Healing Fire Read Free Page B

long, slender nose. He imagined Jules’ dragon would be quite small, but perfectly formed. He’d never seen a royal in dragon form, but had heard that their scales were impossibly beautiful.
    Moving to the fountain, he took in the form of the tree that was in the center of it, water pouring from its boughs. Such wonderful magic!
    “My mother formed this for me.” Words, actual words, offered freely. This was indeed a magical spot.
    “It’s beautiful. Is the water healing?” Lem asked as he sat on the bench that wound its way around the fountain.
    Jules nodded. “But it cannot heal me.”
    “Why not?” Lem would not touch the water until he was sure it was not poisonous, and he would only then taste it to make sure that it would not harm his prince.
    “My heart is broken. They killed my friend.” Jules’ words were so softly spoken.
    “I am sorry, my prince.” Lem would take all of Jules’ pain on himself, if he could. After all, it was because of him that the Graithen had breached the palace’s safeguards.
    “It’s all my fault. All of it.” There was such pain in Jules’ voice.
    “No, my prince.” Lem hung his head. “It is my fault.” He hadn’t been fast enough in sounding the alarm. He hadn’t been strong enough to keep the intruders from the castle.
    “They came for me,” Jules insisted.
    “But I didn’t figure it out soon enough, what the buzz was. I was too slow to sound the alarm.” Lem would not let his prince take this upon himself. Perhaps neither of them could hold their heads up.
    Lem held onto Jules tightly. He would not fail again. No one would hurt his charge. Never. He would defend Jules for an eternity.
    Reaching for the water, he cupped his hand and let it fill. It tasted sweet upon his tongue, and he knew that it was pure and safe. So he refilled his hand and held it to Jules’ lips.
    “Drink, my prince.”
    Jules shook his head once, but nonetheless opened up. Lem poured the water into Jules’ mouth, pleased when his prince swallowed. Maybe the water couldn’t heal what was wrong with Jules’ heart, but, at least this way, Jules was staying hydrated and his body could be stronger.
    Jules blinked at Lem and licked the water from his lips.
    “How does it taste?” Lem asked, hoping the flavor of it had been the same for Jules as it had been to him.
    “Sweet.” Jules met Lem’s gaze, the sorrow pouring off him. “You don’t have to be kind to me.”
    “I’m not.” He did not act out of kindness, but out of a need to have Jules happy, well, whole.
    “Okay.”
    “Will you eat something?” Lem hoped that coming out and drinking some of the healing water would have stimulated Jules’ appetite.
    Jules sighed and shook his head. “I shouldn’t. Mabon cannot eat.”
    “Mabon is dead, my prince. And it would hurt him if he knew you were suffering.” Lem could say with some confidence that Mabon would be horrified to think that the prince was not eating because of him.
    Jules’ bottom lip settled in a stiff line. “Mabon died for me.”
    “Mabon died because the Graithen tried to take you. This is their fault, not yours.”
    Even as Lem said the words, he had to hear them in his master’s voice. Perhaps if he told Jules enough times, he would believe it himself. It was worth a try, yes? Especially if it eased Jules’ soul.
    “It isn’t your fault,” he said again before collecting more of the water in his hand and offering Jules another drink. Perhaps there was a fruit-bearing tree out here as well, and he could entice some actual food into his prince.
    Jules shook his head, pulling his cloak around him to hide. Lem touched his wet fingers to Jules’ lips, letting a few drops wet them. The prince’s tongue lapped them up, instinctively, and Lem placed more drops on Jules’ lips, encouraging the lapping.
    Jules looked nearly hypnotized, tongue moving restlessly, randomly.
    The urge to lick Jules’ lips hit him. Lem straightened and looked across the