Page 41 of Palaces and other Prisons
There was no room on the bed to lie with Dawson, as it was a narrow cot like every other bed in the healer’s work room. Two small rooms, each with two small beds, most people in the palace opted to be treated in their own chambers. However, sometimes there was a need to separate them.
When yellow tongue fever had reached the palace, the fever had slipped past the walls that protected the city and then the walls that protected the palace. The first few people to show signs of the illness had been quarantined here, and when that failed to contain the fever, the royal children had not been allowed to leave their rooms. In the end, it didn’t matter; it seemed the fever was everywhere, rolling over the land like a mist, stealing the breath of the very young and the very old.
He hadn’t forgotten the stink of sweat-soaked sheets or the desperate hope that the person swathed in them would wake up. But he never expected to be standing there reliving that experience almost forty years later.
This isn’t the same.
Was it worse or better? He took the crown off and placed it on the other bed. Sickness didn’t care about rank or jewels. It didn’t care about prayers, or hopes, or dreams.
The healer handed him the blanket. “He is young and strong. I believe he will wake.”
Ul nodded, wanting to believe her, but he’d heard those words from other lips so many times before, and they had been lies. He draped the blanket around his shoulders as an extra cloak and sat on the stool next to the bed.
The guard charged with watching Dawson moved to the door. His own guard was in the main area, instead of outside, as that would draw questions. He rested his arm on the edge of thebed and stared at Dawson, the dark hollows under his eyes, and the way his skin seemed as pale as the sheets.
“I failed to keep you safe.” But then he hadn’t expected his cousin to stoop so low. He let one tentacle slide beneath the sheet and wind around Dawson’s fingers. He leaned in and whispered in Dawson’s ear. “I’m sorry, and I will understand if you don’t want to stay.” It had taken almost losing him to realize that he wanted Dawson to stay, and everything that meant.
The fear of losing had kept him from living, and it had taken him far too many losses to learn that lesson. “I want you to stay with me. As mine.”
CHAPTER 28
Dawson woke with his head pounding and a weight on his arm. He was also sticky and vaguely nauseous like he’d had far too much to drink, and something had gone horribly wrong. He tried to open his eyes a couple of times, and the panic of not being able to see returned. For several seconds, he thought that he was blind, but it was only that his eyelashes were glued shut that made it hard to open them. When he got his eyes open, he was in a dimly lit room, and he wasn’t alone.
The man resting on his arm lifted his head. “You’re alive.”
The way Ul said it gave Dawson pause for concern. Was he supposed to be dead? He opened his mouth, cracking his lower lip in the process, and no word formed.
“A moment.” Ul picked a cup up off the little table and offered it to him. When it was clear Dawson didn’t have the strength to lift his head, one of Ul’s tentacles reached out and assisted.
Dawson took a couple of gulps of the tepid water, only then realizing how thirsty he was and how weak. “What happened?”
How long had he been in what was clearly a sick room?
“I am still figuring that out.” Ul laid Dawson’s head on the pillow. “All you need to worry about is recovering.”
“From what?” It felt as though Ul was keeping secrets from him, and he didn’t like it.
“Someone tried to kill you last night, because we are compatible. I set a trap, and I will have to check if it caught the traitor.”
Last night was Samhain. “Did I ruin the party?”
Ul gave him a small smile. “No, though I did tell people you drank too much and fell. Which was only a partial lie, as you did bang your head.” He untangled his tentacle from around Dawson’s hand. “I should wake the healer so she can check on you.”
Dawson grabbed the tentacle before it could slide away. “I dreamed I couldn’t find you.” He’d been running around the dark corridors of the palace until he was completely lost and out of breath.
“I had to leave you for a little while, but you were not alone. The healer and the guard were here to protect you. The only thing I could do was try to catch your assailant.”
His tone was so serious that it chilled Dawson, or maybe that was the wet sheets clinging to his skin. He smelt like sweat and wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat something or throw up…or both. “What did you do?”
“I believe your attacker wanted to ensure there were no heirs, so I implied that we are waiting to get married until after there is a successful hatching. If I am correct, then he was caught seeking to destroy the eggs that do not exist yet.”
Dawson took a moment to let those words settle around him. Ul was talking about marriage and children…or was that only to catch the man who tried to kill him? He hesitated before asking. It was the topic they had both avoided, as it was complicated and painful. “Do you want that?”
“To catch him, yes.” He glanced away. “To keep you by my side…that is also a yes. Though I understand I am asking a lot. While Felloi may now be part of your world, it is not your world.”
“The world I knew no longer exists. We are all living somewhere else and having to figure out what that means.” Maybe he had never really belonged, and that was why he saw the remote job far away from human civilization. Dawson attempted to lift his hand to bring Ul’s tentacle to his lips and failed. “Lift my hand up. More. All the way to my mouth.”
Ul frowned.
