7. Forward

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An acrid smell assaulted my nose for the last miles of our journey. Nothing diluted the putrid smell of death, and I steeled my nerves for what lay ahead. When we crested the last hill, the source of the stench came into view. I recklessly spurred my mother's bay into the fray and surveyed the carnage around me. My healer's instinct called me, and I leaped from her back without thinking. Jing followed me like a shadow, but General Bao's soldiers, who had guided us for days, yelled in dismay. But when they must have realized I had no intention of leaving with them, one went to inform the General of my arrival. The others surrounded me in an attempt to keep me safe.

I flinched at the sound of Jing's sword leaving her scabbard. There were enemies alive who wanted to kill me. They could not know I would heal them as readily as my people. A healer trained by master Zhou could not ignore the injured, regardless of their background.

I knelt by the first soldier I found alive. His arm had been severed, and he had lost so much blood. I pulled a tourniquet out of my bag and tied it around his arm before laying my hand on his chest to look for other injuries. My practical mind would not let me waste magic on things I could treat quickly with my other skill.

My mouth lost all moisture when the first wave of pain hit me. This reaction was one of the disadvantages of the healer thief over the doctor. The healer's empathy could cause physical pain, whereas a doctor's empathy only affected the mind. After a dozen soldiers, I would have blurred vision and be unable to speak, but Jing knew this and would keep me going as long as she could. This soldier had a stab wound into the spleen and would quickly die as all his blood emptied into his abdominal cavity. I pushed magic to the organ, healing the cut and returning it to its original strength. Without a heart stone, he had no energy to give back to me, so I could only give and not receive. I was less a thief than a martyr.

Swords clanged around me, but if I focused on my task and not my surroundings, I would not fail. My master had worked on my anxiety so that I could tune out everything by my healing and not give in to the overwhelming fear.

Hours later, I hit my limit, and strong arms caught me as I collapsed. I hadn't noticed the light dimming, the torches flaring around me, or the soldiers wearing slick black armor promising eliteness replacing those who had accompanied me on my journey. And only when he held me in his arms did I recognize the enticing smell of the man I met on our wedding night.

My weary eyes met his amber ones, and my stomach flipped. His eyes had changed color, which meant his cultivation had progressed, but his handsome face looked haggard and drawn. Stubble covered his smooth cheeks, and the eyes that entranced me had dark circles underneath. My hand involuntarily moved to his cheek, and I rubbed it once.

"Wei Bao, you have to take care of yourself. Who will lead them if you die?" I chided him before curling up against his warm chest.

"I will do my best to honor your commands, my lady," he whispered back before lifting me into the air and striding toward the tents I had not yet noticed.

Feeling secure for the first time in days, I let myself drift in the warmth of his embrace. Why did he feel so comfortable? Had it only been once more than three years ago that we met?

Finally able to relax, I passed out in my husband's arms. When I awoke later, the shifting shadows on the floor before me attracted my attention before anything else, but when I determined they were safe, I let myself absorb my surroundings. Though it was likely the middle of the night, I could hear movement and murmured voices around me. My expanded senses should have allowed me to recognize more words, but I had exhausted myself with my reckless healing. I focused back in the room. I lay in a comfortable bed with Jing's familiar warmth behind me. A flash of disappointment turned down my lips though I couldn't pinpoint the reason for the feeling. Jing snorted as I decided to explore my environment instead of my emotional state and sat up to survey the shadowed tent around me but didn't show signs of waking. She had given me too much of her heart stone that night; I wondered how long it would take her to recover.

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