Page 112 of The Prison Healer

Because he had the power to save her.

So he did.

The real Prince Deverick—it wasJaren.

“No.”Kiva was unable to keep the exclamation from bursting out of her.

“I thought he told you,” Naari said quietly. “I thought you knew.”

Kiva shook her head. Shook it again. Kept shaking it, as if doing so would wipe away what she’d just discovered.

Jaren was a Vallentis.

His family was the reason her brother was dead, the reason she had been torn from her family and lost a whole decade of her life, the reason her father had died at the hands of a murdering psychopath in this hellhole.

You’re to be imprisoned for suspected treason against the crown.

The crown—theVallentiscrown.

Jaren’scrown.

He was the heir to the throne.

Thecrown prince.

And he’d lied to her.

For weeks.

Tears glittered in Kiva’s eyes. Naari reached for her, but she recoiled. Hurt splashed across the guard’s face, but Kiva was struggling too much with her internal war to feel any remorse.

“Why is hehere?” she rasped out.

He was the Prince of Evalon—why was he masquerading as a prisoner at Zalindov? Why was he risking his life down in the tunnels day after day? Why didn’t anyone but Naari know?

“I can’t tell you that,” the guard answered. When Kiva opened her mouth to object, Naari quickly added, “I’m sorry, I swore an oath. But he’ll tell you. He will. He’ll explain everything, Kiva, as soon as he’s able to.”

“You swore an oath?” Kiva repeated. Her vision was blurry, the tears threatening to fall. She remembered what the guard had said, how she seemed to believe that the king and queen would listen to her. Even before that—weeks ago, she’d been surprised to learn that Princess Mirryn was in a relationship, as if she should have already known. “Whoareyou?” Kiva demanded.

Naari’s gaze was steady on hers. “I’m Jaren’s Golden Shield.”

Golden Shield—the highest position of honor for a guard. For aRoyalGuard.

I was protecting someone I care about,Naari had said when Kiva asked how she’d lost her hand.They made sure I was taken care of afterward.

No wonder her prosthesis was so advanced. It had been gifted to her by the crown prince himself. Who she worked for. Who sheprotected.

But Naari had arrived at Zalindov weeks before Jaren. So how—

“He’s not meant to be here,” Naari said, seeing the questions flash across her face. “It was meant to be another Royal Guard, Eidran, with the plan being for me to arrive before him so we wouldn’t raise suspicions. But Eidran broke his leg just hours before the prison transfer, and Jaren—” Naari bit off with a curse. “I can’t tell you anything else, Kiva. You’ll have to wait. But none of this was meant to happen.” Her expression turned haunted. “When you cleaned the blood from Jaren that first day, and I recognized him ...” She shook her head. “He’s the only person I know reckless enough to get into a wagon with two thugs bent on killing each other and then try to play peacemaker.Of coursehe ended up beaten half to death, the fool.” She made an aggrieved sound and continued mumbling under her breath about idiotic royals.

Kiva didn’t want to hear any more. Once, she had. She’d been curious about Jaren’s arrival, why the two men with him had turned up dead and he’d been covered in their blood. But now, she didn’t care. She didn’t want toseehim again, let alone speak to him. To hell with his explanations. Any of them.“He didn’t know about the poison,” Naari said, quieter. “I promise—he was just as horrified as you when I told him about the vials and the Warden a few days ago. I was telling the truth before. Rooke is acting on his own,withoutpermission from the Vallentis family. They’ll stop him as soon as word reaches them. I swear it.”

The poison was the furthest thing from Kiva’s mind right now. It was all she could do to breathe past the screaming betrayal, her heart simultaneously breaking and burning, hurt and fury fighting for dominance.

The slightest of noises echoed through the small crack in the door, and Naari hissed out another curse.

“That’s my warning. The guards are changing shifts, I have to go.” She stood to her feet, the luminium beacon flickering shadows across the stone.

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