I saw a flash of light, hearing King Kincaid yell, “Leave me the fuck alone!”
“Shut up!” Elder Merrick demanded, the mandate blatant. “Not another word.”
I didn’t hear one, but I did hear King Kincaid’s wolf growl as another flash pulsed.
A Mage I didn’t recognize was suddenly kneeling at my other side. As his hands hovered a few inches from my body, golden light spotlighting from his palms on me from head to toe, his eyebrows rose. “Someone did a number on you, Ms Ruckler.”
I grunted, but the movement hurt. “Just fix me up.” Everyone here knew my damn name.
He looked at King Venclaire. “The ribs have already healed. Give her peace while I do this.”
King Venclaire nodded, his eyebrows furrowing as he touched his index finger to my forehead, serenity transfusing me. I sighed, glancing around and trying to ignore the popping sounds I could hear inside my body as the Mage worked. I could see Jack, Antonio, and Pearl standing by my head, their cubs at their feet, but I couldn’t see Ezra anywhere. Slightly tilting my head to the side, I saw his cub in the doorway to the room battling to keep Bonnie back, which he seemed to be having a hell of a time with.
“Where’s Ezra?” I asked, my lids drooping.
Jack and Pearl shrugged, their worried eyes traveling from me to scan the room, just now noticing he wasn’t here.
“Where is he?” I whispered, getting sleepy, my lids closing completely.
I felt King Venclaire shift, and a second later, his mouth was next to my ear, and he breathed, “Elder Zeller forcibly removed him from the room. No one else saw because of their speed.”
I blinked my eyes open. “Huh?”
“Ezra was,” a pause, “upset when King Kincaid attacked you.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “That’s sweet.”
King Venclaire chuckled against my ear even as more pops sounded from my body. “I don’t think King Kincaid would have found it very sweet.”
“I took care of him,” I grumbled more loudly.
Pearl stated, “And got your ass kicked in the meantime.”
“No more than he did,” I retorted lazily, grinning when I heard a growl nearby.
“I said to keep her quiet,” Elder Merrick barked. A heavy grunt. “And we need the medic once he’s done with her.”
I chuckled, but whispered, “See? What did I tell you?”
Jack’s expression was still worried, but he did glance at the ceiling and bar. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
Pearl looked at the crack on the wall where I had hit. “Or King Kincaid.”
The Mage’s hands started to glow more, and I heard my shoulder pop loudly before he leaned down and whispered at my ear, “Your fallopian tubes?”
I stiffened just as King Venclaire did at my side, able to hear him, too. I was sure the Mage could sense I’d had them magically tied. And now King Venclaire knew something was up with them. I said through gritted teeth, “Don’t fix them.”
The Mage paused, but nodded before raising his hands to my head, not asking any more questions but instead beginning to fix whatever was injured with my skull. But that one question had been enough. I glanced at King Venclaire, and his eyes were on mine. Sighing, I whispered, “I don’t want children right now.” Truth.
King Venclaire stared hard. “King Kincaid was right about you being still too young and inexperienced about some issues to know what you’re talking about.”
I shifted my eyes away from him and kept my mouth shut.
“Okay, let’s try this again,” King Venclaire stated. “Without the added,” his eyes met mine, “commentary this time.”
My lips thinned, but I nodded.
We were sitting around the conference table again. Ezra had returned to the room and sat across from me with his boots on the table, his eyes lowered to Bonnie — as they had been the entire time since he reappeared — who had jumped into his lap and lain on her back, while he ran his fingers up and down her belly. Not to mention Clyde, who was glued to me, his paws heavy on my chest and his head on my shoulder. Anyone would think he was asleep, except that his tail kept twitching in distress.
I rubbed his back comfortingly and listened as King Venclaire outlined what we would be doing. Which would be to go on four separate missions to find the new, young Prodigies, while only being allowed to pick one Elder to go with us. A spell, almost like a compass, would lead us to them, the spell telling us when we had found the correct individual. Also, the picked Elders were not allowed to intervene once the journey began, only along for the ride, unless our lives were in danger…then they could start killing any Com they saw fit, in order to save us.
How sweet.