It’s all anyone thinks about, because most of them are so worn down that they don’t have the energy for anything else. C. 28 hours since the assassination of rebel leadership

Koruuksi tried to keep his expression neutral and his hands steady as he looked over Estingai. All things considered, she didn't look too bad.

Estingai would only be adding one new scar to her collection, and this one would be partially hidden by some of the black stripes that decorated her skin. Mostly, she'd just have a lot of scrapes and bruises. The recovery georaurals he'd strapped to her would take care of those, making them heal more quickly than usual.

As Koruuksi patched up a few cuts, lining the bandages with some antiseptic, he tried not to let his mind wander.

Estingai had barely said a word since she'd returned.

That wasn't abnormal, especially since she’d been lightless until they’d brought her a spare gembrace.

What made Koruuksi's stomach roil and his hands want to tremble, what made him avoid his adoptive sister's gaze, was that Estingai had returned alone, and the haunted expression had yet to leave her face.

Koruuksi kept his greynodes bright to keep his hands steady as he worked. He didn’t often do that—usually, he just brightened his clearnodes to make sure he didn’t press too hard or miss any clear fluids or spotting—but right now, the extra strength kept his hands from trembling. He had his yellownodes bright, too, for a bit of luck. Just in case.

Estingai was fatigued, her ears had bled a little, and she was bruised all over. Koruuksi hadn't known anyone to come out of a close-quarters engagement without bruising, but these looked different. Like something had fallen on her.

Was it a cave-in? Is that why it took so long? Are the others—?

Koruuksi clenched his jaw, cutting off that line of thought. The need to ask what had happened was growing harder to hold back, but he knew he couldn't.

She needs to be the one to tell me.

Taking a deep breath, Koruuksi glanced at Uuchantuu.

She stood at the edge of the small hospital chamber, sectioned off by white curtains and metal framing. The hospital was relatively empty at the moment—just a few nurses and medics like him, and a few patients checking up on old injuries. Uuchantuu had some medical skills as well, but they were unneeded at the moment.

She needs something to do.

The white knuckles as she held her arms under her chest gave it away. Koruuksi knew she was trying her best not to brighten her ruby gemcrest and conjure hardlight to distract herself.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Catching his friend's gaze, Koruuksi nodded to where his medkit lay open on a stand.

"Scalpel."

Uuchantuu nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

She handed him the tool, and Koruuksi used it to remove some dead skin along Estingai's worse scrapes. Estingai winced, but she knew as well as he that the dead and rotting skin had to be removed for everything else to heal properly.

"Do you want to know?"

Koruuksi blinked, Estingai's voice pulling him out of his thoughts.

Swallowing, he shook his head. He didn’t meet her eyes. “Let me finish.”

Estingai didn’t protest, which surprised him. She didn’t even sigh or frown. It made Koruuksi’s throat tighten.

He managed to keep his mind from wandering at what might have happened, but other worries crept in. It was early—most of the base wasn't up yet—but news of this would spread quickly and compound with Raima's absence. Marjatla, at least, knew about the meeting.

Hopefully, she'll help keep everyone from panicking.

Hopefully, there would be no reason to panic, but hope was rare these days.

Koruuksi was still a bit annoyed at the guards that had spotted Estingai. They'd just been doing their duty—it could have been a trap—but Estingai also could have been in much worse shape for all they knew.

Being lightless is bad enough.

She wasn't lightless anymore, but she'd be close to it for the remainder of the week. They had gembraces in reserve, but those needed to be saved for emergencies.

When Koruuksi handed the scalpel back to Uuchantuu to clean, she was ready with more antiseptic and bandages. She smiled at him again, and he took her hand for a moment, squeezing it in silent thanks before he took the supplies.

Movement from beyond the cloth partitions caught his attention, and Koruuksi frowned, trying to keep his focus on Estingai. The relative silence as he worked was tense, rather than peaceful, and Koruuksi knew the other medics and patients were on edge, as were those waiting just beyond the infirmary’s curtains.

As he patched up the last of Estingai's cuts, Koruuksi moved around and caught the gaze of Mara, one of the nurses, though the small gap between the partitions. Her eyebrows rose in a question, but he frowned, shrugging.

Just focus on Estingai. Make sure she's okay. That's what…

Koruuksi swallowed hard, hesitating for a moment as his mouth went dry, the muscles in his shoulders growing tight. He couldn’t think about that. Not now.

He took a deep breath, trying to force the thoughts away. This wasn't the place to talk about what had happened anyway. The only place he and his family ever really had privacy was their suite, which was more than most got. They only had that to themselves because of their importance to the faction and the fact that they had done most of the work carving it out themselves.

As Koruuksi finished, looking over Estingai one last time, he glanced back at his medkit and frowned.

They were getting frighteningly low on medical supplies.

I hope Raima and Marjatla reached out to our mole in the Imaia.

Even if they had, retrieving the shipment would be dangerous.

That was why Raima had brought Estingai and Svemakuu along to the meeting with the other faction leaders. Their faction, Frozen Phantom, had intelligence networks,the last two Knights Reborn, and a favorable base, but the others had more general resources and space than they did. If they could combine—

But Svemakuu and Raima didn't come back. And Estingai looked half-dead when the guards brought her in.

“Koruuksi.”

Estingai looked to Koruuksi, then Uuchantuu. The Natari woman stood up straight, tense. Her eyes were fixed on Estingai.

Koruuksi bit his lip, then met his sister's eyes. What he saw there made his stomach clench.

"This isn’t—”

"They're dead."