Blood poured from the wound, staining the floor and soaking Ismerie's white robes, vivid and terrible to see.
Shadow burst through the door. "High Seer! Are you unharmed?"
Ismerie looked down at Leontis, still and pale, his breath faint. Her gaze shifted, dark and unreadable.
"Take him at once to the private hospital. Spare nothing to save him. If he cannot be saved…" She let the words die unspoken.
He had a younger brother. She had read his star‑line long ago, steady, safe, and sure of a good life.
Now she understood why Leontis had clung so fiercely to kin and line, he had long prepared for this.
When he had thrown himself before her, something had stirred in her, only to be cut short, cold and gone in an instant.
Caedmon burst in soon after. He had been drawn away by foes far
