Page 93 of Healer to the Ash King
His trust, his affection, the vague possibility of a future with him—it’s all I’ve wanted, for longer than I would admit. And now that I have it, I don’t feel worthy.
Clenching my teeth to force back the tears, I walk to my discarded dress and step into the skirts. I know the Ash King’s body craves release—I felt him, rock-hard under his trousers, while I sat on his lap. But he doesn’t protest as I clothe myself.
“It’s strange,” he says. “I always feel more settled when I sit here, on this throne. I am more balanced, more in control of my magic. I feel the same way during banquets at the palace, and when I’m on my balcony at the Réimse Ríoga.”
“Maybe sitting down helps you stay calm?” I arch a brow at him.
“I’m not sure. I feel more controlled during dances at the palace, too. It’s very odd. If I knew what common element those places have, perhaps I could begin to understand my magic better.” He approaches me from behind and wordlessly begins to fasten the buttons for me.
“Your parents didn’t have magic?”
“No. But my grandfather did. He had fire magic like mine, but he never used it. Few people knew of his gift.”
“He was the foundling, yes? The one adopted by the two kings?”
“Yes.”
“And where did they find him?”
“They were on holiday in the Southern Mountains, and they returned from a ride one day with a baby. Said they found him crying in an empty cave. They asked about him in the villages nearby, but no one claimed him. They brought him back, christened him as their high-born son, and that was that.”
“No one complained?”
“If they did, their complaints were useless, because the kings’ minds were set.” He clears my hair away from my nape and kisses my neck, inhaling deeply as he does so.
“So truthfully, you’re no more noble than I am.”
“Ah, but my grandfather and my father married high-born women.” He kisses just beneath the corner of my jaw.
“Still, you’re one quarter commoner. Or one-quarter vagabond, if you prefer.”
He chuckles against my neck.
“I need to tell you something,” I murmur, my eyes drifting shut as I relish the sensation of his mouth on my skin, his hands cupping my hips.
“Hm,” he replies, still kissing me.
“Teagan has an ability. It’s a low-level one, a strange sort of magical exception, I suppose, only detectable by a powerful Ricter. She’s been hiding it through bribery, and maybe by staying away from the Ricters at the palace parties—I’m not sure how she managed to conceal it this long. She tried to bribe me to keep her secret, but I can’t withhold the knowledge from you.”
“How long have you known of this?” His tone is dark.
“I realized it today, when the blade lodged in her spine. She should have been dead or paralyzed, but her body kept functioning, helping her survive against Beaori. She told me it was the same when she had the plague—she was sick, but she didn’t die. Her body manifests some symptoms of sickness or injury, but not others. It keeps functioning normally despite wounds or illness that should have a major impact or lethal consequences. A survival power, she calls it.”
“So Beaori should have won the match.”
“Yes.”
Silently the Ash King picks up our cloaks from the floor and hands mine to me.
I drape it around my shoulders. “How did you first hear about me?”
“What does that have to do with Teagan’s ability?”
“Just tell me. Please.”
“I was meeting with a few Ricters in a city not far from Aighda,” he says. “That meeting had been set for months, and since I would be near Aighda anyway, I’d decided to escort Teagan to the Calling personally. One of the Ricters at the meeting mentioned you. She spoke very highly of your generosity, the sweetness of your nature, and your loving disposition. A natural talent, she said, powerful and self-trained, unconnected to any noble family. I had begun to despair of finding the right Healer for the Calling, and you sounded like the perfect candidate. I decided to go and fetch you immediately.”
“That must have been the same Ricter that Teagan’s father bribed to conceal her ability,” I muse. “Teagan probably asked her—or paid her—to tell you about me. Teagan hoped that if I did discover her secret during the Calling, I’d keep it quiet because of our previous friendly connection.”
