Stars May Burn by Alice Ivinya

Author:Alice Ivinya [Ivinya, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Sophie

I STARTLED awake to complete darkness. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. I wanted to keep track of Kasten’s breathing rate while he slept so I could adjust his analgesia if it increased. And after barely seeing him for the three months we had been married, it was nice to have him close and tend to him like his actual wife. But the severity of his illness still had me on edge. Physician Jones had said it was a miracle he was alive. He’d never seen anyone survive such severe wounds.

I was lying in a bed. My maids must have carried me back to my room. But something felt odd. It was probably due to the fact I was still in my clothes, and my neck ached fiercely. My head pounded and my mouth was dry. When was the last time I had drunk anything?

It didn’t matter. Until Kasten was up and about, I shouldn’t leave his side. His chances of survival were much higher if I could keep his pain levels down and prevent any further infection. Things could change so quickly. I might be out of felixleaf, but I’d made plenty of other generic tonics from my plants.

I hadn’t had much time to make the remedies, but now that I had the marshland, I’d be able to make much more potent salves and tonics for the next campaign and, hopefully, grow enough felixleaf for all the most seriously ill patients. Maybe I could ask for a shed in the garden like Callum’s to make into a workshop. But those were plans for later. Kasten had to survive first.

I sat up and startled when the covers stayed anchored down on one side. I froze and truly concentrated on my surroundings. My skin tingled at the sound of deep breathing beside me. The bed was wider than I expected and the coverlet coarser. I couldn’t hear the low ticktock of my grandfather clock; a metallic tick filled the air instead. And the air itself felt different.

I wasn’t in my bed. I was in Kasten’s. And he was still asleep beside me.

I froze in pure shock. What should I do now? Should I go back to the hard chair and act as if I had been there all along? Or stay in the bed? Somebody must have put me here next to him. Would Kasten be angry when he finally regained consciousness, thinking I’d taken advantage of his state?

I slipped the covers off my legs and tried to disturb the bed as little as possible as I swiveled my legs toward the floor. I gasped as Kasten’s hand shot out from behind me and grabbed my wrist. His grip was strong but not painful. I turned back toward him, unable to see anything in the darkness, my heart thumping in my ears. His hand didn’t loosen.

“Kasten, are you awake?”

There was only silence for a moment, then the covers shifted. “Stay with me, Sophie.” The words were slurred and sleep-addled.

Was he even conscious?

His grip didn’t soften.

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