The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer #1)(35)

She was going to make it. She was going to beat the odds, to succeed against the first Ordeal. Triumph raged within her. She could almost feel the solid wall beneath her, could almost taste the victory.

But then she was falling.

So close—she was so close. If only she could reach out and grab hold of the edge, then she’d be able to—

It was too late.

She was already plummeting, down, down, down to the earth.

It’s all right. Everything will be all right.

Her father’s voice echoed in her ears, and this time she didn’t push it away. She wanted him with her as she fell, needed his comfort as she met her end.

It’s all right. Everything will be all right.

Kiva closed her eyes, unwilling to watch the inevitable play out. She kept them closed and thought of her father, of what happened the day her life was taken from her. She’d been on borrowed time for ten years, and today that time had come to an end.

It’s all right. Everything will be all right.

Suddenly, the whoosh in her ears stopped, the icy wind disappeared, and then—

Pain.

Blinding, overwhelming pain lanced through every inch of Kiva’s body.

And then she knew no more.





Chapter Twelve


“It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”

Kiva didn’t let go of her father’s hand as the Royal Guard surrounded them, nor did she release her brother’s hand on her other side. The sweet aroma of jerriberries teased her nostrils as the nearest soldiers trampled the basket she and Kerrin had collected, all of their hard work squashed into the mud. Their mother wouldn’t be making her jam tonight, not anymore.

“Faran Meridan, you’re under arrest,” declared the guard who had stopped directly in front of Kiva’s father. He had a kind face, Kiva thought, so she couldn’t understand why he looked so angry. The golden crest over his heart was different from those of the other soldiers, all of whom bore only a silver emblem.

“For what crime?” Faran demanded.

Kiva looked up at her father, hearing a strange emotion in his voice. It was like when she and Kerrin had played in the river last summer and tried to see who could swim the deepest and hold their breath the longest. Kiva had won by far, but when she’d returned to the surface, her father had been shaking and told her to never stay underwater for so long ever again.

That same tone was in his voice now, his trembling hand clutching hers as if to steady them both.

She gripped him tighter, letting him know she was there. When the soldiers had poured down from their cottage to surround them, he’d said everything would be all right. Kiva believed him, knowing he would never lie to her.

“You were spotted in the marketplace with a known rebel,” the gold-crested guard answered. “You’re to be imprisoned for suspected treason against the crown.”

For a long moment, Kiva’s father appeared unable to speak, his face as white as the moon slowly rising overhead.

“I— You—” Faran squared his shoulders and tried again. “The marketplace is full of people. I could have brushed shoulders with any number of rebels without knowing. I could have treated them, for all I know. I’m a healer—people come to me from all walks of life, and I don’t ask questions before helping them.”

“Maybe you should,” the guard said emotionlessly. “Step away from your children and come willingly, or we’ll take you by force.”

Faran’s grip turned crushing. A squeak of fear left Kiva, and a louder gasp came from her brother. She turned to Kerrin, seeing the silver jerriberry smears around his mouth and his widened emerald eyes, the exact same shade as hers. He was trembling beside her, and despite her father’s grip beginning to hurt, she was careful to give her younger brother’s sticky fingers a gentle, calming squeeze.

“I’m not— You can’t take me from my family,” Faran said.

“The rest of your family has already fled,” the guard said, pointing an armored hand up the hill to the cottage where Kiva’s mother and older siblings had last been. Smoke was beginning to curl from their home, a flickering orange glow bleeding from the windows into the night. “You should thank the everworld that we want you badly enough not to chase them, or they’d be heading to Zalindov with you.”

“Zalindov?” Faran swayed on his feet, prompting Kiva to strengthen her hold on him, their palms slick with sweat despite the wintry air. “You can’t—You can’t send me to—”

“Enough,” the gold-crested guard interrupted. He looked toward the two nearest soldiers and ordered, “Take him.”

Those two clipped words loosened Kiva’s tongue—and her panic.

“No!” she cried, holding her father even tighter.

“Papa!” Kerrin screamed.

The soldiers raised their drawn swords and marched forward, closing the space between them. Faran wrenched his hand from Kiva, shoving her away with enough force that she went back three steps before losing her balance and falling to the ground.

Kerrin should have fallen with her, but his berry-slicked fingers slipped from hers as he leapt away—not toward their father, but to the dagger Faran had been using to cut his supply of aloeweed.

“KERRIN! DON’T!” Kiva yelled.