Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Of course, Jai didn't go back to sleep after everyone left the infirmary. He'd been unconscious for two weeks. He got enough rest but wouldn't have been able to even if he wanted.

Gods, that glamour wasn't doing much for Alyvia except giving her false confidence of him not knowing who she really was. That was definitely not the case.

When the sunlight started streaming in through the windows above him, Jai decided to test out his legs to see if they still worked after laying on the cot for two weeks. Pushing the covers off him, he swung around slowly, his bare feet touching the cool stone floor below, and started to push himself up.

Not a good idea. Not at all.

Even though his magic was almost fully restored, his physical strength was not. Before he could even stand up straight, Jai was falling, stumbling forward as his knees started to give out and his head swam.

And then she was there to catch him.

"What are you thinking?" 'Audry' chided. She caught him with an arm around his waist, tucking herself under his arm so he could lean on her. Slowly, she lowered him back down onto the cot. "You don't have the strength yet, you know. You have to go slow."

"I was going slow."

"Yes, and the fall wouldn't have been. And it would have hurt."

"But if I got hurt, you could heal me up in a second."

Alyvia shook her head, rolling her eyes as she kept a hand on his arm just to make sure he wouldn't fall forward from the dizziness.

He wished she would stop touching him.

She was dressed in a simple blue dress, one that hugged the curves she didn't bother to hide with her glamour. No wonder she'd caught Destan's eye. Her hair was in a braid over one shoulder and he stopped himself from reaching up to twist the end of it around his fingers. He couldn't do that, not when he 'just met' her.

"You're dizzy, aren't you?" she asked, leaning down to look into his eyes and check their dilation. "You've been out for too long, so your equilibrium will be off. You need to eat something, too. You wouldn't touch the oats I gave you last night."

"Because I wasn't hungry."

"And now?"

Now that he'd had time to think about it while everyone slept...yes, he was desperately hungry. The growl his stomach made then had her grinning.

"That's what I thought," she said, laughing quietly. "Let me go get you more. And if you try to stand again before I get back and I find you collapsed on the floor, I'm not helping you back up."

Jai raised both eyebrows at the sass. "Remind me again why my parents decided to make you an official palace healer? You don't exactly have the best bedside manner."

He could tell she was holding in her retort before she turned and practically stomped back through the doorway to her and Gideon's rooms.

He didn't move until she came back. He was stretching out his legs, though, trying to get the blood flow back to normal and testing out his range of motion. The dizziness had subsided as well, having probably been brought on by him sitting up just a little too fast, even though he thought it had been slow. When Alyvia came back with a bowl of oats in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other, she wasn't alone. And he wasn't talking about Gideon.