ATASHA’S POV


    “Your Highness… this is where the kids will be staying,” Grace pointed at a two story house not too far away from where the soldiers train. “Just as you expected, Aries and Rico passed the assessment and will soon start their training as for Kasumi and the rest, only a few of them passed Physician Mendez’s assessment. They too will start their training under the physician very soon,” Grace said as she led me towards Physician Mendez’s infirmary.


    “Keep them safe for me,” I said.


    “It will be done.”


    Soon enough, we arrived at the Infirmary.


    Inside the ce wasrge and in. Two long rows of beds with numbered tes at the foot, a central aisle wide enough for stretchers, and screens on hooks that could be pulled for procedures. Along one wall sat boiling kettles and wash basins.


    Opposite that were shelves of bandages, splints, jars of dried herbs, and boxes of fae cores for the heaters. A board listed today’s roster, triage, burns, fractures, fever, chalked with names and shifts. Stone heaters glowed under the windows to keep the room above freezing.


    “This is why we keep so many beds,” Grace said. “Winter injuries, mine copses, patrol wounds. Physician Mendez takes civilians too, including miners.”


    “Are there other physicians?” I asked.


    Grace nodded, but before she could add names, Mendez came out from a side room with four people at his back.


    He stopped in front of us. “Princess Consort,” he said, then turned to the others. “Introduce yourselves.”


    A woman in gray immediately stepped forward. “Greetings your highness. My name is Annel Briarholt, charge nurse.”


    “Good Morning your highness. I am called Joren Morrow, and I handle apothecary, I led a group of three more people. I will introduce them to you, very soon.”


    Next was a broad–shouldered warden in a medic’s vest. “Greetings your highness. I am Thane Keldar, field medic. I run stretchers, masks, and casualty intake. I led about twenty other medics that are mostly on the borders.”


    Last came a younger woman with a leather kit at her belt. “Greetings your highness. I am


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    Ironsong. I am a ward surgeon. I handle fractures, stitches, and anything that needs a knife.”


    All four bowed to me. Seeing this, Mendez nodded before he flicked two fingers, and they split off to their stations without more words.


    “I’ll be leaving for the border soon,” Mendez said to me. “This is part of the beast tide


    call.” protocols. I won’t be here to assist you with every


    “I understand,” I said.


    He nced at the rows of beds. “You should also know this. The people here are different from what you saw in the south. They hate witches. They also do math. If a method works, they use it. If you can close a wound faster, purge a fever, or neutralize a poison, they won’t argue theology. They will bring you the next patient.”


    I met his eyes. He was telling me to stop hiding what I could do. But how could I? For years I’d treated my ability like a curse.


    “Everyone hates witches,” I said.


    “They do and they have reasons,” Mendez answered. “Most families up here lost someone to a witch’s work. Curses weren’t just stories. They weaponized thend against us.”


    He pointed down the ward. “Beasts first. Witches would mark frostboars so they stopped fearing fire, drive ss–wolves into a frenzy so they hit wards in a crescent, and bait wraiths toward towers when cores were low. A cursed animal doesn’t break off. It keepsing until someone puts it down or it tears itself apart.”


    He moved us past the shelves. “Then the gues. We still teach the names so no one forgets. Ash–fever in the mines, started with a cough, ended with men drowning in their own lungs. Red–eye flux in the children, spread on unboiled milk. Marrow–waste in winter, looked like hunger but it ate the strength out of people even when they had food. We buried entire streets because a few women thought it was clever to spread rot instead of cast it.”


    He tapped a te listing <i>protocols</i>. “That’s why we boil everything, seal vents, rotate masks, and quarantine fast. That’s why Veris fights for reserve grain and Joren logs every vial. We learned the hard way. And it’s why the ward–towers burn blue all night during a red moon. If a beast tide rolls and there’s a curse mixed in, every mistake costs double.”


    He looked back at me. “We hate witches, yes. But the North also learned to be practical. If something works and you can show how, we use it. You can close wounds others can’t. You can purge poison faster than our standard brews. Don’t hide it. Write your method. List your doses. Let Joren countersign and put it in the ledger. People here don’t want charms; they want results they can repeat.”


    I nodded. “You’re telling me to show my abilities.”


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    “I wouldn’t dare tell the Princess what to do,” Mendez said. The small smile that followed made it clear he wanted me to use my skills. I wasn’t sure how to start without stirring trouble.


    “All I can say is this,” he added. “The Prince and everyone who reports directly to him will protect you. Wardens, medics, and the council liaisons know the chain ofmand. If you act, they’ll back your orders.”


    I frowned. I didn’t know what he was ying. However, before I could say another word, he took a letter from his pocket. “This is something that his highness wanted you <i>to </i>read. He instructed me to give you the letter today.”


    I immediately epted it.


    “Then, I will excuse myself, your highness. If you need anything else, Lieutenant Grace will handle it.,” Mendez gave a quick bow before he left me alone with Grace.


    I nodded as I examined the letter. If Cassian wanted to tell me something, he could have just said something before he left. What’s with all this dramatics? Without having second thoughts, I opened it and started reading.


    “My dearest consort, if you’re reading this, it means you’re still alive.”


    田


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