Must I Be Your Bride? - Chapter Ten

I slowly moaned myself to a wake, heavy weight almost making it impossible for me to move. A cool damp cloth placed on my forehead made me open my eyes, only to see William playing doctor. He smiles.

"Good morning", he said. "You want to sit up? Or do you want to go back to sleep?"

I answer him by trying to prop myself onto my elbows, but that’s when I realized that I was only wrapped in more blankets than I had been before, which would explain the extra weight. He somehow loosens the blankets long enough for me to sit against the board of the bed, with some pillows fixed to make me comfortable. I see him get a hold of two cups from his nightstand, one smaller than the other, and hold the smallest one near my mouth. "These are some pills you have to take", he says before I invited the two small solids in my mouth. The other cup had water in it, which he served me like I was some sort of kid. I drank it all without meaning to.

"What time is it?" I said. My voice was barely audible.

"It’s dinner time." He grins at my face. "Don’t worry, I told them you were sick. The maids have been offering stuff like crazy. When they came looking for you in the morning and heard you had a fever, well, they were ashamed to admit that one of them actually had a fever a few days ago, since they’re all half human. That’s why one of them has been missing. They send their apologies."

Yes, I had noticed that there have been two maids, instead of three, prepping me up every morning and afternoon the last couple of days.

"The bad news is", he goes on, "That you didn’t let me get Demitri before he left for the village. He won’t be back until about midnight."

"Why didn’t he heal the maid?"

"Because those maids are too kind to think that asking for the prince to heal them is a sin," he said with a frown.

It wasn’t until he started to serve me the chicken noodle soup that I realized how starving I was. Once I was done, he led me to the other room and sat me on the couch, where he served me sour ice cream as we talked about so many things - movies we recently watched; how delicious the cookies are; how funny my somber conversations with the king were; poems that we were surprised we still knew after memorizing them as a kid; quotes that come to mind, the fireplace at one of the walls warming up the whole room. We didn’t mention my frantic moves about last night. I was starting to wonder whether our kisses meant anything at all, if he only kissed back to calm me down, if I only kissed him to calm myself down. To me, if felt so real, though. I guess the thing was whether if it felt the same to him.

"How long do I have, William?"

His smile fades, and I know he knows exactly what I’m talking about. It was only a matter of time where I knew one of us had to ruin the moment, to ask the question.

"A couple of days, maybe a few, if I could get a chat with Matthew."

"Don’t bother", I said. He stared at me, waiting for me to give my final decision, but I couldn’t, not when I wasn’t sure if last night was merely a one-night thing. I only shook my head and lay it down on his shoulder.

I don’t know how long I was wrapped in his arms, but I knew that it was getting pretty late when the room was practically pitching black after the fire went out. It wasn’t raining anymore, so the full moon gave us some nice glow through the window.

There was some knocks on the door and once William and I slowly entangled, he rushed to the door. I wanted to follow him, but I could barely make it to the couch without William’s help.

"I hear you’ve gotten our Serene all sick again", I heard Demitri say wittingly. A light switched on, making me clutch my eyes with a moan. Demitri laughed. "Good morning. It’s officially past midnight."

When I removed my hands, William was taking his seat beside me as Demitri studied me. "You look paler than us," he says. He was always in a good mood wasn’t he? "You think the first sign of you getting this fever was when I came into your room that morning after you went to the village? You did look a bit depressed."

I shook my head. No, it was only the realization I had that I could never kill a human. When the thought sunk into me again, I was slowly turning into the solemn person Demitri was talking about.

He reached out with his hand and placed it onto my forehead, his coolness giving me a sense of relief. And a fraction of a second later, I felt it, all the filth of the fever pulling away from me. It was sort of like when William sucked my blood, when he was sucking all of my worries away. This brought the same liberation to my senses. It made me simply want to fall asleep, as if William was stroking my face.

It was as gone as soon as it came, and I just lied there with my eyes closed for a moment. I was no longer shivering, or sweating, or even sniffing. I felt as physically healthy as I felt several days ago. I opened my eyes and thanked him.

"There, healthy as a blooming flower", he said. He gave my forehead some tap that made me feel like a pet for a second. "I’ll leave you two. I’ve had a long day. See you tomorrow for breakfast." He snickered at his last sentence before I heard William’s bedroom door shut.

"Maybe I should have stayed sick", I muttered.

William got to his feet. "I can sleep on the couch tonight if you’d like, and you can take my bed. It’s a pretty long walk to your room at this hour, but I wouldn’t mind joining you if you want to get back."

I bite my lips and shake my head, too terrified by his sudden seriousness to ask if he could join me during the night.

"Then you should get some rest", he said.

I hesitantly got to my feet, no longer feeling weak, and slowly made my way to his room.

Things were running through my mind. Has he been disgusted by me this whole time and only been kind because I was weak? Did he really mind my messy hair, my lack of one shower? Maybe it was that I had no makeup on, and he was only interested in me with it.

As I went under his covers, I noticed the light coming from the living room, making me understand that he was starting the fire again. I could use that as an excuse; say I was cold. But was it really worth it? For all I know, he might only agree to be nice.

I had another nightmare. One that wasn’t only mentally painful, but also physically - well in my dream, anyway. This time, I switched places with the beautiful blond woman I saw at the village; me being the one dragged away by the stranger as she watched me, William holding her in a tight - careful not to hurt her - grip. Jealousy, rage, horror; that’s all I felt as William prohibited this woman from saving my life. From her eyes, I knew she was the only one here that felt my pain and that wished so desperately to help me, which is why I’m screaming and yelling so she cannot only wish, but actually take action. She tries to, but she can’t. Why? Oh, I see, it’s because the man holding her won’t let her go. I didn’t give up, though; I reached out to her, begging for her to save my life. The stranger’s grip on me was tightening on my wrist, and it got to the point where I was only screaming because of the pain. And then we took one turn that concealed me from that woman, my only hope vanishing. I feel the sharp end of my kidnapper’s knife sink into my throat, and with one slice, the world around me was silent.

I sat up with a scream, clutching my throat once I realized what was going on. I sat there motionless, tears stinging my eyes. The woman was dead, and I killed her. I killed her because I didn’t do anything. I should have done something.

William rushed in from the dim light in the living room, standing at the doorway when he realized there didn’t to seem to be any physical harm done. With a sigh, he made his way to the side of the bed I was on and took a seat. He gently pushed me back down onto the mattress, lifted the covers to my shoulders, and stroked my tangled hair.

"You don’t have to", I whisper, rolling onto my side.

"What?"

"I’m sorry I woke you, but you don’t have to be nice about it."

"What are you implying?" His hand found my hair again.

"Nothing", I sighed.

I felt something warm brush along my neck, and it took a shudder to realize it was William’s lips.

"It’s something", he said once he backed away.

"My mind isn’t right at the moment."

"Ok", he said soothingly. And then he stood up and started to make his way to the living room. Was he mad? Or was he simply taking his chance to get out?

"Wait", I blurted out before I could even think. He listened, and turned around. For once, his blue eyes seemed dull, and that seemed to make my heart stop; made me rethink my next words. "Goodnight", I whispered, before hiding myself under his covers.
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Thanks for the wonderful comments. :) I'm writing the last few chapters right now (I've written ahead) and I have no idea how to end it. But I have the next four chapters ready to post (I hope)! Hope you enjoyed! Or at least empathized!