"We'll examine the injury first."
One of the magicians took a seat near her legs.
Feeling her skirt being raised, Talia's body stiffened.
The man carefully removed the bandages before clicking his tongue.
"It's worse than I expected."
His icy fingers methodically examined her knee.
"The amateur attempt to set the bone may prove more troublesome than the injury itself. If we allow it to heal in this state, the nerves will become permanently damaged. You may never walk again."
"Human magicians truly are clumsy creatures..."
The magician muttered under his breath and picked up a small knife from the table.
"What choice do we have? We'll have to set it again."
A rough whimper escaped Talia's constricted throat.
Only then did the magician notice her deathly pale face.
Lowering the cloth covering his mouth, he curved his lips upward.
"There's no need to be so worried."
It seemed to be an attempt at reassurance.
Instead, Talia felt her blood run cold.
It looked less like a human smile and more like a fish imitating a human expression.
The man continued speaking.
"We won't be able to restore it to exactly the way it was before, but we'll at least make certain you can walk."
Talia struggled to move her lips.
Stop.
If it can never return to what it was before, then there is no reason to endure this.
She wanted to scream those words.
Only a ragged whine escaped instead.
The magician pulled the cloth back over his face.
"We should burn sleepgrass."
The other magician selected a bundle of dried herbs, placed a small brazier beside her head, and set them alight.
Talia immediately stopped breathing.
But she could not hold out for long.
The suffocating pressure forced her to inhale.
The moment she drew in the smoke, her vision blurred.
She strained her eyes, trying to tear through the pale haze spreading before her.
Then sleep claimed her like a blow to the head.
* * *
Raindrops fell across the lake.
She realized she was dreaming.
A scene from an old memory had unfolded before her eyes.
Fourteen-year-old Talia sat curled beneath a great ancient tree, glaring at the gray waters rippling beneath the rain as though they were her mortal enemy.
Then Varkas approached her.
He was drenched from head to toe.
"Is the game of hide-and-seek finally over?"
Talia glared at him viciously.
Apparently he had searched every corner of the Imperial Palace grounds.
His clothing and hair, ordinarily immaculate, were in complete disarray.
Yet her mood did not improve in the slightest.
Stretching out her hand, she scooped up a fistful of muddy earth and hurled it at him.
"Go away! I don't even want to look at you!"
An ugly stain spread across # Nоvеlight # the velvet uniform embroidered with elaborate patterns.
Varkas did not so much as blink.
His indifferent reaction only infuriated her further.