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Chapter 49 - Tinderbox
Luella
I had no appetite, but I forced myself to eat something. Francilia made sure I had my meals on time. She watched me eat every bite. I would eat everything in my bowl every meal. She did not have to worry. With a war brewing and my husband still unconscious, I needed my strength.
But I could not leave him.
Lying down in bed like a corpse, chest barely moving, he was vulnerable to more attacks. So, I remained in our room. There was mourning over Leevar’s death. He had grown to be one of my husband’s closest friends before he was smashed onto a wall by something powerful enough to throw a man nearly seven feet tall effortlessly.
“You need to talk to the people. While His Majesty is unwell, you are the domain’s ruler,” Francilia reminded me.
My lady-in-waiting knew that I had no wish to be the leader of any domain. None of my siblings were. Carolina chose the simpler life of a modern woman, and Samuel only agreed when the responsibility meant other people’s salvation. Even my mother had no desire to be queen until enemies had destroyed her family and my father’s own. Together, they had to exact revenge. The throne resulted from that revenge, but it had never been something they felt they must have. They only took it because it was the right thing to do, to claim for their families who came before them.
“I know that, but what about Metheus?”
Francilia could not answer me. It had been three days, and he had not stirred. The Coven had come in all force but had not been able to do anything for him. The Seers’ vision was blocked. They knew that something more substantial than them had attacked.
“It was the Ninurta,” Lucia had murmured after they had drawn a blank.
The Seers were even more weakened because one of their remaining best felt helpless. Samara was inconsolable. Nobody knew that Leevar had become her lover. It had been so new. The Seer and the guard, both foreigners to Arrowspear, did not want anyone to know about it, but Samara wished she had shouted it to all the heavens. At least, those were the things we understood from the words that came out in between sobs.
I wholly understood her sentiments, though mine was a little different. I did not need the world to know that I loved Metheus. I only wanted him to know. He was perhaps the last one to know, and I would not be surprised at that. He had a way with him – a naivete that made me want to hold him close, hide him from the world. Perhaps my actions showed it but admitting it for the first time in something tangible as words – could be priceless.
For three nights, I had covered Metheus’ body with my own. I realized that he had to be conscious for him to take. The warmth I gave only kept him alive but did not wake him. He had to be awake for him to not only absorb but consciously take my heat.
I was afraid that if I left the room, he would die.
#
“The training has stopped because people want to know what is going on with their king,” Aruna said. “You need to see them.”
“I need to stay here with Metheus,” I stubbornly said, the bare skin of my arm splayed across his bare chest.
It might seem ridiculous to other people, but I had that need to remain there – the belief that we must be connected.
“You can leave him with me,” Aruna said comfortingly. “You don’t want Duke Ari taking your place at the head of the table and on Metheus’s throne.”
“Ari? Why is he here?”
“He said he heard about what happened to Metheus and felt the need to be here for you. For the king,” Aruna said.
I could tell she was not convinced, but she also felt I must stop the duke from attempting a takeover. I must show myself.
“You know what he did, did you not?” I asked the Head Seer.
“Yes. I saw him try to force you into a liaison he thought you were ready for. He believed the rumors about your reputation.”
“About a tryst gone wrong when I was a mere adolescent?” I spat.
“Yes. He knew about that. It meant that someone from Mogochislenia had fed him the information. He wants you. He still does and may even offer himself to you because he believes that his king will not survive.”
“He wants what I represent.”
“Yes. Duke Ari wants what you represent – something that King Metheus has that he covets, just like he coveted their father.”
“What do you mean their father?”
“Duke Ari is King Doro’s illegitimate son. The truth had always been hanging over our heads, but everyone had tried to deny it, skirt around it. The duke, who he thought was his father, had been too old when he married Duchess Devorah. He did not mind that she was already with child.”
