Tedric tilted his head. “Because I had to be sure you knew what you were doing.”
“It was a test?”
“And you passed.” The mildness in his voice was more chilling than a threat.
“So I can heal the Omegas you’ve tortured?”
“So you can help with our mission.”
She shook her head. “Mission?”
He only smiled. JingYi gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to scream at him. The sick Omega whimpered, and all the sharp words died on her tongue.
“Hot water. Clean cloths. Now,” she said without taking her eyes off her patient.
Footsteps retreated, though Tedric didn’t move. A moment later, a guard delivered a basin of hot water and a stack of rags. JingYi placed her medicine chest beside her and set to work.She rinsed the sores clean, swabbing the girl’s cracked lips with healing salve. The same steps had saved Daan and Annett, but their exposure had been lighter, mere brushings against the poison. This Omega’s body had been bearing the full assault. This would take more than a quick purge.
JingYi looked up at Tedric. “I require privacy.”
His brow lifted, amusement shining in his eyes. “You think I’d trust you with her alone?”
She straightened despite the ache in her leg. “Since you’ve done this to her, the least you can do is grant her some dignity. Shield her from your men’s eyes.”
Tedric scoffed. “We’re all Beta men here, Princess. Unlike Alphas, we’ve no interest in Omegas.”
Her fists curled, nails biting into her palms. “I don’t care if you’re a pack of monkeys with tails between your legs,” she hissed. “You brought me here to heal her and the others. Youwillgive me what I need to accomplish the task, starting with privacy.”
Tedric’s gaze lingered, as if cataloguing her: a captive, or an animal who’d snarl even when cornered. The silence stretched until the drip of water in the corner became loud enough to count.
“Clear the gallery,” he ordered without looking away from her.
The masked guards obeyed, boots scraping the floor as they filed out. The door shut with a solid thud, sealing her in with him.
“There. Privacy,” Tedric said mildly, as if granting her a whim. “But you’ll need someone to fetch what you ask for, won’t you?”
JingYi turned back to her patient, her mind already sorting through what she would need, and not only for the treatments.
“I need dried redthorn berries, willowbark powder, star-anther pods, honeysuckle petals, and . . . goldenroot.”
She let the last ingredient fall casually into the list as though it was just another herb.
“If you don’t have fresh ones, dried will do. And make sure the root is whole, not cut off. I need its heart intact.”
Tedric tilted his head. “That’s quite a list.” He stepped closer, close enough that she caught the scent of smoke on his coat. “Do I look like I keep an herbalist’s pantry under the stairs?”
She glared at him over her shoulder. “Send your men to fetch them from the market. Niewberg is a port city, isn’t it? Its market should carry items from all over the Nine Kingdoms. I’ll write you a list.”
He leaned down until his shadow swallowed hers, eyes narrowed. Jing Yi’s hands clenched at her sides. She stared up at him, refusing to look away, refusing to show how much she needed him to say yes.Please. Just say yes.
“You’d best pray it’s worth the trouble, Princess,” he muttered. “Because if I send my men to fetch your precious roots and they don’t work . . .”
He let the words trail off and straightened. JingYi turned back to her patient, willing the tremor from her fingers. Tedric strolled to the door and slipped out, though she could feel him just beyond the threshold, leaning against the wall, listening.
A deep breath steadied her. She unrolled her needles and cleaned them with three quick wipes with distilled rice wine. She laid the Omega flat. A hand to the girl’s sternum to feel the faltering rhythm, then the first needle slid in above the heartline, angled to stir the blood. The second, at the hip’s juncture, where toxin-heavy fluids often pooled. The third, beneath the ribs, to prod the sluggish liver into work.
This was no cure. It was a summon to the body itself—a demand for it to fight and flush out the poison bit by bit. By thetime she placed the last needle, a sheen of sweat had gathered along the Omega’s brow—a promising sign, but it would take at least an hour for the treatment to reach its full effect.
“How many Omegas are here?” she called through the doorway.