bChapter /bb118 /b

    Valencia

    One moment I was arguing with a faceless voice but the next I was swooped away from that nightmarish ce and was back in the room.

    I blinked as I tried to adjust to the tingling sensation in my body. I was not sure what just happened and still wasn’t hundred percent certain either that I had not just been hallucinating.

    But that tug at my navel…why did I feel it was not the first time I had experienced it?

    I didn’t have time to wonder about it as my body and mind adjusted to the happenings around me.

    “Mydy!! Are you listening to me?”

    I heard a screech that almost made my eardrums bleed and ced my hands on my ears…or tried to.

    Because two hands were shaking me wildly.

    “Mydy!“,

    The voice repeated, and I slowly looked at the hand touching me. I could feel it.

    I could also hear everything around me.

    Though it seemed amplified after the hellish silence I had been in for the past few…minutes? Hours?

    I had lost track of time.

    Wait, did that mean?

    My eyes flew to the bed and saw Killian still lying on the bed. I ran towards him, ignoring whatever Mary was bbering and reached for his wrist.

    I didn’t have to struggle to find his pulse because it wasn’t faint anymore. It was beating with strength and a rhythm that made me want to sing along.

    My chest caved and my buttnded on the nearby chair as I sagged in relief,

    He was alive, he was alivel

    That was all I could think of as Mary hovered over me,

    “The paste, it worked!! It worked, mydy. And I have been applying more of it on the wound, but you

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    just froze for a few minutes and would not reply to me at all.”

    “The paste?” I looked at her nkly, and she nodded eagerly.

    “Yes, the paste. You and I were making the herbal paste, and you asked me to do a patch test, remember? It did stop the bleeding.”

    She pointed at the greenish paste she had thered all over Killian’s abdomen.

    “I didn’t have time to apply it neatly on a bandage, so it is a bit messy…”

    She added guiltily, and I gave her a weak smile.

    “You did the right thing.”

    Mary was still teary eyed but at least there was a smile on her face now.

    And I could finally take a breath of relief.

    “Just get more maids to clean up these sheets and the room.” I suggested while sitting beside Killian.

    I had wanted to jump on him the second I saw him, but I didn’t want to hurt him.

    Goddess knew how much blood he had lost. No, I knew.

    The blood soaked bandages, and cotton were still lying all around me.

    And I could not stomach the sight of it.

    So I held his hand between both of mine and kissed his knuckles.

    Killian seemed to have fallen asleep but I just didn’t want to stop staring at him. This man, this face…I had been this close to losing it all today.

    I still could not wrap my head around it. I still could not understand how he had been perfectly fine one moment and bleeding to death in the few minutes it took me to bring all the herbs Elder Amara had told me.

    I sat beside him, gently caressing his face.

    I wanted to do nothing but just hear him breathe, and feel the steady beating of his heart. I had almost lost him today.

    And whoever had hurt him was not going to find enough ce on this to hide on.

    Mary left the room promptly to appear with fresh bandages and kept scurrying in and out of the room

    to clean up, fetch me something to eat and fuss over Killian’s health.

    She kept watching him from a distance, afraid of touching him, but I could still see the concern and worry on her face.

    “Thank you,” I whispered to her when I caught her staring at him and at our joined hands for the thousandth time in the span of a few minutes.

    Mary shook her head and tore her gaze away from us.

    “You don’t have to thank me, mydy. Prince Killian doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”

    She brought a few guards, who helped us lift Killian to a morefortable bed while she changed the sheets and linens.

    “I have to. You have been working nonstop while also worrying about your prince. I am sure he would thank you too once he wakes up.”

    I saw her grow shy and immediately lower her head, but not before stealing a quick nce at Killian.

    “He doesn’t have to thank me either”

    She said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

    “Well, just go and get some rest. I will be here with him. You deserve some sleep.”

    I said, but she gave me a wry smile.

    “No, I can’t go to sleep. The minute I step outside, the guards will drag me away to be punished.”

    That caught my attention, and I threw her a surprised look.

    “Punished? For what?”

    She let out a breath and answered.

    “All the maids and servants were asked to be on duty and stationed outside the King’s quarters because we could be needed anytime. But there were dozens of us just standing outside and wasting time so when I heard of Prince Killian’s injury, I abandoned my duty and rushed in here to save him.”

    I blinked in confusion.

    I had totally forgotten about the King and his deteriorating health. The royal healer had run out of the room some time ago and I didn’t bother going after him or stopping him.

    11:33 Wed, 3 Sept A

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    I had all my attention on Killian, who had still not said a word. He was sound asleep, and the only sounds I heard from him were his steady heartbeat and weak breathing.

    “That’s…noble of you. But don’t worry, I will tell the King to not punish you. iYou /iwere after all, instrumental in saving Killian’s life.”

    She was still not convinced, so I had to let go of Killian’s arm for a moment and push her out of the

    room.

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    I was too exhausted to argue either way.

    So I simply closed the door and limped back to the bed to curl up beside Killian. I let my head rest on his chest and pulled the sheets over our bodies before falling into a blissful sleep.

    My body would not be able to keep up with the stress anymore either way.

    But sometime during the night, I was woken up by the noise of the guards‘ feet stomping on the floor as they pushed the door open and stood in front of us.

    “Valencia Raskin, you have been summoned to the King’s quarters.”

    Huh?

    Me? Why?