Chapter 10
1170 Words
Sages POV
Valeria found me sitting in the gardens the following morning, my knees pulled against my chest while I watched the fountain in complete silence. The headache had eased during the night, leaving only a dull pressure behind my eyes. The nosebleed was still present in my mind.
"I brought someone." Her voice was unusually gentle. I looked up. A woman stood beside her. She looked older than Valeria, perhaps in her fifties, with silver streaks running through dark hair tied neatly into a braid. Her scent carried herbs, lavender and something clean I couldn't quite place.
"I won't touch you unless you tell me I can." The woman offered me a small smile.
"My name is Amelia." I immediately looked at Valeria.
"She's our healer." My stomach tightened.
"I'm not sick."
"No." Amelia crouched until we were almost at eye level.
"But you've had headaches and a nosebleed." I frowned.
"How do you know that?" Amelia looked at Valeria.
"The King told me." Her voice held such kindness. I lowered my eyes.
"Why?" Both women looked at me in confusion.
"Because he worries about you?" Valeria said quietly.
"No he doesn't. " Neither of them answered. Amelia simply sat down on the bench opposite me instead of beside me, leaving enough distance that I didn't feel cornered.
"Would it be alright if I asked you a few questions?" I nodded carefully.
"When did the headaches begin?"
"A few days ago."
"Every day?"
"I think so." She wrote something in a small notebook resting on her knee.
"And the nosebleed?"
"Yesterday."
"Have you had another one?" I shook my head.
"Nausea?"
"No."
"Dizziness?"
"Sometimes." Another note.
"Can I examine you?" I hesitated. Valeria didn't say anything. She simply waited. After several long seconds, I nodded.
"I'll come back tomorrow." Amelia stood, smoothing the wrinkles from her skirt.
"You don't have to."
"I know." She smiled.
"I'd like to. Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow." For a long moment, I simply watched the two women walk back towards the palace together. One thought refused to leave my mind. If he was worried... Why did he never come himself?
The gardens suddenly felt much larger than they had an hour ago. My head throbbed behind my eyes, the dull ache slowly spreading down the back of my neck. Even sitting upright had become exhausting.
Sia? She answered almost immediately this time.
I'm here... Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
I'm tired.
I know.
I don't understand. Neither did she. I slowly pushed myself to my feet, surprised by how heavy my body suddenly felt. Every step back towards the palace seemed harder than the last. By the time I reached my room, my legs were trembling.
Maybe Amelia was right. Maybe I needed to rest. I kicked off my shoes without bothering to change and crawled beneath the blankets, fully intending to close my eyes for only a few minutes.
Wake me before dinner. Sia didn't answer. Not because she was ignoring me. Because she had already fallen asleep. I frowned. She had never fallen asleep before me. Not once. A strange unease settled in my chest as I closed my own eyes. The last thing I remembered was the warmth of the afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. When I opened them again... Morning light flooded the room. For a long moment, I simply stared at the ceiling in confusion. I'd slept through dinner. Through the evening. Through the entire night. Nearly eighteen hours. That had never happened before. Not even after Jack's hardest training sessions.
Sia? A long silence followed.
Then...
Good morning. She still sounded tired. And somehow... That frightened me more than the headache waiting behind my eyes.
The knock on my door came shortly after breakfast. I looked up from the window just as Valeria opened the door.
"You have a visitor." Behind her stood the healer from yesterday, carrying a worn leather bag over one shoulder.
"I came to do the examination." Amelia smiled warmly before stepping inside.
"May I?" I nodded. She closed the door behind her while Valeria settled into one of the armchairs near the fireplace. She didn't say anything. She was simply there.
For me.
"I heard you slept the entire evening and even missed dinner last night." Amelia placed her bag on the small table before pulling out a notebook.
"Valeria will bring you some breakfast after this." I didn't answer. I only nodded.
"And the headache?"
"It's still there."
"Worse?" I hesitated.
"...A little." She gave me an encouraging smile.
"Let's start from the beginning." The examination lasted almost an hour.
She listened carefully to my heartbeat.
Checked my breathing.
My eyes.
My ears.
My temperature.
She pressed gently against my stomach, asking if anything hurt. It didn't. She examined my throat. Checked the healing of the cuts on my hands from training. Even drew several small vials of blood. Every time she wanted to touch me, she asked first. Every single time. When she finally finished, she sat quietly on the edge of the bed while looking through her notes.
"Your heart sounds strong." I waited.
"Your lungs are clear." Another pause.
"No fever." She looked at the small glass vials resting in her bag.
"I'll send these to the laboratory, but I don't expect to find anything unusual." I frowned.
"So..." I pressed. She smiled apologetically.
"So, medically speaking..." She closed the notebook.
"...you appear perfectly healthy." That didn't make any sense.
"My head still hurts."
"I know."
"I've never had a nosebleed before."
"I know." She sighed quietly.
"There is one thing." I looked at her.
"You've lost weight." I frowned.
"How much?" She looked down at the chart she'd been writing on.
"Almost ten kilograms." The number didn't surprise me nearly as much as it seemed to surprise her.
"I wasn't very hungry." Valeria looked over at me immediately.
"Sage..." I shrugged.
"I eat."
"You pick at your food."
"I'm trying."
"I know." Amelia closed her notebook.
"I'd like you to try eating a little more over the next few days." I nodded automatically.
"And resting." Another nod.
"If the headaches become worse..." She hesitated.
"...or if the nosebleeds return..."
"I'll tell Valeria." A faint smile crossed her face.
"Good." She packed her instruments away before standing.
"The King asked me to report back as soon as I was finished." My fingers tightened around the blanket.
"He asked?"
"He did." I stared at the floor.
"He seemed..." She searched for the right word.
"...concerned." Concerned. The word echoed strangely inside my head. I didn't know what to do with it. Because concern looked different where I came from. Concern stayed. Concern asked questions. Concern didn't disappear every time our eyes met.
"I'll come back in a few days." Amelia offered me another reassuring smile before walking towards the door. Valeria waited until it had closed behind her before speaking.
"He's trying." I looked out the window.
"It doesn't feel like it."
- Writer
