The Princess and the Bard (Royals of the Realms #1)

Chapter Seventeen: Magical, Musical Healing

The cold air froze in Alori's lungs moments later when she spotted Reeve, kneeling beside Yuka's prone form inside the open door of the cottage. An oil lamp had been turned on, dimly illuminating the front room's sad tableau.

Alori stepped up onto the porch, her feet numb and stiff in her boots. Yuka's head was propped on a dark blanket similar to the one she'd left behind in the other cottage a few minutes ago. Blood matted his spiky blue hair and right shoulder. Something about his legs looked off. They stretched relatively straight across the floor, but it was as if they'd been dislocated and the joints no longer met in the expected places.

Her tired feet managed to carry her through the threshold before her mind caught up with words that would be appropriate. For several long seconds she just stood there, dumbstruck, devastated by the overwhelming extent of Yuka's injuries.

Fox was standing around chatting like nothing had happened. Loven was able to sit up and wave. But Yuka...

"Stoke the fire and make sure you have your instruments," she told Taelan, her hand alighting on his sleeve. "Please," she added, gently. "I need to get Hira."

Reeve looked up at her, tears streaming down his face. "Heylin's hope, you're all right. Has your magic been restored?"

Alori nodded. "The curse was broken."

Yuka groaned, but his eyes remained slack behind closed lids that were tinged with sickly blue and purple bruises. She stood up a little straighter.

"Don't lose hope, Reeve. I have a plan. Give me a few minutes."

Whether her plan would work or not, was another matter. It was entirely possible that what she had in mind was impossible. However, that wouldn't stop her from trying.

Leaving the bards in the cottage, she walked out onto the porch and cleared her throat until Kors looked up from the railing. Hira cowered several steps away from him, her head hanging low.

Based on the redness on her cheeks and her puffy eyes, the mendmage was crying or recently had been.

"Princess, it's good to see you up and moving around." Kors stood at attention and bowed a half-courtesy. She might have told him not to bother, but that would have wasted more time. "I spoke extensively with the mendmage while you were recuperating. I trust you're feeling better and have regained use of your magic?"

"Yes." She hadn't put her magic to the ultimate test yet, but judging by how it surged through her veins, she was confident it would heed her command. "I need Hira's help. I have a plan to fix the shield and heal Yuka at the same time. We have to hurry, though. The longer we wait, the more magic will be needed."

Hira lifted her face from the floorboards. Her brown eyes were dark and glossy. Filmy tear stains gleamed on her cheeks, but they were drying. Good. Alori would need the young mender's full concentration, if this plan of hers had any chance of working.

"Mending them at the same time- is such a thing possible?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Alori folded her arms and looked at Kors. "I take it I can trust Hira's help, given that I don't see her in bonds?"

Kors tilted his head side to side, implying the situation was complicated. "Bonds aren't conducive to her trade. If you desire her assistance, I'll place more guards at the door." He pointed at a few of his men, putting them on standby. "Whether she should be held accountable for any misdeeds remains to be seen. She has a story, but they all do."

And part of that story included saving Alori's life. If anyone deserved the benefit of the doubt, it was the frightened young woman standing in front of her.