Page 53 of The Broken Elf King
Naia whimpered, getting to her knees beside the king and bursting into tears. Bailey and Ares were unharmed, and stood in shock at the edge of the tipped-over tent with their backs to it as the king gasped for breath.
No. Not again. Not like this.
A gust of wind kicked up and the tent blew off of us, revealing the king’s dire health to the entire beach. People gasped, burst into tears, and some even dropped to their knees in prayer.
It seemed that the Bow Men had taken care of the archers, because no more arrows fell our way, but even with a crowd watching on I couldn’t let that deter me.
Ihadto save him, even if it killed me. The world was a better place with him in it, and I couldn’t conceive of a healing gift I wasn’t meant to use.
Falling to my knees beside him, I snapped the arrow off like he’d done, a wave of emotions from everyone around me pressing in on me—Naia’s horror and guilt that the king would die because of her; Cahal’s remorse that he’d been unable to protect Raife; Ares and Bailey’s fear that they might see the king die and were helpless to stop it; the onlookers who genuinely loved their king and now were afraid of being without him.
I looked down at Raife as blood pooled on his tunic and his face went blue.
“No,” he whispered, knowing what I was about to do. “It… might… be your last…” was all he could get out before his breath fully left him.
Leaning forward, I brushed my lips against his ear. “Then it would have been worth it to save the man I love.”
When I pulled back, his eyes were wide, but I felt it in that moment, his complete and utter joy that I’d confessed such a thing.
Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to his and exhaled, calling up whatever healing energy I had left.
The purple breath rushed over his face, and one by one the people around me gasped.
“She’s blessed.”
“Is that the Breath of Life?”
“Her hair!”
I gazed down at Raife, and although the blue was fading from his face, he still hadn’t breathed. After one breath didn’t seem to do it, I did another, feeling a weakness throughout my limbs. Finally the color returned to Raife’s face, but he still hadn’t breathed or spoken, so I prepared to exhale again, a third breath, everything I had, when Raife’s hand reached up and clamped around my mouth.
He gasped and sputtered for air as a collective sigh of relief filled the beach and the crowd sobbed and screamed for joy. I smiled down at Raife, and then everything went black as I collapsed right on top of him.
