The silence that followed Georgia's stunned whisper seemed to thicken the very air inside the chamber, pressing down upon them until even the distant sounds of the palace faded into nothingness.
Dust drifted lazily through the fractured sunlight where the shattered window still gaped open, yet neither woman noticed it.
Valen's hand trembled as she lifted it weakly, pressing her palm over Georgia's mouth before the healer could utter another word.
"Please…" she breathed, her voice barely more than a rasp scraped raw by pain. "Please don't say anything…"
The effort alone sent a violent tremor through her body. Georgia stared at her, shock still
battling fiercely with the instincts drilled into her since the first day she had sworn herself to the healing arts.
Questions crowded her mind a thousand of them but saving Valen first prevailed over curiosity.
The wound came first.
