Chapter 107

"Your highness, is everything all right?" She asked. Everything about this meeting and the way he was behaving left her ill at ease.

She expected him to give her the same answer she had heard so many times before.

Everything is being handled.

There is nothing to worry about.

Theodore had always been good at that. Putting people at ease. Even when Delphine had first fallen ill and the whole palace had been consumed by fear, he remained calm, reassuring everyone around him. He had made himself the steady point upon which others could rely.

This time, however, he did not reassure her.

"No." He replied. "Something terrible happened. That is why I wanted to speak to you."

It worsened her already mounting anxiety.

"What has happened?" She croaked, praying it wasn’t about Delphine. But this time her prayers were bound to go unanswered.

He drew a slow breath.

"The physicians have changed their opinion about the Queen’s illness. Upon further examination, they concluded that some foul play was involved. They believed she was poisoned."

For a moment, Cassandra could only stare at him, lips parting in shock. She went completely still, horror leeching all the color from her face.

The portfolio slipped from her grasp but she barely noticed.

Poisoned.

The word seemed to echo through her mind.

Delphine was recovering so well that everyone had begun to believe the worst had passed. There was no reason to keep fretting. She was walking again, taking gentle daily strolls through the gardens as her strength returned. Her appetite had improved considerably, and her physicians had gradually allowed her to eat more substantial food after the weeks of broths and porridge.

She was once again able to spend portions of the day outside her bedchamber, to receive visitors and take up small parts of the routine she had been forced to abandon.

Everything was going so well that Cassandra gradually abandoned her initial fears and allowed herself to feel hopeful. Perhaps her worst nightmare was not going to repeat itself after all.

How foolish she had been. Good things never happened to her, not when it mattered most. Life wasn’t fair to her, all it ever did was take and take. It took everyone that had ever loved her and now it nearly took the queen for the second time.

Theodore continued speaking, but the deafening ringing in her ears drowned out his words until they became little more than distant, indistinct sounds.

Cassandra’s thoughts scattered, breaking apart into disjointed fragments that seemed to flutter before her.

"What if she had died?" Cassandra whispered.

Theodore came around the desk. Her fingers trembled in his.

Cassandra barely noticed until he crouched before her and took her hand.

"She did not. She survived. My wife is a fighter, do you hear me? She will be alright."

Cassandra’s breathing had become uneven but she managed to nod.

Theodore tightened his hold gently.

"She is recovering. She is alive, Cassandra. That has not changed." He waited until she looked at him.

"I know what you are thinking. You must remember that she isn’t alone. She has us. We have time to investigate and bring the perpetrator to justice. We will protect her and ensure such a thing never happens again."

But he didn’t know what she was thinking, not really.

Cassandra swallowed hard. His words still had the intended effect, calming the worst of her spiraling emotions.

Then another thought occurred to her.

"Does Adrian know?" She asked worriedly, already imagining how he must have felt when he received the news. She doubted he would ever recover from this.

Theodore’s face darkened.

"No." He shook his head. "I have not told him."

"Why?" She gaped.

"Because I still don’t know how to tell my son that someone tried to kill his mother. It would crush him." His years as a war general and the countless medals of valor he had earned had not prepared him for a conversation like this with Adrian. For all his courage on the battlefield, he found himself helpless in this situation.

"There are people who dislike the Queen. We both know that." He continued. "Her reforms have angered those who would prefer things remain as they were. She is constantly at odds with traditionalists. But disapproving of a policy is one thing. Attempting to kill the Queen is another entirely."

Cassandra looked down at their joined hands.

Someone had been willing to cross that line.

For all Delphine had done for her kingdom, for all the respect she had earned from the people she ruled, someone had still decided that her life was worth sacrificing. Someone had looked at a woman who had spent years serving her country and concluded that she deserved to die.

The thought made Cassandra’s stomach twist.

Theodore picked up her fallen portfolio and placed it in her hands.

"I wanted you to know before you heard it from someone else. You are close to her. You have been beside her through all of this and you deserve to know."

So did Adrian, Cassandra thought but she kept it to herself, choosing to nod instead.

She could barely remember leaving his study.

Her feet carried her through the palace corridors, past servants and guards and familiar portraits, but she did not truly see any of them.

Someone greeted her and she did not answer. Another servant stepped aside to allow her through a doorway, and Cassandra passed without noticing.

She was still thinking about the same words.

The Queen was poisoned.

By the time she reached her chambers, she had no recollection of the journey.

Her lady’s maid followed her inside immediately.

"My lady, shall I help you change?"

Cassandra did not answer. She couldn’t.

Her current behavior was so out of character that even her maid noticed something was amiss.

The woman waited a moment, then began carefully undoing the fastenings of the gown Cassandra had worn to the picnic.

Cassandra stood stiffly as the dress was eased from her shoulders. Her bonnet was removed. Her hair was loosened. Another gown was brought and placed upon her.

She barely felt any of it and her mind remained elsewhere.

She died once because of the Queen, accused of a crime she did not commit and executed for it. But none of that mattered to her now.

She did not care whether someone might once again turn suspicion upon her. She did not care about the threat of death that perpetually hung over her head.

What mattered most was Delphine.

What if the Queen does not survive in this life?

What if she fought and fought and still lost?