Chapter 44

Nicholas

As I watched, Piper seemed to crumble in on herself. The guilt and the worry pushed down on her shoulders and made her small. It didn’t suit her. She was strong, a fighter, yet fear for Elva tore straight through her.

I had known the child a few short weeks, and already I was in agony, watching her cry and shake with fever. I could only imagine how Piper felt. To watch her daughter be sick now, and so often, must have been a special kind of torture.

Holding Piper’s arm, I turned her into me to offer her the physical support of my body. She clung to me, likely about to fall if I did not hold her upright.

I may have been angry at Piper for all that had occurred between us. She had betrayed me once, for reasons I still didn’t fully understand, when all I had ever done was love her.

Yet seeing her like this, so scared for her daughter, I could not help but soften to her.

“It’s not your fault,” I told her. “It could have been any illness. Even someone with a cough could have sent the germs her way.”

“But I was sick.” Tears clung to her eyelashes. They made my chest ache. “I should have waited to see her until I was sure. I was just so eager. I missed her so much.”

I moved my hand up and down her back in long, soothing strokes.

“It’s not your fault,” I said again, more firmly.

She shook her head, unable or unwilling to hear me and take my words to heart.

When Elva pulled through, I would try again. For now, I understood Piper’s worry made reason difficult to accept. Even bad things were easier to comprehend when there was a cause and effect. Chaos made things scarier.

“Thank you, doctor,” I told the physician, who nodded at me.

“I will check on her several times throughout the night,” the physician said. “When her fever breaks, send for me, and I will be able to do more.”

“Thank you,” I said again.

“Thank you,” said Piper, voice muffled against my shoulder.

The physician left. Mark and the maid stayed nearby. I nodded to Mark and he moved a chair from the table over to Elva’s beside. Gently, I led Piper there and helped her sit down. Immediately, she reached out and cradled Elva’s hand.

With her situated, I walked back to the table to retrieve a second chair. Mark was at my side at once.

“Prince Nicholas?”

“I intend to stay,” I told him. “Go and alert my family’s servants of where I’ll be if I’m needed.”

Mark saluted. “At once, sir.”

As he exited the room, I motioned toward the maid. “You may leave as well.”

“If I’m needed…” she said. Bold of her to attempt to stand up to me. Yet it only made me appreciate her, as someone who cared about Piper and Elva.

“I can handle it from here,” I said, softer. “They will need you rested in the morning.”

The maid accepted this. After one last glance over Piper and Elva, she turned and left the room.

With the servants dealt with, I returned to Piper’s side, carrying a second chair. I placed it beside hers and sat down upon it.

Piper glanced at me, eyes wide with surprise. “You’re staying?”

“If it’s alright,” I said. Did she want to be alone? In that case, I would wait for Mark to return and then I would –

“No, it’s fine. Just… unexpected.” She looked at me like she had never seen me before.

Was it so unusual, to care for the welfare of a child? Specifically the child of a woman I once loved with the entirety of my heart?

I didn’t think so. So I didn’t say anything.

Eventually her surprise passed, and she seemed more at ease. Her gaze returned to her daughter, whose quiet sobs had eased into a restful slumber.

“Does this happen often?” I asked.

“Too often. Though less now than in the past. I know the medicine and regular checkups have been helping her. If only I hadn’t been so careless…”

I didn’t want her to focus on that, so I tried to steer the conversation away. “Do you and Elva have a place to stay out there?”

“We were renting an apartment with a friend of mine, Anna. I worked hard for that life. Sometimes I even, well… I’ve let more experiences happen than I should have, for the sake of a paycheck.”

My hands ached. Looking down I realized I held the wooden armrests of the chair in a white-knuckled grip. I attempted to loosen my hold. “Were you… harmed?”

“Not for the lack of effort on their part,” Piper said. “My boss at this last job was particularly vile, but your guards came to retrieve me at just the right moment.”

My grip returned tenfold. The wood creaked.

I wanted to tell her that she was safe now, and that people like that would never be able to touch her again. I wanted her to give me this vermin’s name so I could chase him down and have him locked in the dungeon.

I considered yet doing the last one, when Elva’s condition wasn’t quite so dire. But the previous I could not promise.

With the first elimination coming up, I did not know if she would continue to be allowed to stay at the palace. And the minute she was beyond these walls, I could not protect her without drawing unwanted attention to us both.

If and when she left, I had to let her stay gone.

For now, I would do what I could. I sat in the chair beside Piper’s as we held vigil through the night.

In the early morning hours, Elva’s fever finally broke, and Piper was able to relax. I rose to send the guard to alert the physician.

When I returned to Piper, she was fast asleep. She must have been so relieved and so exhausted, that the moment she knew she didn’t have to worry anymore, her body sunk fast into necessary sleep.

Slowly, as not to wake her, I hooked an arm under her knees and the other around her back, and lifted her up against me. I carried her around to the other side of the bed and lowered her down within it. Gently, I lifted the covers up over her tired body and tucked her in.

I returned to my chair and watched over Piper and Elva both until the physician arrived.

Mark came to collect me in the morning. When I saw him enter the room, I stood, leaving the physician to her work, and approached him.

“Is it storming?” I asked him. The weather forecasts had predicted a miniscule chance of rain, but for Piper’s sake, I’d secretly wished for it.

“No rain…” Mark hesitated. He was holding something back. Unusual. He typically told me everything without need for further prompting.

“Mark?”

“I think you need to see it for yourself. The royal family is gathered in your father’s room.”

I glanced behind me, where Piper and Elva continued to doze, even as the physician attended Elva.

“I will stay and watch over them in your stead, Prince Nicholas,” Mark said.

Only with that assurance was I able to pull myself away. “Very well. Thank you, Mark.”

Mark nodded.

I allowed myself only one last quick glance behind me, then I made my way from the room.

Inside my father’s room, my parents and two brothers were standing in a half-circle around the television. A weather report blared on the screen. Red bars flickered at the top and bottom. Urgent Weather Update…

“What’s going on?” I asked.

The King glanced at me sideways. “Nice of you to finally join us, Nicholas.”

“I told the servants where I’d be,” I said.

“That you did,” Julian said, smirking. “I hope you had a favorable evening.”

I resisted the urge to sigh – barely. “Elva was sick.”

“She better now?” Julian asked, smile fading.

I nodded.

“Come here.” The King waved me closer. “Look at this.”

I joined my family in their half-circle and finally saw the news.

The newscasters were calling for a blood moon tonight.

A rare and ominous sign.

To have continued the hunt during this condition would have been disastrous.

“That girl saved us,” the King said.