Chapter 86

86 No Pain Like This

“The Queen? What happened to her?” Caspian instantly got up from his throne.

He was ready to run towards his wife’s chamber before Vincent even said anything. But he wasn’t sure if Anastasia was in her chamber. So he waited for Vincent to give him further information.

Vincent also blurted everything out in a single breath, “She has a high fever. I called the doctor for her. He gave her some medicine as well. But the fever hasn’t gone down at all.”

Caspian felt his heart sinking upon hearing that. He asked in confusion, “Wait, wait! What did you just say? She’s sick?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“Since this morning.”

“And you’re telling this to me just now?” Caspian growled at Vincent for waiting until evening to give this news to him.

Vincent frowned and shouted back at Caspian, “Well, I’m sorry Mr. King. I was busy making sure that the doctor wasn’t going to take advanta... that the doctor was going to properly check your wife. I was busy running back and forth to Silver Keep to get medicines to ease her pain and prepare a lot of other things for her.”

.....

Caspian’s anger towards his friend instantly subsided. He patted Vincent’s shoulder and softly said, “Thank you! I will be in your debt.”

Caspian then rushed out of the throne hall in the very next second.

‘Did he just...’ Vincent knitted his brows in tune. He was amused to have received praise from that stone-hearted friend of his. And he thought to himself, ‘He knows how to say a thank you? Wow! There’s a first time for everything, I guess.’

The ministers and councilmen were still in the throne hall. They unintentionally heard all the conversation between Caspian and Vincent.

Some of them were genuinely worried for the Queen, while some of them didn’t understand why their King would care about a human so much. One of the major problems that they were facing right now was because the King put a human’s life before a vampire’s.

Vincent turned around to leave the hall. He finally realized that the hall was full of dignitaries, and he didn’t even greet any of them. He awkwardly darted his eyes around the hall and gave a gentle nod without looking at anyone.

“Well, I guess the meeting is over for today?” Vincent politely hinted to everyone that the King wouldn’t be coming back today.

Some of the dignitaries got up from their seats and started to walk out of the hall. While the others opted to stay back and continue their discussion.

—

Caspian halted in front of the main door of Anastasia’s chamber. He took a deep breath in and calmed himself down before entering the chambers.

The moment he entered Anastasia’s bedroom and saw his bedridden wife, he felt a shrilling pain in his heart.

His wife, who looked like a freshly bloomed rose, now looked like a flower that had withered away. The rosy color on her cheeks and her lips had faded. Her face and palms were paler than normal. And there was no shine in her hair.

Caspian couldn’t even bring himself to take a step closer to his wife’s bed. He kept on standing there at the door and staring at her from afar.

His cold body froze even further. He even felt goosebumps running down his spine. And the pain in his heart didn’t ease at all. He was constantly feeling as though someone was continuously stabbing him in his heart with a wooden spear.

He had felt this kind of pain centuries ago when he got the news that his brother had gone missing. He had never thought that anything else could hurt him that bad, but it did.

The fear of losing someone dear to him again made him frightened to his core.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” Tilla gave a bow to the King when she noticed him standing at the door.

It looked like Caspian didn’t hear her at all. So, she returned to preparing the medicine for Anastasia while sitting in one corner of the room.

Caspian took a while more before he finally stepped inside the room. He went and sat on the edge of his wife’s bed and gazed at her intently.

Anastasia was asleep at the moment. But her breathing sounded very heavy, and there was a constant frown in between her brows. It looked like she was in a lot of pain.

Unlike Vincent, Caspian was aware of what fever was. So he slowly brought his palm closer to Anastasia and ever so softly placed it on her forehead.

He almost instantly pulled his hand away. The heat that was coming off of Anastasia’s body was startlingly high. When Vincent mentioned that Anastasia had a high fever, he hadn’t imagined it to be this high.

‘Anna...’ Caspian sighed and closed his eyes. He tried his best to calm the heart that was hammering inside his chest.

He wanted to stay positive that his wife would recover very soon. But he couldn’t help but imagine the worst after feeling how dangerously high her body temperature was.

He quickly looked around the room. And he finally noticed Tilla in a corner.

“Tilla, what did the doctor say?” he asked Tilla in a low voice.

Tilla looked at the King and politely replied, “The doctor said that the cause of her fever might be exhaustion, both physical and mental. And he suggested that she should rest as much as she can. He also suggested that we keep her away from anything that might give her stress.”

Caspian’s heart clenched even more. He couldn’t help but blame himself for Anastasia’s condition. Ever since she first stepped into the Kilerth Castle, she was under a constant level of stress and fear. And he was one of the main culprits who made her feel that way.

“And why isn’t her fever coming down? Have you given her medicine yet?” Caspian asked again in a distraught voice.

Tilla gave a nod and said, “Yes, I gave a dose of medicine in the morning. I am about to give the next dose now. But I don’t know why the medicine isn’t working. She has also received sponge baths. Her fever comes down for half an hour or so after the bath. But it goes up again.”

Caspian didn’t know much about the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ regarding this matter. So he asked for Tilla’s opinion, “What shall I do then? Shall I call the doctor again? Or do I need to take her to someone specific? Was there a doctor who looked after her back in Orsenia? Maybe they can treat her.”

Tilla widened her eyes a little because she knew what would happen if Caspian was to take Anastasia back to Orsenia. There was a high chance that he would discover what Anastasia was hiding from him. Besides, it wasn’t good for Anastasia to be traveling that far in her condition.

So, Tilla quickly emphasized, “Her Majesty should be on bed rest for at least a week. We cannot risk taking her anywhere. All the doctors are the same, after all. And Mr. Carl looked experienced. So, I doubt that he wrongly diagnosed the cause of her fever.”

“Then should I call him again?” Caspian asked for the second time.

“He already did his part.” Tilla calmly replied so that the King wouldn’t worry too much. “Now, we have to do our part.”

“And what’s that?” Caspian wanted to know if there was anything that he could do for his wife.

Tilla instantly replied, “Stay by her side and constantly check her temperature, feed her, give her medicine, and cool her off if she warms up a lot.”

Caspian looked back at his wife. He gently held her hand and lovingly rubbed his thumb on her knuckles.

And he said to Tilla, “Teach me everything that should be done. I will personally take care of her.”