She heard a hiss.
Opening her eyes, she saw a wood spirit perched on the back of a chair.
"I didn't summon you," Daleina said. Its eyes were bright, as if the sun reflected off the sunken eye sockets, but it was entirely in the shade. She could see the shape of her wardrobe through the spirit's translucent body.
This spirit was small and gnarled, with arms and legs that looked like twigs. It was covered in leaves, as if that were its fur. Daleina thought it could be a child, but that didn't make her trust it.
It pointed one twig-like finger at the blood on her leg.
"Have you come to watch me bleed?" she asked, keeping her voice even, calm.
It giggled, a shrill sound like wind through a narrow hole. She hadn't had a spirit visit her chambers before. Usually they kept their distance, afraid of being compelled to obey another order. "I have come to watch you die," it said.
The words felt like claws in her skin. It was rare that the spirits spoke directly to her, especially uninvited. For an instant, it was hard to breathe. She wanted to send it away-force it away-but she didn't dare use her power. "How do you know?"
"Whispers through the woods."
She nodded. She should have expected as much. The spirits could communicate with one another the same way she could communicate with them. She'd been lucky that she'd woken in the grove before word of her supposed death had spread any farther. "I will not let you hurt my people," she informed the spirit.
Suddenly, the tree spirit was beside her, so fast that she hadn't seen it move. It smelled like rotting wood, split apart in the rain. It smiled with its sharklike teeth, and it stroked her cheek with one finger, lightly, even tenderly. "We will not hurt them . . . while you live."
"And when I die?" She didn't mean to ask the question. She knew the answer. But it came out of her all the same.
The wood spirit didn't answer. It only laughed again, and then it sprinted for the window and was outside the same instant a knock sounded on her chamber door. She stared at the open window, at the green outside.
Another knock.
Reaching for a blanket, she tossed it over her leg, hiding the wound. She winced as the fabric touched her. "Captain Alet, who is it?"
"Healer Hamon is here to see you." It was another guard who answered, not Captain Alet. She recognized his voice, though couldn't remember his name.
"Let him in," Daleina commanded. "And please spread the word that Healer Hamon should always be allowed in." The last thing she needed was any delay in her healer reaching her. She wondered where Alet was.
Hamon entered and closed the door behind him. Relaxing, she removed the blanket. Cool air touched the raw flesh. Wordless, he crossed to her with a basin of water and a washcloth. She flinched as he began to clean the wound again.
Not looking at her, he said, "I will find a cure."
"There is no cure, Hamon." She knew her voice sounded tired, but she didn't bother to try to change it. Not with Hamon. He'd seen her at her worst and come back-she didn't have to pretend with him. "What we need is a way to predict when I will experience the false deaths. If spirits are near when it happens, or worse, linked to me, if they know I'm"-she couldn't bring herself to say "dead"-"out, then more people will die. We need to minimize the deaths until an heir is found. Buy as much time as we can."
"And find a cure."
"Don't lie to me, Hamon," she said gently. "It's only you and me here. No one has ever recovered from the False Death. We don't even know what causes it!" She knew it had to be tearing him up inside, that he couldn't fix her. He was a healer because he had a need to fix the broken. She treasured that about him. Studying his face, the set of his shoulders, the steadiness of his hands as he rebandaged her leg, she thought that wasn't entirely accurate. She treasured him, and she had never told him. She only pushed him away and let him push her away after Queen Fara died. They hadn't found their way back to each other. If her time was precious, she would make sure those other things that were precious to her weren't neglected anymore.
His face was earnest. "I would never lie to you, my queen."
"You lie to me every day, and I to you." She ever so gently pressed her lips to his. His eyes widened in surprise. She'd been the one to say things would change, after they killed Queen Fara, and she'd been right. But maybe it was time for things to change again. "Make me remember that I'm still alive?"