Page 73 of The King's Man 4

“You won’t.”

A curious laugh.

“The gods are watching.”

His gaze sharpens.

I roll up my sleeve. On the inside of my forearm, there’s a dark mark.

The surrounding Skeldars gasp, weapons lowering as they whisper to one another.

The captain stares hard at the mark, the pulse at his neck ticking faster. Suspicion and caution glimmer in his eyes. “Lindrhalda’s touch.”

I bow my head slightly, the knot in my stomach tightening. It’s shameless. If Quin were watching, he might laugh, but—

If it saves your life, do it. I command you to.

The mark is roughly flower-like in shape, the shape of one flower in particular. Lifebloom—the sacred plant of Lindrhalda, Iskaldir’s goddess of healing.

“Drop the shield,” I say softly.

Megaera hesitates, but I catch the flicker of understanding in her gaze as she sweeps over the birthmark she helped me create.

The captain steps forward, pinching my chin upward.

His lips curve into a thoughtful smirk as his gaze bores into mine. Without looking away, he calls out to one of his men, who comes forward with my belongings.

A man—Nordr—lies on a low cot, clutching his lower back and moaning in pain. Half a dozen others, including the guardI paralysed, crowd into the room, murmuring urgently. The captain passes by in the hallway, his sceptical gaze lingering on me.

I take Nordr’s pulse, analysing his pained movements and noting the sporadic twitch of his right leg.

I unroll my set of fine silver needles, a parting gift from Quin, and select one.

A wave of curious murmurs.

I must keep up the act. “Lindrhalda gave me the gift of understanding how best to heal my patients. I choose this needle with her guidance.”

I carefully insert four sharp needles into the acupoints around Nordr’s tailbone. “Wait fifteen minutes. He’ll walk to his cabin on his own.”

And fifteen minutes later, to a chorus of amazed gasps, he does.

“Lindrhalda has truly blessed you,” the Skeldar I paralysed says gruffly as he escorts me to a small cabin.

The door closes behind him, and I lean against it, banging my flushed forehead against the wood before turning to my companions.

Lykos is sitting on the floor, resting against a wooden chest with one leg extended and a forearm casually hooked over his bent knee. His scowl keenly follows Megaera, who is hanging her wet cloak on a wall hook. His fingers twitch, as if itching to attack. I step into his view, tutting. “We’re in this together.”

He glances at Zenon, asleep on a narrow bunk under a pile of furs. “Did you pass the test?”

I drop my belongings at the end of another bunk. “This one, at least.”

Luckily, Nordr only had a pinched nerve. The needles quickly relieved his pain. If they test me with something more serious, though...

Megaera perches on the edge of the bunk, her face pale and greenish under the swaying lantern above. She clutches a beam. “Will the rocking ever cease?”

I rummage through my things. Where’s the ginger? It should help.

I find a minuscule crumb and offer it to her, then rise. “I’ll find more.”

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