My face warmed. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention. Focus was always on the person being cared for, never on the healing hands behind them. His eyes were like shafts of light, angled directly on me. “I…I don’t know, Your Majesty.”
He took a long sip of coffee, squinting at me. “You don’t seem the lazy type, and you’re far too thin to be a glutton.”
I smiled, hoping his little game would end there.
“You are quite a lovely girl, though,” he continued, oblivious to my discomfort. “Perhaps vanity would come spilling out.”
I tried to laugh. “It’s hard to be vain with so many freckles across one’s face.”
He made a noise of agreement. “Something else, then? Your skillsas a healer? To be so gifted at such a young age—that must cause your chest to puff, hmm?”
I’d never considered my expertise to be a source of pride or self-importance, but he was probably right. Merrick had given me too many talents for me to be entirely humble.
“I think you’ve guessed it, Your Majesty. Now, if you’re done eating, we ought to start your examination.”
“Lust.”
The word fell heavy between us, the crack of a hatchet finding its tree, the blade biting sharp and irrevocably. It brought a stain of scarlet to my cheeks as I remembered my nightmare, the way I’d let Leopold take control of my desires, of my body, of my very self.
“Envy, perhaps,” I responded with more honesty than I’d intended. “Coveting things that will never be mine.”
Marnaigne clucked sympathetically. “It’s a hard thing to admit, isn’t it? Now, imagine how shameful it is, having evidence of those same weaknesses run down your body for all the world to see and judge.”
I met his eyes again, compassion flooding my heart. “You’ll receive no judgment from me. I promise you that, Your Majesty.”
“René,” he offered unexpectedly. “Please, call me René.”
“René.” I swallowed, gathering my nerves. “Do you think we could have a moment in private?”
“Thisisa private moment,” he said, gesturing to the nearly empty chamber.
I tilted my head toward Aloysius and the two remaining footmen, the four guards standing watch at the chamber entrance. “Entirely private.”
“Are you planning on murdering me, little healer?” The king paused, his small, nervous joke falling flat.
“Of course not, Your Maj—René,” I said with a smile, trying to keep my words light and steady. There was a pang of worry creeping up my stomach and tightening my throat.
I might,I wanted to say.I might have to.
Studying me curiously, the king waved them out of the chambers.
Aloysius lingered on the threshold, his face burning with naked curiosity, but he eventually followed the other men.
Only once the door had clicked shut did Marnaigne dare to look at me, his lips set in a grim line. “I’m dying, aren’t I? That’s why you wanted them sent away.” He took a carefully measured breath, flexing his fingers over the caps of his knees. “How long do I have left?”
“Oh,” I began, startled. “Oh no.I didn’t mean…That’s not what I meant by…” I shook my head. “Let’s start again, shall we?”
The king nodded, but his face remained dark with apprehension.
I licked my lips, unsure of how to begin.
I didn’t usually have to use Merrick’s gift on my patients. They came to me with familiar sicknesses needing familiar cures: broken bones required plaster casts, summer colds called for warm soup and herbal teas. I didn’t have to double-check my work because I knew what was needed, I knew how those things could be fixed.
“A bath,” I decided. I would wash the new Brilliance from his face and then cup his cheeks. “I’d like to draw you a bath.”
“I’ve had one already this morning,” he said, unmoving.
“Yes but…” I paused, my eyes flitting about the chamber. My leather valise was still on the side table where I’d left it the night before. “Not with my tonics. Where’s your bath?”
