Long fingers pulled me out of my comfortable position. Soft red eyes inspected me and crushed me into his chest. Father? I mean the Duke.
His bright red eyes locked onto mine and I smiled nervously at him. He gasped and crushed me into his squishy chest again.
Smaller hands caressed my hair and I struggled to turn. Niathe looked like she had been through hell. Her hair was thrown up in a bun and she was wearing a plain black house dress.
I don't think I've ever seen her wear anything that casual before. It's always been ballgowns.
The door was kicked open and the quiet shattered into pieces.
Strange men and women wearing long gowns streamed into the room. The Duke held me with my back facing his chest so they could examine me.
"Her fever has subsided and her vitals signs are perfect. The princess has survived the worst of it. From now on…"
A woman wearing glasses recited a long laundry list of precautions to take with me. No cold water. No excitement. No crawling?
Jesus. Just say you want me to rot in bed for a month.
"Why?"
My voice came out in a broken whisper. My throat feels scratchy. I want water.
I gulped and Niathe was already in front of me with a warm bottle of milk.
I made grabby hands and she sighed in relief. I snatched the bottle and sucked furiously while the doctor stared at me. I tilted my head.
What?
"How long has she been able to talk?"
"About five months. Why?"
"Well, your grace. That's just uncommon in most children her age. Her Highness is very gifted."
The Duke puffed out his chest and I rolled my eyes.
No more rules."That's all I presume?"
"Ah yes. I will write down the prescriptions and have them sent to you within the hour. Feel better, Your Highness."
The doctor gave a small bow and left the room along with the other doctors.
It's past midnight now. I must have been out for a while.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again. I forbid it."
She presses a long kiss to my forehead and my pupils shake. Unsure and awkward I just nodded. The Duke refused to let me go but eventually did sit down on a rocking chair.
Niathe sat on his lap and watched me. Intently. Without blinking.
"Creepy."
"…"
The Duke snorted and tried to cover it with a cough. Niathe turned away from me and gave me an order.
"Drink your bottle."
I rolled my eyes and kept sucking on my bottle. Tastes sugary.
Niathe addressed the elephant in the room. "So…are we going to talk about him?"
The Duke tensed and started to stroke my head. Not again. I'm going to get a cowlick if they keep doing that to me.
"What's there to talk about?"
"You sent him to the Wistful Island. For eight years…It's a severe punishment."
"It's a severe crime to abuse your sister. An infant. If that pageboy hadn't gotten there in time…If my little girl hadn't woken up…"
The words float in the air but don't reach me. Not my problem nor my fault. It wasn't that bad. You guys are too much.
"El."
"I will not overturn my decision. Besides, the Island will be good for him. It won't be easy. But nothing good ever is. For now, we can just focus on this one."
That's awfully apathetic of you. Derrick is an ass but he's still your child.
Niathe sighs and agrees."As you wish. What shall we tell our mother?"
He groaned and stroked my head harder. Ow.
"Which one? The Queen or the Duchess?"
"Both. What kind of explanation shall we give them?"
"None. If they do not ask we will not bring it up. If they do ask, tell the truth."
"Thank you."
"No, don't thank me. I'm just as guilty as him. I told him to apologize to her, unaware of how deep the resentment was buried."
They whispered sweet nothings to each other and he rocked us back and forth on the chair.
I yawned but stopped short as his words rang in my ears. Come to think of it, he is technically pretty guilty.
He did release Derrick early. That could be just a coincidence, but how did Derrick know where I was? My guards were still searching for me.
The only people I can think of who might have told him are the hidden guards or the kitchen staff.
But why would they do that? If those hidden guards are everywhere around the estate, why didn't they help me?
Something doesn't add up.
Derrick mentioned that the Duke had something to say to me. I assumed he meant it as an apology, but he never said the Duke explicitly asked him to apologize.
Am I just being paranoid?
This all feels so fishy. Niathe has been keeping a close watch on me for a while, but today the guards were especially lenient. They've always been pretty lax, but it's as if they were ordered to be that way.
What if all of this was orchestrated to happen for a reason? Maybe I'm crazy.
But isn't it such a coincidence that the Duke and Niathe happened to be together right after? I mean when exactly did the Duke release Derrick and why?
Besides instead of silencing a servant and keeping this matter quiet like most rational people would. The duke embarrassed himself and severely punished his child. In front of an entire audience. Just before a large group of guests would arrive…It just doesn't make sense to me.
Everything was so rushed today.
There are too many coincidences.
No.
My mother always said, "A series of coincidences aren't coincidences at all."
I've always felt like Niathe was putting on a show for some unknown purpose...Some invisible spectator.
Testing them. Baiting them. Waiting for them to unveil themselves. I always thought she was testing my stepmothers. But what if all along she's been testing him?