197- The Lie of Fragility
POV Elowen Grimwald:
“AH!” I screamed upon waking and finding that pair of deep green eyes staring at me.
“What are you feeling?” he asked seriously, with his usual deep timbre.
Part of the memory of what had happened hit me like an avalanche. If it hadn’t been a nightmare… someone had tried to poison me.
Then I remembered everything…
Aldren had looked terrified. Aldren had treated me with care. NO.
How could someone who seemed to take pleasure in hurting me be tending to me like that—and still be there, sitting firmly at my side, asking what I was feeling?
I almost felt inclined to forgive him, until my caged she-wolf stirred inside me, reminding me of the agony he caused us that morning. Of the cutting words he used. Of the tears he made me shed.
Cursed heart, too full of humanity—so stupid and soft.
Alpha son of a bitch…
My revenge had just begun.
I felt fine, completely renewed after the injection, but I had no intention of letting him discover that, of course.
“Elowen?” He touched my face, pulling me back into orbit and sending a shiver down my spine.
I masked my reaction and faked a dry cough, bringing the back of my hand to my forehead.
“My head… it feels like it’s going to explode.”
“Just your head? What else?” Concern slipped into his voice.
Aldren—truly—worried about me?
He had to be sick, not me.
“Weakness, dizziness, a lot of burning in my stomach…” I continued softly, as if my voice were failing. Fake. So fake.
He furrowed his brow and his gaze drifted.
“It didn’t work as it should.” He thought aloud. I pretended not to hear.
Soon, those large hands were on me. He touched my neck to check my temperature, then used his thumb to pull down the skin beneath my eyes.
“Look up.” Was he really checking inside my eyelids? “You need to hydrate.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the nightstand, opened it, slid a transparent straw inside, and held it out to me. “Can you hold it?”
Oh, I could… but I wouldn’t.
“I can try…” I took the bottle and let my hand tremble, simulating weakness.
“I’ll hold it.” He took it back and placed the straw to my mouth. What satisfaction. I sucked the liquid as if drinking from the fountain of the gods themselves. “Do you want to go to the bathroom?” he asked as he pulled the straw away.
“I do, but… I think I’d fall halfway there. But it’s fine, I’m used to holding it…” I used my hurt to dissimulate.
Aldren’s Adam’s apple scraped his throat before he slid his arms beneath my legs and lifted me into his arms.
My soul bathed in a river of contentment with every effort he made.
As satisfying as an orgasm.
Still a little dizzy but sharp, I took advantage of the situation along the way, holding onto his broad shoulders with my best pitiful expression. May he not notice the dampness growing between my legs.
“I was poisoned…?” I asked softly, and he snorted.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” Fury rang in his voice. He set me carefully atop the toilet seat, and I let out a groan as if wracked with pain. All fake. “I’ll stay outside the door. Call me when you’re done,” he announced, turning his back.
And indeed, I heard the door close. The alpha was convinced of my pain. If I woke up and that had been a dream, my life would be over.
How long could I keep pretending to be sick?
Aldren could not discover my ruse, because then he would destroy me completely.
I lifted the marble lid and emptied my bladder. I used the wet wipes on a shelf fixed to the wall of noble stone to clean myself as silently as I could.
I called him when I finished, doubtful he was still there—but yes, he was.
With patience, as if lifting a feather, he picked me up again and returned me to the firm yet soft mattress—very comfortable.
I was in his bed.
The cage? Right there in front of me.
I hope I never go back in there, my friend, I thought, as if the bars could hear me.
“I need to analyze the contents of the tea and get one of my elixirs for your stomach from my laboratory. Can I trust you to stay very still here?”
“Laboratory…?”
“Yes, spy. The place you tried to invade.”
I simulated a bout of dry coughing, contorting my face as if in pain.
“I didn’t try to invade it, I didn’t even know what it was… I swear…” I used my sweetest tone. He remained expressionless.
“Don’t try to get up on your own,” he warned once more before leaving, taking the poisoned cup with him.
I almost asked: did you forget how much you love calling me a damned bitch?
I was thinking of a way to ask when he returned:
How do things work here? Is it fine for you to kill me, but it only terrifies you if someone else tries to do the same?
As lightly as Aldren left, Nerin entered, leaning the door shut. I looked at her distressed face and couldn’t imagine she would be capable of trying to poison me.
“Who did this to me?”
“How would I know, girl?” She approached the bed, folding her arms in front of her body. “You look better.”
Oh, no.
“I look?” I forced a cough. “But I’m not…”
“Make sure that’s true, or you’ll be worse very soon.”
“Why is he here? I mean… why is he the one taking care of me?”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I heard him calling Teneris to replace him.”
My heartbeat jumped and I went on high alert.
“Who is Teneris?”
“It’s common knowledge that she’s his lover. She and Nala. Both of them.”
My lips parted and my jaw nearly hit the floor, before I was overtaken by a wave of rage—at that point I didn’t know whether it was my she-wolf manifesting or if it was also mine.
My feral side would rather return to the filthy cage than be tended by one of those whores. Even without knowing them, I felt a deep repulsion toward them.