178 The Morning After (1/2)

I was passed out while the situation resolved itself, and only just woke up to find myself lying in a bed beside Luca's bed.

The idiot was snoring as he slept without a care in the world which annoyed me as we'd had so much trouble fighting off against the hashashin who'd stolen his face.

I sat up in bed thinking about counters for poisons that I would need to stock up on now. Last night's embarrassment won't be repeated.

My eyes glanced around the room, and only then did I realize that we weren't in the infirmary I left Luca in the previous night.

We were in Princess Aurana's suite, the pale blue walls and white gossamer curtains were similar enough. Perhaps we were in one of the adjoining rooms that led to her bed-chamber.

That thought made me blush, and remembering the princess in her thin day-gown made that blush get even hotter.

\”What's with the dopey grin on your face, Dean?\” Ashley called from the open doors on the left side of the room. \”Thinking of something pervy, weren't you?\”

\”O-of course, not!\” I lied. \”I was poisoned, you know.\”

\”Sure, that's all it is,\” Ashley grinned.

She knew I was fibbing. She'd seen my reaction to Aurana's attire last night, after all.

I turned away as she walked over to my bedside with a basket in her hand and saw through the open window that night had fallen yet again. This meant I'd spent a full twenty-four hours in the Fayne, something I'd never done before.

My eyes glanced down at the hand that carried the bracelet that kept me in the Fayen but I discovered my arm was bare and that the bracelet had been removed.

\”Apparently, those temporary anchors are bad for a visere's health if used for too long,\” Ashley explained as she sat on the wooden chair next to the bed. \”And you were already knee-deep in health issues with the amount of poison in your bloodstream… Berrian took all day just to drain it out of you.\”

\”So that's why I've been asleep so long…\” I understood. \”Edo got up just when the fight was getting interesting.\”

\”Edo is a half-ogre with natural resistances… you're human, Dean…\” As she said this, there was a definite crease on Ashley's forehead. \”No matter how amazing you've become at warfare, don't ever forget that you're still just human with easily breakable body parts.\”

\”Yes-yes, mom,\” I joked.

Calling her mom just made her frown even more.

Her obvious concern warmed my heart, and as I stared into her face, I realized that I was beginning to notice how pretty she was more and more. No wonder Ty crushed hard on her back in the day, maybe even now.

These teenage-boy thoughts threatened to overwhelm my composure and would have made me blush even more, and Ashley would no doubt have picked up on that. So, to avoid further embarrassment, I asked Ashley what happened after I passed out.

\”And he would have gotten out to if he hadn't decided to finish his business while making his escape,\” Ashley admitted.

\”The Princess—\”

\”Was very, very angry at how injured you were from the fight,\” Ashley revealed, a shadow of something I knew was fear passed over her face. \”I'd never seen Aura go nuclear like that before…\”

As interested as I was to know what happened, Ashley just teed up that comment and it demanded a response, \”Really, you don't remember when she nearly burned down Broken Sellsword's Canyon's Lowtown?\”

\”Ah, yes, that,\” Ashley admitted with a laugh.

She continued her tale and told me that the princess herself had ended the threat of the hashashin with a wave of her magical fist, literally. Apparently, Princess Aurana had used up all her new spells that night, even going so far as to summon her last and most powerful spell, the Fire Fist.

It was an apt name for a spell that literally called down a column of fire from the heavens to slam down onto its target like a fist smashing a bug on the floor.

\”She really did smash him like a bug… repeatedly too,\” Ashley said while miming her fist slamming onto her open palm and grinding it there. \”It probably helped that you'd injured the hashashin to the point where he was already struggling to keep Luca's form.\”

\”Did the princess — did Aura kill it?\” I asked.

I assumed using the name of Princess Aurana's alter ego was fine given where we were, and I was getting tired of saying princess all the time.

Ashley shook her head. \”The hashashin is currently locked up in the dungeons and is being treated for burn wounds along other wounds you gave it.\”

\”Has an interrogation been done yet?\” I asked.

Ashley shrugged. \”Not that I know of… but the Inquisitor has offered her services when it happens… apparently, she and your pal, the Lord of Stars were attacked too.\”

That caused my own brow to furrow, and I recalled the words the hashashin had given me, \”You are not on my list,\” I repeated.

\”Apparently, there were a lot of people on his list,\” Ashley added.

She explained that other than Aurana, the other three big names within Palanquin Palace yesterday were attacked as well.