Page 50 of The Elven Healer's Apprentice

“Were you trained by Casimir?” I asked.

He nodded. “All of Illeron’s elves are.”

“Have you met his wife?”

His features lightened into an affectionate smile. “She is the best human I have ever met.”

I had seen that smile on many a face after they had met Casimir’s warm and genuine wife. “That is a bit how I feel about Adela.” I regretted all of those times I had harassed Cas about his attachment to Veta. I now understood how he felt.

“She is your fated mate?” Vicre’s eyes widened, making me wonder at his age. He suddenly struck me as very young. Meanwhile, when had I grown so old, so cynical?

“Yes.” Admitting it felt strangely good. As though letting out a relaxing sigh after a difficult procedure, a release of pent-up tension. “But don’t mention it to her yet.”

“You haven’t told her?”

I nodded. “I did, but I am not pushing. The concept can be scary to humans.” Particularly humans who had been abused. I groaned inwardly. She needed to trust me for the concept of being joined to me for the rest of her life not to horrify her.

Abruptly, Vicre’s head came up. “That was the signal.” He caught my shoulder, and we stepped together out of the shadows and into a familiar room.

If the heavy herbal scent combined with stale moisture in the air was not enough, the sensation of herbs hanging from the low ceiling brushing my hair confirmed it. We were in Adela’s old chamber.

Vicre muttered the charm for light, and a sphere appeared above our heads among the dried and possibly moldy plants. “What the—?” he exclaimed, shoving some of them aside.

“Adela was a healer before we met, and this was her room,” I explained. Scanning the back wall, I noted the empty pallet. Where was she?

A soft moan near my feet drew my attention down to the floor. “Adela.” I sank to my knees. The tang of blood in the air intensified when I found the side of her neck.

“Looks like she fell and struck her head on the brazier,” Vicre observed.

I preoccupied myself with finding her pulse. It was there. A quick assessment of her limbs and I verified she had no broken bones.

“Can we move her?”

“Yes.”

A second elf melted out of the shadows. I reluctantly allowed him to pick her up. Once she was in his arms, I adjusted her arm around his shoulders, so it didn’t hang awkwardly.

“Someone is coming,” Vicre warned.

He grabbed my shoulder and the two of us stepped through to the shadow lands. The other elf followed us.

“Where to?” the new arrival asked.

“My compound,” I instructed. Adela needed immediate care. The fact she hadn’t awakened worried me. Bones and muscles were easy for me to repair. The workings of the brain were far from my expertise. I prayed her fall hadn’t done damage I couldn’t repair.

Illeron met us at the compound gate. “Your wards are broken. They aren’t letting me through.”

“I changed their parameters when Adela was taken.” I motioned for the elf carrying Adela to halt. He handed her over easily enough. Just having her in my arms calmed some of my panic.

The instant our skin touched, my senses enhanced. Illeron’s breath smelled of garlic and onion, probably a remainder from his last meal, and I jumped when Vicre adjusted Adela’s arm much as I had earlier.

Closing my eyes, I initialized my connection with my magic and adjusted the wards to allow the king entrance. Emrys would be irritated if he arrived to find himself banned by my wards. He might even break them just to annoy me.

That done, I headed straight for the infirmary. To my surprise, Illeron followed immediately behind me as his shadow elves disappeared into the shadows.

“How bad is she?” he inquired when he hastened his steps to pass me and hold the infirmary door open.

“I had no time to assess, but Vicre said they probably beat her before locking her up in that room. I smelled blood on her when I found her. I didn’t have time to ascertain how much of it was hers.”

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