Bedelia tossed and turned in her bed, reliving the events of the previous night at the abandoned castle. Oddly, it had affected her more than the battle with the assassins, mainly because she thought it might soon put an end to her friendship with Finn. She’d aroused Iseult’s suspicions. It was the beginning of the end.
She wasn’t dense enough to believe that Iseult and Finn had been discussing anything but her when she’d found them outside, whispering in the dark. The whispers had abruptly ceased at her appearance, and Iseult had given her a look that said, I know what you’re up to, and soon everyone else will too.
She turned on her side and pressed a lumpy pillow over her head. Perhaps she was worrying for nothing. Sure, he was suspicious, but there was no way for him to know she worked for Keiren, and he likely didn’t even know Keiren still lived, if he even knew of her existence at all.
Bedelia didn’t know why she cared. She did work for Keiren, and she’d have to do her bidding one way or another. Her friendship with Finn would most definitely end at that point. Previously, she would have been fine with the idea of being cast back into Keiren’s waiting arms, but she truly believed those arms no longer waited for her. Keiren had stopped loving her for some reason, or perhaps she never really did to begin with. Perhaps she had been Keiren’s puppet all along.
“Of course I loved you,” a voice cut through her mind.
“K-keiren?” Bedelia stammered. Had she been listening to her thoughts all this time?
“Do not speak out loud,” Keiren’s voice snapped. “You know I am not truly there. Something still prevents me from seeing your friend.”
Bedelia took a shaky breath and sealed her eyes tightly shut. You can read my mind? she thought.
“Of course I can,” Keiren’s voice echoed back. “You swore a blood oath to me. You are mine.”
“Then you-” she cut herself off, realizing she was speaking out loud again, but it seemed she had said enough.
“Of course I knew,” Keiren replied. “I know how you have questioned me. How you have wondered if you could save your friend from me. I didn’t stop loving you. You stopped loving me.”
I did not, Bedelia thought. I have always obeyed you. Even when I felt morally opposed to my tasks.
“You simply didn’t want to be alone,” Keiren accused. “And now you think the girl can replace me. Just like my father thought she could replace me. It doesn’t matter now. You have betrayed me.”
Bedelia’s heart plummeted, but for the first time, the sinking feeling was answered not with despair, but with anger. She had devoted so much of her life to Keiren, only to be spurned for wanting a friend.
“Ah,” Keiren’s voice mused. “So you still have teeth after all?”
I do, Bedelia thought. So what will you do now? Turn me into a tree like you did your own father? Then do it. I do not care anymore.
Keiren chuckled in her mind. “Foolish girl. You will come back to me yet. When you once again wander the earth alone, you will come back to me. I’m the only person who could ever love a woman like you.”
“I will never come back,” Bedelia whispered out loud, though her voice cracked as she said it. “I would sooner die.”
“So be it,” was the only reply she received before Keiren’s voice left her mind.
Bedelia knew what she needed to do. Come morning, she would tell Finn everything. If she was truly her friend, she would understand, and as long as she remained near Finn, Keiren could not touch her.
Chapter Nine
Kai sat up in bed and rubbed his tired eyes. Weak daylight streamed in around the edges of the curtained window, providing enough light to see by. He flexed his right hand, the skin feeling oddly tight. He lifted his palm up in front of his face and traced a large, fresh scar with his free hand. Where on earth had that come from? He gently patted his abdomen, searching for his bandages to check on the state of his wound, but the bandages were gone. He jerked his shirt up and was met with more fresh scar tissue. How had the wound already healed? Had he been lying in that bed an entire month?
Suddenly frantic, he hopped to his feet. He’d expected to be sore, or stiff, or . . . something. Somehow he felt wonderful, as if he’d gotten a good night’s rest after a hearty meal. Nearly bouncing with energy, he searched for his boots, finding them near the foot of the bed. After quickly tugging them on and straightening his clothing, he opened the door and hurried out into the hall in search of his companions. Perhaps they’d be able to explain just what had happened to him . . . though even if they couldn’t, he wasn’t about to complain.
His boots echoed down the narrow wooden hall, then he took the stairs two by two, leading down into the common room. His traveling companions all waited below around a large round table, eating their morning meal. Few other patrons graced the establishment, and the innkeep hunched behind the bar, looking glum.
Kai paused at the foot of the stairs as Finn lifted her gaze to him across the table. Her eyes widened in surprise, then she quickly looked down at the table, her face blushing furiously.
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he approached the group, gaining everyone’s attention. No one spoke.
Agitated, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Can someone please assure me that I wasn’t in that bed for an entire month?”
Anna craned her neck to smile up at him, though it didn’t quite reach her tired, dark eyes. “Just a night,” she assured, gesturing to an empty chair beside her. As he sat, she asked, “How do you feel?”
He looked down at the boiled eggs and pottage already waiting on the table for him. “I feel good, if painfully hungry.” He reached for one of the peeled eggs and plopped it into his mouth.
His chewing slowed as he realized everyone was still staring at him, especially Iseult, who was practically boring a hole through him with his gray-green eyes.
Kai swallowed, then met the angry gaze with one of his own. “Have I done something to offend you?”
Iseult stared for a moment more, shook his head, then returned his attention to his meal. Everyone else followed his example, but continued to glance at Kai warily.
He lifted the spoon from his pottage in an attempt to ignore them, then put it back down with a huff. “Could someone please explain to me what in the Horned One’s name is going on? Judging by your speculative glances, you all have some notion of why I woke up fully healed from a near fatal injury.”
Finn’s blush burned even brighter at his words. Why was she blushing? Had they done something horrible to him in his sleep? Was there some massive price to pay for the seemingly magic healing? And what about the scar on his hand?
Finn placed her hands flat on the table, then pushed herself to standing. “Perhaps we should speak in private,” she advised sheepishly.
He sighed, grabbed another egg, then stood. Finn slunk around the table, then led the way back across the common room, her back rigid. Casting a final questioning glance at Anna, he followed. His eyes remained on the stained shoulders of Finn’s shirt, and her recently combed, waist-length hair as she led the way up the interior stairs. Soon they were back in the room where he had awoken, and the silence once again ensued.
Gently shutting the door behind him, he placed his hands on Finn’s shoulders, then gently directed her to sit on the bed.
She obeyed, then studiously stared at her lap.
“Spit it out,” he ordered, staring down at her.
She raised her eyes, her brow furrowed in sudden confusion. “Spit what out?”