Exiled as Useless, I Healed the Demon General Who Fell at My Feet novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Way Home

Kanae slept for a day and a night.

When she woke, she was in the tower bed at Hollowgate with the window open and the grey Emberwaste sky outside.

Vorhaan sat on the floor beside the bed with his back against the frame.

He wasn't asleep.

His head was turned toward her, and she had the feeling that he had been looking at her for a very long time.

"How long?" she said. Her voice was a rasp.

"Twenty-six hours."

"Did anyone attack?"

"Aoba pulled back to the fort. They are repairing the lines." He pushed up to his feet. "The Archpriest is in the cells."

"I want to see him."

"You can barely sit."

"Then carry me."

He did.

The cell was a low stone room under the keep with a barred door and a single lamp.

The Archpriest sat in the corner, chained at the ankle.

His white robes were torn, and a bruise covered half his face.

He looked up as they came in, and for a second Kanae saw something in his eyes that wasn't kindness at all.

"Ah," he said. "My dear."

"I'm not your dear."

"Of course. Forgive me." He folded his hands in his lap as far as the chains allowed. "I understand you have questions."

"The ring on my wrist."

"A leash. A rather crude one. It is bound to the sword, and the sword to the Hero, and through them to the Kingdom." He smiled. "You cannot remove it. I would not advise trying."

"What happens if the Kingdom pulls it again?"

"Why, what happened last night. Only longer." He tilted his head. "I should think you can feel it, still. A faint ache."

She could.

It lay along her arm.

"There's a way to break it," she said.

"There is one way."

"Tell me."

"The cup may pour itself out by its own will, at the sword, with its own hand on the blade." His voice was almost gentle. "If the cup says, 'I give no more,' and means it, the bond falls. The sword goes dark. The Hero is only a man."

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend