Duality by Renee Wildes Read Free Book Online

Hengist’s seal. It should lure me to him,” Xavier assured him.
    Dara applied salve to Xavier’s burns. “What direction would she go?”
    “North to the break. The clans would help her east.”
    Dara couldn’t imagine the toll of a cross-country flight on a battle shocked, pregnancy-weary body. With Fanny and now Lacey gone, she was the only true healer for three days’ travel in any direction. She must get to Moira herself.
    Loren turned to Dara and curled a hand around her upper arm, pulling her toward him. “You must heal him. Sight shall be enough of a burden. He must ride from Jakop’s Crossroads to the high court with all speed.”
    She froze at the anguished resolve in his eyes. Healing without recovery…she’d be nigh helpless for days, in a realm overrun by demonspawn. Every ounce of self-preservation rebelled. “You know not what you ask.”
    “Aye. I do.” Loren’s features hardened in the filtered sunlight streaming through the shutters. “This is more important than one person. Men tortured, butchered like cattle. Xavier must ride, Sezeny must know what happened here. I cannot heal him. You can. I know you would go to Moira’s aid but Hani`ena and I can get there faster. Xavier cannot intercede on Moira’s behalf with the east. I can. There is none else. As soon as you can, get north. Take Mag’s amulet. It shall identify you as Moira’s to her people. I shall come for you once she is safe. I promise.”
    The kingdom was worth her life. She knew that. Jalad’s reign of terror wasn’t an option. It must end soon or Hengist wouldn’t have a land to return to. Dara wrestled down the fear. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, centering on the flame of life within, reaching for the calm, the acceptance. Lady, our need has never been greater. Please guide my spirit and give this man strength for what needs doing.
    She sent herself into Xavier’s battered body. Everything was bruised, although Jalad had been careful not to break anything. They were wounds inflicted to drain strength and will, especially one keep-bound as Xavier. He’d never survive a cross-country gallop for days on end and nights sleeping under the stars. She took his pain into herself; the claws of some savage beast dug into her flesh. Ignoring it, she soothed the bruises, the burns, and fed him her own strength. Weakness pervaded her body but she didn’t stop until every trace of hot angry red turned warm gold.
    The loss of his eyes was more than she could heal. Sight would have to suffice. She could do no more.
    Loren caught her as she crumpled to the floor. Head pounding, she struggled to breathe, to discern which of the four Lorens swimming afore her was real. She watched Xavier rise from the chair without even a stagger, astonishment written in each of his own four faces. She couldn’t speak. Pain and weakness pervaded every limb.
    “Amazing. I feel ten years younger. Even my old age aches are gone. Thank you, lady healer.”
    “Can you ride?” Loren demanded.
    “Like the wind. I should be at court within the week.”
    Dara willed her vision to clear. She leaned into Loren’s chest and summoned her strength, wishing she could borrow some of his. “Go. Now. No…time.” So cold. Her spirit was the merest flicker deep within. “Fire…”
    “I can do better.” Loren’s voice was harsh, the guilt in his eyes frightening to behold. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her outside. “Forgive me.”
    She had to make him understand. “Naught…to forgive. My choice…not yours.”
     
    ***
     
    Loren scanned the forest in a single wild gaze and found a gnarled hazel tree, almost as if the tree itself called to him. He laid Dara beneath the bare tattered branches and cradled her close. “Great lady, help your daughter. Do not let her die. This world would miss her were she to depart this life.” As gifted a healer as she was a warrior and as fearless a soul as he had ever encountered. Her…gone…was