Chapter 45
Despite the healing magic Thorne had performed on my leg, I was slow to recover. To make matters worse, Mama had, indeed, sent for Lord Raine to come home. Time was running out, the last of the golden summer slipping by outside my window like honey dripping from a jar—a little more gone each morning, and I could not taste its sweetness.
Every day was a frustrating battle between my desire to go back into the Darkwood to see Thorne, and my stupid leg, which had a tendency to suddenly buckle if I stood for too long. Sorche brought me a crutch, which helped, but I felt as though my normal clumsiness was increased sevenfold as I hobbled around the castle.
Finally, I could bear it no longer.
“I’m going into the forest today,” I told Neeve as we left the schoolroom.
She had taken
