Page 30 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
Damn it. I’d never felt so raw and so exposed, my whole body aching and throbbing.
He applied another layer of salve, his touch firm and unyielding. “Arrow buds don’t usually grow that fast. What did you do to it?” He clicked his tongue. “I don’t know why I even ask. You excel at causing trouble. I’ll have the guards move the planters with the arrow buds up onto the palace walls to help with the defense.”
“I’m doing what you told me to do and trying to fix this garden.” I bit back, fighting the urge to kick him where he crouched. “You didn’t mention that the plants might try to eat me.” As I focused on him, I noticed the numerous scars and stitches over what was visible on his body once more. What had happened to him to lead to such scarring or a need for so manystitches? I thrust that question aside. But he must have caught something in my gaze because he tilted his head. “What?”
“I just…these salves and medicines you seem to have are so strong. But everyone here has…stitches and scars. Why?”
He shrugged, and his expression softened. “This place isn’t for anyone who is alive. Everyone is drained in this place at different rates, no matter who they are. Magic is in the blood as is life and vitality. Over time, even with magic, powerful healing no longer works as well. Sometimes the vessels heal, but the flesh does not want to come together. The stitches ensure that it does and that the healing finishes. It is as if our bodies become tired. And some wounds never heal.”
A knot formed in my stomach. “Will healing come after the curse lifts?”
“Perhaps. But there is no way to know for certain. Legend says it might. It may simply be that we are free to depart and the portal will allow more than a few through.”
“Don’t you control it?” I asked, unable to keep the sharpness from my voice. “You knew all along that I wasn’t going to be able to get through the portal, but you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t think you’d be foolish enough to try to reach it after I warned you how dangerous it was,” he said sharply. A note of grudging respect entered his voice. “But with that said, you did endure. Unfortunately, it is meaningless. The portal is too weak to allow anyone through in either direction until the final hours of the blood moon cycle. If then. And beyond that, there was a cave in over the portal. It will have to be cleared.”
My heart sank. Well, so much for that plan. “What charges it?”
“I don’t know. It’s tied to the blood moon, but, like so much else, it has been increasingly erratic. Don’t leave this palace without me or someone who knows how to navigate it,” he said, his voice sterner now. “As unpleasant as you may find this place,it can always get worse out there. Sometimes I think that all that remains is the wrath of the eidon who fell in this place to form it. Maltric says this is a place of grief and mourning, but I know rage and hate when I see it. Regardless of what made the eidons create the Witheringlands, this is not a place for any mortal, living or dead.” He rubbed his hand along the soft skin of my inner thigh again. “This needs more work to prevent scarring.”
His hands were cold, but…Maker help me, the grip in his hands was shockingly arousing. I stiffened, blinking as I sat there, trying to keep my thoughts focused.
“You got quiet,” he said with dark amusement. He cut his eyes up at me. “What are you plotting, little dodo?”
“I’m just—I’m surprised that as the king you’re—doing this.”
He scoffed as he continued to massage the salve in. “I helped you before.”
“You jammed shadows inside my wounds.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “This is…”
“What?”
"Gentle," I finished, the word catching in my throat as his strong hands lingered. Most of the initial pain had faded into something far more akin to discomfort. And it wasn’t unpleasant now.
His eyes flashed up to meet mine, amber depths burning with something I couldn't name. "Gentle?" he repeated, his voice dropping lower. "Is that what you think this is?" That infernal eyebrow of his lifted once more as if daring me to answer.
I swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of his thumb pressing higher against my inner thigh. The salve was fully absorbed, the burn already faded, yet his hand remained, the cool pressure of his touch sending unexpected heat through me. I should have pulled away. Should have stood up and created distance between us. Instead, I sat frozen, my breath coming faster.
"I—" My voice failed me. “What do you think this is?” I rushed those last words out.
The garden around us seemed to fall away, the silence stretching between us like a living thing. His gaze held mine, unblinking, challenging. Something like lightning crackled in the air, a tension that made my skin prickle and my mouth dry. His fingers tightened ever so slightly, the pressure sending a jolt through me.
"I think," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "that you are a very unusual princess."
I couldn't look away from those burning amber eyes. "Probably because I’m not a princess.”
He shook his head, his lips curving upward into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “There is no chance that you’re just an ordinary woman.”
“That’s exactly what I am.”
“There’s magic in you,” he said quietly. “I can feel it.” His thumb rubbed along the sensitive skin of my thigh, dangerously close to my core.
“There’s magic in everyone,” I responded. My throat bobbed. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
His gaze lingered on me, something shifting in those amber depths. "It’s true that everyone has a spark and at least one gift, but yours..." His thumb traced a slow circle that made my breath catch. "Yours pulses differently."
"I'm an herbalist. A gardener. A servant," I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady despite the warmth spreading through me. "I work with plants. Believe me, my magic is not impressive in the slightest. That's all. Maybe the eidon who made this place is the reason. My family has always had plant magic that responded well when near them, especially since they love nature so much. But that isn’t me. That's just a reaction. Do you think one is here?"
