It didn’t occur to me until after I was tucking him into my bed that I hadn’t thought twice about him being naked. I barely remembered what it looked like. I guess it was habit, from taking care of Jember my whole life. There was no room for shame when people needed you.

Speaking of Jember … oh God, please. Bathing Magnus had taken longer than I’d anticipated. I hoped Jember had gotten up okay. And I hoped beyond hope that he hadn’t left. I hadn’t heard him ride away, but maybe setting up the bath had blocked it out.

I rushed down the stairs, stumbling to a stop in the middle.

Jember sat in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb, halfway in the heat of the outside world and half in the icebox of the castle. He’d removed his leg, and it lay on the floor beside him. I took a deep breath and tried to walk casually down the rest of the stairs.

“What are you still doing here?” I asked as I approached him, my tone not betraying the fact that I was inwardly leaping. “You made it clear you wanted nothing to do with this place.”

“I just had a horse fall on me.” He nodded at his knee, the tender, bruised, sick-looking skin exposed to the freezing air. “Have to numb up before I can stand that peg.”

I looked at my fingers, the ones that had been sliced open during that encounter with Saba. Whatever she’d put under the wrapping that day, I hadn’t felt any pain, and the scars were white now. They were never going to go away … but I guess I was used to that. “They have medicine here.”

“Not for this,” he said, leaning the back of his head on the wood.

“It’s better than nothing. I’ll go ask Saba—”

“No.”

“She was anxious about Magnus, that’s all. It won’t be so, you know, hostile this time.”

“I don’t want to see her again.”

“Why not? What are you afraid of?”

“Mind your own business, girl.” He glared up at me. “I’ll be gone in a few minutes—”

“You’re already here. Just talk to her.” Jember picked up his peg leg, and I stepped out of range of getting hit by it. “Tell her what you couldn’t in that letter.”

He ignored me, positioning his leg to strap it on with a wince.

My stomach began to cramp up with anger … unless I was just hungry. I hadn’t eaten since dinner last night, and living in this house had gotten me used to regular meals.

“She loves you, you know.” I put my foot on top of the wooden part of his leg, leaning my weight on it only slightly. “God knows why.”

“Break this leg and I’ll kill you.”