Chapter 50 Chapter 50

Chapter 50 Chapter 50
Liora’s POV

I woke up to voices that sounded distant at first. Although I still was not fully conscious yet, I could still make out the voices I heard.

“You have to leave before my mother gets back” Caelum's clearly panicked voice filtered through my foggy state.

“I'm not leaving until she wakes up” Kysen’s voice said calmly.
Hold on. Kysen?

I forced my eyes open, as I assessed my environment. I was in the royal infirmary. I recognized those white walls anywhere.
My eyes darted in their direction. They had their backs turned to me, and I assessed the situation, my mouth feeling way to heavy to talk.

“If you are not scared of my mother, then you should know my brothers hate you even more and at least two of them will be home soon. So, you need to get the hell out of here” Caelum argued, trying to drive his point through Kysen’s head.

Shoot. Everything hit me like a ton of bricks, and I sat up at the speed of light.
I shouldn't have done that.
My head spun, as dizziness washed over me.
I groaned as I grabbed my head.

They must have heard me, because they both turned to me.

“Liora!” Kysen's voice reached me first.

I looked up to see him already in front of me, his hand on my arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked and I sighed as my eyes cleared up.

“Uhhh, I think so…” I said unsurely, as I touched my stomach area.

“The healers did their thing, but you were this close to actually dying,” Caelum said, clearly pissed.

I looked between the both of them, before it clicked again.

A loud gasp escaped my lips. “Kysen!”

“What are you doing here?!” What was he thinking?!

He sighed, before shaking his head, “I had no choice, I had to bring you here”

“Did anyone see you?!” I asked, clearly panicking.

“Only some healers, but I have it covered. Luckily, I happened to be outside when he showed up. If not, the whole palace would have known that your rival saved you. Again.” Caelum answered, and I visibly cringed.

“You really should not be here, Kysen. My mother and brothers will show up soon” I warned, my heart beginning to race in fear.

“I just wanted to make sure you are okay…” he trailed off, and I forced myself to calm down, before I cupped his cheeks softly, basically throwing caution into the wind in front of Caelum.

My eyes met his and I could see everything. The anger, the worry, the fear… everything the entire situation made him feel. I saw it all.

“I promise I'm okay, Kysen.” I said, trying to reassure me, but when his eyes darted to my stomach again, I knew he was still plagued by the horror of how he saw me earlier.

“Hey, hey… I promise.” I said firmly, as I forced him to look at me again.

Finally, he seemed to calm down. His jaw tightened, before he let out a sharp breath and nodded in understanding.

My hands dropped to his.
“I’m sorry for scaring you, and thank you for saving me… Again.”

He nodded softly, before sighing.

“I should get going. We’ll talk about the bastard that did this to you later” he stated, his tone leaving zero room for argument.

And just like that, he left. Caelum followed him, just to make sure he was out of sight.
I forced myself to calm down, but it proved difficult.

I still could not believe he stepped foot inside the building.
I mean, he had been to my room before, but it was in secret.
Dear Green, please do not let him run into anyone .

I rubbed my hands over my face and tapped my hands on my cheeks repeatedly to bring myself back to reality.
My mother would be back anytime.
Get your shit together, Liora!

I swung my body off the bed and jumped to my feet. Big mistake.

Pain shot through my torso and I groaned in pain as my hand flew to my stomach, my legs growing weak.
Luckily, Caelum came back just in time.

He caught me at the nick of time.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” He asked, as he helped me back to the bed.

I shook my head softly.
“Why does it hurt so bad?” I asked, and he sighed, clearly annoyed.

“Why are you so agitated? Did I do something?” I asked, and he buried his face in his hands, before letting out a weird sound.

I looked at him, cautious about my next words.
“Talk to me, Caelum. What’s wrong?”

A solid minute passed as he tried to steady his breathing.
“You almost died, Liora! You…” he paused, his voice breaking slightly, “You almost died. Of course, you’re hurting”

“I hate that you keep acting like nothing happened. There was so much blood everywhere…” his voice shook as he spoke.
“You were barely breathing and even the healers looked hopeless. It took five healers to bring you back and their current state is nothing to talk about. I really thought I lost you and you just want to bounce around like nothing happened.”

I was so quiet, watching how his anger turned into fear and worry.

“I-” I tried to talk, but he stopped me.

“No. No, I don't want to hear it right now. Just stay in bed and heal completely” he said and I swallowed.

“Caelum, listen… Mother will throw a fit if she knows I could not handle one man after all my training. It really does not hurt that bad, I was just caught off guard. If you could just let me-”

He stopped me again.
“I will speak to Mother. She needs to know what happened. But you need to heal completely.” He said, his eyes darting to my stomach.

It was clear that he was not going to back down but the mere thought of my mother finding out about the whole thing made me panic.
I wasn't ready to hear from her.

“I'll make sure she does not throw a fit” he said, trying to reassure me, after clearly sensing my heistation.

I sighed in defeat.
I wasn't sure how he was going to do that.
Could anyone really tame the tongue of our mother?
Still, I hated seeing Caelum upset more than anything, mostly because he barely ever got mad.

“Fine” I whispered, finally giving in and dragging myself back on the bed.
For the first time, I noticed I was out of my clothes, now wearing the infirmary clothes for patients.
I mean, of course I was…

I slowly raised the top, aiming to assess the area I got hurt, explaining to see a clean slate.
So imagine my shock when I saw a bandage wrapped around my torso.

I looked up at Caelum in question, and he sighed before sitting next to me on the bed.
“They couldn't heal you completely, no matter how hard they tried. They all kept getting weak… some even passed out. So you need to heal all the way on your own” he explained and I sighed, slightly annoyed.
It was going to be such a hassle… it would hold me back frl, doing so many things.

He sighed again.
“They said you were definitely attacked with a weapon laced with a type of poison, but they don't know what it is yet. This was not just some freak accident. Someone really tried to take you out.”

“Oh, that's definite. I'm sure about that” I said and he leaned in slightly.

“Did you see their face?” he asked and I sighed in defeat, before shaking my head.

“I'm sure it was a man though. And he had a hood on.” I explained, my brain speeding through flashes of our fight.

“What exactly happened?” Caelum asked and I ran through the entire thing with him.

“How did sparring suddenly turn to a death battle?!” He was clearly surprised.

“How did he even manage to get in? Who sent him? Each warrior is screened, so he must have a good record or must have been recommended by someone they trust…” he trailed off, running through possibilities.

“I thought the same thing. I know people dislike me, but I just don't know who would outrightly-” I got cut off by the loud sound of the door being pushed open, as someone stormed in.

Caelum and I both turned to the direction in unison.

My eyes widened in surprise, as I saw who it was.
“Mother.”