Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
I clutch the bags of medication to my chest, not saying anything. Instead, I watch Rachel's expression as she waits, gazing up at her dragon with an intense, almost eager look on her face. She's not pretty—the scars have destroyed any normalcy to her face—but her smile is fierce and genuine when the dragon shudders and blinks away, and in his place, a golden man crouches. He shakes the saddle off and moves to Rachel's side, pulling her into his arms and pressing kiss after kiss to her scarred cheeks and grinning at her.
It's so surprisingly sweet and normal that it makes me ache. Their genuine love for each other is palpable, and Jurik touches her stomach gently, then leans in and rubs his nose against hers.
And my heart aches at the sight. Because normally I'd be thinking of Azar and how sweet he is with me, but…I don't know what to think anymore.
I take the stairs down from the roof and then pause. Normally I'd head over to the barracks. It's about time for the evening meal to be prepared, and I'm exhausted. The flying—and Emma's accusations—have drained the energy out of me. But I'm not ready to see Azar yet. My head is still full of Emma and Rachel's words, and I can't think straight. I need some time alone to figure myself out. So I head for the clinic, clutching the bag of practically useless, expired medicine to my chest as if it's a lifeline.
I need to escape for a bit.
Crossing through the settlement, I move so fast that my wrinkled skirts slap against my legs. My hair feels like a tangled, windblown disaster and my face feels chapped, so I probably look more than a little unhinged. I don't care, though. My clinic is my safe place. I make a beeline for it and kick aside one of the massive bugs crawling through the streets as I do. The sight of it makes me strangely furious, and when another lands in my hair, I have to bite back a scream of frustration.
When the clinic comes in sight, I approach one of the guards. "Can you check me for bugs? I don't want to carry any inside." They dust me down, pulling two smaller ones off the back of my dress and freeing the leggy thing that's tangled in my hair. I bite back a shudder, thank them, and head on in.
Alma is still working hard, changing the blankets on another empty cot. She looks utterly wrecked, but manages to smile when I come in. "You're back. Any luck?"
"Some," I admit, holding up the bags. "Not as much as I'd like. Another death?" I gesture at the cot she's changing out.
"Luckily, no. This one recovered enough to go home, but he didn't promise he wouldn't eat any more bugs." She rolls her eyes. "It's been fairly quiet today, actually. No new patients, no new deaths."
I manage a smile at that. We've seen fewer patients since Azar started handing out food supplies more freely. "Excellent. I'll take over for tonight. You go on home."
She hesitates. "Are you sure? Will…will Lord Azar be upset?"
"I don't care if he is," I say, voice sharp. "He can deal with it."
Her eyes widen at my tone, but she nods, straightening her shoulders. "All right. Thank you. I'll be back at noon tomorrow. If you need help sooner, just send a runner over and I'll come back."
I nod and head for the room in the back I've carved out as my office. "I'll just put these away."
When I open the door to my office, though, I don't find it empty. To my surprise, a soldier is standing by the window, a guilty look on his face as he holds a bottle over my nearly dead plant. I recognize him as Daniels, one of Azar's particularly trusted men.
"What are you doing?" I ask sharply. "Why are you in here? This is off limits."
The look Daniels gives me is sheepish. "Um, I'm tending your rosebush."
Of all the things I expected to hear, that…wasn't it. "You're what?" I move forward and snatch the bottle out of his hands. Rose food. "You're…tending my rosebush?"
"Yeah. I was the one that found it, and Azar said you were struggling with it. That it made you cry to see it dying, so he gave me orders to come in here regularly and take care of it. That no matter what, it needs to live and bloom." He hesitates, and then continues. "He really doesn't like it when you cry."
I feel like crying right now. "He…told you to do that?"
"He did." He pauses and then continues on. "He loves you, you know. You're the most important thing to him. I think he'd probably send me out to find you another rosebush if this one died, just so you wouldn't cry over it. Or maybe he'd have me dig up a dozen." He shrugs. "Really, you just need to quit watering it so much. See these yellow leaves that keep falling off? You're giving it too much water and it can't absorb all of it. The stem is a little soft, too. Just water it less and it should perk up."