The Veiled Kingdom

Nyra trains with Dacre, though she is exhausted and sore. He criticizes her for struggling and tells her to push through the pain. Eiran arrives and invites Nyra out for drinks after training, but Dacre tells him that he’s taking Nyra to the hot springs to recover. As Nyra and Dacre go to the springs, Nyra realizes how much the rebels admire Dacre. The springs are devoid of other bathers, and Nyra thinks that being alone with Dacre is too intimate. When Dacre demands she strip and get in the water, she retains her shirt. She notices a massive bruise on Dacre’s abdomen, and he tells her that he was injured in a skirmish with her people. Nyra resents the fact that he associates her with her father’s kingdom. She tells him that she would never go back because there is nothing left for her at the palace. Dacre then heals her sprained ankle. Nyra was often healed in the palace after her father’s torture and abuse, but the healers never healed the wounds from her father’s most recent lashing, as their work was interrupted by the rebels’ raid. Micah healed her somewhat, but her scars remain.