?” he finally asked.

Drek gave a curt nod and crossed the living room to the door which I knew held the other fae behind it. She hadn’t come out during the whole exchange. There must’ve been something seriously wrong with her.

The door opened to a small bedroom. A woman laid on the bed, hair black as night but skin so pale, she was almost see-through. Her arm twitched as if to raise it in greeting, but it didn’t move any more than that.

“I would sit up and greet you properly, my princess, but I stopped being able to do that a week ago,” Ronya said, her soft voice but a whisper. Her grey eyes held warmth I didn’t think death fae possessed, and despite her words she smiled at me before looking at Karmuth. “It’s always nice to see you, Kar. I’m sorry about the circumstances.”

“Not your doing, Ro.” Karmuth’s face softened, too.

She chided, “Don’t look like that. It’s my time to go; you can’t fix everything. Drek will see it soon, too.”

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, unable to keep quiet. She barely moved, and her chest rose and fell with difficulty as if held by a mountain on top. The only responsive part of her was her face, and the twitching hands if you could call that a response.

“Hilitris is a sickness attacking the ecos of a fae. It’s most common in us since we’re unable to freely feed,” Ronya explained softly. She didn’t ask me how old I was, nor how I had not heard about it before, just accepted it as a fact. I liked her.

Her simple acceptance made it easier to keep asking questions. “Is there a cure?”

She shook her head, if you could call it that at all. A slight movement, rather than a full shake. “You can’t help me, Princess.”

She’d also accepted death by the sound of it. “Drek seemed to think there was something he could do? Can King Grath help you?”

“He’s not going to. I matter little to the big scheme of things.”

“You don’t know that!” Drek intercepted. “I have to do something, Ronya. Don’t you understand?”

The couple kept on arguing, but it sounded like something they’d talked about before. I looked to Karmuth for an explanation.

His lips were pressed tight, a faraway look in his eyes. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. This family meant something to him. He wanted to protect them, and he was made to choose between me and what he held dear.

“What could Grath do? If he chose to,” I asked. I had to know if the punishment that surely awaited me if he was to find out what I’d done was worth a woman’s life. I had to know.

“It takes an immense amount of life force to restore someone sick with hilitris, Isay,” Karmuth said quietly.

Already before I’d decided to help Ronya my stomach dropped. A despair hollowed out my insides making room for numb admission. Grath couldn’t help this woman, or even if he could, Ronya was right in saying that he wouldn’t. But I could.

Karmuth must’ve seen the resolve on my face, because he kept me back. “No, Isay. You don’t know what will happen, you lost control the last time. It is not safe.”

At that moment, the rabbit decided to squeak.

“No,” I whispered. My ‘no’ was completely different from Karmuth’s. While his was wary, mine was filled with grief.

I knew what I had to do, but I was conflicted. We didn’t sacrifice one life for another. We did not make that decision. I’d already decided to kill a part of the forest today.

It was not my place to interfere with Ronya’s life, but the sombre atmosphere in the room broke through my defences. I knew that if I didn’t do something then Drek would go to King Grath and tell him whatever he thought happened in the forest, and me and Karmuth would have to answer for it. I also knew that if there was any other way to help, I would have. But there wasn’t, and I couldn’t.

So I did the only thing I was able to and placed the rabbit on Ronya’s chest, watched her eyes widen and hands twitch just enough to reach for the terrified animal, and then I watched the life of an innocent slip away and into the fae.

It had to be enough.

Chapter 12

KARMUTH

I WAS UNABLE TO STOP ISAY. PART OF ME KNEW THAT I SHOULD have tried harder, that whatever that darkness in her eyes meant would take a part of her away that I admired.

There was another part, one that wanted Drek to be happy, one that wanted Ronya to be healthy, and that part hoped that whatever Isay did undid the hilitris curse and gave my friends their lives back.

I couldn’t stay and see, however, because the moment Isay’s rabbit turned to ashes on Ronya’s bed sheets she rushed out of the room, shaking all over.

I found her in front of the house, barely staying on her feet as violent quavers pulled her toward the ground. I didn’t think then, I just acted out of instinct, and pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her.

She collapsed against me, letting me secure her in my embrace, letting me run my fingers through her hair, letting me whisper, “It’ll be okay,” over and over again in her ear.

While she was coming completely undone in my arms, I was burning up by her nearness. Her scent encompassed me fully, fresh and enticing despite our trek through the forest. Her hands that gripped at the fabric of my shirt scorched my back. The breath she let out in frantic puffs set fire to my shoulder her head rested against. I was completely ablaze.

The scalding heat of my hunger for her bit through my stomach, but I couldn’t do more than just hold her. I shouldn’t be doing even that much, but she deserved to know how much I appreciated her trying to help; how much it meant to me that she’d given up something she’d tried to save for someone I cared about.

She needed me to show her. Or perhaps I needed her to know. I needed it with the same intensity that I needed her, with the same burning.

Her heartbreaking cries quieted to soft whimpers as I held her.

She sniffed her nose and took a step away. I did not want to release her. Even through the burning, I wanted to keep her from escaping.

When I let her step away but kept my hands on her waist, she looked up at me with her tearstained eyes. “Karmuth, the ring burns. It hurts.”

As if struck by lightning, I let go of her and for good measure took my own step backward. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—I’m sorry.” That’s all that I managed.

What a brick! If anyone had seen us—It would’ve completely nullified the advantage wearing that ring gave her. Anyone but Drek and Ronya, that is, who were looking through their front window.

I’d deal with that later. She was on her feet, which was a good sign. It could help me win their silence.

“Are you okay?” I asked Isay.

She was studying her finger absently, the ring but a thin grey band around it. “It stopped right away.”

Not what I asked exactly, but I’ll take it. Women had their way of avoiding this question. Good to know it was the same in Elverstone as in Vindica. If she didn’t want to talk about it, so be it. We could avoid it. I gestured with my head toward the house instead. “It seems to have worked.”

I wanted to praise her quick thinking. I wanted to thank her, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react, so I kept quiet and let her gaze sweep over the window to see what I’d seen: Ronya on her feet.

Conflicting emotions played across her face, finally stopping at fear as she asked, “Will they talk?”

I shook my head. “I promise you.” I hoped she’d believe me.

Before she could further express her concerns, a guard came running from the tower. Had he come a minute earlier, he’d run in on us cuddling.

Drek stepped out of the house, ushering Ronya to stay inside. If anyone who knew about her sickness would find out she was miraculously healed, there would be some explaining to do. It was better to introduce her healing gradually.