Coraene leads Rella away, leaving me gently cupping my wound, breathing heavily. I stand there for a minute or two before turning to get my uncle to redress my bandages.

"Davy, hey," I ask Davy, who's sitting outside the physician's quarters, picking at the dust on the ground, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I thought you were inside." He chuckles. He seems absolutely terrified.

"Are- are you okay? Where's Cas?" I kneel, despite my wound screaming in protest.

"I'm fine. But can I talk to you? Inside?" He doesn't look me in the eye.

"Yeah..." I let him enter the room first, then follow in after him. "What's up?"

"I don't know, to be honest. I- I don't know." Davy makes a point of shutting the door behind us.

"What do you mean?" I go to sit down at my uncle's table, but Davy shakes his head and continues walking to the broom closet in the corner. I barely get my mouth open to protest before Davy cuts in.

"It's not safe there." He doesn't even look back at me.

I ignore the pain spreading through my chest and let Davy direct where we're going. He shuts the door and locks it, double and triple checking that there's no way it could be opened. I groan and lean against the wall for support. I've already begun to bleed through my bandages, that much I can feel.

"Davy, what is this about? And why are we in a broom closet?" I close my eyes and try to apply as much pressure to my wound as possible.

"Because I need to talk to you. It's... it's about Cora."

At the mention of Coraene, my eyes fly back open. "What about her? Is she okay?"

Davy thinks for a second. "More or less..."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Davy avoids my gaze, choosing instead to focus on his boots. "Where do I begin?" He takes a deep breath and starts with how he found Coraene in the alleyway and her unexpected hostility toward him, apparently even threatening Caspian's life if Davy went to anybody about this. I stop him there.

"Cora would never threaten Cas. She loves him. You must have heard her wrong." I try to stand but my body stays glued to the wall. "You had to have heard her wrong."

"Eetu, I know what she said." Davy doesn't blink as he slowly looks back up into my eyes. "I had to let you know that you, your family, you're not safe here. And I'll bet you anything that girl she brought with her is in on it, too."

"Cora is my wife, Davy. I will not tolerate you speaking about her like this."

"I'm trying to warn you! I know what she said, I know how she acted. Like it or not, there's something... different about her."

"Eetu?" Coraene's voice carries from the front door. Davy pales. "Eetu, are you here?"

Before I can call out to her, Davy puts his hand over my mouth and silences me. I'm too dazed and weak to fight him off. The sound of footsteps follow soon after, but it's more than one set. Curiosity gets the better of me and Davy, so we carefully open the door a crack, just enough to see out of. I find the strength to lean on Davy so we can both watch whatever is going on.

Coraene is standing impatiently by my uncle's table, arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. "Well, I don't suppose you have any bright ideas, do you, Rella?"

Rella, the girl from earlier, is almost as pale as Davy and I. Her deep brown eyes are darting around the room. "Don't you get all pissy with me." She crosses her arms and glares at Coraene.

"'Don't get pissy?' I'm sorry, 'Don't get pissy?'" Coraene laughs dryly. "You're the one who started freaking out the second we stepped foot in the citadel! Now I bring you here, out of the kindness of my own heart, to get you something that will calm you down, and you're telling me not to get pissy with you?"

"I'm sorry, my Lady. How dare I react so violently to a place I've had awful experiences in?" Rella snaps.

"Put those aside. The least we could do is stay on track." Coraene pushes her hair out of the way. "Where do you think the physician keeps his supplies?"

"Where any logical person would. In the closet." Rella points to the corner where Davy and I are hiding.

We quickly but quietly shut and lock the door, falling back into the shadows as much as possible. Just in time, too. The doorknob jiggles but doesn't give. Davy and I hold our breath, waiting to be exposed.

"Got any magic in you, Rella?" Coraene grunts in frustration.

"I do, in fact. Bet you're wishing you were a little nicer to me, huh?" Rella giggles.

"I swear to God, Rella-" Coraene's growl is cut off by my uncle entering the room.

"My Lady. What brings you here?" His footsteps circle around his work desk.

"My friend here wasn't feeling too well..." Coraene's voice is back to the sweetness I grew to love during my time in Cirn. I feel sick, leaning back onto Davy's shoulder for support. "If it's not too much of a bother, it would be absolutely wonderful if you had anything that might ease her anxieties?"

"I can make something up, I'm sure." Uncle Rhys's voice draws closer to the closet.

"Davy, he has a key!" I whisper to Davy as softly as I can, starting to panic. If this door opens, Coraene and Rella will most definitely see us.

"Shit!" Davy pulls me back into the shadows. "Pass out."

"What?"

"Just pass out!" He hisses. I slide to the ground and close my eyes. I feel Davy pile a few miscellaneous objects on and around me, making as little noise as he can.

The doorknob jiggles again. "Damn thing keeps locking on me." Uncle Rhys chuckles.

I pray that there's enough shadow to completely hide Davy from view. Through my closed eyelids I can see the sunlight pour into the closet as the door opens.

"Eetu!" Uncle Rhys screams, hauling me up. I keep my eyes closed and my body as limp as possible. "Cora, help me get him onto a bed!"

Coraene's hands guide one of my arms over her shoulder as she and Uncle Rhys carry me up a small set of stairs. Something soft hits my back, and my shirt is pulled off of my body.

"Stay here, I'm going to get some bandages." My uncle leaves my side.

Coraene is stroking my cheeks with her thumbs. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asks me, genuine concern in her voice. I force myself to stay unresponsive until my uncle comes back.

Only when I hear his voice again do I slowly, keeping up the weak and fatigued act despite the river of adrenaline running through my blood, open my eyes. "U- Uncle Rhys? Cora?" I make my voice as scratchy as possible.

"What happened?" Coraene is the first one to speak.

"I-" I pause, thinking of a believable story, "I was looking for more bandages, and... I... the door closed on me, and-"

"Why didn't you come find me?" My uncle dabs at my face with a damp rag before handing it to Coraene. My old, blood-soaked bandages are peeled away and replaced with fresh ones.

"You weren't here..."

Coraene is looking straight into my eyes, thoughts running as wild as her curls. She's studying me in a way she never has before, weighing my words as if she's lost all trust in me.

"Cora, we should let him get some rest." My uncle reaches over me to put a hand on Coraene's shoulder.

She runs her hand through my hair, pushing it up out of my face. My heart races, but I don't pull away. "I think I'll stay here." Her other hand takes mine and laces our fingers together.

"I'll work on that draught for your friend then." Uncle Rhys stands and leaves the room.

Once my uncle shuts the door, Coraene kisses my forehead and whispers in my ear. "You don't have to be so scared of me."

"I'm not scared of you." I whisper back.

"Good."