Stormy Night

The sky darkened, thunder rolling in the distance. The wind blew haphazardly, causing Taylor to drape Caspian in a thick blanket. The castle was heated and boarded up, a tense atmosphere settling atop the heat. It seemed as if everyone hid in their rooms except Caspian.

Truthfully, ever since he heard what happened to Fabian and Wren, he offered to take care of the work they had left. With Taylor's help, he was able to get through them. However, his heart remained unsettled as Aretha had yet to return.

The rider sent to the prince's domain returned unharmed and informed them that the townsfolk had already started moving there. There, Caspian learned Aretha and Daria were holding back the first line of the stampede before they were able to gather a reliable army to hold them back.

Caspian had only met the king once. The man didn't look like the type to just donate an army because someone asked. To the people in the capital, the demons might as well not exist and were just a fable to scare children to sleep.

It was closer to midnight when they heard the door slam. Caspian wanted to rush there but Taylor refused to let him go, picking up a sword from god knows where. He remembered briefly that Taylor was actually a knight and followed closely behind him to see what would happen.

The rain had already begun to fall outside, making it a freezing weather to traverse. Whoever was out there, if not warmed up fast, would become a corpse soon.

"Milady!"

Aretha stood by the door like a statue. Her armor was torn off in several different parts, deep gashes replacing them. They were already knitting themselves together visibly but because of the cold, it was like they were being reopened. Her sword, or what was left of it, was stained in blood. With the blood coming from her wrist, it was hard to tell whose blood it was.

"W-Where..." she spoke slowly, blood dripping off the edge of her mouth.

"Aretha! What happened to you?" Caspian exclaimed upon seeing her. She managed a wary smile before she collapsed.

It was a turbulent night for them. There was no way to call a doctor in the storm so all they could do was take off her armor and hope her injuries were able to heal themselves. Their frantic heartbeats synced with the sounds of thunder that raged just outside, pouring rain and snow onto the terrain.

Even when the storm slowed, the humans spared no effort to save their master. Those who weren't skilled enough to do anything just stood and watched. The struggle ended when the sun was allowed to peek through the skies through the thick snow clouds that dusted the earth with its powder.

Caspian stood by her the entire time, holding her hand when everyone else had left. She was unresponsive and the scales that populated her chest just happened to be increasing. She kept her chest bound but he could still see them peeking out through her binds. He took them off and started to pick at them one by one.

He did so, half in hopes that she would wake up and the other half hoping it would make her more comfortable. As he picked them off, often failing to do so in one try, fear clouded his mind. If she never woke up, he would be killed or worse, sent back to his parent. Fear chilled his back more than the weather outside did.

By the time he had picked it all off and was exposed to her bare chest, she still hadn't shown any signs of waking. She looked like she was just sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling. He remembered that she said it didn't hurt and realized she meant it and wasn't just saying that to comfort him.

He cleaned off her chest with the cloth and water he prepared earlier, making sure it was properly cleaned before binding her chest again. He couldn't even react to seeing her bare chest like a man, more concerned with her wellbeing. Once he was done, he took her hand and placed it on her cheek.

"I'm right here, Aretha. Please...wake up."

All that greeted him was silence. He placed her hand on his lips this time, a stupidly crazy idea forming in his head.

"Please wake up...my wife."

Nothing on Earth would've prepared him for how fast she rose. Her eyes were wide open like they were pried open, forming an eerie look. When she turned to him, his heart jumped.

"Caspian."

"Yes?"

"You called me your wife?"

"That is what woke you up?!"

"Well, I was trying to have a little nap but I had no other choice but to wake up when I heard you call my name. But I didn't expect you to acknowledge me as your wife. Say it again."

"I..."

The door opened and an unexpected visitor walked in. Like Aretha, she looked beaten up but she had a much better complexion.

"You're up. Good. Go clean up and then we'll talk."

"Don't interrupt, Daria. I was just about to hear my husband call me his wife."

Daria chuckled, a strange glint in her eyes.

"We don't have much time. His highness and her highness have arrived. We are all downstairs waiting for you."

Daria left the room after saying that. Aretha grumbled and got off the bed. Caspian held his hand out, thinking she would be unsteady but she walked just fine. She didn't forget to kiss him on the forehead, something that has quickly become a habit before getting into the washroom.

It felt anticlimatic. He didn't know what else to do but wait for her to come out of the washroom, just to ascertain she was truly alright and not just pretending. She came out, wore another dress and took the handles of her wheelchair.

"Come on, let us go. We have a meeting to attend."

Down the stairs, Caspian could hear them before he saw them. Taylor waited at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes lighting up when he saw Aretha pushing Caspian.

"Milady! You didn't die!"

"Of course I didn't. Wait, why are you happy?"

"You are our source of sustenance. It would be incredibly inconvenient for us if you just passed away so easily."

Aretha rolled her eyes and left the handles of the wheelchair to Taylor.

"Please take care of him and bring him back as fast as you can. I won't let him miss this meeting."

"Of course, my lady."

As Caspian watched her walk away, a question boggled his mind. Just what did Taylor mean by source of sustenance?