Alexander nodded. “Good morning, Daan. It’s good to see you awake.”
He moved to crouch near the foot of the bed, lowering his height. He tried to make his posture easy, but JingYi saw the inherent tension in him—the broad shoulders that couldn’t help but look powerful, the focused stillness that felt more like a predator’s patience than a man’s relaxation. To a sick boy, it must have seemed like being watched by a wolf.
“Her Highness believes your illness came from exposure to purple limyerite,” Alexander began, his voice deliberately softer.
Daan’s shoulders drew up beneath the blanket, a defensive curl that did not escape her healer’s eye. His gaze stayed fixed on his lap.
“You know it’s dangerous,” Alexander continued. “Most folks in these parts do. And you’re smart. Careful. I remember that.”
“I never meant to get sick,” Daan rasped.
“I know. But even small exposure can do harm. Have you been near the mines? Or carried anything—stone, dust, supplies—that might’ve come from there?”
The boy’s throat worked. “Not the mines. I don’t go in.”
“Have you been near anyone who does?”
Daan hesitated, his eyes flicking once more to Alexander’s face and away, fast as a startled bird.
“I do small errands,” he said at last, the words rushed. “Run water, the miners’ lunches. Sometimes I carry messages. That’s all.”
“You’re sure?”
A jerky nod. “I don’t go near the crystals. I’m not allowed. Honest.”
JingYi’s heart ached. The boy was terrified of the lord in his home. She watched Alexander’s face, saw the moment he recognized it, too—a tightening around his eyes, a subtle withdrawal as he stood up, creating more space.
“That’s enough for now. Thank you, Daan,” he said, his voice gentler than she’d ever heard it. The boy didn’t speak again.
JingYi dipped a cloth into the water basin, wrung it out, and brushed it across his temple. “You’ve done well. Rest now. Your body needs calm.”
Alexander moved to the doorway where Tedric waited. He glanced back at Daan, then at JingYi, his expression unreadable. “I’ll go and speak with Ulrik. Tedric will remain here with you.”
He didn’t wait for her acknowledgment, striding out into the lane where Duskwane was tethered. JingYi watched him go, then turned back to the boy on the cot, her thoughts lingering on Daan’s averted eyes and the careful, wary distance Alexander had just placed between himself and a frightened boy.
“I will perform needle therapy to purge more poison from your body,” she told the boy. “Can you lie down completely for me? Be at ease. You’ll feel a tiny prick, but there shouldn’t be any pain.”
Daan swallowed, nodded, and did as she asked.
She inserted the limyerite needles behind his ears, at his chest, and below his inner knees—drawing fever and toxins from his tissues. By the time she finished, Daan’s breathing had steadied. His body was finally working with her.
Twenty minutes later, she withdrew the needles. Each crystal tip, once clear, now held a faint cloudiness—the physical sign of impurities pulled from his blood. She wiped each point clean and set the used needles aside for proper cleansing later.
“Rest now,” she said, rising, Tedric stepping inside to assist. “You’ll feel exhausted today, but that means the treatment is working. I’ll return tomorrow for another round—if that’s acceptable.”
Elswyth nodded quickly. “Please. Thank you, Highness. You’ve given him a chance.”
JingYi inclined her head, said her farewell, and went outside. The light had brightened, the mist lifting in thin ribbons across the lane.Tedric fell into steps beside her, the medicine chest in his hand.
“I’ve seen you perform the needle therapy twice now, Your Highness. Still looks like magic.”
She nearly chuckled. “It isn’t.”
“No?” he asked, half-smiling. “Then how do you know where to place them? Every point seems . . . intentional.”
“It is. The body speaks, if you learn to read it. Breath, blood, where heat gathers. The pathways shift depending on the illness. At the beginning of treatment, I have to listen to the pulse, to the body, to know where to insert the needles.”
He blinked. “And you learned all that from books?”