#Chapter 118: Learning Curve

Kaine Clara is sick—not dangerously so, just a childhood fever according to Healer Maren, but she's miserable all the same, curled up in bed with flushed cheeks and a stuffed wolf clutched to her chest. Maren assures Ember that she'll be fine in a day or two, that all Clara needs is rest and fluids, but Ember is worrying anyway, hands restless, eyes darting to Clara's face like she's scanning for some symptom she missed. The moment Maren leaves, Ember says she should stay and cancel her patrol shift, and the words tumble out before I've fully thought them through—I tell her I'll stay with Clara instead. The look she gives me lands between surprise and doubt. I push through it, reminding her that the Council meeting is today, that they'll be discussing her position and she needs to be there. I take her hand and tell her to let me handle this, and she shakes her head, pointing out that I don't know the first thing about caring for a sick child. "Then I'll learn," I say, squeezing