130 What If?
“Oh, no, no... It was not for His Majesty. I think it was for other vampire guards who got hurt,” Tilla replied although she wasn’t fully certain.
Anastasia was a little relieved to know that the medicine was not for her husband. But she was a little confused. She asked in her nasal voice, “I thought that vampires didn’t need any medicine. Don’t they all heal on their own?”
“They... do.” Tilla furrowed her brows because now, she was also confused.
Anastasia raised her brows and asked, “So, why do they need medicine then?”
“It never crossed my mind that they don’t need medicine. So I never asked anyone.” Tilla patted her wet eyes with both of her palms and asked, “Shall I find it out for you?”
Anastasia wasn’t sure if she wanted to know that or not. So she simply shrugged.
Tilla gave a short smile and said, “I will see if it’s worthy of your time and attention.” She gave a gentle bow and said, “I will bring breakfast for you shortly.”
Tilla left the Queen alone in her chambers and went outside.
Anastasia got up from the bed and then headed to the bathroom while scolding herself, ‘Why did I suddenly burst out like that earlier? That was very unlikely of me. I hurt Martha for no reason.’
.....
She grabbed a jug of cold water and mumbled, “But she was careless... I could have died. I don’t want to die any sooner. Ugh! Nevermind then. From now on, I am going to put my trust in Tilla only. At least she will never make such mistakes when it comes to me.”
Anastasia splashed her face with cold water and then looked in the mirror. Her eyes looked puffy and red after crying earlier.
She poked her eye bags with her fingers and complained to her reflection, ‘Look what you did to your face! Now if Caspian sees me like this, then he will definitely know that I cried, and he will want to know the reason why. What are you going to tell him?’
While grumbling, she grabbed a towel and wiped her face. She also blew hot air from her mouth on the towel and then used it to gently pat her eyes, hoping that the puffiness would settle down before noon.
‘I don’t want him to see these eye bags. Go away, please...’
She came out of the bathroom only when Tilla came back with a bowl of hot beans paired with juicy steak and some bread.
Anastasia did happy little claps upon seeing the food. She had regretted sending all the food back earlier because her stomach was grumbling for a while now.
“Thank you for the food!” Anastasia went to the antechamber and sat at the table to have her breakfast.
She quickly grabbed the spoon and then ate a mouthful of beans. She stuffed a couple more spoons in her mouth. And after swallowing it, she finally asked Tilla, “Did you find out anything?”
Tilla came a little closer to the Queen and said in a low voice, “Do you remember that woman who was kept in the dungeon while you were sick?”
Anastasia instantly raised her head and gave Tilla her full attention. “Ruby. Yes. What about her?”
Tilla took a deep breath in and then leaned closer to Anastasia’s ears. And she whispered, “You didn’t hear it from me, okay?”
After getting a nod from Anastasia, Tilla whispered again, “I heard that woman was being taken somewhere from the castle. And on the way, she bit two of the guards and ran away.”
“What?” Anastasia felt like laughing when she heard that. “How can she bite the vampires and run away? Are you sure that you aren’t talking about some other vampire prisoner?”
Tilla nodded her head. “That’s what I was told, that it was that red-headed woman.” And Tilla revealed what she had heard, “I don’t know if she was a vampire or not, but whatever she was... turns out, her bite is lethal to the vampires.”
At this point, Anastasia didn’t even know what to believe and what not to believe. She just let Tilla finish what she was going to say.
“I didn’t see it but according to Martha, those guards were foaming from their mouth and they had really bad wounds on their neck and back when they were brought back here. She said they were stinking like rotting bodies by the evening because their wounds didn’t heal on their own.”
“Oh my god!” Anastasia covered her mouth with her palms. She was in shock upon hearing that.
Tilla finally concluded what she had to say, “And I heard that a lot of vampires went in search of the medicine. And those guards are still being fed some kind of poisonous plant which apparently heals the bite wounds.”
“Umm...” Anastasia had frown lines on her forehead. She needed some time to process all the information. So she asked Tilla, “Thank you so much, Tilla. I think you also haven’t had your breakfast. Why don’t you come back after eating?”
Tilla gave a bow to the Queen. “I will take a leave for now then. Enjoy your breakfast. And I hope you won’t think much about this vampire business. The less you know, the less your head will hurt.”
Anastasia gave a soft smile and nodded.
But one by one, Anastasia started to recall all the things that Caspian had said to her on that day.
‘He said there are things in this Kingdom that he cannot reveal. He also said that she wasn’t an average girl and that she could take in more of that torture. He mentioned that he needed to capture that intruder before it harmed vampires...’
She fisted over her mouth and pondered, ‘What if... there are other supernatural beings who look like humans, just like how vampires can pass as humans? And what if they can actually harm vampires? It’s not ‘what if’ anymore, is it? They already harmed vampires... No, SHE already did. That’s why Caspian was hell-bent on finding that intruder...’
“Oh, my God! What have I done?” Anastasia covered her face with both of her palms and sighed.
She closed her eyes and began self-loathing, ‘I kept on demanding her to be freed when I didn’t even know the full story... No, I turned deaf ears to what Caspian was saying. He did say everything hinting that she was a dangerous woman. But no! I was so stubborn. I trusted her over my husband based on one meeting with her! And now two of the soldiers are hurt because of me...’
She looked at the ceiling and mumbled worriedly, “What if she had done something to Caspian when he let her go because of your stubbornness?”
And her heart was filled with fear when another thought hit her mind, “What if she comes back to exact revenge?”
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