Chapter 105
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
We stood there alone for what felt like seconds but in reality was half an hour. By the time we got out, I was relatively calmer about everything. Ryker and I went back to his office where I found all the books I had taken from the library. They were arranged on his desk in a neat pile and I couldn’t stop myself from running my finger over it slowly.
“Did you read them all?” I asked and he nodded. “Why?”
“I needed to make myself busy. You were unconscious and I needed to feel like I was doing something to help you. I read it to you sometimes, a part of me hoped that you could hear me or something.”
It was the first time he was speaking about what happened while I was unconscious and there was something painfully vulnerable at the way he spoke. It sounded resigned, I had never heard him sound that way before.
“I did hear you, sometimes,” I whispered and he looked up at me. “It was like a limbo of sorts. I could hear sometimes and other times it was radio silence. It was the only thing that kept me sane.”
He leaned forward and pressed a k*ss to my forehead. I didn’t want to think about my time there so I cleared my throat in a bid to change the subject back to the books.
“Did you find anything useful in the books while you were looking?” I asked and he shook his head with a scoff.
“Not at all actually, I got more information about vampires from you than I did from these books but it doesn’t make sense,” I scrunched my brows in confusion so he explained. “If there was a war, wouldn’t it have been smarter for people to document everything they could about vampires? If I knew I had an enemy, I would want to know everything about them and I would keep that information readily available just in case something like that ever happens again.”
“You’re right,” I muttered under my breath. “My mother told me to forgive myself and my father and t would help me get to the bottom of things but I have no idea what she meant by that.”
“Are you upset with him?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t know him well enough to have any sort of feelings about him. I’ve never even asked Christine about him. I just don’t care much.”
“At this point, it is the best lead we have. Do you want to talk to her about it?” I wanted to say no because a part of me was scared about what I would find out but just like
Ryker said, it wasn’t like we had many options so I just shrugged.
Instead of forcing her to come all the way to us, we went to her. She was seated cross legged in the nursery with Aurora who immediately started gurgling when she saw us. I picked my daughter up and inhaled her scent to help calm me down. Christine looked confused and curious as to why we were there but she didn’t say a word.
“Is everything okay?” she asked and I nodded. “You came at the right time honestly because she just woke up from her nap.”
“We didn’t really come to see her,” I began slowly and Christine instantly sat up. “I wanted to ask about my father. You met him right?”
She nodded slowly. “I did but not for very long. Why are you asking?”
I shrugged. “I’m just curious about a few things. What was he like?”
She hesitated as if trying to think of her next words carefully. “Honestly, I don’t know. I never interacted with him outside the usual greetings. He was a very private man. I think the only person who knew him well was your mother considering that they were married to each other. He was always locked up in his room. Sometimes he would be in the palace and people wouldn’t see him for almost a week.”
“How did he manage that?”
I couldn’t be gone from the palace for a day before people started asking questions. I found it almost impossible to believe that he could disappear from the palace for a week with little to no consequences.
“He was the king,” she shrugged sadly. “He got away with a lot of shit. From what I saw, he was very charming. Everyone loved him. If he ordered people to jump then they were going to ask how high. He was feared and respected. I don’t know if it was because of who he was or because he could summon enough fire to burn down this entire palace if he was pissed off.”
“Did he have any ties with vampires?” I asked the question that had been plaguing me and she looked up at me.
“I don’t think so. There were never any issues with the vampires while he was ruler. I don’t think I ever heard him talk about it at all,” she slowly stood to her feet. “What are you thinking? Do you think he had something to do with this? Did you see or hear something?”
“No,” I assured her quickly but she didn’t seem convinced. “It was just something I was told. If he had ties with the vampires, where would I find out about it?”
“Honestly, I don’t think you will. His room would be the best place to check but as soon
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as he died, it was combed for anything that might be of use. No one found anything. You’re more than welcome to check it out though. I can take you there.”
I knew where it was but I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “yes please.”
I held onto Aurora while she led us towards the room. We had just gotten to the steps when a guard rushed up to us. He looked worried and we didn’t even need to wait for him to speak. I turned to Ryker who I saw looked just as exhausted as I felt.
“Take us to it,” he ordered while I gently handed Aurora back to Christine.
She made grabby hands at me and tried to hold onto my dress and while I wanted nothing more than to stay with her, I had duties to attend to. I placed a soft k*ss on her forehead and forced myself to walk away despite the fact that she was trying to reach
out to me.
It broke my heart each time I had to leave her and I was sure Ryker felt the same way. It wasn’t easy to leave our children in the care of others but there was so much to be done, especially now and I would much rather leave her for a few moments than leave the kingdom in disarray and risk her getting hurt as a repercussion. Ryker must have sensed my unease because he quickly threaded his fingers with mine.
We got to the front of the palace but everything looked fine. I turned to the guard who had led us put. “What are we supposed to be looking for?”
“They should be here soon,” he kept glancing in the distance. “The guards who are patrolling the lower towns mind linked me us and said there was a woman who was bitten by the vampires. She stumbled out of the woods crying and when people got to her, they noticed that she was turning blue. She passed out right after.”
I wasn’t sure why Alastair had suddenly changed his strategy. He told me he didn’t like women so it was weird that he suddenly chose to bite a woman. Was it because he had somehow found out that we told the women they were safe? Did he know that I was alive and was he trying to punish me in some way? I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice the horses steadily approaching. Ryker had to pull me out of the way so I wouldn’t get dust in my eyes.
I saw the guards carrying the woman and my heart broke when I realized just how young she was. She looked to be around my age with a huge mass of curly red hair on her head. She had fair and pale skin with full lips. I could see her chest rise and fall with
every steady breath and I let out a sigh of relief when I realized she was still alive.
“Her pulse is weak,” the guard who was carrying her said. “We need to take her to the physician now or she will die.”
I nodded and followed closely behind as we made our way to the physician’s office. As soon as the girl was brought in, his eyes widened in recognition. I couldn’t help but
wonder if this was how I looked when I was brought in by Ryker. He couldn’t look directly at her and I knew it was stirring up bad memories for him.
“You don’t have to stay here,” I whispered to him but he shook his head and squeezed my hand tighter. Once the guards had laid the girl on the bed, I turned to them. “Thank you for bringing her. Go in groups and check out the forest. Find out if the vampires are still there. Try your possible best to keep this away from the public. The last thing we need is people panicking, am I clear?”
They nodded and I watched them all file out. I waited until they had shut the door behind them before I turned back to the physician.
“Are you going to try using the blood?” I asked as I saw him bring out the vial containing my blood and he nodded. “What happens if we are wrong? What happens if it doesn’t work for her? I don’t know how to use these new powers.”
He tipped the vial straight into her mouth and I couldn’t help but cringe slightly as he did so. Once he was done, he turned to me.
“Let’s pray to the goddess that we aren’t wrong,” he whispered. “She isn’t as strong as you are. If this doesn’t work, she will die before the end of the night.”
