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"I want my mama and papa," she said petulantly.
He placed a hand sadly on her shoulder and stood nodding to his wife. "Come with me, my sweet, and we will get you some warm milk."
She didn't know what that was, but the woman seemed kind so she went with her.
As she went with her she heard her uncle say, "You will have your heart's desire when I am satisfied that she is well looked after."
The man who had called himself Jasper said, "How long will that be?"
"When I am satisfied." Her Uncle sounded angry. "What is given can be easily taken away should I deem it necessary."
"We are grateful of course," said the other man. When she turned back to him, he was bending his head towards Uncle.
"She is worth more than you can possibly imagine." With that, her Uncle turned to leave and somehow she knew she wouldn't see him again.
Wren's body felt like it was on fire. Flames licked at her and she screamed, trying to call for help, but she couldn't find the air in her lungs to speak. She was vaguely aware of the sound of her screams and yet she felt as if she couldn't draw in a full breath. The fire burst through her in waves searing her bones and boiling her blood.
She writhed under the force of the pain. She had never known pain like this or heat like this. She had no idea how she was still alive when her body had to have been ablaze. As another wave hit her, she didn't care if she died, she just needed the pain to stop.
Panicked voices rang around her, but still they didn't do anything to stop the flames from consuming her. She heard them calling her name, but she couldn't respond. Her body felt wet like she had been submerged, but the water gave no relief from the heat.
Please, she thought.
She felt her body being picked up and a familiar voice murmured to her that it was going to be okay, but he was wrong. She was dying and the pain was unbearable. She had never been more grateful than when the world went black.
Chapter 30
WhenWrenawoke,itwas to aching muscles and silk sheets. Opening her eyes, she looked around, but everything hurt. She at least recognized that she was in her own bed and that there was light pouring through her window. She could hear the crackling of the fire in the otherwise silent room. She pushed up on her hands in an effort to try to sit up and had to grit her teeth in order to bear the pain.
The aching pain in her body made her wonder what had happened to her. She was grateful when her eyes landed on the slumped form of Richard in a chair next to her bed. She looked down and found herself in a thin white nightgown. She knew she should feel self-conscious with Richard present, but too many questions burned in her. She raised her arm out to gently wake the sleeping prince when her eyes caught the familiar mark on her arm, except it wasn’t familiar anymore. It had grown.
Where there had been one circling length of ivy, now a second rose right above it.
Panic flooded her and she brought her other hand to the mark trying desperately to remove it. She knew it was futile, but the sight of it after everything was too much. It felt like a warning, as if time were running out when Wren still didn’t know for what.
Strong hands grabbed hers and held them to her sides. Before she could fight back she registered Richard’s looming presence.
“It’s okay, Wren,” he soothed. He looked as if she had interrupted his first sleep in days. His normally pristine brown hair was disheveled and he had stubble growing which was unusual for the well-groomed prince.
Wren took in a few deep breaths trying to calm the insistent panic swirling inside her. When Richard was satisfied she would not harm herself, he let go, and Wren raised a hand to her face wiping at tears she hadn’t realized she had shed.
“It’s not okay, Richard. What happened? What’s happening to me?” Her voice was hoarse from not being used, but there was no mistaking the panic in it.
“You’ve been out for two days. That mark appeared a day ago,” he said, gesturing to the source of her panic. “Wait right here.” He moved to her door, and Wren felt her panic rise thinking he was going to leave her. Instead, he cracked the door open enough to murmur something before coming back to his seat at her bedside.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m scared,” she confessed.
To Richard’s credit he didn’t try to give her false reassurance and instead only nodded, taking her hand in his. They sat like that in silence for a long time before Wren murmured that she was tired and lay back down.
The door to her rooms burst open, and Wren couldn’t find the strength to turn over to see who it was. Fear had given way to numbness, and she found she didn’t care one way or another who it was. Richard rose from his chair while also removing his hand from hers. He gave her arm a gentle pat, and she heard the door close behind him.
Kai was standing in front of her a moment later, and she wished that she had felt relief or anything at the sight of him, but she only felt tired. He took the seat his brother had occupied and leaned towards her. His eyes ran over her searching for something.
“Wren,” he whispered, and she could hear the pain and worry in his voice.
She wished he hadn’t expended so much energy over her. She couldn’t find any words to say and didn’t look away from him, hoping that was enough, but knowing that it wasn’t. He was pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Kai ran his hands through his midnight hair like he so often did when he was unsure of himself. She closed her eyes, feeling the weight of them.
