The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, #1)

by Lynette Noni

He arrived like many of the others: covered in blood and looking like death.

“Sorry! Sorry!” he said. “I always forget how j-jumpy you are.” She wasn’t jumpy; she was in the middle of a death prison. That was more than enough of an excuse to be on edge.

“So you’re the middle child,” Kiva observed. “That explains a lot.”

“It’s not just the royals,” Jaren jumped in, a small, contemplative crinkle between his brow. All eyes turned to him, and his expression cleared swiftly. “I mean . . . I’ve heard there are anomalies, too. Born outside the royal bloodline, just like in ancient days. They’re rare, but still—”

She’d heard rumors that the Vallentis heirs concealed their faces during public events,

Inch resting

“You don’t know,” she said hoarsely. “I can’t lose him.” Jaren reached for her face, gently wiping away her tears. “Sweetheart, I know.”

Population control.

gulp

Jaren wasn’t a prisoner—he was a Vallentis. And not just any Vallentis. He’s quite taken with you. Mirryn hadn’t been talking about the masked man from the gallows parading as a prince, the rogue who had flirted with Kiva in the infirmary. She’d been talking about her brother—her real brother—who had been wearing a dirty tunic and standing in the crowd.

WHA ok i thought he was some important rebel not a prince

“If you weren’t getting information,” Kiva croaked out, “and you were never a real prisoner, then why didn’t you just leave?” His blue-gold gaze locked on hers. “Because I found a reason to stay.”

But then she saw him over the opposite side of Tilda’s bed, tangled up in the torn privacy curtain on the ground . . . and lying in a pool of his own blood.

NO

Mother is dead. I’m on my way to Vallenia. It’s time to reclaim our kingdom. And as Kiva combed her fingers through Tipp’s hair, the boy still fast asleep on her lap, she glanced up to meet Jaren’s blue-gold eyes once more, his gaze impossibly soft. She smiled shyly back, offering no indication as to who he was leading to his city . . . who he was welcoming into his home. Kiva Meridan. Born as Kiva Corentine. The Rebel Queen may have perished at Zalindov, but her daughter was alive and well, and free of Zalindov after ten long years. The Rebel Princess was finally ready to rise.

OH HELLO