Page 17 of The Throne's Undoing

With an exasperated eye roll, Ellie placed her bag behind her, ignoring him.

Emmett let out a frustrated groan and flopped back onto the ground, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Shaking his head, Graeson gently patted the damp cloth against the back of Kalisandre's scalp, cleaning the wound. Once satisfied that the wound wouldn't get infected, Graeson set the rag aside and carefully readjusted Kalisandre. He leaned on his palms.

"Must she remain unconscious?" Medenia asked with a frown. "Why is she anyway? Hasn't she already been through enough?"

Before anyone else could respond, Dani mumbled, "Because she'll kill us when she finds out what we have done."

"Why take her in the first place then?" Medenia asked.

Graeson didn't need to raise his gaze to know Dani had turned to him. This was a question only he could answer.

He cracked his neck. "Taking her this way was not the original plan."

"You mean your intentions werenotto force the woman you claim to love unconscious and drag her across the seven kingdoms unwillingly for thesecondtime in the past year?" Ellie remarked, leaning against one side of the cave.

Graeson rolled his hand into a fist, an ember of anger growing into a spark inside him as the god stirred. "It's more complicated than that, and you know it."

Ellie eyed him quizzically as if she could hear the god's voice rearing its ugly head.

Graeson forced himself to look away from her when Medenia asked, "So, how long must she remain passed out?"

"Until she is ready," Terin answered with a sigh.

Medenia tilted her head in response. "What do you mean until she is ready? Ready for what?"

Terin rubbed his palms over his eyes in exasperation. "The last time I put her to sleep, it was easy to keep her unconscious. But this time? She's been fighting me almost every step of the way. If I release her completely, she will fight us."

"Are you sure?" Medenia raised a brow.

"Unfortunately, yes," Terin said. "Even if I wasn't, I do not think it is worth the risk. Not yet."

"How long can she remain like this then?" Ellie asked as she unfastened the leather strap that wrapped around her torso and held a series of throwing knives. As she placed it on the ground, the small weapons clattered together. "What's the longest you've kept anyone unconscious?"

Terin was quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the rough contours of the cave's ceiling. Although the evening was fast approaching, Graeson could still see the faint purple hue around Terin's eyes and the tiny web of green veins in the dim light.

"Two days," Terin whispered.

"Twodays?" Ellie repeated in shock.

Terin cleared his throat and shrugged a shoulder. "Well,almosttwo days. When we were on the ship back to Pontia, Kallie hadn't handled the sea sickness well. I helped her sleep through a good portion of the trip."

"Was her mental state impacted because of that?" Medenia asked.

"She was slightly disoriented when she awoke but fine overall," Terin said.

"Is it safe to keep someone knocked out for so long?"

Dani shifted against the wall and said, "A couple of years ago, I suffered a major injury during a mission in Kadia. I was unconscious for a couple of weeks. My mind was intact, but it was my body that suffered the worst. Being dormant for so long made my muscles weak." Dani shrugged. "Whether or not it is safe is debatable, but I managed."

"What's the worst-case scenario then?" Ellie asked as she inspected one of her throwing knives. She ran a long finger over the blade as she pursed her lips.

"The worst case?" Terin's gaze flicked to Graeson.

Ellie twisted the knife and nodded. "We have about a week's journey ahead of us. What if she must remain unconscious for the remainder of the trip?" She raised her head and swept her gaze around the room. She cocked a brow. "Or do you expect her to go along with being capturedagainif you release her in a day or two?"

The muscles in Graeson's jaw ticked at the remark.

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