"Of all the brainless, pigheaded things to ask for," Ember ranted, "you asked to put yourself into an army camp? What were you thinking?"

I sat there uncomfortably. Iric stood in the back by the fireplace and Ember's two healers stood behind him.

"You need to tell my parents it was a mistake," he said.

"I want to go," I said weakly. The thought crossed my mind that I should ask for assistance finding Anthony. I dismissed it. I needed to find him. But it wasn't crucial enough to drag the Three into it.

I lost him. I'll find him.

He ran his hands through his hair in distress.

"Ember, I'm not your ward. I can take care of myself," I said.

He whirled on me. "I swore an oath, Naomi. You know that. You know I promised Romina."

I sat there in my Oxblood dress, shivering in the cold. The fire was roaring, but I was too far away and in the path of an open window.

Iric saw me shiver and shrugged off his military jacket. He walked over and slung it over my shoulders and returned to his shadow.

Ember began to pace, seeing Iric's jacket only seemed to aggravate him more. He went over to the fire and gazed into it. If he wasn't an Oxblood, I would have been worried.

"Naomi. I need you to tell my parents it was a mistake."

"You want me to lie?" I asked softly.

He whirled on my, face cast in dramatic shadows. "No, I want you to want to stay here. It's dangerous."

"I know," I said. "But it's what I want." I want to find Anthony.

Ember swore and pounded his fist against the fireplace, making the flames jump higher. I flinched. "Naomi, if I can't protect a human, how am I supposed to protect one of the Three?"

Tears prickled in my eyes. That's all I was. A trial for Romina?

Ember was oblivious to my tears and turned back to the fire. Iric shuffled on his feet uncomfortably.

"You'll be one of my healers," he decided.

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"You will be in the army. You will be a healer, but you will be one of my personal healers. At night. The least dangerous time. You will not go into battle," he said sharply. "My family and I will leave tomorrow to head out to the camp. You can join us, or you can wait until the next campaign in the spring and join me then. As one of my personal army healers," he decided. He was challenging me with the time. He knew I wouldn't want to leave tomorrow. He was betting I would forget this whole thing.

"Deal," I said bitterly, his earlier insult still ringing in my ears. "When do you leave tomorrow?" I asked. "I look forward to serving you, Lord Strapos."

He gritted his teeth. He wasn't expecting me to rise to his challenge.

Honestly, neither was I.

Maybe some of Amarilla's idiotic courage was rubbing off on me.

"Noon. Pack light."

++++

Romina was distraught. If I wasn't leaving to find Anthony, I would have stopped what I was doing immediately for that girl. But I couldn't. She was safe and that is what mattered.

Ember was gentle with her and reminded her that we wouldn't be gone long. There were sporadic invasions in the south of Emory, and we were heading down to hopefully diffuse the situation.

So, as we left a weeping Romina behind, Ember asked me again if I had changed my mind. I hadn't. I was going to find Anthony.

At first, I thought that we were riding horses, a terrifying ordeal that I had only ever done once. I was relieved when Ember climbed into a carriage and motioned that his two healers and I should join him.

"You three will be my healers at camp," he said absently. "Jack and Sam, meet Naomi. She will be taking over as my nighttime healer."

Jack smiled at me. "It is the most boring job you will ever have," he said honestly.

"It is the safest," Ember noted. "Which is why she is there." Ember turned to me as we ambled over a stick in the road. "You are probably wondering why I have personal Slates, yes?"

I nodded.

He sighed. Then, he turned to Jack. "Could you explain?"

Jack seemed taken back by the deflection but nodded. "Lord Strapos suffers from a condition of sorts. About a year ago, he was in a skirmish in the south. As I'm sure you know, we had a few large battles in the south as they were encroaching on the land. At least four towns had their women taken. In one of the battles, Ember was fighting, and an unexpected combatant tried to take a cheap shot. In an almost deadly exchange, he and the—"

"Too many details," Ember cut him off. "I have a magestone lodged in my chest."

"What?" I was not expecting those words to come out of his mouth.

"I have a magestone lodged in my chest next to my heart."

"How are you alive?"

Jack jumped in.

"Every hour or so, Ember requires a healer to heal the worn flesh around his heart. He can live for longer, but the severity of his condition increases when he goes too long without healing. Even at night."

I turned to Ember, fear pounding in my chest. "Does Romina know?"

He stared out the window and then shook his head. "No. No one in my family does. And it must remain that way," he said seriously. "In a few years, we predict it will become debilitating followed shortly by death."

"A few years?" I asked, stunned.

He nodded. "Yes. So now you know the strange case of Ember Strapos. Based on Amarilla's reports, you are capable of healing severe injuries like this, but now is time to test."

Ember reached out his hand.

"Heal me."

I hesitated for a few moments. How could someone like Ember already be at his deathbed? A few years would fly by. What sort of cruel world was this?

"I would say we haven't all day, but this is a very long ride, so we do, in fact, have all day. I would prefer to know sooner rather than later," Ember mused. "If you can't do this, I guess I'll have to drop you back off at safety."

I nodded and grabbed his hand. Sure enough, a tangled mess near his heart begged for translation. It was simple enough rearranging the letters.

Ember nodded, a hint of disappointment on his face. He clearly didn't want me to succeed. "Thank you."

I turned to Jack. "So, when you touch him to tell him something, you are actually healing him?" Jack nodded. "How do you know at night?"

"Well, Ember normally wakes up screaming," the other Slate, Sam, said. "It is hard to miss."

I looked at Ember, who nodded. "Unfortunately. Most of my soldiers are used to it by now, but yes, I wake up in a deathly panic."

"You must be exhausted," I realized.

He nodded. "Yes, well, we each have our burdens to bear," he said. His eyes lingered on the leather bracers that graced my arms. "They look good on you," Ember noted.

I nodded in thanks. A small part of me wanted to ask about the magestone. I had always wanted one. Yet, I knew they were expensive. Lord Strapos said he was willing to give a third of his kingdom, but I couldn't help but feel selfish for asking. I would earn one.

I shook my head. No. I would find Anthony. A magestone didn't matter.

I would find Anthony.