Kingdoms of Gold

9 | Sturdy Bed Frames

It'd been hours of me curled on the ground next to Alistar. His body had regained color, lips no longer blue. His chest rose and fell in steady, deep breaths.

Everyone had showered and changed. Malachi and Brynjar took the longest. Each no doubt scrubbed every limb clean thrice. I still hadn't showered or let go of Alistar's hand.

The healer looked at them as soon as they walked out. She even checked Mirai and Valentino who had minimal damage, only a few cuts and scrapes.

She couldn't touch me with how much shit covered me. I doubt she could tell where one wound began and the other ended. Every inch of my skin stained red with dried blood. Hair still clumped over me. My clothes felt as if they'd been glued to my body.

Alistar's grip tightened around my hand before he let out a low groan. Everyone in the room stopped, held their breath. Brynjar set aside his plate of food, waiting.

Slowly, Alistar blinked his eyes open. He glanced around the room, cringing at the excessive dust, or maybe pain. "I never thought I'd be here again."

The healer handed him a glass of water, which he happily took. "How do you feel?"

He slowly sat up, wincing and groaning. The entire glass of water was gone in a matter of seconds. "Soar. Really soar."

His hand squeezed mine before he turned to me, and sucked in a sharp breath. "You—what—"

He tugged me on the bed, into his lap. Blood and dirt soiled the new sheets, smeared on his skin. He didn't seem to care, turning back to the healer. "Why haven't you healed her yet?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "She refuses to bathe. I can't do anything while there's so much bacteria still clinging to her. It'll only make the infection on her leg worse if she isn't sterile."

Malachi groaned. "Why didn't you say anything? We could've taken the time to clean your wounds again."

I barely felt the throbbing until she mentioned it. Adrenalin had been keeping me going. "I didn't know."

"Then I'm guessing you don't realize a few of you ribs are bruised. There are ligaments and blood vessels in your shoulder that need to be treated, from when you dislocated it." The healer sighed. All healers had a scary intuition to sense a wound without needing to see it.

The princess poked her head in the room, opening it wider when she saw Alistar. "You're awake."

Alistar's arm tightened around me, ignoring his sister. "What happened? Why are you covered in so many injuries." Alistar's fingers traced over the puckered claw marks down my arms and neck.

The scabs had already healed and fell off in the forest. The skin was barely beginning to smooth out.

My leg was the only major wound still unhealed, the infection taking longer. Even then, it had mostly healed over—the skin was swollen and red.

Brynjar answered for me. "We went to find the Fire Falls."

The room seemed to freeze. A few maids paused cleaning. One accidentally pushed a pile of dust onto the ground rather than the pan she held. They'd been here most of the time, trying to tidy centuries worth of neglect.

Alistar didn't hide his awe. "You found the Fire Falls?"

Malachi snorted and shook his head. He jabbed a finger in my direction. "No. She found the Fire Falls. We spent half a day trying to find her."

"You went into the Forest of Unbinding and found the Fire Falls." It wasn't a question. Pride filled his eyes, lifted the edges of his lips in a smile.