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Fire licked across my skin, scorching every nerve ending, embedding itself in my flesh until all I could feel was pain.
Pain. It was the only thing I had felt this past month—marking it as the longest month of my immortal life. Time had seemed to still, like it, too, was holding its breath, waiting to see if I survived this or not.
“Do something for her,” Aurelius grated, his jaw clenched tightly enough to turn his molars to dust. He had rarely left my side since the sickness burrowed into me. My suffering was increased tenfold in him, a truth I could see in his weary eyes every time they met mine. That lovely golden glow was barely there anymore.
“There’s nothing we can do, Your Maj—”
Another scream tore out of my throat, swallowing up the rest of the healer’s sentence.
“Give her more dwale then!” Aurelius yelled, the backs of his boots striking the ground as he strode towards the healer.
The healer shrunk away from the instruments he was cleaning. My ichor was all over them from the bloodletting treatment I had just undergone—the sixth one this week. Facing Aurelius, he whimpered, “We have already given her more than is safe, even for an immortal.”
I heard the sound of a hand striking flesh, but I was too delirious to care. All I could do was dig my nails into the soaked sheets beneath me, shredding them as another wave tore throughout my body.
“I am your king, and you will do as I say.” Aurelius’s voice was so fierce that it startled the maid beside me into action.
Quickly, she dabbed my slick brow with a cold cloth, but my temperature was so high that in a matter of seconds, it turned the white linen scalding hot. Before it singed her fingers, she dropped it quickly into a bucket of water, an audible hiss sounding. She grabbed another cloth and repeated the process, but it was of no use—one could not fight the inferno of a forest fire with a damp rag.
Nothing relieved the pain, the suffering. It was like my divinity was being torn from my bones and ripped through my flesh.
I rolled away from her, turning onto my side and curling into myself as a moment of relief drifted over my shaking body. I knew it would be short-lived, and mentally prepared myself for the next wave of torture to begin.
A gentle hand stroked my cheek. “Here, my love, drink this.” Aurelius knelt by my side, a golden chalice in his hand. He was the only person who could touch me directly and withstand my body’s immense heat.
I shook my head slightly, knowing full well what was in that cup.
“Moonbeam, please, I cannot stand to see you like this,” he pleaded with me, his voice hoarse from shouting.
I could no longer stand to see the pain in his eyes knowing that I was the reason for it, and so, weakly, I nodded. He helped me onto my side, just enough so I could drink. He guided the cup against my mouth, and I drank the bitter herbs down, choking on their horrible taste.
“This will all be over soon,” Aurelius whispered softly in my ear, his thumb rhythmically stroking my cheek. “And when it is, I will take you to that little cottage in the Living Realm you always talk about. Just like you wanted.”
My heart strummed at that, his pledge like fingers plucking at its strings, making it sing.
Clicking heels approached the room, their pace quick—urgent. “My Lord, I apologize for the intrusion, but the God of Chaos is here,” Bronwyn, a Demi God who looked after various castle matters, said as she approached.
“Please remind the God of Chaos that he is banned from my realms, and he is to return to the stinking hole he crawled out of,” Aurelius stated in his regal tone as he gently stroked my cheek, the chalice now gone.
“We tried, my lord, but . . . he grew angry and killed Everett and Samona. He said that he will continue to take more lives until you arrive. I believe he said . . .” Bronwyn swallowed. “One life per minute.”
“The Old Gods are such heathens,” Aurelius said with a sigh. “Very well, I will meet with him and remind him of his place.” The direction of his voice changed. “Everyone else, please, go get something to eat, but return within the hour.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be back soon, Moonbeam.”
I think I nodded, but I wasn’t sure.
The bed shifted and then multiple footsteps sounded, announcing their departure, leaving me alone with my heavy,heavy eyelids. Hardly wider than slits now, I could just barely make out the towering, dark shadow standing before me.
Icy metal bit into my skin as a hand captured my chin, and I stifled a moan because it felt blissfully good.
“Did you miss me, Little Goddess?” Death whispered in my ear.
And then the dwale dragged me under.
I groaned as I came to, my body slowly awakening to the blistering pain.
There came a screeching noise, but it wasn’t from me. A chair was being dragged across the floor. It stopped, just beside me, and then it groaned as someone sat down on it.
“Compared to the last time I saw you, you look like shit. How’s married life treating you, Kitten?” asked a purely male voice, but his words became lost amongst the fog clouding my mind. The dwale had not quite worn off yet.
