Belladonna woke up a couple of times, saw Eli by her bedside a good number of times, sometimes, Lady Kestra would be by his side, other times he would be alone.
She observed his mouth move but she was too tired and worn down that she couldn't process what his words were or even hear them.
The pain was now gone but what gave her relief was seeing Eli alive and well.
What an immense relief it was.
____
The King was alive, and the castle was back to normal, as normal as it could get after what had just happened.
Everything was fine again in a couple of hours.
The people who had left in an attempt to escape had returned, the beast was still in its den, passed out, and the King was fine.
Everything was alright again, except for Collin.
His wife was dead.
He had lost everything, all in a couple of hours, a moment of distraction with good intentions in mind, and his world had crumbled down on him and left him with nothing but emptiness.
