A Court of Ash and Necromancy

45. Illusions and Punishments

They landed on one of the Palace's many pavilions. Elodie gripped the marble railing, panting for breath. Her crystal blue eyes were wide and sparkling with fear and excitement.

Mikael touched her arm gently. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," she replied. "Thank you. I'm Elodie, but I suppose you already know that. You can call me Ellie."

"Mikael." He turned to Kallias and Viviane. "I can heal that." He inclined his head to the bloodstained hole in Kallias' shoulder.

Kallias bowed his head and Mikael summoned his healing magic. He let his hand hover over the wound for a moment. Kallias gave a small sigh of relief. Viviane drifted to Ellie's side and began speaking with her quietly. Mikael faced his friends.

"Are any of you injured?" His gaze landed on Celeste in particular. She clutched her side, her honey brown face now pale and pinched with pain.

Lysander knelt beside her, one hand on her shoulder, his eyes reflecting concern. Mikael crouched down and let his magic surface again. Celeste gritted her teeth as he set to work on the injury. Mikael furrowed his brows.

"This wound is deep," he said. "What happened?"

"She was watching my back," Calden murmured before Celeste could reply. "A corpse came at me and she took the blow."

Celeste hissed between her teeth, lowering her head. Mikael winced. "Sorry." Celeste swallowed and gripped Lysander's hand, not answering. "Ellie, this is Lysander, Celeste, and Calden," he said, noticing the female's curious gaze. She smiled shyly and looked away.

"My uncle will be upset if he doesn't receive some sort of explanation for all of this," she said.

"Let us handle that," Kallias replied.

Mikael drew his hands away from Celeste, rocking back onto his heels. "My father will have the servants prepare a room for you, Ellie. Kallias, Viviane, could one of you let him know we're back?"

"Of course," Viviane answered. She beckoned for Ellie to follow as she and Kallias entered the Palace.

Mikael and Calden stood while Lysander helped Celeste up. "Why would Melantha send corpses after her?" Calden asked, watching Ellie's receding figure. "I mean, I know you said she's important to Wynter, but why would that attract Melantha's attention? She seems like a shy little thing."

"Melantha didn't send corpses after her because she wanted Elodie," Mikael surmised. "She just wanted to hurt Wynter, and she knew that killing Elodie would do that."

"Still, how can you use someone against someone else when those people have only met once or twice in their lives? It doesn't make sense."

"You can be attracted to someone and develop feelings for them without actually meeting them," Celeste said. "Like Sienna and Morai. They were drawn to each other before they actually met."

"So were Estelle and I," Mikael added. "She defended me to Ronan even before we started to get along."

"Hm." Calden combed his fingers through his hair. "I suppose you're right. But I imagine Elodie, or Ellie, or whatever she calls herself, is probably very confused by all of this." He elbowed Mikael. "You should try to help her make sense of things. I'm not sure Kallias and Viviane will. They seem more worried about understanding her relationship with Wynter than helping her."

"You're right. We don't need them asking questions she can't answer, or vice versa, and I'm sure they'll be summoned to help with the plan later."