Page 42 of The Thief
Scarlett sat quietly until Melody asked her, “How are you feeling after your bath?”
“I am wonderful, and even more so now that you are brushing my hair. Thank you so much for taking care of me.”
“It is entirely my pleasure,” Melody replied. “It’s not really work when you are taking care of your friends.”
Scarlett smiled in the mirror and looked at her friend.
Tears filled her eyes when she whispered, “Thank you for being here with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Melody looked away for a moment and Scarlett saw her pull out one of the monogrammed hankies they had gotten her for her to wipe her eyes.
Scarlett turned in the stool and grabbed Melody’s arm.
“Truly.”
Melody smiled through her tears and hugged her friend, sniffling a couple times and then letting go of Scarlett’s hand to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.
“Let’s finish your hair so we can get you back in bed.”
Scarlett smiled and turned back to face the mirror, content for a moment to let her do something that was normal in her life.
Half an hour later, Scarlett was brushed and braided and back in bed, laying on her side facing the windows where Melody had opened the curtains.
The stars were so beautiful and bright and she couldn’t help but be enamored by them. Her father, Graham Kensington, had hired a star keeper for a few weeks when Scarlett was a young girl and he had taught her all about the stars, piquing her curiosity.
She sighed and shut her eyes, remembering Bryce telling her all about the stars. He had been her first love, and that had only been because he had spent so much time with her and she was only five.
With a smile, she finally drifted off to sleep.
Hours later, when it was pitch black out, Scarlett woke up, her stomach cramping. She cried out and stumbled over to the bucket that had been left for her and retched into it. Her stomach was on fire and her throat burned along with it. She retched again as her tears flowed freely.
Alastair ran into the room and slid to the floor next to her, helping her stay up as she emptied her stomach. When she had finally emptied what was left in her stomach, she leaned back against him, resting her head on his chest.
“I don’t understand. I thought I was getting better,” she whispered in a cracked and hoarse voice.
“We have been giving you the recommended dose of the formula that we created and it was working. We might have been giving you too much. I will have to look but I do not think it is the medicine.”
Scarlett sighed weakly.
Alastair slipped his arms underneath her and lifted her, taking her back to bed. He tucked the blanket tightly around her and then lay down next to her on top of the covers. She rested her head against his shoulder and nodded off, too weak to resist falling asleep.
Alastair sat there and held Scarlett for upwards of twenty minutes, holding her until he could be sure that she was asleep. He rang for Bard and waited for him to come to the room, calling out for him to get some water for Scarlett.
A few minutes later, Scarlett looked at Alastair in the chair and sighed, finally falling asleep.
