CHAPTER 4
Tonight couldn’t have gone more wrong.
Kaspian paced the length of his parents’ chambers. The stifling air stank of musty medicinal herbs. Thick blankets and goose-down pillows consumed Tata’s shrunken and pale body. The healer at his bedside, backlit by the fireplace, cast a dark shadow over him like the looming presence of Weles waiting to spirit him to the world below.
When Kaspian had been a boy, Tata had seemed like the perfect masterpiece: a man who had everything—a loving wife, two healthy sons, and rulership of a prosperous region. Now, his body shriveled by illness and eyes scrunched, he seemed more like a crumpled sketch.
As angry as he’d been with both of his parents, he couldn’t be so cold as to abandon Tata in his time of need. When Tata had collapsed, the only t
