CHAPTER 16

Briar's chest rasped as though it was filled with water. An awful, slick gargling sound rattled its way out her parted lips. The sound scratched at my skin, turning my empty stomach into knots. Her lips, and the skin around them, were as pale, crusted with the remains of a sticky, green substance that stained the corners. No matter how many times Althea cleared the residue away with a cloth, it only came back.

Althea sat upon a seat beside Briar, dirtied napkin clutched in shaking hands.

Briar was in a deep slumber, uninterrupted. She didn't even wake when the rattling became a hacking cough that convulsed her short body in the bed. Althea would spring forward, hands holding Briar down at her shoulders. Only when the fit would stop did she release her hold, although reluctantly.

"I'm scared she does not have long left," Althea admitted, voice almost void of all emotion as though she was entirely dry of it. I could see it from the bloodshot haze that overwhelmed the whites of her eyes and the red tip at the end of her nose. She'd likely spilled every tear imaginable.

"How long do the healers give her?" Erix asked from beyond my shoulder, his close presence welcome as we stood watch over Briar. It hadn't taken much persisting for Erix to take me to see her. As soon as Lady Kelsey had dismissed herself, he was waiting beyond the door and hardly said a word when I'd asked.

It was strangely easy to force the command into my tone as though it was natural. Had that unlocked itself with the lack of iron wrapped around my wrist? Only another of my mother's traits making itself known?

The infirmary was modest in size. I found it nestled in one of the many winding corridors of the castle. As we stepped inside, the intense brightness of the decoration had me wincing. The walls and floor were covered in pure white tiles, which gave the impression we stood within a never-ending box.

There were many beds set up along a wall, but only Briar's was occupied.

Besides Briar and Althea – who'd hardly regarded us when we entered – the room was almost empty. There was the occasional appearance of a healer who was dressed in cream and brown garments, with a creased apron tied around her stomach. But that was it.

"It is impossible to know. I can't I bear the thought of putting a time limit on her life, so I didn't ask," Althea said, all without taking her eyes off Briar. "Each healer I call upon says another outcome than the one before. I was tired of their careless comments, so I dismissed most of them."

I looked to the older healer, grey hair hidden beneath the shawl, as she shuffled loudly from one side of the room to the other, fussing over bottles and packages of dried herbs. What had made her special enough to stay, I wondered. Perhaps her answer had been less morbid than the other healers Althea had mentioned.

"Do they know what poison was in the food?" I asked, feeling awkwardly out of place in my training leathers in such a sterile room.

I knew little of poisons, but could see from Briar that it attacked her lungs. I'd once seen a boy almost drown after he showed off to his friend, swimming further out across the dark lake that was a short walk from Grove. Turned out he was a shit swimmer. It was my father who dragged him out of the depths, just before his skin had turned blue; another moment and he would've died.

The noise Briar made was similar to the sound the boy made as he coughed up the dirty water of the lake whilst gasping for breath. It was as if she drowned from the inside – lungs filling with the green phlegm that seeped from the corners of her mouth.

Althea dropped the cloth to her lap and reached a hand for Briar's. "Tugwort, at least that is the most common guess. And that is all it is, a guess. It would explain why they cannot heal her. Instead, I am to just sit back and watch her lungs fill until she finally stops breathing."

I winced as Althea snarled her last few words. "Surely there's something that can be done?"

"Maybe," Erix answered. "I have been informed that a messenger hawk has already been sent east for aid." Erix spoke as though he shared information he was not supposed to.

"And? That means nothing. The request will fall upon uncaring ears. What then? Do we wait for someone else to arrive on a white horse and save her? That is supposed to be my task. I should be the one saving her, but all I can do is fucking sit here cleaning up spit and putting all my trust in the hands of…" She choked, unable to finish. Althea angled her body in her seat, so I could only see the back of her head. But I was certain, just for a moment, I caught the glittering of a tear escape her angered stare.

"If news of Robin has reached the shores of Oakstorm, there is no saying Tarron has not already heard. The invitation would be all he requires to come and investigate himself."

"Tarron," Althea sneered, resting her forehead upon the rumpled sheets at Briar's side, "has denied aid for years. I see no reason for him to help now."

Tarron Oakstorm – the heir to the summer court. Information Lady Kelsey had not long shared. What could he do to help?

"The humans might know of something that could help," I said, clearing my throat as I interrupted their conversation. The room was relatively quiet thus far, but after I finished speaking, I could have heard a pin drop. Even Briar's rough breathing seemed to calm.

"Tell me you are joking." Althea did not sound as though she was willing for comic relief, and nor did I want to provide it.

"Althea, if the fey don't know a cure for Tugwort, maybe they do?"

I was confident she would shout at me. Call me stupid and laugh. But she was quiet, so much so that I could almost hear her brain work as it took in what I had to say.

"It is not the best of ideas, but not a terrible one either," Erix added. "I admit I would rather see more humans in these halls than Tarron."

I thanked him with a quick, weak smile. He nodded slightly, jaw clenched as he, too, waited for Althea's retort.

"Each hour that passes I hear more reports of Hunter settlements popping up across the weakening Wychwood borders. What do you expect to do… walk right through them in search of answers? I have more hope for the pompous princeling to accept my invitation than I do finding a human who wishes to help with this. Thanks though."

My cheeks grew warm beneath her judging stare. "I'm only trying to help."

"Have you not helped enough?" she snapped, eyes burning and wide.

"Althea," Erix's deep voice sounded in warning.

"Remember your place, Erix," Althea snapped, turning the full, burning wrath upon him. She was crying now, silent tears cutting down her cheeks as she snarled like a wolf over its wounded pup.

I'd never enquired about Althea and Erix's relationship but could understand that he was comfortable reprimanding a child of the ruling court, and she was just as comfortable snarling back.

"Robin, I think I should take you back to your rooms." Erix turned his back on Althea, putting an arm out until it rested over my stomach. "Leave Althea to have some time alone."

"No," I told him. "I'm not ready to go anywhere." It took little effort to sidestep him and move towards Althea. I joined her at Briar's bedside, where I placed a hand over her trembling shoulder. "It is not my place to know anything about you and Briar, but I can see you care a lot for her. And I would do anything to help return her to full health. If I offended you with my suggestion, I am so sorry–"

"She was always so gentle," Althea interrupted with a whisper, voice breaking like glass across stone. "Seeing her in such a state pains me in a way I would not wish my worst enemy to experience. And what hurts me the most is I had promised her a way out of her task the next time I came to Aurelia. I failed her with that promise. All I brought her was…"

"Me," I finished.

Briar's demise.

"You did not place the poison in the food." Althea's tone darkened. "And when I find out who did, I will ensure they too experience what it is like to drown, except it will be in their own blood."

Briar convulsed upon the bed, drawing Althea's attention away from me. I stepped back, giving Althea room whilst she tried to still her shaking with her own weight.

"Robin, let's go," Erix whispered, his voice barely audible as I watched in horror at Althea clasping Briar as if she'd slip away from her if she let go.

A warm hand slipped into my own, tearing my attention from the scene back to Erix who looked down the length of his strong nose.

"Okay," I said, shocked that he used my name, recognising the power he had on it.

I nodded, unsure if I was to pull away from him or return the gentle squeeze he gave me. I allowed him to guide me from the room, leaving the quiet sobbing of Althea behind us.

It was silently agreed, but she needed space; I only hoped she knew I'd return if she needed me.

Erix didn't let go of my hand. Not when we strode down the corridor beyond the infirmary, passing the many guards who shadowed me, or when we were rooms away, deeper into the castle, as we followed the familiar route back to my chamber.

I was thankful for him anchoring me with his touch and for the way his thumb moved slowly in circles across the back of my hand.

Even if I was too weak to refuse it, his comfort was welcome.

"I fear for the person responsible for Briar's pain," Erix finally said, one hand still gripping mine, the other resting upon the hilt of his sword at his hip.

"And what if they're not found?"

"Nothing can stay hidden forever," Erix replied, the door to my room coming into sight as we rounded the final corridor that sloped into the lower floors of the manor. "You are likely the greatest secret of all, yet you have been revealed. It is only a matter of time before those who cause you harm decide hiding behind poisons is meek, and move onto other means."

"That makes me feel so much better," I said. " Not ."

All at once, he dropped my hand, and I found that I forgot what to do with it. It made sense being held by Erix, but without his touch, the hand almost felt pointless.

Erix's silver stare was etched with concern as his brows furrowed and his lips pulled into a thin, tight line.

"Robin." His use of my name was strange. It was not the first time he'd said it today, and it was beginning to irk me more than the nickname he gave me. His strong, handsome face was filled with determination. "I would never let something happen to you again."

"Because you are my personal guard?" I questioned, pressing my back against the cold wood of the door. "And that is the task you have been presented with, just as Briar was tasked with being my Taster?"

"Something you will come to know about me, little bird –" I sagged in relief at the use of the nickname, the one he used more commonly than my name "– I rarely do anything that is asked of me. Regardless of my duty, I will make sure you are safe."

"What is so different now?" I dared to say it aloud as the question was far too loud to keep locked within my head.

"You," Erix said softly. "You are what is different."