Chapter 9
818 Words
Valens POV
The blood hit the marble before I realized what I was looking at. Everything inside me stilled. Her hand flew to her face, crimson staining her fingertips as she stared down at them in confusion. For a heartbeat, instinct overruled reason. Cain surged forward.
She's hurt.
I took a step. Just one. Then she looked up. Those wide silver eyes met mine, panic flashing across her face so quickly it stole the air from my lungs. She wasn't afraid of the blood. She was afraid of me. Every muscle in my body locked. Don't.
Weeks before, she had thrown herself from a fifth-floor window. I wasn't giving her another reason to believe I was hunting her. Cain snarled.
Go to her.
No.
She needs us.
She needs peace.
I forced myself to stay exactly where I was, every instinct screaming that I was making a mistake. She wiped the blood away with the sleeve of her sweater before turning and hurrying down the corridor. She never looked back.
I watched until the heavy door to her suite closed. Only then did I move again. Not towards her. Away.
Because if I stood outside that door... She'd smell me. And she'd know I hadn't listened. My office had become the only place where Cain finally quieted. Barely. The reports spread across my desk remained untouched long after darkness settled outside the palace windows. I kept seeing the blood. It wasn't much. Only a few drops. But wolves didn't simply start bleeding for no reason. A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Come in." Valeria stepped inside carrying two mugs of coffee. She placed one on my desk before sitting opposite me without asking.
"You saw her." It wasn't a question.
"I did."
"And?" I looked out towards the gardens.
"She had a nosebleed." Valeria's smile disappeared immediately.
"That's not good."
"No." Silence settled between us.
"It started with headaches." She wrapped both hands around her mug.
"About four days ago." I looked back at her.
"She's been hiding them." I said. Valeria nodded.
"She thought they'd pass."
"And now?"
"They're getting worse." I felt Cain stir again. Find her.
"What else?" My voice remained calm.
"She doesn't finish breakfast anymore." I frowned.
"How much?"
"Half." The answer came far too quickly. Valeria had been watching.
"Sometimes less." I looked down at the untouched paperwork covering my desk.
"What else?"
"She's tired." Another pause.
"But she keeps going." I already knew that.
"She never complains."
"I know."
"She apologizes when she's in pain." My jaw tightened.
"I know." Valeria studied me carefully.
"No..." She slowly shook her head.
"I don't think you do." I met her eyes.
"I've spent every morning with her." She leaned forward slightly.
"She has nightmares almost every night." Cain fell silent.
"When she wakes up..." Valeria continued quietly.
"...she checks under the bed." Something twisted inside my chest.
"She checks the wardrobe." Another sentence.
"She checks behind the curtains." My breathing slowed.
"And only then does she let herself go back to sleep." I closed my eyes.
"She never cries." That one hurt the most.
"Not once." Valeria's voice had become little more than a whisper.
"She told me everything Jack did to her." She stopped.
"Everything." My hands slowly curled into fists beneath the desk. I saw everything. Every little detail, Sage had told Valeria. Everything.
He had dismantled every part of the woman she should have become. He carved her face.
He got it too easy.
I know.
He should have been the one bleeding.
"She never cried." The office became unbearably quiet.
"I don't think she knows how anymore." For the first time in years... I had absolutely no idea what to do. I need to help her.
"Send for a healer." My voice was calm. So damn calm. Valeria nodded immediately before stopping.
"A woman?"
"A woman." The answer came without hesitation.
"No men."
"None." I walked towards the window, folding my hands behind my back.
"Has she seen a single male servant since she arrived?" Valeria thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"No."
"Good." She looked at me curiously.
"I changed the staff assignments the day she arrived." Understanding slowly spread across her face.
"The maids?" She asked.
"Women."
"The kitchen?"
"Women."
"The guards outside her suite?"
"Women."
"The gardeners near the eastern grounds?"
"Women."
"The healer?"
"A woman." Valeria stared at me.
"You've thought of everything."
"No." I looked down into the gardens.
"I've thought of everything I could." Cain stirred quietly.
Still not enough.
No.
It wasn't enough. Because despite every precaution. Despite every careful decision. Despite staying away. She was getting worse. I could still see the blood running over her fingers. It hadn't been much. But it had been enough. Enough to tell me something was wrong. And for the first time since she arrived... I wasn't sure my distance was protecting her anymore.
- Writer
