She Dreamed Her Empire Would Burn, So She Set Out to Break Four Collars novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: The Wolf
The iron burned grey through his skin even as they carried him up the tower stairs.
Brannoch took his shoulders and Ru took his legs.
They laid him on her bed, and she cut his shirt away and pressed both hands over the wound across his chest.
Nothing happened.
The warmth in her chest ran out into her fingers and stopped at the edge of the grey.
"It's not working," she said.
"Try again," said Ru.
"I am trying."
"Try harder."
Her hands shook.
Ashgar's breath rattled, and under her palms his heart struck slow and uneven.
"Iven," she said.
"I'm here."
"Is there a physician in the palace who isn't the Chancellor's?"
"No."
She bent over the wolf and put her forehead against his.
"Ashgar. Listen to me. I can't pull the iron out alone. I need you to let me in."
His pale eyes opened to slits.
"What?"
"The clause. A heart freely given. Not for the collar. For this."
He stared at her.
"You want me to say I love you," he rasped, "so you can fix my chest?"
"I want you to stop dying on my sheets."
A dry sound came out of him.
It was almost a laugh.
"I thought you'd say something noble."
"I'm being practical."
"Then be practical." His hand found hers on his chest. "I took a blade for you in front of two thousand elves. I'd take three. That's as free as I get."
The collar at his throat flickered.
It went from amber to gold in a heartbeat.
She felt the grey stop spreading under her hands.
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