Alicia stepped into the dimly lit hallway of the castle, the flickering torches casting long shadows along the stone walls. Even though it was just noon, it seemed like night in there.
As she walked towards the King's chambers, she noticed two heavily built guards standing at the entrance. She wanted to return. Especially now that she had realized they were werewolves and didn't want to get herself into trouble. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should proceed, but she held her chin high, took a deep breath, and began to walk in that direction.
Surprisingly, the guards paid her no mind, even though she could tell they had felt her presence. She looked at them in confusion, wondering if they were not seeing her, but when they just continued to ignore her, she moved stealthily like that until she stood in front of the door, and when no one still stopped her, she knocked first before she slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
The chamber was hot and dimly lit, and Alicia had to squint her eyes to see. The King was lying on his bed, his chest rising and falling with each breath.
She kept going closer, and when she stood beside his bed, she felt a pang of pain as she looked at the King lying on the bed.
It wasn't like she had a close relationship with him, but the king had been nice to her since she arrived here. So seeing him so weak and vulnerable, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
She went closer to his bed and pulled up the covers, making sure he was comfortable.
"Please get well soon," she said earnestly, wishing the palace would return to the way it used to be, minus Ivan's craziness.
Also, she believed if the King was back on his feet, he would be able to handle things easily and Harold would rest.
As she was about to leave, the King suddenly called out to her, and Alicia turned around to face him. She was surprised to see his eyes now open.
"Amber," he called weakly.
She immediately returned to him and looked at his face with hope.
?
"How are you feeling?" she asked softly.
His gaze was weak, and he made to sit up. Alicia hesitated for a moment before she helped him sit up and placed a pillow on his back.
She also properly draped the covers over him, and when she was done, she noticed the king staring at her with a kind of questioning look that made her curious.
"Is... something wrong?" She asked him, but then remembered how she was dressed and looked down at herself before she faced the king again.
He didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then he simply shook his head.
"Nothing is wrong."
"How do you feel? Should I call the physician?" She asked.
"You don't have to do that."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" She asked, not sure what she was supposed to do since he wasn't saying anything helpful.
"You can just sit down and tell me how you are doing."
He looked genuinely interested, so Alicia did just that, even though she was still hesitant.
She went to carry the stool from where it was and dropped it beside the bed before she sat on it.
However, she wasn't sure what to say to him.
"I hear you were present when Lady Luciana was hurt by Prince Ivan." The king said.
Alicia nodded.
"And you... you must know the nature of our kind."
She nodded again, and after a pause, she asked, "Sir Wilson... did you kill him?"
She asked, stunning the king. There were a lot of questions he had thought she would ask first and had not expected that she would ask something unrelated.
Alicia, on the other hand, had accepted it all. Yes, he had a hand in ending the lives of Amber's family. He made them hide their nature from her. The royal family had done a lot of things that had directly and indirectly affected her. But those weren't her fights now. They had more pressing things to handle, and she needed answers.
"Why are you curious about him?"
"He is our key to knowing what happened on that night and proving my innocence. I'm sure you must have heard about what happened."
He nodded. "I heard a few." He answered before looking straight at her as he said, "I did not have any reason to kill him."
"Does any other member of the royal family have a reason to kill him?"
"I do not know about that and do not care either."
"How can you say you do not care? He was your physician." She said, sounding a little bit annoyed. Why didn't they have any regard for the lives of people who had been working for them?
The king looked at her, and to her surprise, he let out a laugh. "You really are brazen. So similar." He muttered the last part.
Alicia didn't have the time to wonder what that meant as she just continued to stare at him with displeasure.
"I cannot tell what happened to him. Even if he were my physician, he was someone I never cared much for."
Alicia's gaze softened as she looked at him. There was something about the way he said it that sounded so sad.
It seemed like the king had a lot on his mind that he had never shared.
"Every one of us is going to be punished for the wrongs we have committed one way or another."
"So you think he was punished for his wrongs and you are being punished for yours?"
"I only want to rest." He looked lost. Sad.
And she could tell that his words meant more than he cared to say.
"You hate it, don't you? Being a king." She asked softly, sounding sympathetic.
He let out a curt, sad laugh and looked at her. "You are the first person asking me that."
"You must have been burdened a lot." She said pitifully and reached to touch his hand.
He looked down at her hand and just stared quietly for a while before he nodded.
"I was. I am."
When he looked up, she saw the sadness in his eyes.
The tough king, who always looked majestic, looked so broken. He looked like he was fed up. He looked empty.
She had never seen him like that before.
"It's not your fault. You were just being king."
He shook his head. "It was mine. All my fault." He let out a deep sigh.
"I had a feeling that you were going to make Harold better. And I was right. You have an aura capable of changing someone. Just like... her."
'Her'. Alicia could vaguely guess who he was talking about. Especially when she saw the look of guilt on his face. "You knew my mother, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Was... Prince Wilder your older brother?" She asked.
He turned to look at her, a little surprised.
"He was... mostly called the Mad Prince."
That seemed to confirm it for Alicia. She hadn't mentioned it to Harold, but she had thought a lot about the dream.
Wilder did not only appear like their kind; he had reminded Alicia of how she had felt when she first met Harold during their wedding. He also had Harold's eyes, and even if he wasn't as tall as Harold, he was still really tall and built like Prince Ivan. The question the men had asked about why Anne didn't have a smell had also made her assume so.
"The person she changed, was it Prince Wilder? Was that why you didn't get rid of me after finding out who I was?" She tried to keep her voice calm, but she was still annoyed by it. The fact that he had a hand in getting rid of Amber's maternal lineage. After seeing snippets of their lives, Alicia felt it was unfair. Anne didn't deserve any of it. But she had ended up living an ugly life and even being killed unfairly.
"You have every reason to be angry at me. To be angry at the moon kingdom. But Harold has nothing to do with them." He said in a soft voice.
"I had no intention of putting the blame on him. He has also been a victim of... you know..."
She didn't get to complete the sentence because she didn't want to talk about his mother's incident.
"That is why I do not wish for Prince Harold to follow the path I did." He said. "If you care for him like I believe you do, make him live a simple life. An easy life. Away from this place. This palace."
A frown formed on her face. "Don't... you feel bad for him?"
He paused for a moment before saying, "I do. That is why I am trying to save him. I care for him. More than anything."
The man kept his head down and Alicia had no idea how to feel about it.
"Did you... ever love her? Harold's mother?" She asked carefully.
*****
A/N
Down with a fever, again!
Will send in the second chapter later.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om