Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Chapter 86

The healer had been left to die.

The blade had pierced her side, and by the time her attacker disappeared into the woods, she had already lost enough blood that keeping her eyes open had become a struggle.

She remembered trying to crawl. She remembered crying and grunting in pain. She remembered the sound of footsteps fading into the distance.

Then everything went dark.

When she woke, she was lying on a narrow bed in an unfamiliar room. Her side throbbed beneath the crude bandage wrapped around it, and every attempt to move sent a sharp pain through her body.

An elderly woman sat beside the bed, grinding herbs in a wooden bowl.

"You’re awake," the woman said.

The healer tried to sit up.

"Don’t." The woman immediately put down the bowl and pressed a hand against her shoulder. "You’ve been unconscious for nearly a day. If you tear that wound open, I won’t be able to help you again."

"Where am I?" she asked instead, looking around the wooden home.

"My home. My grandson found you near the eastern forest road." The woman adjusted the blanket covering her. "You were lucky he saw you when he did."

The healer closed her eyes briefly, trying to gather her thoughts. It all came rushing back to her. She’d been trailing Sophia when she was attacked.

Her heartbeat suddenly sped up. She had to tell Evelyn what she found out. Not only was she struck on the head, but also stabbed. She had to tell Evelyn who this man was—he was a dangerous person.

She tried to stand up, pushing herself up with all of her might. "I need to leave."

The elderly woman stared at her. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I have to get a message to someone. I need—I need to warn her." She gritted out through clenched teeth.

"You can barely sit upright." The woman said, appalled.

"Please." The healer caught her wrist. "It’s important."

The woman studied her face before sighing. "Whatever it is, it can wait until you’re strong enough to walk."

The healer wanted to argue, but the pain in her side made it impossible. She sank back against the pillow, breathing through her teeth. She too was a healer. She knew very well she couldn’t make it past the door, let alone to the estate.

For the next two days, she remained in the woman’s home. Her rescuer changed her bandages, fed her broth, and insisted she rest whenever she attempted to move around. The wound was deep, and even with the woman’s knowledge of herbs, recovery was slow.

But the healer’s thoughts never strayed far from what had happened in the woods.

She had been sent to observe Sophia, nothing more. Evelyn had given her clear instructions not to interfere, and she had followed them.

Yet someone had discovered her presence and decided she needed to die. What was the secret that her life didn’t even matter?

What had Sophia been discussing with that man?

She paused the second a memory came to her. She remembered hearing voices before they walked away. "Kael sent someone to watch you?" The man’s voice had been angry, livid even.

The healer took a deep breath. It was good they didn’t think Evelyn had sent her. This way, their focus could be on Kael.

The events replayed in her mind over and over again. It was clear that it wasn’t just Sophia and the man there. There had been a third person.

By the second evening, the healer could stand without assistance. It was not comfortable, and she knew she had a long way to go before she fully recovered, but she could no longer remain where she was.

She needed to contact Evelyn.

The following morning, with the elderly woman’s reluctant assistance, she sent a message through a passing trader who regularly travelled toward Valemont. She knew there, they’d make sure the message reached Tristan.

She included only the information necessary to reach Tristan. She did not mention Sophia or the man in the woods. She didn’t mention anything about the attack. It was just a normal message signed with her name.

She knew she wasn’t naive. Until she knew who could be trusted, she wasn’t willing to put anything more in writing.

She spent the rest of the morning anticipating news, and by afternoon, a reply arrived. Tristan had received her message.

He was arranging for someone to bring her to Evelyn. For the first time since the attack, the healer allowed herself to breathe a little easier.

She had survived, and now she needed to make sure the reason she had nearly died did not disappear with her.

By evening, a carriage arrived at the woman’s door, sent at Tristan’s instruction and driven by a man he trusted enough not to ask questions. The elderly woman fussed over the healer until the last possible moment, pressing a jar of salve into her hands and muttering about fools who didn’t know how to rest.

"Thank you," the healer said, gripping the woman’s hands. "I don’t know what I would have done if your grandson hadn’t found me."

"Don’t thank me. Just don’t go getting yourself stabbed again." The woman’s gruffness didn’t quite hide her worry. "And send word when you’re properly healed. I’ll want to know you made it."

The journey was uncomfortable. Every bump sent pain through the healer’s side, but she endured it without complaint. She had already wasted too much time recovering. Whatever Sophia and that man were hiding, she needed to tell Evelyn before they had another opportunity to cover their tracks.

---

Evelyn was reviewing the latest documents for her healing house when Tristan entered the room.

"The healer has been found."

Evelyn put down her papers. "Where? Is she okay?" They’d been searching for three days now.

"She was discovered near the eastern forest road by a woman and her grandson. She’s been recovering at their home for the past two days."

Evelyn froze, heart beating rapidly. She was discovered?

"Is—is she alive?" she asked shakily.

"Yes, but she’s injured. My contact says she insisted on sending word as soon as she was able."

Evelyn’s expression tightened. "How badly injured?"

"He’s not certain. He only knows she was found unconscious and had lost a considerable amount of blood, but she’s much better now."

Evelyn rose from her chair. "Arrange for her to be brought here and—"

"She’s already on her way." He said, cutting her short. He stepped closer. "She’s fine, Evelyn. She survived whatever happened. Don’t blame yourself for this."

Evelyn nodded. It was hard not to blame herself for this. After all, she’d been the one to ask her to trail Sophia. She’d been the one to put her in harm’s way.

---

Tristan was waiting the moment the carriage rolled through the gates, and the sight of him nearly broke whatever composure the healer had managed to hold onto for the entire journey.

"You’re alive," he breathed, helping her down with careful hands. "We feared the worst when you didn’t return."

"Barely," she admitted, swaying slightly as her feet found the ground. "I need to see Lady Evelyn. Now. It can’t wait any longer."

"She’s inside." Tristan’s expression had already shifted into something grimmer, sensing the weight behind her urgency. "Come. I’ll take you to her."

Evelyn was in the room when they entered, and whatever she’d been preparing—clothes, warm water, and cream to help the healer when she arrived—was all forgotten the instant she saw the healer’s state. Her pale face, gaunt, bandages visible underneath the collar of her borrowed dress, every step clearly keeping her in pain.

"Sit," Evelyn said immediately, already crossing the room, already reaching for the blade she kept at her belt. "Don’t speak yet."

"My Lady, there isn’t time—"

"There’s time." Evelyn guided her into the chair by the window, kneeling beside it, drawing the blade across her own palm without hesitation. "You’ll bleed through whatever’s left of that wound if you keep straining yourself to talk. Let me finish, and then you’ll tell me everything."

The healer sagged back, too weak to argue, watching as Evelyn pressed her bleeding palm gently against the bandaged wound. Warmth spread through her side almost instantly, the pain dulling and her vision sharpening, the exhaustion slowly leaving.

"Better?" Evelyn asked.

"Better," the healer admitted, though her hand shot out to catch Evelyn’s wrist before she could pull away entirely. "My Lady, please. You have to hear this now. It can’t wait."

Evelyn stilled. "Go on."

"Sophia." The healer’s voice shook, though whether from pain or urgency, it was hard to tell. "She’s working with a man. I heard them in the market, before I was attacked. His name is—"

"Voss," Evelyn finished quietly.

The healer’s eyes went wide, confusion momentarily overtaking the pain. "How could you possibly know that?"

"It doesn’t matter right now." Evelyn’s expression had gone distant, already turning the name over in her mind the way she had with Damon days earlier. "What matters is that you survived, and that you’re not going back to Silver Creek to confirm it."

"My Lady, I have duties—"

"You have none left there." Evelyn’s voice left no room for argument. "Whatever loyalty you owed that pack, they repaid it by leaving you for dead in a market square. You’ll stay here. Work for me. I’ll see you’re compensated properly, and I won’t have you walking back into danger for people who clearly don’t value your life the way they should."

The healer’s eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you, my Lady."

"Rest now." Evelyn withdrew her hand gently, the wound already beginning to close, the color slowly returning to the healer’s face. "We’ll speak more once you’ve slept properly."

Tristan waited until the healer had been settled and the door closed softly behind them before he spoke, his brow furrowed deep with thought.

"Voss." He said the name slowly, testing it. "I know that name. He went dark years ago, left the realm entirely after some deal turned sour enough to draw unwanted attention. Everyone assumed he’d settled somewhere far from here, out of reach."

"No." Evelyn’s expression hardened. "He’s still here and still operating. Probably has grown from the little scams he did back then and now is into something worse."

"Then how is Sophia tied to someone like that?" Tristan replied.

"That’s exactly what we need to find out." Evelyn moved toward the window, arms crossed, eyes fixed on something distant.

"Voss doesn’t resurface for small debts, Tristan. He doesn’t stab healers in broad daylight over nothing. Whatever business he has with Sophia, it’s large enough that silence is worth killing for."

"I need to speak with Damon." Evelyn was already turning toward the door. "If anyone in this realm can trace where Voss has been hiding, it’s him."