Chapter 141

Claire POV

I woke up lying in an unfamiliar bed with bright lights shining above me.

Squinting against the pain in my head, it took me a minute to realize where I was and what had happened:

This was one of the exam rooms at the clinic.

And I had fainted.

I couldn’t decide which was worse, the embarrassment over collapsing or the pain that was still clawing deeply into my head and shoulders.

I struggled to sit up, hoping to try to sneak back home without anyone else seeing me.

If I could just get back to the palace, for a healing session and some sleep, I’d be okay.

Or at least, I tried to convince myself that would be enough.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Amelia, hurrying over from where she’d been sitting just out of sight.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

She stood in front of me, hands on her hips, clearly ready to physically block me from leaving.

“I’m fine,” I said, trying my best to sound like it was true.

“Really, I promise. I just need to go home and rest. That’s all.”

“Oh ‘that’s all,’ is it? Look at me, Claire. Come on, look at me.”

Still struggling with the harshness of the lighting, I looked at Amelia, doing my best not to wince.

And failing.

She shook her head. “I’m your friend, Claire. I’m your best friend.

“If something is going on with you, I want to know. I need to know.”

If she’d tried any other way to get me to talk, I would have been able to continue to play things down, to brush off her concerns.

But she was right. She really was my best friend.

And she deserved the truth.

“Alright,” I said, giving in. I laid back on the bed, covering my eyes with my forearm.

“It’s these headaches I’ve been getting. They’re just really hard to deal with.”

Noting my discomfort, Amelia turned off the overhead lights and drew the curtains over the windows. A cool, soothing dimness settled over the room, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Just headaches?” she asked. “When did they start?”

“About the time I came here, I guess,” I said, trying to think back. “I think when I started taking over the clinic.”

I expected her to come back to the bed and shine her penlight in my eyes again, take my vitals, do some kind of exam.

Instead, she just sat on the edge of the bed and held my hand.

And the rest of what I’d been dealing with came pouring out.

“They’ve been getting worse ever since then. I began having trouble sleeping as well. The nightmares…”

I still couldn’t explain everything that happened in those dreams, or why they were so devastating. But I woke up nearly every night now feeling like I’d just barely escaped death.

“Are you taking anything for any of these symptoms?”

I shook my head. “No. But…I am getting healing sessions from Dr. Baldwin.”

She nodded. “That’s good. How often do you need those?”

Feeling sheepish, I shrugged. “Regularly.”

“Claire.”

“Alright, alright. I get them nearly every morning and every night. Dr. Baldwin practically lives at the palace now.”

“I knew it!” Amelia slapped a hand against her leg, then got up to pace.

“I knew something was going on. And I knew Baldwin knew about it.

“Any time I brought up my feeling that you were dealing with something, he changed the subject.”

She paced back to the bed.

“And I’m not the only one who’s been suspicious. Have you seen the paper the past few days?

“People are starting to talk, Claire. They’re all starting to wonder what’s going on with you!”

My stomach sank at the thought of my people having any reason to worry about me, and because of that to worry about the state of the pack.

I was their leader now. I needed to be strong, and to give them every reason for confidence instead of concern.

Finally I sat up, slowly, with Amelia helping me.

“I had no idea people had even noticed,” I admitted. “I thought I was managing it pretty well.”

“Of course people noticed, Claire. You’re the Royal Princess! Everything you do is seen and talked about and analyzed.”

I grimaced.

I had gotten so used to seeing members of the media everywhere I went that it was like I almost stopped seeing them.

Now realizing I really was being watched nearly every hour of the day made me hunch my shoulders.

“I don’t want people to worry,” I said. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

Amelia put her hand on my shoulder.

“Let’s start with you going home and getting as much rest as you can.

“And I mean rest, okay? No going home and doing more work.”

I agreed, promising that I would try to sleep. Then I let her arrange for a car to take me back home.

Once back at the palace, I settled myself into my room and truly did try to sleep.

But sleep didn’t come.

I just kept seeing Amelia’s disappointed face when she realized I’d been keeping all of this from her.

And I kept thinking about what she’d said. That the whole pack was watching, and worrying.

Because they knew something was going on.

Finally, unable to sleep, I gave up for a while and went out to my living room area.

Pulling up a variety of news sites, I went back through the headlines and articles I’d missed over the last few days.

And even though I’d had an idea of what to expect, I was still shocked by what I found:

Royal Princess…Is she ill??

Fainting Spells Trouble Royal Princess

Royal Alpha remains in a coma. Is Princess Claire next?!

Is the Royal Family cursed?

I read each article with increasing alarm.

When did all of this start to leak out into the public??

I had thought I was doing my best to deal with all of the things on my plate, juggling Dad’s Royal Alpha duties with my work at the clinic as both a healer and an administrator.

Staying on top of things wasn’t easy, and I’d been running myself ragged to do so, but I thought I’d been managing.

And yet somehow I missed all of these major rumors and stories.

Things I should have been addressing as soon as they began, to prevent just these kinds of headlines.

The last thing my people needed was a new fear. After everything they’d been through lately, with the rogue attacks and my father falling ill, what they needed most was security and stability.

And I needed to give that to them.

But it seemed that I was failing to do that.

Because every spare ounce of my focus and energy was now being spent just struggling to deal with the headaches, the dizziness, the nightmares and the exhaustion.

I was giving everything I had, and it still wasn’t enough.

Because things were still getting worse.

Feeling deeply troubled, I realized it was time to admit that my health was getting more and more out of control.

And how much that was really starting to scare me.