A Storm of Chaos (The Hunter Legacy #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

'Are you all right, Emissary?'

Blinking, Noah lifted his head to look at the young healer who was tending to his hand again. The healer was trained well though, given that she didn't even hesitate when she saw Noah's already scorched hand had been burned a second time, in an almost identical way to the first. Or perhaps that was because of the stern, wordless order the Comavren gave to the healer with nothing but a look.

Noah and the Comavren hadn't spoken much after Kaya had stormed out of the stables, and it was probably the first time Noah had ever witnessed the Comavren speechless.

After a few moments, though, the Comavren had said, 'That girl is impossible.'

'I don't blame her,' Noah had replied, the same words he had spoken to Felix so many weeks ago.

He was going about this the wrong way, Noah had decided then; the more he tried to prove himself to Kaya, the more he drove her away.

The healer, who was in fact an apprentice, regarded Noah with a crease of concern in her brow as she held Noah's injured hand aloft. When Noah didn't say anything, she reached forward and pressed the back of her hand to Noah's forehead.

'You have a mild fever,' she decided, her frown deepening.

Noah was too tired to respond, although his exhaustion wasn't just from the confrontation with Kaya; it had hit him quickly after his match with Brocard, as if he had expended too much energy too quickly. Considering how fiercely Noah had had to defend himself against Brocard's eagerness for blood, Noah wasn't surprised he had been struck by sudden fatigue. He had been intending to go straight to his rooms to rest, but when he and Felix were half-way there the Comavren had appeared with a plan already in motion for him to speak with Kaya alone. Felix had begrudgingly continued to his own room, leaving Noah with the Comavren.

The healer watched Noah warily as she tended to his hand, smoothing a cool salve across the burn that instantly relieved the heat in his palm. She then placed a swath of material over the salve before wrapping his entire hand in a fresh set of bandages.

The fact that he had a fever was surprising though. Aside from his exhaustion, from the fogginess in his head that came with fatigue, Noah didn't feel as though he were sick, exactly.

But he didn't feel right, either.

He could blame that on the horrid feelings churning inside him, a mix of frustration, regret, guilt and a steadily-building anger that he knew he had to suppress.

'Emissary?'

Noah blinked out of his thoughts, realising he had withdrawn into them for the second time, and the healer's room came into focus once again. He reminded himself of the pale-gold walls, the two futons nearby, the wash basin and work bench, and the tall stall he sat on with a wall at his back. But even as he did this, Noah struggled to keep his eyes open.

'Emissary,' the healer said again, her voice sharp with heightened concern now. 'I suggest you rest here before returning to your rooms. I'd like to monitor—'

Noah dismissed her words with a wave of his hand. 'I'm all right, thank you. Today has been a... tiring day, that's all.'

'You're paling,' the healer pointed out. 'Rapidly.'

Noah stood up, but as he did he felt a tingling through his other hand – the hand of Chaos' scar. He hadn't bothered with rewrapping the bandages before he and the Comavren left the stables, but he had replaced his glove to keep the scar concealed. The sensation he felt now was unlike what he had felt when drawing out Chaos, or from when Reapers were nearby; his hand felt like there was something crawling beneath it, just on the underside of his skin.