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His eyes fluttered open Hooded and drowsy but open

A rush of exciteh me I moved a little closer to his head

“Hey,” I whispered, tears stinging the backs of ?”

He opened his hand closest tothe back with my thumb

“Will a pain reducerhis forehead “I ure some stuff out, but the rest is trial and error I’d rather not try with you right now and mess up”

“Please” His voice was barely more than a whisper Scratchier than normal

“Water, right? Do you need water?” I et up, but his hand held

“Stay with me,” he rasped

I cupped his hand “Of course I will I’et you out of this, okay? You will live to fight another day”

“Please Keep talking It helps me know that…I a at ive in But for you, I would have already The last sixteen years…have been misery Each day has been worse than the last I ahtmare”

Fear pierced my heart I squeezed his hand between mine

“More everlass, then? Do you need more now? I know you promised your mother not to voice the faht about that when you are well, but you need to help ht now, okay? She wouldn’t want you to die so young I know you think you’re responsible for her death, but Sable said so about it Your mother loved you She would’ve wanted you to be happy She s he’d said—“and she wouldn’t begrudge you for leaving She ended up in a loveless e with a mad husband and wasn’t even allowed to speak her ancestral language Why the hell would she want that for you? I e I’m wild, and I hunt, and I take risks, and I come home a bloody mess I don’t care about pretty dresses with ruffles or whether the town hunk wants to marry me…”

His hand squeezedover those lines on his back again They were still receding Maybe there were just a few jolts of pain as they did so

I kept talking

“I’ve been this way since I was a kid People used to tellout with Hannon so entle and kind and lovely But she could be as stubborn as a rock She ruled this house She would not allow anyone to cow me She letas I was respectful She trusted uide They strengthen They support, and they never stop loving their children Never I doubt a rosebush would begrudge her son his wild spirit”

Tears filledforward and laying ainst the pillow by his head “I couldn’t save her The recipe for the nulling elixir wasn’t as good back then I ran out of time But you knohat? I have to remember that it ultimately wasn’t my fault The curse and the sickness killed her I couldn’t beat it at that time, but I will beat it in time for Father I will I will not lose another”

I stroked his cheek, my other hand still around his

“You know, they were right about Hannon being nicer than ued I’d be a lost cause without hi pints in the pub with the lads He thinks they are all thickheaded apes He’s right, obviously He’d actually like the whole hobby situation at the castle He could probablyand needlepoint And you’ve seen how he can nurse people He and I are as opposite as opposites could be It’s e s he hates, and he’s good at all the things I hate”

“He needs a strong mate,” Nyfain rasped

I startled Then blushed in e, true, but I hadn’t realized he’d sift through each word