Page 3 of Of Blood and Banes
Marge pours a warm liquid onto my wound, and the splintering pain melts like frost in the morning sun.
“It’s a miracle you survived...” Marge whispers as she winds a fresh wrap around my torso. Once she finishes, she places herhand softly over mine. “You need to take care of yourself, first. We cannot lose you.”
I glance from her gloved hand up to meet her eyes. “Who is we?”
Her expression softens. “Everyone. We all need you.”
I scoff at the idea. “Does that apply to Darian, too? Or…pardon me for being so informal.PrinceDarian? How could you not tell me?”
“Because titles can be dangerous things. And I didn’t need you to focus on it.”
“And what did you need me to focus on instead? Learning medicine?”
She grabs my right hand and traces the dark stain ringing my middle finger—the mark I got when I met Daeja.
“This. Your dragon. You are the first dragon rider of your generation, Katerina. And of all things, you have ablackdragon. It is no coincidence.”
I slip my hand out of hers and fight the temptation to look down at the dark ring on my finger. “You knew all along?”
“I did. The day I saw you cutting those mushrooms, it had never been about how you cut them. I saw your fingers and that ring. When I gave you those gloves, it was to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“Not what.Who.”
I flinch. “And who is that?”
“All of the people who want you dead.”
I swallow under the severity of her stare. “People want me dead?”
“Many.” She pats my leg. “Both you and your dragon. Which is why we need you to get started on your training again. But you cannot until you’ve properly healed. Otherwise, you risk being worse off than you are now. Rest for a few days, and then we can reassess you.”
“But I?—”
“I mean it, Katerina. And if you only listen to one thing I ask of you,” she removes the black leather gloves from her hands and flops them onto my thigh, “keep these on at all times. Nobody else needs to know you wear the ring.”
“Does everyone know what the ring means?” I ask as I tug the gloves onto my fingers.
“I’m not sure. Commoners in Arterias likely wouldn’t, since the King is quite prone to erasing all the history and any information pertaining to dragons and dragon riders. The King’s Close Circle is a different story. And as for the rebels…just…keep the gloves on.”
The stir-crazy drive to leave this bed forces me into a frenzy. Had it not been for the waxing and waning exhaustion washing over me, Marge might have needed to shackle me to the bed to keep me down.
“Blood loss,” she tells me when I groan through the struggle of keeping my eyes open.
The rest of the day is a blur. Every time I open my eyes again, the light in the room has shifted to a different part of the day. When a soft hand wraps over my shoulder and squeezes, I open my eyes to find a set of warm amber ones looking back at me.
“Hungry?” Cole whispers and takes a seat on the edge of the bed near my knees. A platter of food rests in his palms.
Shadows stretch across the floors in the telltale sign of sunset, with orange and yellow bathing Cole in a glowing light. I edge onto my forearms and wince at the pain throbbing in my ribs. Cole sets the tray down and wraps one hand around thenape of my neck and lower back to help me sit up. He then adjusts the pillows behind me to support my spine.
My stomach growls when I notice the wide array of fruits, cheeses, and breads on the plate he’s brought me. As soon as he hears it, he grins and places the tray over my lap. I pluck piece after piece. Each bite triggers a deeper sense of the ravenous hunger within me.
I glance up from the tray as Marge shuffles out the door with Archie, leaving Cole and me alone in the room of empty beds and warm light. I swallow. Cole’s watching me with the intensity of a thousand burning suns. Calculating every angle of my movements, as if he’s expecting death to claim me at any given moment.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what?” His soft expression is lost in concern.
