Page 85 of Once the Skies Fade

Nodding, I started to turn for the door but stopped. “You don’t happen to have anything to help with this pounding headache, do you?”

“Of course,” Ami said, but she directed Jocelyn to go and fetch it for me. “You may find you don’t heal quite as quickly as usual.”

“You mean the poison’s still lingering?” I asked, genuinely curious how it worked.

“Not really, no. More like the poison damaged your body’s ability to heal.”

“Permanently?” I asked. This was certainly going to make the remaining trials—let alone the rest of my military life—more dangerous.

Ami pursed her lips as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to answer, but finally said, “We aren’t sure, to be honest.”

“Well, can’t expect you to have all the answers, I suppose. What should I tell the general about…” I waved my hand in Korben’s direction.

“The truth usually works nicely,” Ami said just as Jocelyn returned holding out a small leather pouch.

“Dissolve this in water and take as needed for the pain,” she explained. “Also maybe see about getting some ice for that nose of yours. It’s not broken, but you won’t be pretty again until that swelling goes down.”

Angling my head toward my shoulder, I grimaced as if I’d just tasted something bitter. “Are you saying I’m not pretty anymore, Jocelyn?”

She lifted a hand to my cheek and patted it tenderly. “You’ve had better days.”

The healer hadn’t been lying about the delayed healing. With the wound on my leg burning, my head throbbing, and my face and ear aching—not to mention my body being utterly exhaustedfrom my ordeal with Korben—it took me an embarrassingly long time just to reach the second floor of the castle. Why did Isa’s office have to be on the fourth?

My lungs screamed at me to stop and rest, so I turned the corner to lean against the wall, trying to look casual as I gave my body time before continuing the rest of the way. Thankfully none of my other five competitors came by, and the few staff members I met averted their eyes and scurried past me without a word.

I’m the fucking leader of the Emeryn army, and I’m here holding up the wall.

What the hell is this competition doing to me?

Fuck this. I can rest once I get to my room. Find Isa, then go lie down.

Pushing away from the wall, I pivoted back around the corner, only to collide with someone who had just ran up the stairs. She backed away immediately, nearly falling down them, but I caught her by the shoulders.

“Watch where you’re go—” she barked out, stopping herself when her brown eyes met mine. The fiery irritation in her features vanished. “Oh, General Orelian. I didn’t see you there.”

“I hope not, or it might make things awkward when I win this tournament,” I said, giving a half-hearted smirk.

She angled her head slightly. “Awkward how?”

“You throwing yourself at me like that could make Her Majesty jealous.”

Isa scoffed. “She’d have to witness it to be jealous.”

I pressed my hand to my chest. “But my conscience would not allow me to keep such a secret from my bride.”

That last word tasted wrong on my tongue, but it was worth it for how perturbed the general became, gazing up at the ceiling and sighing.

“I really should be going,” she said, attempting to skirt around me. But I moved out of her way at the same moment, inadvertently stepping into her path.

I bowed my head in apology and shifted away from her. She rushed past me, seemingly careful to give me a wide berth. She was halfway up the next flight of stairs when I suddenly remembered I’d actually been looking for her. Maybe that poison messed with more than just my healing abilities.

Or maybe I’m just tired.

Either way, I needed to stop the general before she got further away and forced me to climb more stairs.

“General!” I called out, doing my best to hide my limp as I hobbled over to the center of the staircase and looked up at her.

She glanced over her shoulder at me, but didn’t fully turn as she raised a brow. “Yes?”

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