241 Growing Suspicious
Anastasia slowly opened her eyes when she felt Caspian caressing her cheek. She could see him lost in his own thoughts, looking sad, guilty, and angry at the same time.
“Caspian,” she called him using her feeble voice and pressed her palm over his.
Caspian instantly looked into Anastasia’s eyes and asked, “Yes, love? Do you need something?”
Anastasia looked deep into her husband’s eyes. Her eyes were full of confusion and questions. She was in need of some answers.
While traveling, she had enough time to go through her memory about the unfortunate incident at the castle, over and over again. And no matter how many times she looked through her memory, she couldn’t quite get the answer to one particular question.
How did Everard survive such heavy blows from Caspian?
To add more to the mystery, almost half of the guests who remained inside the hall were observing that deadly fight as if they were witnessing something very normal. They didn’t seem alarmed even when those strong walls, pillars, and floors were being damaged so easily.
And to top that, Anastasia clearly remembered that when she looked at Everard’s face after regaining her consciousness, the cuts and bruises on his face had disappeared as though they were never there in the first place.
Also, not to mention how Everard’s eyes were flickering like a burning candle right before he did something inexcusable to her.
.....
‘What is he?’ she wondered. ‘Is he also a vampire? Or something similar?’ Anastasia asked herself, but couldn’t quite voice out her query.
She had a hard time making Caspian understand why she was shielding Everard from getting beaten. Even Alexander had to vouch for his sister saying that she had never ever entertained Everard’s advances on her.
And now, she didn’t want to scratch the already healing wound and make it worse by asking Caspian if Everard is also something more than just a human.
The way his eyes were glowing right before he kissed her, she assumed that he was possessed by some evil. If vampires existed in this world, she thought that other things could too.
“Are you feeling pain somewhere? What are you thinking? You look lost.” Caspian asked again, waking Anastasia from her deep thoughts.
Anastasia gave a subtle smile to her husband. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking much,” she whispered.
For now, she consoled herself with the made-up answer – that Everard kissed her when he was being possessed by some evil, and that evil made him invincible which explains how he came out unharmed even when he was attacked mercilessly by one of the strongest vampires.
She decided not to dwell much upon it and ask any kind of questions to her husband that was related to Everard.
“Hmm...” Caspian leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Anastasia’s forehead and then said, “You must have been startled earlier. I am sorry that I got mad at you when you weren’t even at any fault.”
Anastasia took her husband’s hand and kissed his palm. And she said with a polite smile on her face, “If I was in your shoes, I guess even I would have gotten mad if you tried to protect the other woman from me.”
Caspian suddenly chuckled and whispered, “I can already imagine that. You would have probably smacked me then and there.”
“I would have,” Anastasia said while giggling.
Caspian looked serious again, and he said while running his fingers through his wife’s wet hair that was sticking to her scalp, “Still, that was no way to behave with my dear wife. And I sincerely apologize for how I shouted at you back then.”
“Apology accepted,” she replied with a somewhat serious look on her face.
Though she tried to deny it, deep down, her sensitive heart felt a prick every time she recalled how he had raised his voice at her. And she wished that she would never have to hear his harsh voice again.
Caspian pressed the back of his palm at the side of Anastasia’s neck. She was still burning with fever. He sighed and said, “The fever hasn’t gone down yet. I hope it isn’t as serious as the last time. Else, I won’t be able to forgive myself for putting you under such stress again.”
Anastasia suddenly wrapped her arms around Caspian’s neck and pulled him in for a hug.
Caspian resisted. “I’m cold,” he sounded concerned.
“So?” Anastasia made him rest his head on her chest anyway and whispered, “My fever will go down sooner.”
Caspian knew that arguing with his wife was pointless. So, he simply eased his posture and snuggled with her.
Anastasia began caressing the beautiful blond hair of her husband which was looking even more beautiful as the light from the lantern was directly being reflected on it.
She sighed deeply when she recalled Caspian and all the guards getting anxious about making a stop there. Considering how such a big fight broke out between the two Kings, it was quite understandable for the guards to be wary of the possible danger.
Although Anastasia was pretty sure that Everard would never send out soldiers to chase after them, especially since he was in the wrong, she was also worried thinking that he might actually have done that. According to her, Everard was under the control of something evil, and she wondered if it could make Everard take such actions as sending an army after them.
‘It would be bad if that really happened,’ she thought to herself with great worry.
She lightly gripped her husband’s hair and then apologized to him, “Caspian, I am really sorry that we needed to make a stop here solely because of me.”
“You know you don’t have to apologize for that,” Caspian replied without missing a beat. “It’s not your fault that you got sick. If it’s anyone’s fault, then it’s mine for... startling you like that.”
Anastasia grimaced when she heard that. It pained her when her husband was taking the blame for something that he wasn’t even guilty of.
Caspian lifted his head to look at her and further said with a gloomy face, “Besides, if things hadn’t taken such a bad turn then we were already going to spend a night here in Xanmar. So, don’t think much about it. We all needed some rest.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
And in came Alexander’s voice, “Your Majesties, the doctor is here.”
Caspian tilted his head in surprise because he wasn’t expecting Alexander to inform them that the doctor was there, he was expecting his guard to do so. Nevertheless, he got up and went to open the door.
His guard Henry, Alexander, and a middle-aged man carrying a wooden box were at the door.
Caspian gestured his hand inside the room and welcomed the doctor, “Please, doctor, will you take a look at my wife? She has a high fever.”
“Sure, Milord,” the doctor bowed to Caspian, assuming he was someone of high status considering how he was dressed and how he even had personal guards patrolling the surrounding.
When the doctor walked in, Caspian looked at Alexander and then invited him, “Pri- Umm... Alexander, please, come in. You must be worried about her.”
Alexander gave a nod and walked in while taking big steps.
Caspian then finally focused his attention on Henry and thanked him, “I appreciate how fast you were able to bring a doctor here.”
Henry gave a polite bow to the King and said, “Oh, actually,” he looked at Alexander and said, “he also came along with me. He was the one who found the doctor, I simply accompanied him.”
“Ah! Anyway, thank you. You may leave.” Caspian politely saw the guard off and then closed the door.
When Caspian turned around, Alexander was standing by the head of the bed while looking down at his sister with a worried face.
The doctor had his toolbox set up by the table, and he was examining Anastasia. After checking her eyes, tongue, and her pulse, he asked a few questions to her like what she had for dinner, if she had seen something that triggered her, and if she had done some activities that were too straining.
After getting answers from Anastasia, he finally concluded, “It looks like she is tired, both mentally and physically. It is better if she rests for at least a week.”
He looked at Alexander, since he was close by, and then said to him, “I will leave a few medicines for her fever. Make sure to feed it to her twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, after she eats something. And also make sure that she eats lots of nutritious food.”
The doctor kept on looking at Anastasia for a while. He wasn’t quite satisfied with his examination. So, he asked her to lean on her back.
Anastasia was struggling to do as she was asked. Caspian quickly came and helped her to lie on her stomach.
The doctor narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at Anastasia’s back through his monocle. He noticed a few red spots that were merely visible to bare eyes. He leaned even closer when he noticed a small lump at the side of her neck. He felt it with his fingertips and wondered if it was a vein or a lump of muscle.
‘Either way, this shouldn’t be here. And neither should those red spots,’ he thought. However, since he didn’t know if those were actually causing any problems for Anastasia, he didn’t mention it right away.
But he did notice one thing – that Anastasia was really fragile and weak for her age.
He finally lifted his head and then said, “Her body looks really weak for some reason.” He looked at Caspian and asked, “Does she get sick too often?”
Alexander hastily gave a smile to the doctor and intervened, “Thank you, doctor. She had a rough day, so she must be feeling really weak. I’m sure she will recover in no time.”
“No, I mean-” the doctor was about to say something more.
But Alexander firmly patted the doctor on his shoulder and asked in a rather stern tone, “Do you have enough doses of medicine for her? Or do I need to come along with you and get it from your clinic?”
From the way he was speaking, the doctor understood that Alexander didn’t wish for the information to be divulged. So, he gave a slight bow and replied, “No, Milord. I have brought enough doses with me.” He then weighed and separated powdered medicine for Anastasia, and then handed it over to Alexander.
Alexander was about to pay the doctor, but Caspian quickly intervened and settled the payment.
“I thank you for your service,” Caspian said with a smile. And he gestured towards the door and said, “Let me see you off. I will-”
“You don’t have to worry when I am here, brother-in-law,” Alexander quickly stepped in again, fearing that the doctor would say something to Caspian. He personally led the doctor outside of the inn and also asked one of his guards to escort the doctor back to his clinic.
Caspian watched the doctor leave on a horse from the small window of the room that was covered with mesh. And he couldn’t help but feel like Alexander was deliberately sending the doctor away faster, almost as if he was trying to hide something.
‘That doctor was about to say something, wasn’t he?’ Caspian thought to himself while deeply furrowing his brows.
‘Is Alexander hiding something from Anastasia?’ he wondered while looking at his wife. He was growing more and more suspicious that there was something wrong with his wife’s health. And he wondered if she was aware of it.
‘I hope I am just overthinking.’ He looked towards the door when he heard Alexander’s footsteps. Then he thought to himself, ‘But just in case, I think I should talk with Alexander in private.’
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