Chapter 52 - Weeks and Months

Raymond did not waste any time on getting to Lilith. Along the way, he bumped into a group of guards and had them follow behind them. Raymond was practically seething at this point. Millions of thoughts on what could have happened to Lilith rushed into his head and would not let him relax for a second. Trying to convince himself that he was overreacting was definitely not working.

“Move faster,” he scowled to the servants in front of him. He had more than given them a fright from what he had done earlier. But Raymond could not care one bit what he had done to those servants. If he found Lilith with even a scratch on her, getting struck would be the least of their worries.

The servants shuffled forward at a quicker pace. The forest was dark in front of them and the only light was provided by the guards at their back, so the servants were tumbling through the woods trying to keep up with Raymond’s command.

Ten minutes passed and the King started to suspect that they were lost. It was not that difficult to mistake one tree for another in a forest. “Do you have any idea where we are?” he snapped at them. “If we do not find her within the next five minutes-”

“There she is!” one of the servants pointed out in front of them, sounding more relieved than surprised. They definitely should not have been.

At the exclamation, Raymond’s heart skipped a beat and he pushed through to where the girl was pointing. It was dark and there was the fault glow of the moon over them, just enough for Raymond to make out that there was a figure lying on the ground.

“Lilith,” he rushed forward and dropped to the figure's side. The first thing he noticed made his blood run cold. There was a sack over her head. Without wasting a beat, he basically ripped it off, and Lilith’s head lulled into his hands. There was blood patching her cheeks as well as some lines streaking through it. Tears.

Time seemed to slow down as Raymond took in every inch of her body, every patch of dried blood and smudge of dirt on her skin and clothes. She was breathing, but very slowly. It was cold outside and she had been like this all alone for God knows how long.

Uncontrollable tears burned Raymond’s eyes and his chest tightened with rage. Slowly, he looked over to the servants that were standing there, practically seizing with fear.

“Lock them all up. All of them!” he took a shaky breath, holding Lilith closer to him as his vision blurred significantly. “Lock them up! And I will see to it that they definitely make it past the halfway point to hell.”

“Your Majesty!” one of the servants wailed in terror.

“One of you get a doctor here immediately.” His voice was losing its edge and became shaky. The total weight of what was happening now settled in Raymond’s mind. Lilith was hurt badly. They were out in the woods and who knew how long would it take to get a doctor here.

The guards did not hesitate to move and they rushed into action at his words. The servants were all restrained and one of them rushed off empty-handed, probably to find a doctor. The servants pleaded and tried to explain what they had done but Raymond was not processing any of it. Their voices faded as they were taken back through the trees.

“Your Majesty. You need to get back indoors. It’s not good for you or… um, for you or her to be out here at this time of night.” one of the remaining guards told him.

The King nodded absentmindedly. He knew that but he was afraid that if he moved Lilith even a little bit, he would cause her pain. But, the longer they stayed out there the more danger she was in. She was losing blood somewhere and it was also cold. She must have been suffering.

“Clear a path.” Raymond cleared his throat, trying to lift Lilith as slowly as possibly. “I don’t want a single leaf to touch her body. Understood?” He took a breath of faux composure and tucked Lilith into his body as he stood up.

And so, on their way back to the manor, the guards stood around Raymond and Lilith making sure that she was protected. But at the rate that he was moving, it was quite hard to keep up with him to carry out his command. But Raymond could not care less about that. With every beat of Lilith's heart, he imagined more blood being lost in whatever part of her body was split open. She was barely warm and no matter how closely he held her to his chest, he could barely feel her breathing against him.

“Shit…” he mumbled. He needed to get back faster.

“We are nearing the manor, Your Majesty.” one of the guards spoke.

“Good.”

Once they were back, Lilith was taken to Raymond’s room and he examined her body. There were bruises all over her skin. Some purple and red and some even brown. There was dried blood on her face from a broken nose and her head was also split open. He was sure that she had some broken ribs but he was not sure about anything else other than that. He cleaned her up as best he could and tried to cover up the places that were still bleeding but that was nearly not enough for what she needed to heal.

Too much time passed before Raymond saw a doctor and although they said that Lilith was going to be alright, it would still take months for her to be fully healed and weeks for her to wake up again.

“She will wake up right?” he asked with a hint of desperation seeping into his tone. Trying to keep up the facade of stoic King was not going very well when Raymond had to stand beside the woman he practically loved and not be able to help her.

The doctor sighed, straightening out his coat as he offered Raymond a clearly practiced expression of sympathy. ”Although her injuries are severe, they are not untreatable and with the right amount of medicine and rest, I would say that there is a high chance of her waking up eventually. It should not take too long, Your Majesty.

“And based on what you told me happens to her, she most likely also suffered a lot mentally and that will also take some time to heal. She will wake up when she is both mentally and physically capable.”

”Thank you, doctor, I understand.”

She will wake up. She has to.

The candle next to the King’s bed was the only light in the room and the way it was positioned had it casting a shadow over Lilith that made her look haggard. Raymond slid the candle to the top of the nightstand to change the angle of the light before resting on his knees next to the bed.

The doctor coughed at the sight and quickly covered it by clearing his throat. “Well then, good night Your Majesty.”

Raymond was alone once more in the room and he placed his arm along the side of the bed before resting his cheek on it. His other hand slowly brushed over a now-covered bruise on her cheek.

His heart was still racing and his stomach continued to be in knots throughout all of this. Raymond should have been there. He should have paid more attention. He should not have let his guard down.

Everyone was so easily tricked by that distraction and for what? All in the name of jealousy. Disgusting.

The more he thought about it the angrier he got and Raymond had to pull away for Lilith just to stop his touch from getting aggressive. He was angry at those servants for what they did. He was furious at the guards for being so damn stupid. And he was obviously livid with himself for not being able to find her for hours. And letting her suffer through that alone.

With a grunt, he rose from his knees and lightly dusted himself off. Raymond would make sure that nothing like this happened again. Ever.

Silently closing the door as he exited the room, he addressed the guards that were outside.

“Where are they?”

“In the cells below the house Your Majesty.” a guard spoke up immediately.

Raymond grimaced. He didn't want them in the same house as Lilith. Not even in the same life. “Take them to the county jail. They will stay there for a week before they are all executed for their crimes.”