* * *
I woketo the door to Krew’s wing slamming open and breaking the sound barrier I’d had up. I reached for the covers, making sure all of my body was covered.
Thankfully it was, because in came the king with two of his personal guards and Owen on their heels.
“You healed the lake.”
Krew leaned up lazily. “Get out.”
“She healed the lake!” the king repeated.
“She is also not decent. Out!” Krew barked.
The king looked the length of me, seeing me wrapped up in the sheets. He gave an exasperated shrug as he looked out the curtains. “It is not even dinner time. The middle of the day!”
I cocked my head while gripping the sheets tightly. “A man has needs, you know.”
The king rolled his eyes. “I will wait in the next room. Get decent. I want to know how you pulled it off.”
“Seducing your son?” I asked with raised eyebrows just to be a pest. “I just used my womanly wiles, of course.”
The king flicked his wrist in annoyance while he stormed into the neighboring room.
I snickered as I grabbed my robe and threw it on. As I gathered my clothes up off the ground and went to the bathroom to change, I said to Krew,How do you want to play this? What should we tell him about the lake?
We tell him that it took all three of us, Owen, you, and me pouring our magic into the lake to the brink of burnout to work. He cannot know how powerful our magic is together. Later, I’ll make sure Owen knows also so our stories all match.
Fully dressed, we made our way into the other room. The king was seated at the chair Krew normally sat at for his meetings with The Six and it didn’t feel right at all.
“So?” he said with a hand. “Care to enlighten me?”
“Sure, Your Majesty,” I began as I took a seat on the right of him. “But can I have your reassurance that you will in fact rebuild the Nerede homes?”
He again rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. Now out with it.”
“How soon?” Krew asked as he took the chair next to me. “I know how your deals work, Father. You say you’ll do it with no direct timeline as to when. She did her part, and she’s been battling burnout for a week because of it.”
“Why do you care about the forest so?” the king asked.
I shrugged. “I can’t explain it. I just loathe that it’s stuck. I’ve always felt drawn to it. It should be creepy, all blackened and dead, but I’ve never felt unsafe there, I merely find it sad.”
“Also she feels guilty for what happened to the homes in Nerede,” Krew added. “She’s been out there every day because she wants the homes rebuilt before there is more unrest.”
The king’s head went back. “But you did not set the fires, nor did you tell them to attack Krewan.”
I gave the king a shrug. “We were in Nerede to seemymother when it happened, were we not?”
“But it was not your fault,” the king argued.
“Tell that to your whip,” Krew said coolly.
The king put up a hand. “I will send one group of builders to Nerede in two weeks’ time. How’s that?”
Krew gave me a nod as if that was suitable enough.
“It just tooka great dealof magic,” I offered, wanting the king to leave already. “And I couldn’t do it on my own. Krew had to help. As did Owen.” I paused. “I think all the previous times I had attempted to heal it played a role also. Since the viscosity of the lake was already slightly thinner.”
The king gave his head a shake. “But after the lake first turned, I sent our best Enchanted out there for weeks. I tried it myself. None of us could get it to do a thing.” He paused. “FormonthsI sent Enchanted to that lake daily. They never were able to change a thing.”
