Knights of Light (The Conjurors Series Book 2) by Kristen Pham Page B

silver
doors of the Guardians’ Guild. Valerie shrugged, unsure if she wanted there to
be a “later.”
    “Were you listening?”
Cyrus asked Chern indignantly.
    He shifted his weight
from foot to foot. “I didn’t mean to—I try to avoid that freak. Very dangerous.
When I heard you talking to her, I didn’t want to cross her path.” His hands
began to tremble.
    “It’s okay, don’t worry
about it,” Valerie said, seeing his obvious agitation.
    “I’m glad I found you,”
he said. “Something has been worrying me. I saw Darling a few days ago, and he seemed
sick. I tried to help him, but he scampered away. I don’t know how to find him,
but I’m afraid something might be wrong after visiting Earth. That was
certainly strange.”
    “Yes, it was,” she said,
unaccountably uncomfortable as she remembered that he had witnessed Darling
healing Ming. “What makes you think he isn’t well?”
    “It was just an
impression. He wasn’t his usual happy self.”
    Cyrus shrugged, and she
could see that he thought it was probably just Chern’s paranoia at work. But
she owed so much to Darling; she had to follow up on the warning.
    “I have no idea how to
find him,” she said.
    “You reached out to him
with your mind before, maybe you should try again,” Chern suggested.
    She concentrated, but he
didn’t appear. “When he came, it was because I needed his help.”
    “There’s a little
Conjuror with a broken leg. He’s in the Healers’ Guild, but it’s a complicated
fracture, and it will take some time for him to get better,” Chern said.
    “How do you know that?”
Cyrus asked.
    “The Master Healer,
Nightingale, is a close friend. He asked if I had heard of any techniques used
in the past to help with this kind of injury.”
    A tingling in her mind
suggested that something wasn’t right. Maybe Chern was right, and Darling was
in trouble. Now that she was focusing her mind on him, it seemed like her
discomfort was increasing.
    “Let’s go,” she said.
    Inside the Healers’ Guild,
it was very quiet and peaceful. Low music played with a complicated, haunting
melody from an instrument that she couldn’t place. All of the Healer
apprentices walked quietly and spoke softly. They were lucky that it was
visiting hours when they arrived.
    “We’re here to visit
little Emin in the children’s ward,” Chern said. Without questioning him, they
were led to the bedside of a boy with dark skin that had a gold cast to it that
reminded her of Elden. Was he one of the People of the Woods, and if so, why he
was living in Silva?
    “Hi, Chern! Who’re these
guys?” the boy chirped in a high, musical voice.
    “They’re my friends,
Valerie and Cyrus. They want to see if they can help you get better.”
    Valerie sat on the side
of his bed. He smiled cheerfully, but when she came closer, she could see the
shadows under his eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping, and his face had the drawn
look she recognized from the children in her hospital who were really sick.
    Nightingale appeared at
the doorway. He was green, with long ears and sharp teeth that could be a
little frightening at first glance, but he had nursed her carefully when she
had been badly beaten by Sanguina all those months ago. She was a little
ashamed that she was so uncomfortable in his presence.
    “How are you, Emin?” he
asked. “Is the pain lessening today?”
    “A little,” he said,
wincing as Nightingale pulled back the bandage to examine the wound. It was red
and puffy, as if it were infected. He put some ointment on it and rewrapped it.
    “I’d call Azra for help
with this one, but she is not in Arden,” Nightingale said, to Valerie’s
surprise. She knew that Azra was planning to visit leaders in other countries
to talk to them about the threats that were arising, but she didn’t know that
she had left already.
    A sudden stab of concern
for Emin gripped her heart. He was really hurt. What if she couldn’t call
Darling? What if—
    Before