Chapter 228
Chapter 228
Chapter 228
Chapter 228
IVORY
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The healer’s tent smelled of antiseptic and herbs familiar scents that should have been comforting but instead just reminded me how much I hurt. Every muscle screamed. My arm throbbed where the wolf had bitten through to bone. Cuts and scratches I hadn’t even noticed during the fighting were making themselves known now that adrenaline was fading.
I tried to slip past the main medical area unnoticed, heading for the private section where I could tend my own injuries without interference. But Nina spotted me before I’d made it three steps.
“Absolutely not,” she said, materializing at my elbow with the kind of speed that suggested she’d been watching for me specifically. “You’re not treating yourself. Sit down. Let the actual healers do their jobs p>
“I am an actual healer,” I pointed out, but my protest lacked energy. Exhaustion was catching up with me, making even basic arguments feel like too much effort.
“You’re an injured healer who’s been fighting enhanced creatures and carrying unconscious partners through hostile terrain,” Nina corrected physically steering me toward an examination table. “Which means you’re a patient now, not a practitioner. So sit down before you fall down p>
I wanted to argue. Wanted to insist I was fine, that I could handle my own medical care, that I didn’t need anyone fussing over injuries that were painful but not life-threatening. But Nina’s expression suggested she’d physically restrain me if I tried to leave, and I was too tired to fight her.
I sat.
Nina immediately began examining my injuries with professional efficiency. Her hands were gentle but thorough, checking the wolf bite on my arm first-the worst of my wounds, deep enough that I could see the bone beneath torn muscle,
“This needs stitches,” she said, already reaching for supplies. “And probably antibiotics. Enhanced creature bites tend to get infected faster than normal wounds p>
“I know that,” I said. “I’m the one who wrote the reatment protocols for enhanced creature injuries p>
“Then you know you need proper medical care, Nina countered, beginning to clean the wound with solution that stung badly enough to make me hiss. “Stop being stubborn and let
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Chapter 228
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me work p>
I subsided into silence, watching her work with the same meticulous attention to detail she brought to everything. Nina had been a healer before becoming security chief-had trained under me, actually, before deciding her skills were better suited to protecting people than treating them after the fact.
“It looked like you almost didn’t survive the Hunt,” Nina said conversationally as she began stitching. “When I saw you carrying Aria, both of you covered in blood, moving like you were about to collapse-I thought for sure you weren going to make it p>
“I made it,” I said simply.
“Because you had to work twice as hard,” Nina observed. “Carrying Aria. Fighting off enhanced creatures while also protecting her. Doing the work of two competitors instead of being able to rely on a functional partner p>
“She was functional,” I defended, surprising myself with the vehemence in my voice. “Just not trained. There’s a difference. She has capabilities-botanical knowledge, survival instincts, stubborn refusal to quit. I just had to pick up the physical combat slack while she contributed in other ways p>
Nina paused her stitching to look at me with expression I couldn’t quite read. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you defend her. Usually you avoid talking about Aria entirely or make passive-aggressive comments about her inadequacy p>
“She’s not inadequate,” I said, the words coming out before I could think better of them. “She’s undertrained and overwhelmed and in over her head, but she’s not inadequate. She poisoned that plant while it was strangling her. Systematically weakened its root system even while her air was being cut off. That takes intelligence and knowledge and the kind of courage most people don’t possess p>
Nina resumed stitching, but I could feel her satisfaction like physical presence. Like she’d been waiting for me to reach exactly this conclusion about Aria and was pleased I’d finally gotten there.
“I’m commending you,” Nina said after several moments of silence. “For helping her. For carrying her to the checkpoint instead of leaving her to die. For choosing partnership over winning. That took strength, Ivory. The kind of strength that matters p>
“I was paying a debt,” I said, uncomfortable with the praise. “Kael saved me eight years ago when I was too stubborn to accept help. I was just returning the favor by saving his mate when she needed it p>
“You could have returned the favor by helping him during his challenges,” Nina pointed out. “But you helped Aria instead. That’s significant p>
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Chapter 228
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Before I could respond, before I could parse what Nina was implying about my motivations, the tent flap opened and Aryada entered.
The elder’s presence transformed the atmosphere immediately. Nina and I both straightened, bowing our heads in respect despite being in the middle of medical treatment. You didn’t remain casual in the presence of someone who was essentially a demigod, regardless of circumstances.
“Healer Ivory,” Aryada said, her voice carrying that ethereal quality all the elders possessed. “I need to speak with you. Privately p>
It wasn’t a request. It was a command wrapped in polite phrasing. The kind of thing you didn’t refuse even if you wanted to.
Nina glanced at me, clearly reluctant to leave me alone with Aryada. The elder’s hostility toward Aria had been obvious throughout the Hunt, and by extension, anyone who helped Aria was probably not in Aryada’s good graces.
“Of course, Elder Aryada,” Nina said, bowing again before gathering her medical supplies. She caught my eye briefly, a look that clearly communicated *be careful* before she left the
tent.
The silence after Nina’s departure was oppressive. Aryada stood there, watching me with those ageless eyes that seemed to see through every defense and pretense. I’d always respected the elders-had been grateful when they’d blessed me eight years ago, had appreciated their recognition of my abilities.
But right now, facing Aryada alone, I felt something closer to wariness than respect.
“Why did you save her?” Aryada asked without preamble. No social niceties. Nogentle lead-in to the conversation. Just direct confrontation.
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