"Naomi!?"

Ember tsked at Amarilla as he helped me limp into the front entry. "Amarilla, please. We are trying to avoid a little friend until Naomi can see a proper healer," he said.

My arm was over his shoulder, making it impossible to step on my foot even if I wanted to. The swelling hadn't gone down at all. I was sweating as my body tried to figure out what was wrong with me. The chill in the arm made my hands and feet feel like they were soaking in a winter pond, but the rest of me was on fire.

Amarilla nodded and rushed down the stairs to me. "What happened?" she asked softly, eyes roving around my body. "I thought healers stayed out of the battle," she said to Ember sharply.

"She did," he said as we made our way down the main hall. He turned into the first room—his room.

"Isn't the clinic down the hall?" I asked, panting as he set me down on his bed. Despite my words, I didn't want to move an inch.

Ember nodded. "I'm bringing the clinic to you," he said. I nodded as he dipped out of the room.

Amarilla knelt by my ankle and stared up at me, concern etched over her face. "What happened?" she whispered, furrowing her eyebrows.

"A lot," I said simply.

"Naomi," she warned lowly.

"It's fine," I said warily.

She met my eyes. "Liar. I don't need to be a Sage to know that more is going on. There are a billion Slates in the field. Why are you back here?"

"For the wedding," I said lamely. "Will you be there?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I hate it when you lie to me."

"I'm not lying—" I started when Ember burst into the room, a Slate close at his heals. The Slate stepped up to me confidently and his eyes took in the bruising around my neck and my eggplant of an ankle. Ember silently slid his hand into mine and I glanced at him.

The Slate dug a finger into my ankle, and I yelped at the unexpected pain, squeezing Ember's hand hard. Oh. That was why. The Slate gently pulled my foot forward and I winced. "Are you trying to hurt me?" I asked nervously as he began untying the makeshift brace Ember made for me. I saw white skin where the sticks had imbedded in my slowly growing ankle.

He smiled. "No. I'm seeing if the ankle is broken or sprained. Broken is usually more dangerous, but a bad sprain hurts more." He glanced up at me. "It's a sprain. It looks like in the heat of battle, you walked on it quite a bit, which explains the swelling." He stood up and began examining my neck. "Look up," he said, lifting my head with his thumb.

"Why does it matter if it's a break or a sprain?" I asked, staring at the ceiling. "You heal it the same."

His thumb moved back, and he stepped back, kneeling by my ankle. "Not quite. If you heal a break without setting the bone first, the patient will end up with a crooked ankle. The best, the bone can be rebroken and set, but often—"

"I'm going to be sick," Amarilla muttered, closing her eyes, obviously turned off by the conversation.

The Slate smiled and began healing my ankle. I let out a small sigh of relief as I felt the muscles morph and twist back to normalcy. The whole process itched, but I gripped Ember's hand to avoid touching the work in progress. After a minute, he stood up and set a gentle hand on my neck. I felt healing circle my neck.

"Well, Amarilla, you should be thankful that I never healed a bone crooked. The foremen only broke bones neatly," I said. She shook her head in disgust. "Amarilla, the number of times you came to me with broken ribs and a bloody nose is incredible. Are you really grossed out by a little talk about bones?"

She shivered. "It's different when it's someone else's body," she muttered.

I glanced at Ember. "Healing can be just as dangerous as it is helpful," I said. He nodded, setting a knowing hand on his chest.

"Ember?"

I saw Ember whirl around and dive down to pick up his sister. "Romina!" he exclaimed softly, clutching her against him. She squealed as he kissed her cheek, throwing her arms around him.

I ran my fingers through my hair, unsuccessfully, and realized that I was still in my nightdress. I grabbed one of Ember's blankets and tugged it over my lap.

Romina glanced around and locked eyes with me. She squealed again and jumped on me, hugging me fiercely. Then, she pulled back and looked at me suspiciously. "You are stinky," she said.

I laughed. "Well, I should go take a bath, then?" She nodded.

"And then I want to show you a dress I made!"

"You made a dress?" I asked, impressed. Amarilla met my eyes and gave a small shake of her head.

"Well," Romina admitted. "Mrs. Nancy made it, but I picked out the color and ribbons."

I laughed again. "Fancy," I said. "Is it for the wedding?" She nodded. "I look forward to seeing it."

The Slate bowed and made his exit.

"C'mon, Romina," Amarilla said. "Can you come show me your dress while Naomi cleans up?"

Romine jumped off me and slid her hand into Amarilla's. "Well, it's not done yet, but it will be..." she said. Their voices faded down the hallway.

I looked at Ember, who was staring at the door.

"That was close," I said. He nodded and then shook off whatever haze he was stuck in.

"Um. If you would like, the bath is just through there," he said, gesturing. I stood up, grateful for my healed ankle.

"I will use my own," I said softly. "It is close."

He lowered his eyebrows before his eyes lit with understanding. "Oh. Of course. Of course. I probably should have brought you to your room and not mine," he realized. "I was just so used to us sleeping in the same bed."

A blush crept over my face. I knew what he meant. We shared a bed but slept at different time, but that didn't stop my face from responding to the plain words. Thankfully, he didn't notice. "Well, I will head out, then," I said simply. I stepped up next to Ember and set a hand on his neck. He eyed me in confusion but then relaxed once the pain in his chest faded.

"Naomi?" he asked. "When you are...cleaned up, could you please return to me? Slates are in short supply at the moment, and I still need..." he said. The magestone that threatened to stop his heart.

"I won't take long," I said and walked out, heading down an adjacent hall to my left.