Page 152 of Enchanted Heir
I’d forgotten for a moment about the healer. He had demanded no more sound barriers be put up around Krew, always wanting to be able to monitor him.
Keir’s blue eyes zeroed in on mine as he said to the man, “She and Raikes got lashings for yesterday before I could put a stop to it.”
The healer’s breath caught. “The king?”
I gave him a little nod.
There was a crease between the healer’s eyes as he considered that. “But you were not gone that long? And then you came back? And slept all night in that chair?”
“Yes?” I asked, wondering what he was getting at.
“The king used a whip on the both of you, and you still came back here to sleep in a chair for the night?”
At least his numerous questions were better than his insistent sighing and tsking. “I only received just a tip of the whip on my shoulder. And I believe I already explained this. I’m not leaving Krew.” I realized I slipped up and used his nickname, not his title, but I didn’t really care.
“May I see the wound?”
I glared at him.
The healer put up his own sound barrier as he held up his hands. “I am a healer. I do not like seeing people punished by taking it out on their bodies. It is the most depraved form of punishment as far as I am concerned.”
“Here,” Silvia said, moving forward. To me she added quietly, “Maybe he has something stronger that can help you.”
She unbuttoned the first few buttons of my pajamas and then situated them so that my shoulder was bare but the rest of me was still properly covered.
The healer gasped. “The bruising will likely be almost black. It’s already going purple.”
“Great,” I mumbled.
“May I?” the healer asked, gesturing with a hand toward my shoulder.
I gave him a nod.
The healer gently touched my skin around the spot managing to avoid the most tender areas. He pressed his lips together. “May I see the ointment you are using?”
Silvia handed him over the jar.
He looked at the contents on the label and nodded. “Good. This will help with the scarring, but I have a similar ointment with a numbing agent in it. May I give you some of that?”
Numb my shoulder. I nodded aggressively. “Yes. As long as Owen gets some too.”
Owen gave me a shrug like he wasn’t in pain right now, but I knew better. He’d slept half the day away.
The healer was gone just a moment before returning. The ointment he had was cold to the touch and had a tingling effect on my skin. So much so, I began fighting off shivers. But if it kept it from hurting, I was all for it. I was no hero. I was just trying to get through this day.
“I’m sorry,” the healer whispered as he applied the ointment to the most tender area.
I gasped out with pain and had to close my eyes but managed to stay still so he could finish the job.
On the bed next to us, Krew’s magic flared to life. A strand of it running up his wrist to his shoulder.
I looked at it and then looked at Keir, wondering if he’d noticed it too.
“Do you think my brother will be waking soon?” Keir asked.
The healer nodded as he gestured for Owen to take off his shirt. “Yes. Likely later today. That much iron could have killed a weaker Enchanted. His Valanova blood saved him.” He paused. “A curse and a blessing it seems.”
Silvia turned to me. “Would you like to go up and bathe here shortly, Jorah? You could probably use some sleep in a real bed too. We can have them send for you when he wakes.”
