I rounded the corner and stepped through the door to Fen’s infirmary.
“Oh, hello there, Miss Asher,” Fen said, glancing up behind her spectacles and a pile of parchment. “It’s good to see you. Would I be correct in assuming that no news is good news and you’ve been recovering well?”
The ghost of a wry smile on Fen’s lips suggested she knew just how well I’d been recovering, actually. I still wasn’t sure how her clerics had known to send my things to Kieran’s townhouse in lieu of my apartment…It’s not like the captain was one to kiss and tell.
“Quite well, actually. I must thank you again, your team saved my life,” I said genuinely. “And those tinctures worked wonders.”
“I’m very glad to hear that, Miss Asher. And you don’t need to thank us—it’s all in a day’s work. Now, what can I help you with today?”
I was pretty sure I started blushing before I even opened my mouth.
“Erm, what are the odds your clerics have room for a quick hematomatic healing session before noon?” I asked, my voice sounding a bit squeaky as I failed to look her in the eye, glancing literally anywhere else.
This was a common enough procedure. It was largely cosmetic—because as I mentioned, the noblesse around here did not take well to bruises. Or any minor wounds that might make one look ever-so-briefly less desirable, really. Even the mostentry-level clerics could accomplish the spellwork, clearing away evidence of a wound with the healing powers of Water arcana.
“Let me check,” the High Scholar said. “Hmm. It looks like most, if not all, of my clerics will be occupied past one. It’s been a busy morning, I’m afraid. But come here, if you would.”
I stepped closer to her desk, and her slender fingers reached out to tilt my chin up.
“I take it these are the contusions in question?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I murmured, still blushing furiously.
It really didn’t help that this woman knew Kieran personally, but with a casual curl of her fingertips, I felt a flutter of arcana, warm and soothing against my throat. It felt like gentle waves lapping across my skin, like the white-sand shorelines of Lake Eidrytch.
“Free of charge,” she said, with only the hint of a knowing smile peeking out from behind her professional persona.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly accept—” I began.
“Alternatively, I could just add it to the Captain’s tab,” Fen teased gently.
“NO,” I shouted. “I mean. N-no, thank you,” I stammered apologetically as I pulled a few Lyra from my pocket and pressed them against the counter. Likely more than the service was worth—Kieran seemed to be rubbing off on me in that regard—but I was also far too mortified to check.
“I appreciate the service!” I squeaked, stuffing my scarf back into my book bag on the way out.
My cheeks remained hot as I made my way over to the Arboretum, pulling my heavy curls up and tying them into a messy bun at the crown of my head.
My skin felt absent now. Bare. Too bare for my liking. Perhaps I should have just found a way to suck it up, worn the scarf during the lecture, and dealt with the sticky-hot sensations to the best of my ability.
Ah, well. Nothing to be done about it now, I suppose.
If anything, it just gave Kieran a fresh canvas to play with later.
Which gavemesomething to look forward to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
KIERAN
After an hour or so of intense training, running myself into the ground with drills, I felt calm and level-headed enough to return to the townhouse and await Arken’s arrival. She expected to be back around two, and her exam wasn’t until four fifteen, which gave us just under two hours to return to our new brand of normalcy.
And I intended to take full advantage of that time, right down to the last minute.
I considered pouring myself a drink when I got home, tapping a bottle of gin I so rarely drank that it remained over half-full, five years after I’d purchased it. I decided against it, knowing it would probably be a coin flip over whether the liquor would mellow me out or reignite my demons.
Resolved to be a good boy for once in my fucking life, I picked up the copy ofThe Novosi Pirate Princethat Arken had essentially claimed as her own and indulged in a bit of a re-read.
“The Alberich clan had always ruled the black seas of eld, from the farthest corners of the east to the ever-expanding islands of the west, in the forgotten realms of…”