Chapter 39: Sena - Fated to the Night King

It was hard to take in what I was seeing. Stricken resting in every bed. Cared for. Treated.

Healing.

Not working to the point of exhaustion. Not grateful for the bare scraps they were given.

Not filled with fear that they might be Called to submit themselves to one of the Whole, with no recourse to refuse.

My hands were shaking as I leaned in to listen to a young girl’s whispers and I twisted them together in my lap. Because thinking about this sweet child being here, protected, when the alternative was that I might have been the one to find her. To take her back to the Citadel, introduce her into the system that we’d all been forced into.

I was grateful that Alkan had saved them. Had saved me from that.

Forcing a smile hid the tears that suddenly filled my eyes. At his kindness. The kindness he’d done for me without even realizing he was doing it. Or how much it would mean.

Glory would be amazed to see this. To hear their stories. How Alkan and his small band of rescuers had ventured across the border when word had come that the Silver Sickness had found its way to their doors and brought them here. Helped them, given them hope. Had promised to keep trying to find a cure.

Those last three villages Glory and I had been sent to, where we only found the dead, our hopes dashed, had already been cleared before we could arrive.

Which made me wonder how he’d known he was needed. Because if Alkan had been the one to create the Silver Sickness, why would he be helping those who were stricken with it?

The little girl, Maren, drifted to sleep, my hands no longer in my lap, but holding one of hers. She was warm, a fever still running through her small body, but it wasn’t the frighteningly high temperatures usually seen with the illness. Whatever Danvers had done, he’d found a way to at least make this manageable.

Alkan had told me there would be no more secrets.

I eased Maren’s hand down onto the covers and stood, spotting the healer’s figure as I turned.

“She’s doing very well.” He offered his medical opinion as if it was expected and I relaxed, relieved I wouldn’t have to press him much on this topic. “Before your arrival, we were barely keeping the illness at bay. But we bought them time. Your contributions have advanced things immensely. They’re all improving. Some faster than others, but as a whole, I’m optimistic. We won’t lose any of them.”

He guided me toward his workspace but stopped when I put my hand on his arm. “Where is he?” I didn’t believe that Alkan had left me here without saying anything. This was too important. He’d have understood that. Surely.

There was no mistaking the emotion that flickered over the older man’s face. His eyes darted toward the corner, where a screen was set up. “The tonic I gave you, I explained that his blood was the base of it. Correct?”

I nodded, nerves twisting my stomach as understanding bloomed in my mind. “You did.”

“When we found the survivors and brought them here, he began donating additional liters so I could make the medicine we needed to treat them.”

My attention returned to the beds that filled the space. The number of people he was literally bleeding to save.

“But Leah told me he didn’t have anyone he drank from. How could he do this and not have a regular Source?”

Danvers heaved a sigh. “It was a concern of mine. Truly. I reminded him of how much he needed to feed, and he refused to enter a Covenant with anyone. He utilized the anonymous donors only. And he wouldn’t allow anyone else in the court to contribute. His argument was sound. His blood is infused with the power of the crown, the power being the Night King grants him. Any treatment I made would be stronger if his blood was the base. He was insistent.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“Why do any of us do the things we do?” The healer leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Atoning, I suppose, in his own way. Using the power he gained to make up for the way that power was wrongly used in the past. Gus has her theories. But he won’t talk about it. So, we respect his wishes. Honor his generosity. And do our best to stand beside him no matter the cost.”

Silence hung between us and my heart twisted because I knew they were right.

“He’s a good man, Sena. Sometimes, though, I think he needs a reminder.”

Surety descended over me. I knew Alkan was still here. Like I’d known it earlier. I let that feeling guide me, following the tug I felt in my chest as I stepped closer to that shadowed corner. Toward the dark screen that blocked my view.

I trusted that sense that promised me he was there. The myth, the thing I would never have.

Mate.

There was a vibration beneath my skin as the wolf trapped inside me stretched, testing the boundary of my body, and the feeling was so… right… that I had to stop for a moment. Everything that had been taken from me, Alkan had found a way to give it all back.

It wasn’t bravery that made me continue forward, to step around the edge of the screen, until a reclined table came into view. Alkan’s dark head was propped on a narrow pillow, his eyes closed. A tube ran from his arm, the red line snaking into a bottle, draining away his life force exactly as Danvers had described.

He was still, his broad-shouldered form stretched across the makeshift bed, and I didn’t miss that all of the patients resting safely in this hidden infirmary had more comfortable accommodations in this moment than the King did. His resting presence gave me a chance to examine him and confirm what I’d just discovered.

This man was supposed to be my enemy.

Through a cruel trick of the Goddess, though, he was my mate.

And I was actually happy about that.