Page 28 (1/2)
PROLOGUE
“MY lady?”
Charlotte looked up froirl held an envelope of thick, heavy paper
“This came for you”
A sudden pain pierced Charlotte’s chest, as if so vital had broken inside her She felt cold and jittery It was bad news If it were good news, she would’ve gotten a scryer call She felt the urge to squeeze and cruers She hadn’t done that since she was a child
“Thank you,” she made herself say
The et you anything, my lady?”
Charlotte shook her head
Laisa studied her for a long moment, reluctantly crossed the balcony to the door, and went inside
The envelope lay in front of Charlotte She forced herself to raise her cup of tea to her lips The ri
She focused on that ri control over her emotions Calm and collected, that was the mantra of the healer An effective healer is neither callous, nor tenderhearted, her memory whispered in her mind She doesn’t permit herself to succumb to passion or despair, and she never allows her craft to be compromised by her emotions
She had lived by this creed for twenty years It never failed her
Cals
Calm
Charlotte took a deep breath, counting each rise and fall of her chest One, two, three, fourten The cup in her hands was motionless Charlotte drank froertips had gone nulian Acaderet to inform you
Charlotte forced herself to read it, every last word, then stared past the white stone rail of the balcony at the garden belon there, a sand-colored brick path ran to the distant trees Short silvery grass trailed the path on both sides, flanked by a row of low ees, beyond which flowers bloomed: roses in a dozen shades, their heavy blossoms perfect; constellation shrubs with bunches of star-shaped flowers in criht spears, their delicate flowerets shaped like tiny bells
She would not be bloo She would not bear fruit The last door had slaed herself She was barren
The word pressed on her, like a crushing physical weight, a heavy anchor around her neck She would never feel a life grow inside her She would never pass on her gift or see the shadow of her features in her baby’s face The treatlia had failed The irony was so thick, she laughed, a bitter brittle sound
In the country of Adrianglia, two things ic Her family was neither old nor wealthy, and her na but At four years old she had healed an injured kitten, and her life took a sharp turn in an unexpected direction
Medical talents were rare and highly prized by the reallia came for her Her parents explained the situation: she would leave thelia would house her, teach her, nurture her ic, and in return upon coive the realm ten years of civil service At the end of that decade, she would be granted a noble title,her one of the coveted elite, and a small estate Her parents, in turn, would receive a lu a child Even at that age, she realized she had been sold Three e and never returned
At ten she was a child wonder; at fourteen, a rising star; and at seventeen, when her service officially began, Charlotte was the best the College had to offer They called her the Healer and guarded her like a treasure In anticipation of assu her title, she had received instruction froustine, whose bloodline stretched back through centuries all the way to the Old Continent, had personally overseen her education, ensuring that Charlotte entered Adrianglian society as if she had always belonged within it Her poise was flawless, her taste refined, her behavior exee, now Charlotte de Ney, Baroness of Ney and the owner of a small estate, she had healed thousands
But she could never heal herself
Neither could anyone else After eighteen ic, she held the final verdict in her hand She was barren
Barren Like a desert Like a wasteland
Why her? Why couldn’t she have a baby? She’d healed countless children, pulling the them to their parents, but the little nursery she had set up next to their bedroom would remain empty Hadn’t she earned this little bit of happiness? What had she done that was so horrible that she couldn’t have a baby?
A sob broke froht herself and rose No hysterics Elvei would have to be told He would be crushed Children meant so much to her husband