Chapter 41

Arthur smiled sweetly at her as if he were in a dream then his eyes had rolled back into his skull and he collapsed. The full weight of him knocked her over as she screamed in panic.

“Arthur! Arthur? Are you okay? Say something!”

No matter how she screamed, he didn’t move. His eyes didn’t flutter. He seemed so still. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, Daphne would have thought he was dead.

“Daphne,” Blade said hoarsely, “Just calm down. He’s just tired.”

Daphne trembled, stroking his hair as Blade sighed and turned his head.

“We need to get out of here.”

“The village is closest.”

“It’s not in any state to treat injuries.” Blade said. Daphne shuddered thinking of the attack. “The castle is our best bet.”

She swallowed. Was it Arthur’s castle? Her heart clenched with grief. She’d forgotten her questions about his lineage in the flurry of battle, but they were surfacing now that there was no danger.

One of the patrol members stepped forward. He looked the least injured among the group.

“I’ll carry him.”

Daphne looked at him warily but nodded. The werewolf leaned down and rolled Arthur onto his back before Blade rallied the rest of the patrol members to lead them through the cold and barren outlands and the lush forest as the sun began to set casting the forest in a warm red glow. In the distance, a castle rose from over the tops of its gates and the hill. The air smelled clean and a bit salty.

Were they near the sea? She had never seen the ocean before. Had Arthur ever seen the sea?

“Open the gates!” Blade yelled, “We need doctors!”

The gates opened quickly and people rushed out to meet them. They were dressed in plain clothing. She didn’t know if they were humans or werewolves, but when they lifted Arthur and carried him into the castle, she followed them, hurrying through the castle’s halls and up the stairs.

“Who are you?” A woman looked down at her from a higher step.

She swallowed, meeting the woman’s gaze, a bit uncertain about how to answer her.

“My name is Daphne.”

“And? Who are you to His Highness?” Her eyes narrowed.

“She’s important,” Blade said from behind her. Daphne looked back at him. “When he wakes up, he’ll want her nearby.”

Daphne turned back to look at her. She straightened her spine.

“Very well. Follow me this way, please.”

Daphne found her a bit rude, but she followed silently up to the third floor of the castle and down the hall. The room was luxurious, decorated in gold and red. The rug was lush enough to sink into as she crossed through the inner door to the antechamber where the people, servants she guessed, were treating Arthur’s injuries.

“Check this girl for injuries as well.”

Daphne flinched at the woman’s voice, cracking through the air. Another woman came to her with a small smile.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just my hand,” Daphne said, “I’m fine.”

She watched them bandage Arthur before carrying him to the large four-poster bed.

The woman wrapped her hand, started a fire in the hearth, and left with a whisper of skirts and a rush of wind as the door closed behind them.

Daphne swallowed and crossed the room to sit on the edge of his bed. She smiled down at him, thankful when she realized that the pouch that was usually around his neck was gone.

A spike of fear went through her thinking of it. If he hadn’t accepted her blood, would he still be alive? The thought of his death made her heart ache and everything in her go cold. She gasped, shocked by how her eyes burned with tears and how it felt like a hole had been carved out of her.

She thought of Mamie and how much she’d suffered after losing her mate. She understood now what Mamie was trying to tell her. She hadn’t loved Arthur then, hadn’t felt the depth of emotions that Arthur had, but she did now. She loved him. Daphne would never be able to protect him, but she could support him the way she had all this time. She could love him and that was enough.

She shook her head and found the pouch on a table in the antechamber. She had thought the pouch adorable before, but it meant so much more than his eagerness now. She opened it and placed the remaining three stones inside before returning to his bedside. She crawled into the bed beside him and slipped it around his neck, took his hand and curled into his side hoping he’d wake up soon.

Three days passed before Arthur could hear or feel anything. He opened his eyes to a strangely high ceiling and the scent surrounding him. There were flowers, something sweet, and burning wood. There was some rich scent hanging in the air as well and the scent of clean laundry.

Where was he?

He froze. Where was Daphne?

He sat up and flinched at the soft murmur beside him. He turned his head sharply and found her curled up beside him in bed. Her face was turned into the pillow beneath her head her hand tightened around his.

His memories were fuzzy. He remembered knowing he had to kill someone and protect someone else, but the details slipped through his fingers.

Carefully, he reached towards her, tracing a gentle line across her cheek and finding it warm as she breathed softly.

“Daphne?” He asked softly. “Daphne?”

Her brow furrowed and she mumbled something before her eyes fluttered open, drifting around unfocused before falling on him.

Her eyes widened and she lunged up to wrap her arms around him, squeezing him tightly.

“Arthur, you’re awake!”

Arthur let out a shuddering sigh and pulled her close, “Are you okay, Daphne? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” she said softly. “How are you feeling? You’ve been asleep for three days…”

He nuzzled her with a little growl, “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

He breathed in her scent, letting the warmth of her presence wash over him as she stroked his hair.

“What happened?”

“What do you remember?” Daphne asked.

He frowned and shook his head, “Not much.”

He’d been with the patrol members. The scent of blood and grown thick and maddening in the air. He’d killed Owen. There was Daphne’s voice talking to him.

I’ll give them all to you. You can have all the points!

He froze and drew back, reaching up to where the pouch should have been around his neck. He frowned, feeling more than the two stones that he remembered earning. He frowned, shifting them around and counting them.

Three. Four… Five?

He pulled back to look into Daphne’s eyes, hopeful and a little afraid, “Y-You said I could have all the points.”

Daphne turned bright red but she smiled at him, “Yes… I did.”

“Y-You accept me?”

Daphne chuckled and leaned up, pressing her lips to his cheek. A wave of sweet warmth went through him, shaking his heart.

He smiled at her as his face warmed with a blush.

“Thank you for coming after me, Arthur,” Daphne said. “My hero…”

“C-Could you… Could you kiss me again?”

Daphne’s heart skipped a beat and she turned away. She considered giving him another before she remembered the questions she’d been mulling over for the past few days.

“Isn’t there something else?” Daphne asked. “Something you didn’t tell me?”

Arthur frowned, “Like what?”

Daphne stared at him, patiently waiting for him to puzzle it out. He looked down with a frown and his eyes flickered back and forth before they darted around the room and back to her. He winced.

Were they in the castle? It was too luxurious to be their house. Had someone already told her the truth? He clenched his fist. Had it been Rex or Tom? Anger started to boil at the thought of the betrayal.

“Who told you?”

“Owen.”

Arthur huffed; his anger fizzled out before he lifted his face to take stock of Daphne’s expression. She didn’t seem angry, exactly, but she was staring at him as if waiting.

He ran a hand through his hair nervously, “I didn't know about it at first! Rex told me, and I…”

He turned his head, hoping not to see her expression.

“I-I was afraid that if I told you, you would want to leave me.”

He clenched his fists tightly and kept still. He was still terrified that she would leave him, but if she did, he had to control himself.

Daphne sighed and leaned against him, “Before… I might have, but not now. I'm not leaving you, Arthur. I promise.”

Arthur sagged forward, wrapping his arms around her with a sigh, “T-Thank you, Daphne. I promise I—”

A knock interrupted him and Arthur frowned as the door opened. Rex and Blade walked into the room. Rex grinned at him.

“The hero awakens at last!” Rex cheered. “Good to see it. Daphne.”

Blade smiled at him, “Hero, indeed.”

“What happened?”

“Hundreds of rogues dead,” Rex said, grandly. “And Owen’s dead! You were reckless as hell, but I can’t be upset with these results.”

A flash of Owen’s face and the gash through his chest flashed through Arthur’s mind.

“Did you bring his body back?”

Blade shook his head, “After we arrived. We sent a team to retrieve the body, but it was missing.”

Arthur frowned. Some instinct told him that he should go looking for the body to be sure.

“Probably eaten by some animals!” Rex laughed. “From what Blade told me of his injuries, he likely bled to death before you had even reached the castle.”

“But—”

“After sleeping so long, you’re probably starving, huh? The castle has prepared a meal, so let’s get you down for your feast!”

Arthur looked at Daphne as she smiled up at him and nodded. Rex was right. He was probably being paranoid.

“Sounds great.”