Keeper (First Ordinance #2)(76)

"Of course, my King."

*

Quin

Justis was frowning when he walked into the Library after landing on the terrace outside. Berel and I were already working on our interview, but I looked up to watch Justis walk toward us.

What I saw sent frozen fear through my heart. "Quin, I wish to speak with you. Alone," Justis snapped.

"All right." I struggled to keep my voice even. The place for that, it appeared, was my old bedroom down the hall. I hadn't been inside it for a long time—since before I'd traveled to Fyris, in fact.

Justis shut the door behind us before turning on me. "What in the name of Liron did you do to my brother?" he hissed.

"What?"

"When you healed him," Justis went on. Every muscle in his body was tense while anger washed across his features. "My brother is gone—replaced by—by—I have no idea who that is I just spoke with."

I didn't want to say that Jurris was rational. Reasonable. That would only anger Justis more. "The only thing I did was save his life," I said, crossing arms defensively over my chest to keep my hands from trembling.

"You did something," Justis accused. "He hasn't been the same since that night."

What good would it have done to point out that Jurris no longer had Halthea pouring poison in his ear?

"I saved him for you," I quavered. "Because you love him. That's all I did—I healed his injuries. That's all. I swear."

It didn't help that the Orb chose that moment to appear, when it had been absent for days. It floated above my head, its light bright and pulsing, forcing Justis to back away. "What power do you have over that Liron-forsaken thing?" Justis demanded, shielding his eyes with a hand.

"I have no power over it," I unfolded my arms and brushed tears away with trembling fingers. "I have no idea why it does as it will."

Justis cursed, then, before flinging the door open and stalking away. I knew the moment he reached the Library terrace, he would take flight.

Like words that couldn't be called back, once they were spoken, Justis was just as irretrievable.

*

"I'm sorry Quin isn't here to greet you," Kaldill apologized to Willow. "There was an unfortunate incident earlier and she's, well, she's not herself."

"What happened?" Willow set two covered cages on the Library floor.

"Quin is an extraordinary healer," Kaldill sighed. "She recently healed the King. Before that, I'd have said that the Avii King was somewhat affected, shall we say, by his parentage. His father was what I'd term a sociopath."

"You believe Quin healed that in him, too? That would be incredible," Willow shook his head.

"It's possible. Now Justis, the King's half-brother and Commander of the black-wing guard, is accusing Quin of tampering with his brother. Can it be tampering if you heal a genetic aberration?"

"An unusual question," Willow nodded. "Not so easily answered. Do you believe lives may have been saved?"

"At least one," Kaldill said. "Perhaps the entire Avii population as well."

"Then why quibble?"

"I'm not the one quibbling."

*

Quin

If Daragar and Berel sat any closer, I'd be squeezed between them. Writing an interview now was out of the question—I was too upset by Justis' accusations. We were inside Berel's suite—I had no desire to go back to the bedroom in Justis' suite.

Ever.

A small part of my mind worried, though—had I affected Jurris' actions and decisions? I couldn't see that anyone was harmed by it if I had. In fact, lives had probably been saved, Ardis' first among them.

Omina, on the other hand; when I healed her, she hadn't been affected in that way. She'd retained her prejudices. She'd died for them, too.

A part of me blamed myself. Another part of me blamed Justis, for being unreasonable.

"People change for all sorts of reasons," Berel huffed. "If I read this correctly, this is a change for the better and not for the worse. Why is he complaining?"

"It doesn't matter," I shut my eyes and leaned my head against Berel's headboard. "I'm moving out of his suite."

"I will move your things to Kaldill's suite, if that is your wish," Daragar said softly.

"It is my wish," I said, keeping my eyes closed. What I feared most, I think, was that Justis, who told his brother everything, would tell him that he'd been tampered with, when that had been neither my intention nor my purpose. I'd only wanted to heal Jurris because Justis cared for him.

He'd told him about Halthea. About Treven and Yevil, too. For the first time, Jurris would be a father. Why was it so impossible for Justis to imagine that his brother might be changed by that?

"Berel, we have to write the interview," I sighed and opened my eyes. "No matter how upset I am, that's more important."

"Want to stay here or go to the Library?" Berel asked.

"I suppose the Library. Kaldill said Queen Lissa was sending somebody to help. He's probably already here."

"Are you hungry?" Berel asked. "It's midday. We can eat and write." His stomach growled, telling me how hungry he was.