Page 22 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
“Only one person here would do such a thing…”
Funny how suddenly everyone seems to care when you’re nearly murdered.
I’m beyond grateful when the healer beckons us inside the ward and pointedly shuts the door in everyone’s face.
“You, too,” she says to Toryn.
He frowns but does as he’s told.
“I’m Gemma,” says the healer. “Sit down over there.”
She points to the closest examination table and begins pulling things out of a nearby cabinet while I walk over to it. The room I’m in is fairly small, with two exam tables and two walls of wooden cabinets. There’s an open door on another wall that leads into the healing ward, a long room with tall ceilings andhigh windows to let in lots of natural light. Dozens of beds line the walls on each side. Exactly how many people do they think they’d need to treat here? That number of beds could only be used after a battle. Or during times of war…
I shiver and look away.
Gemma approaches with a metal scope, which she uses to examine my eyes, one at a time. Then she asks me to stick out my tongue and makes vague mumblings about the color of it (which she seems satisfied with). She examines my hands and my fingers, asking if I feel any numbness anywhere. Lastly, she summons her magic and circles me, hands outstretched, palms facing toward me, as if sensing for traces of poison or dark magic. It creates a strange hum in the air, like bees in a meadow, and the air grows tighter, warmer. A metallic tang tickles the back of my throat.
She’s just finishing when Professor Julian rushes in. “How is she?” His voice is panicked, his face stricken.
“Fine. I find no traces of poison in her system,” Gemma says. “She’s very lucky.”
Julian turns to me. “Tell meexactlywhat happened.”
I tell him how I opened my door and found the box there, when I’d only been in my room a few minutes. Which means, of course, that whoever was trying to poison me—kill me—had walked right past without me even realizing it. And had no doubt still been in the castle when I opened the box. Perhaps still is…
“How did you manage to not inhale the poison?” he asks.
For some reason I can’t explain, I don’t want to divulge that Trix is staying in my room. To him, or anyone. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to have a pet, and the idea of her being taken away, my only comfort in this strange place, is untenable.
“I—just luck, I guess. I had the box on the bed, and I stumbled backward right after I opened it.”
“Thatislucky,” Gemma says, her tone implying she knows I’m leaving something out.
But the professor doesn’t seem to pick up on it. “Well, thank the goddess.”
Of course, the bigger question is how this happened. “Do you think it’s possible that someone got onto the castle grounds?” I ask, trying not to sound accusatory. This place is supposed to be one of the safest in Aureon. It’s beyond unsettling that someone was able to get to me, less than three days after I’d arrived.
A fine tremor runs up my arms, and I cross them to try to hide it. I thought this place would be different. Not that I’d come here willingly. But I’d thought, if my whole life had to be flipped upside down, that at least I’d be safe for a while.
And now, apparently, that isn’t the case.
“Every Guardian within these walls is now trying to determine just that,” Professor Julian says. There’s a grim set to his jaw that’s at odds with the worry in his eyes. He seems as unsettled as I am, which isn’t exactly comforting.
He’s quiet a moment, then he looks up at Gemma in a way that makes it clear he wants privacy. With a small huff of indignancy, she turns and strides into the other room with all the beds. When we’re alone, he reaches out, tentatively, and touches my hand.
“I know it was a shock coming here. And I’m sure it’s hard to trust anyone after what you’ve been through your whole life.” Another pause. “But, now that you’ve settled in a bit, is thereanythingyou’d like to share? Anything at all that could shed light on why someone seems so determined to… to…”
“Kill me?”
He nods and makes an apologetic gesture with his hands.
“Trust me, Professor, if I knew I would gladly tell you.” I shake my head. “Maybe Idoknow. But since my memories are gone…” A shrug. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything that could help.”
“What is your earliest memory?” he asks, eyes bright and imploring. “When you… woke up, so to speak, eight years ago, what was the very first thing you remember?”
Tension spikes through my body, a reflex I can’t suppress.Thatmemory… that’s something I’m not willing to share. A memory I’ve never shared with anyone.
But I can offer him the next best thing. What happened next.
