Safi wasn’t sure why she considered it a new area, since nothing here looked any different from where they’d been. Black granite, a hall of doors, and no decorations to disrupt the shadows. Yet the energy felt different—more voices, more light, and more fires crackling in hearths she could not see. Then Safi’s guards spread apart and a woman appeared.

Like all Hell-Bards, she wore scarlet, but instead of armor, a floor-length robe over high-necked black wool adorned her petite frame. Her amber skin was aged, her nose pronounced, and her black hair streaked with gray.

“The Empress,” Safi heard Lev explain. “She took a knife to the leg during training.”

“On purpose?” the healer asked, motioning for Caden to follow. “Actually, don’t answer that. I gather Emperor Henrick will be here soon?”

“We expect so,” Caden replied as he ducked Safi through a low door and down several steps into a wide, boiling room. The other Hell-Bards stayed outside, taking up their usual guardian positions, while Lev disappeared entirely.

At the healer’s direction, Caden eased Safi onto a high cot. Instantly, the woman pushed him aside, and with firm hands she forced Safi to stretch upon the hard mattress. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, but you won’t die yet. Although.” She pursed her lips and met Safi’s eyes. “You aren’t going to enjoy the healing.”

Safi rolled back her head and groaned. Ever since the training grounds, it had been one you won’t like this after another. “Just get on with it, please.”

The woman complied, starting with the linens wrapped around Safi’s thigh. Safi’s eyes crossed; black crowded over her vision.

“We need you to send the Emperor away,” Caden told the healer. “Once he arrives and confirms the Empress is being treated, we need him to leave.”

“I see,” the healer said, and to Safi’s surprise, she made no argument and asked for no explanations. “In that case, it might be best if you left, Captain. We cannot pretend to need privacy if you remain at her side.”

“Good enough.” Caden’s face swam into view over Safi’s. “Zander will come for you, all right? And Lev and I will handle the Emperor.”

Before Safi could acknowledge his words, or for that matter, even work through what they might mean, Caden withdrew. “Toward death with wide eyes.”

And the healer replied, “All clear, all clear.”

The door clicked shut moments later.

“Am I correct to guess,” the healer asked, a pair of shears now in hand, “that you’ve never been healed as a Hell-Bard?”

Safi forced a nod.

“Then I will warn you it is not like other healing.” She cut into Safi’s pant leg. Quick, sure strokes that let warm air caress her skin. “And it will get worse before it gets better.”