Pearlie sat in a chair next to the bed, her head bent over a book she’d been reading aloud to Talia. She looked up when Raisa approached, then jackknifed to her feet, cheeks rosy with embarrassment.

“Your Highness!” Cradling the book in one arm, she saluted, her fist against her chest.

“Sit,” Raisa said. “Please, continue reading. I just wanted to see for myself how Talia was doing.”

“Oh, no, Your Highness, please, you have a seat,” Pearlie said, gesturing to the chair she’d just vacated. “I’ll get another.” She sprinted away.

Raisa sat down next to the bed. Touching her fingers to her own throat, she said, “How is your voice? Any improvement?”

Talia shook her head and scribbled something on her tablet, holding it up so Raisa could see. Resting it. Hoping.

Raisa was full of questions, but she hated to ask any because then Talia would have to answer. “I brought you a book,” she said, extending it toward Talia. “It’s one of the Spinner romances you like. I hope you’ve not read it.”

Talia scanned the cover, then shook her head again, smiling.

Now Pearlie was back with a second chair that she placed on Talia’s other side.

Raisa took Talia’s hand. “Do you mind if I ask Pearlie a few questions so you don’t have to write so much?”

Talia rested the tablet on the bed and nodded her head.

“What do the healers have to say about Talia’s injuries?” Raisa asked.

“The assassin crushed Talia’s voice box and injured her voice cords,” Pearlie said, speaking Common with her musical Ardenine accent. “Lord Vega’s apprentice treated her the first day. The wound is closed, at least. The swelling’s gone down, so she can breathe better and it’s less painful.” She looked at Talia for corroboration, and Talia nodded. “It’s still hard for her to eat and drink. Sometimes it slides down the wrong way, and she coughs, and it hurts.”

Something Pearlie said caught Raisa’s ear. “His apprentice? Lord Vega didn’t treat her himself?”

Pearlie shook her head. “No, ma’am, Lord Vega only sees to the nobility and those that come from Gray Lady. He has ’prentices from Oden’s Ford over the summer, and they see to most everyone else.” Turning her face away from Talia, she blotted at her eyes with her sleeve.

“Vega didn’t examine her at all?”

Pearlie hesitated. “No, ma’am. Lila Hammond was the one that saw to Talia; she works hard, and she means well, but she’s just a first year.” She touched Talia’s hand. “You’re never going to get better if you don’t eat more.”

A flurry of footsteps in the hallway drew Raisa’s attention. Harriman Vega, the wizard in charge of the healing halls, swept in, trailing apprentices behind him like a ship with a white wake.