Chapter 61 Waking Up With. A Revelation!
The world lost color when Isabella Montague did not wake.
The first day, no one spoke a word. They were all silent, all unsure of what to do. On the second day, they followed Amir and Adrian’s instructions and travelled back to Aeltherra, in hopes they could find a way to wake her up.
The journey did not take too long— perhaps only a few days. Three at most.
She still did not wake.
When they returned to the Montague Estate, her Mother fell ill after finding her in that state and her father… he stayed by her side.
It was the first time anyone was seeing Leander Montague in such a serious state. Not crying. Not being weak.
But silent. Present.
The maids on the Estate tried their best not to show any sadness. They all did their duties, trying to continue life as normal, telling themselves that she was fine. That she looked so peaceful and beautiful so she must be well.
A week passed. And another.
It was on the third week that she woke up.
Maeve's eyes fluttered open, the sudden sensation of light burning her iris. Still, she didn’t bother to take her time in readjusting to the situation as she shut up from her bed— her eyes scanning the room where she was in. And the extremely soft bed.
And that morning— that lovely, glorious morning—
“OUR LADY IS AWAKE. SHE IS AWAKE AND WELL!”
“PRAISE BE TO THE GODS BUT— BUT WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE SHE JUST RAN PAST ME?!”
“BY THE GODS, HOW DOES SHE HAVE THE ENERGY TO RUN AROUND?!”
The entire estate was in an uproar, you see, because usually, they had safety measures for Isabella to prevent her running around in her night clothes, but since she had been unconscious for days, they had left the door unlocked and the hallway free of guards.
And the worse part?
They all didn’t know where she was running to.
Maeve didn’t care. She could hear their screams, telling her to calm down and rest but she wasn’t listening. Her body didn’t hurt, so she knew everything was fine.
She kept moving, hiding at specific intervals and from certain people— but at last, she managed to arrive where she needed to— the stables.
And as she predicted, there he was.
Lucien Averay had long retired to the stables, going completely silent the second she had returned and it seemed that something was wrong with her.
Everyone around could tell that he had tried his hardest not to slash Adrian’s neck as he instead said he would be leaving his knight armour until she woke.
But he heard the doors of the stables slam open, his irritation already spiking as he rose from the chair, ready to attack whoever it was before he saw her.
His Isabella.
Maeve’s heart thudded against her ribs as she stood in the doorway, breathless. She didn’t give him a moment to speak as ran straight into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
The familiarity was immediate. Grounding. It was like… Maeve had been on air for far too long and her feet had finally found gravity. She felt very much alive than she thought she would feel.
Lucien froze at first, startled, his eyes wide.
Then the tension in his shoulders melted just enough for him to lower his arms, letting her cling to him. Her forehead pressed to his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart.
It was only after a few minutes before she pulled away, letting out a fake cough as she said, “That didn’t happen. I—”
The rest of the words didn’t leave her lips as he was yanking her back into his body, wrapping his arms so tight around her that she realized she couldn’t breathe.
First, Lucien was large. How had she never noticed it before? He enveloped her with an ease, like a bear and when he pulled away from her, she realized that he was crying. “Lucien—”
“I thought you were not going to wake up,” His hands stayed around her arms, clinging tight as he shook her slightly. There was a way he looked now that made Maeve think of a Rottweiler… a very sad one as he said, “You— you weren’t—”
Maeve felt the smile playing on her lips before she placed her hand on his head and ruffled it slightly, a chuckle escaping her lips, “You are so cute,”
Lucien stared at her— his best friend who had changed all of a sudden and returned not awake. He had not spoken a word, worried that whatever he said might end up saying words he did not mean.
He knew all he had to do was wait. Just wait. She had promised she would be alright before she left… and he liked to believe she kept her promises. He lurked around the hallways when she returned, hoping she would wake if she saw him or smelled him or something…
But now, here she was.
Here she was…
His rage returned and he grabbed the collar of her dress. “You.”
Maeve closed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Mhm. I expected this,”
When the maids of the palace had finally realized that where she could be had to be anywhere Lucien was, because of course, there were best friends— they hurried to the stables.
But the sight they ended up meeting was not what they had thought they would be walking into.
“Oh, by the gods and everything holy! Lady Isabella!” The head maid looked as red as a pumpkin as she snapped, her hand on her chest as she stared at the sight in front of her, unsure of what to do as she began stuttering, “W-What are you doing?!”
Maeve’s head snapped upwards, her entire body drenched in hay, dust and a speck of horse shit on her cheek— while she sat on top of Lucien’s chest with her hands strangling him tightly around his neck.
Or she was trying to… while he grabbed onto her hair trying to pull her off.
Anyway, they were currently both standing in front of an exhausted looking Guinevere Montague.
Leander stood behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. He looked like all he wanted to do was hurry to his daughter though he stood still behind his wife, slowly massaging her shoulders.
Guinevere on the other hand rubbed her temple, her eyes falling on the male and female in front of her— they both looked a mess, like they were both purposefully trying to look that way and sighed, “Isabella. I heard you were running around after waking up,”
“Had to move my muscles. Heard about muscle atrophies years ago. Very terrible—”
“Isabella.” The seriousness in Guinevere’s voice had Maeve stopping in her sentence, her head slightly bowed at first before she looked up and met the woman’s sharp gaze.
There was a strictness to it that made Maeve feel… smaller, and slightly terrified, an emotion she didn’t think she could feel from a harmless woman. She buried her head back down.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Maeve slowly raised her head up again, then nodded.
Guinevere let out an audible sigh, her eyes turning glassy as she rose from her chair. The shawl around her shoulder fell to the floor, as she nudged her head towards, her arms out.
Maeve rose from the floor, her eyes slightly filled with distrust but the second Guinevere’s arms wrapped around her, whatever worry she had been feeling completely disappeared as the woman’s soft jasmine scent filled her nose, her warmth softening the chill in Maeve’s bones as she held her tight. “My beautiful Isabella. I was so worried,”
Isabella.
Maeve’s chest stung there. Again. Because she wasn’t Isabella… and this woman didn’t know. And she had been so worried about her.
Guinevere pulled away from the hug so she could turn and wave for Leander to join in, which he did hurriedly, rushing into the hug and wrapping his arms around both her and Guinevere as he began to sob, “Oh, my heart. I was so worried that something terrible had happened!”
His sobs were loud, and the maids that were in the room held back theirs, knowing they would probably scream as loudly as he was while they dabbed the tears that hung in the corner of her eyes.
Maeve, on the other hand, could feel the laugh bubbling up her throat at the entire scene though she managed to fight it down as she said softly under her breath, “I promise you won’t have to worry about me anymore,”
As she pulled away from the hug, Leander had no desire to end it so his wife had to hold both of his hands to keep him in place while Maeve said, “I mean it this time,”
Which she did.
Yes, she had been a little suicidal through the entire arc of this novel till this point— but after what had just happened, after seeing Jeremy and remembering everything else, she had no plans on dying anytime soon.
The door to the room they were in burst open, the sound causing all of them to snap their head to the intruder's direction— the intruder in question being a certain Elf who looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks staring at her with shock in his eyes.
Maeve stared at Amir then turned back to her parents and said with the most deadpan expression she could conceive, “Ah, I got married on this trip, Lord Montague, don’t— faint, he’s already down. Mother—”
Guinevere held her hand up and moved back to the chair she was sitting in, and began muttering quiet prayers to herself, wondering what crime she committed for the gods to give her a daughter like this.