Run!

The instinct to flee kept Shae moving. Her feet pounded the stone slabs of the castle hallways as she ran towards the private royal quarters. There would be a King's Guard there. She could find safety there. The sound of someone pursuing her echoed in the empty halls, but she resisted the urge to look back, as it would slow her down and potentially prove fatal. Her heart beat loudly against her ribs as she increased her pace.

She winced as another dagger sliced through the air, catching her upper arm.

A moment later, she burst through the doors that separated the royal quarters from the rest of the castle, startling a King's Guard standing sentinel on the other side. It only took him a glance at her injured arm to burst into motion, ushering her inside as he called for back-up.

"Find who was chasing me!" she ordered, but the knight shook his head.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I cannot leave your side."

"We need to find the culprit," she interjected. "I will be fine."

The guard, a red-haired man named Grier, shook his head. "Your Majesty," he entreated. "I cannot leave you. We do not know if there's more than one. It would be foolish of me to leave. We will have reinforcements in but a moment..."

Shae nodded but quickly stopped as she suddenly felt light-headed.

"Your Majesty?" There was a note of concern in Grier's voice, and when she swayed on her feet, she couldn't blame him. It was rather concerning. He put an arm around her shoulders to steady her. "You must sit down."

As he escorted her into the sitting room she shared with Felix, she heard men in armour hurrying down the hallway. A horrible thought struck her, and she stopped to pull on the knight's arm. "Mio," she said, "Send someone to check on him!"

"Absolutely, Your Majesty. Would you like us to bring him here?"

"Yes." She shook her head. "No. If I am the target, he might be safer away from me for now. And I don't want him to..." Her voice trailed off as she stumbled and nearly lost her footing. "I don't want him to see me like this. It might frighten him."

The knight was helping her into a comfortable chair when five guards filed in through the door behind him. He quickly relayed the events and ordered them to search for the attacker, and one of them to stand guard at Mio's side. As they disappeared again, she fought against the strange sensation travelling through her body. Her arm pulsated where the dagger had nicked her, but that worried her less than her reaction to the attack. Focusing was becoming more and more difficult, and the room was spinning around her. Even closing her eyes didn't stop the feeling of everything moving around her.

"I will have someone come look at your wound." Grier's voice sounded like it came from another room, but she was fairly certain he had not left.

Ever since the attack on her home in Cyrene the night the Dark God's followers killed her family, she had struggled when overwhelmed by what went on around her, especially if surprised by an attack. But this was new. She couldn't remember feeling this way before. Maybe the day had been too much with all the talks about the Dark Disciple and his alleged son.

"Your Majesty."

Opening her eyes, she tried to see who was speaking to her, but struggled to focus. How long had she been keeping her eyes closed? There were now two King's Guards stationed at the door to the sitting room; Grier, and another she couldn't remember the name of right then. Blinking slowly, her eyes finally came to rest on the medic standing before her. She couldn't remember his name either. It felt as if her head was underwater, everyone's voices muffled and everything just a little out of focus.

"I need to look at your arm, Your Majesty," the medic said. "Do you mind if I cut the sleeve of your dress off?"

She shook her head. Glancing down, she groaned slightly as it made the world spin a little faster. There was a large tear along the top of the dress sleeve, and the fabric was damp and darkened by the blood seeping from an equally large gash in her arm. She swallowed as she realised how close the attacker had come to injuring her seriously.

The medic made quick work of cutting the sleeve off the dress and removing it. Such a shame. I really liked this dress. It was such a silly thought that she almost smiled, but she quickly sobered up as she looked up to see the medic's shocked face.

"Find a sorcerer!" he snapped at the King's Guards, and one of them immediately disappeared out the door.

Still light-headed, Shae tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Not to worry, Your Majesty. We will figure out what this is." He sounded more certain than he looked as he began cleaning her arm and the wound with a wet cloth.

She sucked in air through clenched teeth as her arm stung painfully. Why was the medic's face so pale? Daring another look at her now bare arm, she frowned as she discovered the gash was nearly black. It looked as if someone had poured a vial of ink into it. Small tendrils spread across her skin from the wound, winding their way up her arm. Well, that didn't look great. She blinked again, slowly. It was getting more and more difficult to focus. To keep her eyes open.

"Your Majesty." The medic's voice sounded imploring, but she was too tired to pay him much attention. "Your Majesty... You cannot fall asleep."

They both jumped when the door crashed open and several men strode inside, with Felix leading the charge. Seeing him, she suddenly wanted to cry, and she didn't even know why. She wanted to reach out to him, but only managed to wiggle a few fingers.

Felix took a deep breath as he saw Shae sitting in a chair, her face deathly pale against her auburn hair and green dress. When a King's Guard had burst into the council meeting to inform them that there had been an incident, he had rushed upstairs as quickly as he could. Castel, Boreas, and several guards had followed suit, now hovering behind him. Catching sight of Shae's bared arm, cold fear gripped him. That was no normal wound.

"What's going on?" he said, addressing the medic next to his wife. "Why does her wound look like that?"

The medic opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again, as if afraid to answer.

"Speak!" Felix snapped. If it was bad news, he'd rather hear it now.

"Poison, Your Majesty. I... I think." The medic twiddled a blood-soaked cloth between distressed fingers. "It's not like anything I have ever seen before."

Poison. Felix shook his head as if it would somehow make sense of what was happening. How had anyone been able to poison her? And worse, who had dared attack the queen inside the castle? The dark tendrils spreading from her wound made his insides churn. Walking across the floor, he fell to his knees at her feet and took the hand of her uninjured arm in both of his. It was cold and clammy in his grip. He had expected her to be feverish. Finding the exact opposite somehow made it worse.

Spymaster Boreas came up next to the medic, his brown eyes inspecting the wound. Tapping his nose thoughtfully, he frowned. "I'm fairly well-versed in poison, but even I am stumped."

The stillness of Shae and the fact she hadn't said a word since he entered the room made Felix reach up to touch her face. Her eyelids drooped as if she struggled to stay awake, but the shadow of a smile flitted across her lips as her gaze met his for a moment. He swallowed painfully. She was still with them. For now.

"Surely someone must know what is poisoning my wife?" He forced himself to temper his words even as he wanted to scream. To make someone fix this. That everyone stood still, inactive, was maddening.

"I... I've sent for a sorcerer," the medic stammered. "They might know."

Felix turned to Castel behind him. "Grand Sorcerer Arawn," he said, the words almost tumbling over each other in his rush to get them out. "He might now have left yet. Find him!"

With a brief nod, Castel dashed towards the door. Turning back to his wife, Felix squeezed her hand. Arawn might know. The sorcerers dabbled in herbs and poisons, as well as magical maladies. More so than Boreas and his ilk.

Shae blinked slowly, and her hand in his twitched.

"Shae?" He cupped her cheek. "Can you hear me?"

"Y... Yes." Her words and movements were sluggish, but at least she'd responded. They still had time.

"Hang in there," he said. "Help is coming."

"M... Mio?" Her chin drooped to her neck before coming back up again. Felix lifted her hand to his lips. She was a fighter. She'd beat this. Whatever it was.

"Mio is fine," he promised her. "Two King's Guards are with him and his nannies and will be at all times going forward."

"Good." She looked as if she was about to fall asleep again.

"Don't let her sleep," the medic said as he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. "Some poisons..." He trailed off, looking too terrified to continue the sentence.

"Some poisons... You don't wake up if you fall asleep," Boreas finished grimly.

"Right." Pushing back his fear, Felix nudged Shae's chin again. "Shae? Please don't fall asleep, love. We have to stay awake until we know what's going on. Look at me."

Her eyelashes fluttered, but she trained her eyes on his, even as he could see how much of a struggle it was for her. He smiled softly, not wanting her to see the fear residing inside his soul.

"When are we starting Mio's archery lessons?" he asked, hoping to keep her awake with conversation.

A smile quivered on her lips. "Not for a while yet.-He needs to be..." She swallowed. "Needs to be strong enough to..." Her head sagged again.

"Shae?"

"To pull back the bowstring," she mumbled, her eyes closed.

Tucking his finger under her chin, he nudged her face up. "Shae," he said gently. "Please keep looking at me."

Her eyes opened again, so slowly he expected her to close them again at any moment. But she met his eyes again.

"Felix?" she mumbled. "My arm hurts."

"I know, love. I know." He squeezed her hand again, wishing there was something he could do. "Any moment now. Just stay with me."

The door opened behind him, and he let out a sigh of relief as Castel entered with the ageing Grand Sorcerer behind him. Arawn would know. Wouldn't he? Unwilling to leave Shae, Felix remained on the floor at her feet as the two men approached. Boreas and the medic moved out of the way to allow Arawn an unobstructed view.

"Hmm." The old man lifted Shae's arm as he inspected the wound, taking in the tendrils that marred her skin. "I recognise this poison. It's Orc's Blood."

Everyone's eyes turned to the sorcerer. Orc's Blood? Felix frowned. He'd heard of it, but it was just a myth. An urban legend spread by the Dark God's followers hoping to terrify their enemies.

"I didn't think Orc's Blood was real," Spymaster Boreas said as he stared at the sorcerer in awe. Felix usually appreciated the man's inquisitiveness, but his unabashed interest right then grated on his nerves.

"It's real," Arawn said, his lips set in a grim line. "Incredibly rare. And extremely dangerous. Kills most within a day."

A day? Felix swallowed back the terror the words evoked. "Is there a cure? An antidote?"

"Yes, but I have to make it. We keep ingredients for most antidotes at Highglaive. Curing Orc's Blood requires a very specific list of ingredients, but I believe we should have them. If we can get the antidote to the queen quickly enough, she might recover." Arawn turned on his heel and made for the exit, his long robes billowing behind him. "I will make haste to Highglaive and get started."

Felix wasn't sure how long he had sat on the floor by Shae when Arawn returned. It had become impossible to keep her fully awake, and she'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for what felt like hours. The Grand Sorcerer gave Felix a vial of dark liquid that looked more like poison than an antidote. Seeing that the dark tendrils had now reached Shae's shoulder, he was willing to try anything. Even if it looked equally likely to kill her as save her.

Gently cradling her head in the crook of his arm, he held the vial to her lips.

"Have a sip, love. This will make you feel better." He could only pray that was true.

Shae swallowed, then grimaced. The liquid must taste as disgusting as it looked. Her eyes weren't even open, and his heart ached for her.

"What now?" he asked Arawn.

"Now you let her rest," the sorcerer said. "She will need all her strength to fight this poison. I will return with a second vial for her in the morning if she makes it that long. No earlier than dawn. Too much of the antidote is nearly as bad as the poison itself."

"Right." Felix bowed his head as he stood. "Thank you, Grand Sorcerer."

The old man bowed. "I am here to serve. Hopefully, I will see you in a few hours."

As the man disappeared, Felix scooped Shae into his arms and brought her into her bedchamber. Castel pulled the sheets on her bed down so he could place her in it. Straightening, he stood next to the knight as they stared down at the drowsy form of their queen.

Castel's hand rested on Felix's shoulder. "She will pull through, Your Majesty," he said. "Your wife is strong. I will be right outside if you need anything."

"Thank you, Cas."

After the knight had left, Felix carefully helped Shae out of her dress. She was barely awake, little more than a rag doll in his arms. Not wanting her to be embarrassed if anyone needed to enter the chambers, he left her shift on. Finally, he pulled her covers up and placed a kiss on her temple.

"You can fight this," he mumbled against her hair. "I know you can."

An unintelligible mumble was his only answer as Shae sank further into sleep. Not wanting to leave her side, he pulled up one of the comfortable chairs from the other side of the room to her bedside and sat down. The pallid hue to her usually tanned skin made her look like she had one foot already in the Other Realm, and it terrified Felix. He was a man of action, and being unable to do anything to help her through this was eating him alive. Give him a monster to fight. An argument to win. He could do that. This? This poison. He had nothing.