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Mother leaned over me and kissed my forehead. I knew that meant she was leaving. I tried to call out to her, but my tongue was too swollen in my mouth. My arms were too heavy for me to reach for her. She touched my cheek, smiled, and walked away. She faded into the darkness…
***
Light caressed my eyelids. A warm glow, steadily growing brighter. I enjoyed the sensation, focusing on the light as the pain started to ache through my body. Each breath I took sent a bolt of pain to my ribs. Eventually, I became aware of the breathing of another person. I opened my eyes a sliver to find Klaus sitting at my side. How was he here? Was it another spectre?
I made to stand, but Klaus caught me by the shoulders before I could move and pressed me back down. I wasn’t on the ground anymore. I realized I lay on a soft mattress… my bed as I took in my surroundings.
“You shouldn’t move around too much,” Klaus said, sounding worried. “You were badly injured.”
Was I? The last thing I remembered was fighting off the creatures in the fog. Even that was somewhat fuzzy. I closed my eyes, centering myself, then opened them again. I still lay in my bed. Klaus settled back down in a chair next to the bed. He picked up a book from the nightstand but didn’t open it.
“It’s good that you’re awake,” Nadine said to my right with a relieved expression on her face.
“Hmm,” I huffed.
“So. Did everything go according to plan?” Klaus asked sarcastically.
“Be nice!” Nadine admonished her husband.
My mouth felt stuffed full of cotton, but I managed to rasp out, “Don’t get an attitude with me. Get me some water.”
Klaus arched one dark brow at me but silently got up. I tracked him across the room as he reached for the pitcher and cup on the small table close to the window. I pushed myself into a sitting position. I winced, pain shooting through my ribs. He turned; his expression more dire than usual. With the cup in hand, he stalked back to me. “What was it you told me when I advised against trying to lure the Nightshade out? Oh, yes. I remember. You said—”
“At least let the man drink before you give him an earful,” Nadine interjected.
“Thank you, Nadine,” I glanced at her as I took the cup. I sipped cautiously, aware that in my current state, I could easily choke if I drank too much. The cool water slid down my throat, wetting my dry throat. Once I was done, I set the cup aside. I ordered. “Bring me my clothes.”
“You are on bedrest. Two days at least. Perhaps longer if the healers can’t get the infection back under control,” Nadine said, looking worried as Klaus sat back down.
Infection. That would explain why I felt overly warm and chilled at the same time. I touched my ribs. Beneath my bedclothes were layers of bandages. I frowned. If I was so severely injured that I wasn’t even aware of my injuries being treated… “How many healers saw me in this condition?”
“Just my wife, Anika and Hubert. I made sure they kept quiet about it, too,” Klaus replied.
Though I spurned the thought of anyone seeing me so vulnerable, I relaxed again. Nadine, Anika, and Hubert were my most trusted healers. I had tested their loyalty thoroughly. They wouldn’t tell anyone about my current condition. More disturbingly, I only vaguely remembered the creature in the fog slicing its talons into my skin. I seemed to recall plucking something from the wound, but other than that, nothing. My head pounded, and I rubbed my temples.
“How long was I gone?” I asked.
“Five days.”
“Five?” I repeated in disbelief.
Klaus studied me. “You seem surprised.”
“I am. If you had asked me, I would have said a day. Time must move differently there. Interesting.”
Klaus stood, grabbed my empty cup, and stalked back to the pitcher. I knew him well enough to read the anger in his movements. “Five days,” he repeated. “Five days thinking I had failed. Only for me to stumble across you in the gardens this morning with that woman over you, both covered in your blood. And all you have to say is ‘interesting’? Araki, I thought you were dead!”
Klaus turned, looking cross. I noted his state. His hair was on end, as though he had spent the last few hours periodically running his hands through it. I was not proud that I had caused him distress, but I wasn’t going to apologize, either. I wasn’t going to apologize for putting my life on the line for the sake of my people. I was, after all, his King. I had decided, putting myself at risk, to take out an enemy far more poisonous than anything else in the kingdom.
“We were in the Forest of Shadows,” I told him, keeping my tone calm.
Klaus’s arms dropped to his sides, and the anger on his face morphed into shock. “The Forest of Shadows? That witch took you there? Why?”
I couldn’t help but grin as I remembered the apparent shock in Reilyn when we realized where we were. “Oh, she didn’t mean to. She’s a little magic thief and discovered I’m too much for her.”
“A magic thief?” Klaus touched the centre of his chest, where the protective amulet of the Goddess of magic would be. “Iwould have killed her if I hadn’t sensed some sort of Union spell between you. Why haven’t you broken it?”
“I’m the one who placed it, Klaus. Where is she?” I replied.
