“Panotii? Like the mythical tribe?”
Who says they’re mythical? “He has big ears.”
A cool sponge touches my chest. She moves to my arms next, first the right, then the left, and then does my hands, carefully washing each finger. My eyes won’t open. I’m powerless, unable to see or move. Utterly vulnerable.
“Who are you, Cat? Really?”
“Where’s Griffin?” I ask.
Water sloshes, and then the sponge slides over my legs and feet. “Resting. He hasn’t slept in three days.”
My immediate impulse is to shake my head. It doesn’t work. “That’s impossible. People always sleep after healing.”
“Whatever you did to him had the opposite effect.” Egeria trails the sponge over my lower stomach. My brain tells me to jump because I’m ticklish there, but nothing happens. “He’s hardly left your side. He thinks you did something harmful to yourself in order to save him.”
If I’ve been mostly unconscious for three days, I probably did.
A chill spreads through me, icing my blood. I’ve known all sorts of fear—fear of pain, fear of discovery, fear of capture. This is new. This is the kind of fear that teaches me the difference between trying to stay alive, and wanting to live.
“Did you?” she asks. “Why aren’t you getting better?”
“I am. I can talk.” Sort of. My words are already slurring.
The door opens on creaking hinges, and Egeria throws a sheet over me, scolding, “Don’t you knock?”
“We heard talking. Is she awake?” Kato’s voice helps thaw the frost settling in my veins.
“More or less,” I answer for Egeria.
“Time to get up,” Flynn says brusquely. “We’re all waiting for you to give us that know-it-all look of yours so we can kneel down and kiss your feet.”
Kiss my feet like a Goddess. Like Athena. Wisdom and war.
Well, war anyway.
“And present our arses for spanking,” Carver adds.
A smile tugs at my lips. “Don’t…tempt me.”
“Out,” Egeria says. “Cat needs to rest.”
No! “Stay.”
There’s a scraping of chair legs. They surround me. Beta Team. My team. A big hand covers mine, engulfing it. “What did you do to yourself?” Flynn asks.
“Wish I knew.”
He squeezes my hand, but I can’t squeeze back.
“Sleepy,” I mumble.
Kato pats my head, and Flynn holds my hand. Carver whistles a tribal tune, and with them close by, I’m not as afraid of the dark.
CHAPTER 25
“Why would a tribe of southern Tarvans attack this far north? Or even attack in Sinta at all?”
Slogging through fog, it takes me a moment to place the voice. Piers.
“Why would they even care about stopping a healing center?” Egeria asks.
“They didn’t care about the healing center.” Griffin’s response is edgy and gruff. It still soothes me to hear his voice. “There’s no reason for them to care, or to even know about it. Someone else was behind this, someone with knowledge of our plans and gold to buy mercenaries.”
“Someone Tarvan or someone Fisan?” Carver asks. “Or both, creating an alliance against us?”
“Or Sintan,” Piers suggests. “Nobles are used to having a certain amount of influence with the royal family. It’s in their best interest to replace us with one of their own.”
Egeria sighs. “I wish Cat would wake up. She’d have ideas about all this, I’m sure.”
“I just wish Cat would wake up,” Griffin says dully.
Emotion swells in my chest. Warm fingers brush my forehead. The touch is gentle, the skin rough. I want to turn into Griffin’s hand. The irony isn’t lost on me. I spent weeks rejecting him, and now that I don’t want to anymore, I can’t even move.
“Do you have any idea who she is?” Piers asks. “She’s the perfect match for a Fisan noble—northern coloring, light-green eyes, a terrifying amount of magic, and the arrogance to match it. She could practically be a Magoi royal in terms of power.”
“Except she’s not a bloodthirsty tyrant,” Griffin says.
They’re all silent. I’m not sure anyone agrees.
“The realm dinner is coming up,” Egeria says nervously. “What if a Sintan noble was behind the attack?”
“Cat will figure it out,” Carver says. I can’t help thinking his confidence is optimistic considering my current state.