POV: Seraphina
Yona laid out the gray dress while the men were taking down the tents. Before helping Seraphina into it, she checked the gold on her left arm against last night's notes.
"It hasn't spread overnight," she said. "It still stops a finger above your elbow."
The sleeve pressed against the sore skin as Yona eased it into place. Seraphina bent her arm to check the fit. The sleeve covered the gold.
"You chose this to hide it."
"Yes, my lady. The court will want to see what your fire can do. You should decide when to show them what it costs you."
"The men at the pit already saw."
"They did. That doesn't mean you owe the whole court a look."
Seraphina let Yona finish fastening the dress. The wool smelled of lavender, and a patch near the hem was still damp.
"You washed it last night?"
"You needed your sleep. I wanted you to have something clean for the capital."
Yona helped with her boots, then began pinning her hair.
Corwin came in and held out a hand for her wrist. Yona unfastened the cuff, and Seraphina settled her arm in his palm.
"No fire today, even if someone brings you a child with a scraped knee." He felt along her forearm, watching her flinch. "Your arms need time to recover from the pit. More fire could push the gold higher. Wait until I clear you to use it again."
"You know I won't wait if someone is dying."
"I know. I will be the one recording what it costs you." He lowered the sleeve. "But call me first. Give me a chance to help before you decide that only your fire can save them."
Suri backed away when Seraphina approached him in the scented dress. He went to Yona instead and pushed his head into her hand.
"He may forgive the lavender before we reach the gate," Yona said, smiling at Seraphina.
For most of the morning, he rode behind Yona with his chin on her shoulder. Every time Seraphina looked back, he was staring at her.
By midday, carts were joining them from the side lanes. The road had widened, but each driver still had to wait for room beside the line of riders and wagons.
People waited outside their houses. A woman lifted a child onto a wall so he could see over the horses. Word had reached them before the riders arrived.
Gavrel and the three paladins from the pit rode in their shirts.
Their chain armor was still in the sand-filled barrels on a wagon. Brennan had warned her that cleaning it would take until at least the afternoon. Thalion's padded coat was ruined too. All five men would need new padded coats before they could wear the chain armor again.
Thalion rode in his shirt too. Seraphina looked away from his bare throat before he could catch her watching. Last night she had told him to stay behind the soldiers. She checked where he rode before letting her eyes return to the road.
The paladin with the wounded leg rode on the wagon as well. Corwin had examined him before they left. The skin around the stitches was still warm, but he was no worse. Corwin rode beside the back of the wagon, where he could keep an eye on him.
By mid-afternoon, they could see the capital across the river plain.
With a mile left to go, the twenty Queen's Guard riding at the back of the column moved up along its outer sides. Lucien's five guards stayed with him farther back. Anyone watching from the city walls would now see the Empress's own guards escorting her home. She wondered whether Eleanor had arranged this before they left.
Liora brought her horse to Seraphina's left side. As her horse stepped over a rut, she pressed a hand to her bandaged side. Corwin had suspected a cracked rib last night.
"There are crowds along the wall past the mile marker," Liora said. "They will be six deep at the gate."
"Do we go another way in?"
"We will stay on this road for now." Liora watched the crowd. "The men who still have armor will take the outside. Stay inside the escort until we are through."
"And Renn and Anton?"
"They are farther back, with their partners. Gavrel is staying off the outside too. Your order still holds."
"Keep them inside the escort until we reach the palace."
Bells rang beyond the city's white towers. People leaned over the gray wall to watch the banners approach.
People poured out through the eastern gate and stood across the road. Those at the back called to the riders to hurry, though the people at the front could barely move. A woman pointed at Seraphina's dress, and the people around her turned.
Seraphina raised her head. They were close enough to see her face now.
"The Flamebearer!"
The call passed along the road. People rose onto their toes to see her. Someone shouted that she had healed the dead lands. A man near the front called her their future crown princess.
Some of the ground they had cleared was growing again. Other places still needed watching. The people at the gate were already celebrating the whole journey. Would they take their families east because they had heard her called the healer of the dead lands?
Thalion brought his horse level with hers on the right.
"They've filled the road," he said.
Between the horses in front, she could see people pressed against both sides of a cart. Its driver had pulled his mule to a stop. A child sat on top of the load, waving with both hands.
The front riders slowed. An order came back along the line of riders, and Liora raised her hand to the men behind them.
Seraphina drew in her reins before the riders reached the arch. Her horse stopped with the others close on either side. Behind her, wagon wheels creaked and fell still. The front riders were waiting for the cart to move.
One of the Queen's Guard rode forward to speak to the gate guards. The men at the front began asking people to move back. Each time someone stepped aside, another came forward to see who had arrived.
"We'll hold here," Thalion said. "Let them clear the road first."
A woman called Seraphina's name and lifted a small boy higher against her shoulder. Seraphina raised her gloved hand. The woman smiled at her, then turned to show the boy.
More hands went up. Seraphina kept hers raised until her arm began to ache. When she lowered it to the saddle, Thalion looked down at it.
"Do you need to get off?"
"I can wait."
He stayed beside her. She had felt the resonance every day since she shut him out. It stayed with her when he rode ahead and grew stronger when the work brought him back to her.
She could feel that he was there, but she still had to guess what he was thinking.
From the wall, someone called to them together. Thalion lifted his hand, and the cheering grew louder.
She smiled for the people watching. She had made him keep his distance on the road. Now the crowd wanted to see them beside each other, and she wanted him behind the soldiers.
Liora turned in her saddle to check the riders and wagons behind her. The paladins nearest them held their places while the outer guards went to help at the front. Yona brought her horse closer behind Seraphina. Suri lifted his head over her shoulder at the noise.
"Corwin is still with the wagon," Yona said. "Shall I call him?"
"My arms are the same. Let him stay with the wounded man."
Liora handed her reins to a paladin and dismounted on Seraphina's left.
"There is room here if you want to get down. The guards are still clearing the other side."
Seraphina eased her right foot from the stirrup. Her shoulders hurt when she leaned forward, and Liora held her elbow as she lowered herself from the saddle. Her boots touched the road. She stood still until Liora let go.
Thalion dismounted on her other side. He passed his reins back and stayed with her while the horses were led a few paces behind them. Liora called two paladins forward to fill the space the horses had left. Armored men stood between the household and the crowd.
From the ground, she could see less of the gate. A guard ahead held his arm out to keep a woman from following the mule cart. The woman wanted to speak to her. Seraphina heard her name, then a question about the eastern road.
She moved a few paces ahead of Thalion to speak through a gap between two soldiers.
"The road is being watched," she called. "Wait for word before you take your family east."
The woman nodded, though Seraphina could hardly hear her answer. Someone farther back was calling for a blessing. The guards asked them to move away from the horses.
Seraphina stayed in the gap. The woman tried to step back, but the people behind her were still pressing forward. From the saddle, Seraphina had seen the crowd stretching back along the road. Here she could see who was getting crushed.
"Ask them to stand back from the road," she told Liora. "They will still see us when we go through."
Liora passed the instruction to the nearest guard. He called it ahead, and a captain began moving people toward the wall.
Yona had dismounted too. She stood behind Seraphina with Suri close to her skirts. The cub watched the boots moving beyond the soldiers, then leaned against Yona's leg.
Gavrel came up within the escort, his partner beside him. He asked Liora whether the wagons would have to wait outside. She turned enough to answer without taking her eyes from the crowd.
A man beyond the soldiers called the Flamebearer's name again. Seraphina turned toward his voice.
"Seraphina!"
She turned back at Thalion's shout. He was running toward her, his eyes fixed past her shoulder. She tried to see what he was looking at.
He caught her upper arm and pushed her behind him. Pain shot through the sore flesh, and the shoulder seam tore under his grip. She stumbled against Yona.
Arin had stepped out from the pair Liora had brought forward. His blade drove toward the place she had just been standing.
"Arin!" Liora shouted.
Thalion was between them. The blade went into his chest on the left, close to his heart.
Seraphina reached for the hand gripping the knife. Arin pulled the blade from Thalion's chest before she could catch his hand. Blood spread across Thalion's shirt, too quickly for her to see where the cut began.
"No. Thalion!"
Thalion tried to turn toward her. His knees gave way as Gavrel seized Arin from behind.
She caught Thalion under one arm. His weight dragged her down, and her knees struck the road. Yona cried out and caught his shoulder before his head could hit the ground. Between them, they lowered him onto his back.
"Corwin!" Yona called. She turned to a guard. "Bring him from the wagon. Now!"
Thalion's eyes were open. Seraphina put her hand over the wound, and warm blood came between her fingers. She pressed harder. It was still coming.
"Stay with me. Please, stay with me."
"Drop it!" Liora shouted beside her.
Gavrel's partner had caught Arin's upper arm while another paladin held his other wrist. Liora forced the knife hand down and away from them. The blade struck the road.
"Look at him, Arin!" Gavrel's voice shook as he forced him onto his front. His partner pulled Arin's arms behind his back.
"Bind him," Liora said. "Keep hold of his hands."
A woman beyond the soldiers screamed. People who could see the blood pulled away, pushing back against those still trying to see Seraphina. Farther along the road, some were still cheering. A guard shouted at them to stand back and thrust his arm across the gap.
The other paladin took Arin's sword and searched his belt and boots for weapons. A guard picked up the fallen blade with a cloth.
Thalion's mouth moved. She bent closer, trying to hear him above the shouting.
"Thalion?"
His eyes closed.
"Open your eyes. Look at me."
She cupped his face with her free hand. His skin was warm. Beneath the bloodied shirt, his chest rose, and she bent to listen for the next breath. She could hear it even through the shouting.
"Open his shirt," she told Yona.
Yona pulled the bloodied linen apart. It stuck to Seraphina's glove as she lifted her hand. She stripped off the glove and put her bare right palm over the wound.
Corwin was still somewhere beyond the men around them. She could hear Yona calling for him again. Thalion's blood ran over her fingers, and she opened the fire.
A man behind the guards began crying for the Crown Prince. A woman's voice broke as she called to Seraphina.
"Please save him! Please!"
Fire passed through her hand into Thalion. She followed the torn flesh inward, keeping her palm against his chest. Her arms burned. She wanted the people beyond the guards to stop shouting so she could hear him breathe.
"It was meant for the saintess!" Arin shouted. "I had a purpose. The Order..."
"You stabbed him!" Liora snapped. "Lie still."
"He ruined it!" Arin shouted over her. "The prince got in the way. It should have been her!"
Seraphina kept her palm against Thalion's chest. She knew Arin's voice from the apology he had given when Liora moved him away from her. Now he was shouting that she should be lying here instead.
"Keep Arin alive," she told Liora through her teeth. Thalion drew another breath, and she bent over him again.
"Make room for Corwin!" Yona called.
The guards closed around them, turning outward. Suri crouched beside Yona with his ears flattened. He pressed against her skirt when a soldier's boots scraped past him.
Yona steadied Thalion's head with one hand. Seraphina watched his mouth while the fire worked beneath her palm. His blood had reached her wrist.
"Please," she said. "Thalion, look at me."
His eyes stayed shut. She pressed her hand harder against his chest and kept the fire open.