The Worry of Her Friends
The housekeeper at Blackwood immediately showed brought Reggie and I to Alexandra’s room where we were told that Vanessa had arrived just before us. She was hovering over Alexandra’s bed and placed the metal rose in her hands. Jess was sitting off to the side crying, it couldn’t have been easy for her to have to keep watch over her friend to make sure she didn’t drain anyone. A pyrio with those instincts would drain everyone she could get her hands on. In ancient Vellum, pyrios were the dominant species because they would drain any other species they could find. They hadn’t drained each other because we knew we needed to procreate so the males would keep the females alive in a cave, but they were only allowed to hunt once a month when their courses came. It wasn’t until the witches showed up from Terre, that we started to evolve both in our feeding habits and the way we treated our females. Their magic helped our ancestors see reason, what The Order did was take all those inhibitions away from Alexandra. To me, it was no different than violating her and I would not stand for that behavior in my kingdom. I clenched both my fist and jaw at the sight of Alexandra, pale and just a small blood stain on her top, “Where is The Chalshin?” Jess rose to her feet, “Your Majesty, His Grace ordered him to get some rest since he was the victim…” She trailed off her sentence because she started to sob, she knew very well that if Alexandra was conscious of her actions that this never would have happened. I doubt she could hurt anyone intentionally.
Reggie drew a very sharp breath and spoke, “Vanessa, are you certain that she will remain catatonic?” Vanessa covered her eyes and sobbed out a “Yes.” Reggie seemed level-headed which is what he was famous for in times of crisis, “Okay, I hate to do this but I have to return to Terre for a little while so I can carry out His Majesty’s orders.” Vanessa, with tears in her eyes, shot me a look of disgust. I shot a glare at her, “This pertains to him summoning Talia and getting Lord Kellen to London. I would like her parents here for the duration of whatever happens to her. I only have Alexandra’s best interest at heart.” She relaxed her face and then fell to her knees and buried her head in the mattress. Dana came back with an ornate chair, “Would you like a chair Your Majesty?” I nodded and she set it up on the opposite side of where Vanessa was sobbing. I sat down and touched Alexandra’s hand, it was cold as if she was a corpse, “Why is she so cold?” Vanessa rose her head, “She’s been returned to the undead state the ancient pyrios were in before we came. It’s why her normally gorgeous complex is gone and she’s pale. If she opened her eyes, they would be red and not the purple that she was gifted by her patron Goddess.” She dropped her head again. I looked over at Jess who looked so tired, “Jess, I think you should go get some rest. Vanessa and I can keep her company.” She nodded, “As you will it Your Majesty.” She rose and bowed then slowly left the room. Vanessa rose her head again and wiped her tears, “Did you send for Dorothea?” I nodded; I had asked Malinus to send the fasted Toxzi rider that we had to get her here before he left. He assured that it would be done on his way out.
We heard the doorbell and Vanessa rose to her feet, “Since the lady of the house is indisposed, I will go receive whoever it is. I’m hoping it is Dorothea but that’s unlikely since she will need to make the potion before coming here. Those things have a shelf life.” She left me alone in the room with Alexandra. She laid there looking like the dead, if she hadn’t been breathing, I might have thought she was dead. I spoke to her, “Alexandra, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I want you to know that you have so many of your friends worried about you. I want you to know that I am amongst those. We are working very hard to get you back to your normal self.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. She muttered something but I didn’t hear her. It seemed though that she was conscious of people speaking around her and perhaps it was our Alexandra that heard us and not the primal version of herself. I said a silent prayer to her patron Goddess that she will find her way to the light.
The door opened, and Vanessa came in followed by Pretre Jean, I rose to my feet. I looked with a panicked face at Vanessa and then at Jean. He smiled then spoke, “Your Majesty, I won’t utter a word that I saw you hear this night. I am loyal to our mutual friend here and she wouldn’t want anyone who cares for her to be put any awkward position. Besides The Grand Pretre ordered me that you would be here, and discretion was important.” I sat back down, “My sincerest thanks to you and Her Holiness. But what can be done by the church in this situation?” He reached into his robes and pulled out a vial of luminescent liquid, “This the Blessing of Grand Pretre. It may only be temporary, but it will help Alexandra regain her senses for a time. We can speak to her and let her know that we are working on helping her out of her predicament. Grand Pretre said that she aware of what she did and is in emotional pain. We will need young master Chalshin in here before I give it to her though. She needs reassurance from him.” I nodded to Dana to summon him, “As you will it Your Majesty.” I looked at Jean, “Is Grand Pretre able to communicate with Alexandra?” He smiled then nodded, “She is to an extent. Her Holiness was sleeping when Alexandra’s consciousness came to her in her dream. She told her that she bit The Chalshin but couldn’t understand why. She said her father saved him from her instinctually draining him. She said she felt the presence of Ms. Tannen, Ms. Kellen, her father, and His Majesty. She was not able to say more because she was snatched away from her dream. Grand Pretre then summoned me and opened a portal right to Blackwood's doorstep.”
Derek burst in the room, “Is she wake?!” He then froze in his steps at the sight of me, “Your Majesty, I apologize. I was not aware you were here.” I shot him a glare, “The Chalshin, I asked that you protect The Batiste not have her in your bed. You need to remember your training.” His face fell and then he kneeled, “I understand your ire Your Majesty and am willing to accept whatever punishment you see fit.” I waved my hand at him, “I didn’t summon you to chide you, I believe your punishment will be determined by your superior at the Citadel. I brought you here because Pretre Jean said you will need to be here to reassure Ms. Batiste that you are not too badly hurt before she loses herself again.” He nodded and rose to his feet, “Of course, anything for my friend.” I looked to the side and muttered, “Friend, sure.” Jean walked to her side and pulled the stopper from the bottle and pressed it to her lips. She laid there for a time, still and beautiful. Vanessa grabbed one of her hands, the one holding the rose, and I had the other. Slowly warmth returned to them, and she opened her eyes, one was still red and the other purple. Immediately she looked around the room and saw me, “Your Majesty, I heard you. Thank you.” Then she looked away at Derek and her eyebrows furrowed but he spoke, “I am okay Lex, you needn’t worry. I know you weren’t yourself and you didn’t hurt me.” She nodded, “I am relieved Derek.” I spoke again, “I summoned a witch, at Vanessa’s suggestion, she should be able to help you.” Vanessa then spoke, “Until then, we need to keep you asleep so that you can’t hurt anyone. I hope you’re okay with this forced rest.” She nodded, “I would never want to hurt anyone. Where is my father?” She looked around the room again.
I squeezed her hand, “I sent him back to Terre to summon your mother from London so that she can be here with you.” She smiled sweetly at me, “I will be forever grateful for your kindness Your Majesty.” She wrecked forward and screamed in pain. She was squeezing my hand and her hands were becoming ice cold again, I looked a Vanessa. She nodded, “Time to go back to sleep little rose.” She let go of her hand and placed the rose back in her hand. She gently placed her back on her pillow. I looked up at Jean, “Pretre Jean, I am grateful that we were able to reassure her. Please send my gratitude to Grand Pretre for her assistance.” He smiled then nodded, “She wanted me to assure you, Your Majesty, that Dorothea is the path to follow. I am to heed you a warning though not to let His Highness interfere and to send a security detail to her immediately since Prince Blake sees her as a threat to Alexandra. She used to assist The Order and he will want to interrogate her.” He left the room and Derek spoke up, “Your Majesty, I would like to be part of that security detail if I may. I need to make up for my carelessness.” I looked at Vanessa, “You will take Ms. Tannen with you so she can take you via portal. Go get Jess as well. I will stay with The Batiste. Do NOT fail me or I will have you in chains. Do you understand?” He nodded, balled his fist, pounded it across his chest and bowed, “As you will it Your Majesty. I will not fail you or her.” Vanessa rose to her feet with a look of determination on her face, “As you will it Your Majesty. Dorothea will remain protected. I have a few magical tools at my disposal for such a purpose. We will detour to my cottage to retrieve them.”
I walked over to Alexandra’s desk, took some paper and wrote out a message on it. I handed it to Vanessa, “Is there a way to get this to Mesha quickly?” She looked at it, “Fire magic. I will send it from my hearth. It should reach his resident witch Panshad. She will give him the message.” I had hoped it would reach him in time to keep him from interfering with what we needed to do to save Alexandra from her current state. He would be crushed if he knew that he was the reason that she would have to remain in slumber for the rest of her life. It was most expedient to use magic and appeal to his deep devotion to her. I would ask her about The Order when she came here and share the information with Blake after, “You may go now, quickly.” They both ran out of the room. I sighed, “Alexandra, it has been a long night. I am doing all I can for you. Hold on to that hope dear one.” I pulled her hand up to my lips and placed a gentle kiss there on her knuckles. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I kissed her. Her hand squeezed mine when the tear touched her skin. I knew she was trying to reassure me that she was fine. I had no doubts she was fighting in her head to regain control; she was the most courageous woman I knew.
