Chapter 19

Bran and I were on our way to Father's study when we passed the sitting room and found Declan standing by the table, stuffing cookies into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in a week.

I stopped in the doorway. "Come on. You're going to ruin your appetite before dinner."

Declan grabbed one more cookie before I'd even finished the sentence. "I'm willing to take that risk."

"Come with us. We're going to see my father. He'll be glad to see you."

He shoved the last cookie into his mouth whole and fell into step behind us down the hall, still chewing.

Father was already sitting in the armchair by the window when the three of us entered his study. He looked worse than he had a few days ago — the kind of worse I didn't want to look at too closely.

Before I could say anything, he bent forward and started coughing.

"Father?"

The coughing only got worse. Bran moved before I did, crossing the room, grabbing the glass from t