To heal a Rogue

JOHANN

"It’s fine."

I retrieved my pants and pulled them back into place with deliberate calm. Entirely for Bradley’s benefit.

He was the type to rage about how a royal was supposed to carry themselves. Hell, he’d been the one to train me for battle. It was one of his many quirks.

"You can come do what you were called here to do."

The healer nodded without turning around. "Yes, Your Highness."

She crossed the room, keeping her eyes carefully fixed somewhere above my shoulder. A small kit rested in her hands, already prepared, the needle and vial catching the morning light that spilled through the windows.

"I apologize again," she murmured as she knelt beside the chair. "This will only take a moment."

"Take your time." I settled into the chair and gave her my arm. "I’m in no rush."

Her fingers were steady as she tied the band around my arm and found the vein. The needle slipped in with a brief sting, barely enough to register.

I watched the vial fill.

With rich, dark and perfectly ordinary blood.

To anyone looking at it, trained eye or untrained eye, it was simply the blood of a King’s true and legitimate heir.

And, for now, it was.

The healer withdrew the needle, pressed a piece of cotton against the puncture, and carefully sealed the vial.

"All done."

"Thank you," Bradley murmured.

He took the vial from her himself, examining it for a moment before slipping it into a small case lined with velvet. The sort of case meant to protect something precious during transport.

"Thank you for cooperating," he added.

I looked up at him.

Then I smiled. I tried my best to give him the most wide, easy and charming one that I could muster.

"Well, I have nothing to hide."

The words landed exactly where I intended them to.

Bradley didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze remained on me, moving over my face as though he might find the lie there if he stared long enough. His fingers tightened around the little velvet-lined case.

There it was again. That faint furrow between his brows.

It was not suspicion exactly.

Not yet at least.

But something had shifted.

"I’ll have the results within the day," he finally replied.

I gave him another pleasant smile. "I’ll sleep peacefully until then."

His eyes narrowed by the slightest degree.

I nearly laughed and it took everything I had not to.

"I’ll get back to you, your Highness."

"Wonderful," I replied. "I look forward to putting this ugly business behind us."

He gave me a brief, formal bow and gestured for the healer to go ahead of him.

She slipped past me with her eyes fixed firmly on the floor, clutching her kit against her chest as though it might somehow make her less aware of the fact that she’d just drawn royal blood from a half-dressed prince.

Bradley followed a step behind.

He had one foot over the threshold when he paused and glanced back at me.

"For what it’s worth," he murmured, "I never doubted you for a moment."

It was such a polished lie that, in another life, I might have admired it.

Perhaps, if I hadn’t already known exactly why he was here, I might even have believed him.

"How reassuring."

His mouth twitched, though whether he’d caught the sarcasm or simply wanted to pretend he hadn’t, I couldn’t tell.

Then he turned and disappeared into the corridor.

The door clicked shut.

I remained where I was for a moment, staring at the wood, replaying the conversation piece by piece.

My mother’s plan was already moving faster than I’d expected.

The test has already happened.

My vial of blood had been taken.

And soon, the result would give them exactly what they needed to dismiss the rumor, and everyone would stop asking questions.

For now.

That was the part neither Bradley nor the Elder Circle knew.

The blood they’d taken today would prove exactly what they expected it to prove. It would silence the whispers, settle the questions, and give everyone enough certainty to stop digging.

But it wouldn’t last.

My birthday was coming.

And when it did, my blood and physiology would change.

There would be no clever explanation for that. No convenient rogue to blame. No test my mother could manipulate after the fact. Whatever happened when I came of age would be written into me, impossible to hide once it began.

It was still a terrifying thought to have to ponder over. This curse.

I crossed the room and stopped beside the window.

Outside, sentinels moved along the perimeter in slow, measured patrols, their figures dark against the pale grounds. Beyond them, the first real heat of morning had begun spilling over the horizon, turning the estate bright by degrees.

I rested one hand against the slowly heating glass.

My mother had promised me everything I’d lost would be returned.

My place. My name. My future.

She had promised that every tongue that had wagged against me would eventually fall silent.

I intended to hold her to every word. Until then, I would play my part.

I would smile when they expected anger. Cooperate when they expected resistance. Let them believe this little test had settled everything.

And when my birthday finally came, I would deal with whatever waited on the other side of it.

Blood test or otherwise.

It had been almost five minutes since Bradley left when another knock sounded at the door, softer this time.

"It’s me, Johann." My mother’s voice came from the other side.

I crossed the room and opened the door, already half turned, ready to tell her about Bradley’s visit, the blood test, the whole tidy little performance I had just finished putting on.

Then I saw the girl standing beside her.

My eyes widened before I could stop them.

Dark hair. Cornflower-blue eyes that seemed to catch every scrap of light spilling from the corridor. She was dressed in black, simple but impeccably cut, and there was something about the way she carried herself that immediately caught my attention. She stood perfectly still, composed in a way that felt almost unnatural, watching me with an interest that somehow seemed less like curiosity and more like recognition.

For a moment, none of us moved.

"Mother," I began slowly, my attention flicking from her to the girl and back again. "Bradley just—"

"I know," she said, cutting me off smoothly, already stepping past me into the room like she owned it, the girl following a beat behind her. "I passed him in the corridor. He looked rather pleased with himself."

I closed the door and turned to face them both, my gaze settling on the girl again.

"He saw her?" I asked.

"He saw an Omega," the girl replied, an amused edge creeping into her voice. "I happen to be a very talented shapeshifter."

Mother nodded, looking entirely too pleased with herself. Then she gestured toward the girl with the particular satisfaction of a woman unveiling a gift she was certain would be well received.

"Johann, meet Willow Shelter."

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