Ever the Brave (A Clash of Kingdoms Novel)(83)

I move my tunic away from my body and start to fan myself harder. My ribs twinge, complaining at the movement, but it’s too hot to stop. Lirra shoots me a look that says, Sit still, idiot.

“Why haven’t you told her we saved her daughter?” I whisper.

“I haven’t had the time. Be patient. Stop squirming.”

Easy for her to say. Perspiration pools on my upper lip.

“. . . we will heal him. It is our way. Do good, never harm,” Yasmin is saying, only the heat is too much. I wipe the sweat off my brow and neck. Consider running outside into the snow that piled up from last night’s storm.

“Cohen, what are you—” Lirra jumps up to stand in front of me. Her arms lift and a breeze swirls around me, taking the edge off the heat.

“Seeva.” Katallia’s tone scolds. “Cease. You won’t have enough energy for the healing.”

Instantly, the heat disappears. I turn to Seeva, anger brimming as my body cools. She just did something to my body temperature.

“Oh, Seev.” Torima’s singsong voice sounds more like she’s talking to a small child instead of a woman who just tried to boil my insides. “We’re here to assist. Come, let’s find the captain before you use up all your energy on the hunter.”

“We can help you, or we can hurt you. Remember that” is all the fire Channeler says before exiting the room. No apology for trying to turn me into a loaf of bread. Nothing.

“Look, I don’t appreciate you trying to bake me,” I yell after her, furious. “I saved your daughter. A little gratitude would be nice.”

Seeva appears in the doorway. “You saved Rhea?” Her voice is a sliver of what it was before.

I nod.

I don’t need to speak because Lirra launches into a rapid explanation of what happened in Shaerdan, and how Rhea was dropped off at Jacinda’s home. While Lirra talks, the muscles in Seeva’s face shift to something softer. Kinder.

“For that, I am grateful,” Seeva says, once the story is concluded, her tone void of ire. “I will help your captain. And, as you’ve so nicely put it, stop trying to bake you.”

Seeva turns and disappears. She doesn’t offer an apology, but I don’t expect one. I’m no stranger to pride, having buckets of my own.

Lirra gets up, and when she returns, she has a waterskin. “Drink this; you’ll need to replenish yourself.”

Leif stands. “Guess you learned your lesson.” He chuckles, shakes his head, and follows the women to Omar’s room.

If my body wasn’t broken, I’d punch him.

But Leif’s right. Lesson learned. I won’t underestimate Seeva’s power or that of any of the women in the Guild again. I reach Omar’s room and squeeze in alongside Leif, Lirra, and the Channelers.

The women gather around the bed, and each one touches Omar in a different place. Katallia’s palm covers the man’s mouth, Yasmin’s fingers touch Omar’s collarbone, Torima’s hand rests below his navel, and Seeva’s holds his head.

Their heads dip, except for Seeva, whose mouth opens as she looks toward the ceiling. “Gods of old, grant us the energy to give this man, that he might walk again in this world.”

Then her head bows and the women begin a collective chant.

Never having witnessed anything like this, I stand there, mesmerized.

A cough breaks their words. The women step back, and Omar hacks again. His eyes crack open. He looks as hazed as a tavern rat, but it’s one of the best looks I’ve seen on him in a while.

Relief has me rushing forward, reaching for the man’s arm with my good one, verifying he’s alive even though his skin burns under my touch. “Thought we were going to lose you.”

Leif is slack-jawed. “Praise the gods, you’re going to live.”

Omar takes a labored breath. “Not . . . so . . . sure . . . yet.”

“He’ll need a couple more days.” Katallia sounds drained. “We each used our gifts. Pushed air in and out of his lungs and into his blood. Moved his blood faster through his body. Encouraged the bone to re-knit, and raised his body temperature to fight the infection.”

“We don’t have a couple more days,” I say. “We have to get to Brentyn.”

She taps Omar’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but he needs time. While we can encourage his body to make those changes, we don’t have the energy to replenish what he’s lost.”

“Like a Spiriter would?” When Britta healed me, it was instant. Figured their healing would be the same for Omar.

“You know about Spiriters?”

Behind Katallia, all eyes of the others shift to me.

“Well, yeah. Been tracking one for the last six weeks before this mess.”

“You’ve been hunting Channelers?” Seeva steps forward.

I move back. No shame in that. “Hold on, we’re after the same person. You want the people who are kidnapping your girls. I’m pretty sure one of those people is a woman who goes by the name Phelia. She’s a Spiriter who was working for the high lord of Malam to control the king.”

Seeva’s eyes narrow to slits. “You lie.”

“It’s true. Ask the captain. There was an attack on King Aodren a couple of weeks back by the very same Spiriter. The king saw girls with her at the time of the attack. And before that, Phelia bound the king’s energy to her own so she could control him.”