Page 195 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

Mary glares at me so furiously, I could expect her red hair to catch fire. “What you do withmy sisteris every inch my business.”

I don’t have the patience to deal with this. I get to my feet and point to the door. “Do you want to leave and let me tend Kat by myself?”

She shakes her head.

“Then work in silence.”

She bites her tongue, but she isn’t happy about it—and I don’t care. I lift Kat and carefully place her into the bathtub. Mary spreads a large towel across the top and begins the slow process of wriggling off her clothes. The shirt we have to cut off to avoid jostling the wound. Mary and I work in silence, me keeping Kat upright with one hand while gripping just above her wound with the other, Mary scrubbing the mud from her skin.

We get her wrapped in a clean robe just as Edvear knocks, announcing the doctor’s arrival. I don’t trust my own wound tending skills at a moment like this. When I carry Kat back into the bedroom, Pelarusa is still there.

“Out!” I jerk my head toward the door. “We will discuss this in a few minutes.”

She rolls her eyes and groans. “Why couldn’t I have been the firstborn?”

“Pelarusa,” I hiss.

With a huff, she storms out of the room. I lay Kat down on the bed, tilting her arm so the branch lies parallel to the bed instead of at an angle. The doctor comes to her side.

“What happened?” the doctor demands.

“That doesn’t matter,” I growl. “Just fix this. Mary, stay with her. Send for me if I’m needed.”

She takes up residence beside Kat, holding her good hand while the doctor begins cleaning around the wound. I march out of the room and shut the door.

Pelarusa is waiting right outside, her arms crossed over her chest. “Why did you bring her back here? You should have taken her directly to Lord and Lady Nothril!”

“She was half dead,” I reply coldly. “She wouldn’t have survived until judgment.”

“I don’tcareabout judgment!” Pelarusa snaps back. “I care about not feeling like I’m constantly choking in this air! If you’d taken her directly there, I wouldn’t have had to come.”

I walk past her, not even realizing where I’m going until I end up in the parlor. Lord Oliver and Lady Duxbury Vandermore both shove to their feet. I immediately slam the door in their faces and march to the nearest unoccupied room. I pull a bench over to the empty fireplace and drop into it. “Well, that would have been a mercy for both of us, wouldn’t it?”

Pelarusa crosses her arms over her chest. “I can’t go back without her.”

“You won’t,” I say dully. “We will move the Ivy Mask once she is well enough to be moved.”

“Don’t youdaretry to find a way to get her free of justice! You know Pavi’s life is on the line.”

My fingers curl around the edge of the bench. “I will not allow Pavi to die. Tell Edvear you want a more comfortable room. He’ll get you whatever you need.”

“You have been insufferable ever since you received this post!” She slams the door behind her.

I listen to her footsteps as she leaves. Then, as the silence swarms and surrounds me, I bury my face in my hands and groan.

What am I going to do?

Chapter 64

Kat

Anxiousvoiceshoveraboveme. I try to open my eyes, but they are sealed shut. Frustration burns inside my chest. It’s like my ears are fogged too, and I cannot understand what is being said.

I fall back into blackness.

The next time my awareness surfaces, all is quiet. I breathe through my nose and wriggle my tongue. A familiar scent I cannot name caresses over me. A dull throb pulses from my arm. I try to touch it, but something restrains me. I pry my eyes open, blinking against the candlelight, and inspect what holds me in place.

I’m not expecting to see my wrist tied to the bedpost.

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