“Good morning, Highness. I hope you slept well?”

I startled awake to find the face of a man peering at me from the foot of my bed. He had on a white coat and wore a stern face that reminded very much of Caretaker Benite. My mind fumbled for who this man was and why I was here. Then I remembered Tessa and what we had been doing before I had passed out. My face reddened.

“Who are you and what happened?” I managed to say out of dry lips.

I briefly thought about slipping a hand down to my side to check on it, but just remembering the pain made me pause. Though I was thankful that right now I didn’t feel any pain at all, which was sweet bliss. Maybe if I stayed perfectly still the pain wouldn’t come back. I certainly did not want a repeat of whatever had happened.

“Forgive me. I forgot you’ve only been unconscious while I’ve been dealing with you. I am Caretaker Paxor. One of the many Caretakers in the White Palace. For now, I am assigned to see to your recent injuries, including your little setback. Several of your internal organs had not been fully healed yesterday. There was a rupture, but the guards acted quickly, and we had you in the Remaker before things got too out of hand.

“During your treatment, I gave you a sedative to make sure you slept through the night and limit your movements. You did have another treatment during the late evening hours, but you slept through all that. There is only one more treatment and everything should be healed up very nicely for you.

The man’s face darken with a frown. “You must forgive me, Highness. I had a doubt about letting Miss Tessa come to visit you yesterday when she requested it. I am quite aware of her activities in the palace. Many here have taken part in them with her, but she assured me she was only going to keep an eye on you, nothing more. Considering the severity of your injuries, I thought some supervison would be beneficial. It did not occur to me that her relationship with Captain Hame was an issue.”

My mind struggled to keep up with the conversation. While the pain was gone, my brain felt foggy and slow. I was glad to know I was well on my way to being fully healed. That was a relief.

And I suppose it didn’t completely surprise me of what he’d implied of Tessa. She definitely had a hell of talent that I was sure was in demand, especially in a place like the White Palace. Who wouldn’t want to be around a person who helped them forget all their stress and troubles? It certainly made sense that she had been his first contact at the White Place. An obvious attempt by the Emperor to put me more at ease and also make me more compliant. The part I was a little fuzzy on was the connection to the Protector I had gone toe to toe with and why it seemed a problem.

“What do you mean her relationship with Captain Hame?”

The other man was silent for a moment as if he was gathering his thoughts. “It seems her relationship with the Captain was more than just having a good time. She wasn’t pleased that the Protector is being dismissed from his duties.”

That caused me to sit up in my bed. I was briefly aware that there was only a small twinge in my side as I did so. That was a relief, and it also gave me the ability to focus more fully on the Caretaker and the surprising news. “Wait. What? Why is he being dismissed?”

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The Caretaker dipped his head as if he was apologizing for saying something offensive. “I wouldn’t presume to know the mind of the Emperor, Highness, but I imagine it was from the conflict between you and the Captain. If you want to know more than that, I suggest you speak to him.

“I am sure you will be relieved to know that Mistress Tessa is being dismissed from the palace as well. She should be gone before the end of the day. The Captain will be a bit longer. The Caretaker assigned to him is insisting the Captain be fully healed before he’s allowed to travel.”

I blinked at the other man in shock. What. The. Actual. Fuck? I felt dizziness overtake me and I leaned against the headboard of the bed and closed my eyes. Everything was happening way too fast. First that the attacks had happened at all. Both had been a surprise, though maybe Tessa’s a little more so. I had thought she’d actually liked me, but then I realized that maybe I was so wrapped up in her Dome-ni and attention that I hadn’t actually been able to discern how she really felt.

Damn.

I felt a little embarrassed that I had been such an easy target. Normally, I considered myself a much better judge of character and people’s intentions. These Dome-ni abilities were really skewing things for me. I definitely needed to be more on my guard. Maybe even spend sometime learning about these abilities and see how I could protect myself against them, if possible.

Though, how I could protect again someone who could move me with their mind was a real brain scratcher. The fact I had my new memories of dad’s training helped somewhat. But I wondered if I had won that fight more because of the shock from the Captain that I knew quat-lo or the actual knowing of quat-lo was still a question. I could still see the dumbfounded look on the muscleman’s face after I had made my first moves from that newly remembered discipline.

And then something that the Caretaker said finally registered and it filled me with relief. I had been harboring a deep dread that I had killed a man, and despite all my dad’s secret training, I wasn’t sure that was something I would ever be comfortable doing.

“So the Protector didn’t die?”

“No, Highness. He had much more significant injuries than you, but he will live.”

Well, that was something. Thank god I hadn’t killed him. But he was still going to be dismissed, and it didn’t matter which way you cut it, I was responsible for that. And for Tessa too.

What had my dad always told me? That when you let anger take control that things had a way of exploding in terrible and unexpected ways. The dread was gone, but now heavy guilt flooded in. My rash actions had caused two people to get the boot. It seemed an extreme response to me. Maybe my father didn’t know the full story of what happened?

“I need to speak to the Emperor,” I said out loud.

“You are already scheduled to see him this morning, Highness after your treatment. I was informed that you are to breakfast with him this morning.”

That got my attention. I sat back up and started to pull myself from the bed. The Caretaker rushed forward and held out an arm for me to take a hold of. I didn’t even try to be stubborn about it as I took what he offered and used it to steady myself as I stood up.

“Take it slow, Highness. Even though most of the injuries have healed, you will most likely be sore for a few more days.”

I nodded my appreciation. He was right. I had an assortment of ache and pains, but they were significantly smaller than what I had experienced yesterday. It actually felt good to stand up straight and stretch a little. But I watched my movements to not over do it. I then made my way for the Remaker with the door slid open as if beaconing me forward.

“Let’s get this done. I have things to do.”

Granted, I wasn’t happy about the attacks against me. And I would be perfectly happy never set eyes on either the Captain or Tessa again. But I couldn’t deny my own part in what had happened, and it seemed very wrong that they were being dismissed entirely because of it. The least I could do was set the record straight.

But before I did that, I needed to make sure I wasn’t going to have any more relapses. I stepped in the Remaker and allowed myself to be enveloped by the machine as the door closed in front of me.