PRETENDING NOT TO CARE

Words sounded muffled as I floated in and out of consciousness. My throat hurts, my whole body ached and my vision was gone, not completely but it was blurred beyond recognition. Dark shadowy figures danced above me, figures I couldn't quite make out. Their voices were slurred and distorted as if I were underwater. I wasn't aware of my surroundings and for the first time, I was truly terrified.

Was the way I was going to die? A painful death with poison eating away at my insides? I thought to myself as I laid on the bed while people shuffled about. My hands twitched uselessly at my sides, and I felt utterly powerless as the pain surged through me. I heard footsteps shuffle closer to me, but I couldn't tell who they were or what they came to do. I just hope it was to help instead of merely watching to witness my end.

"What happened to her?" A voice I think belonged to Madam Katerina asked, though it sounded distant.

"The prince's drink was poisoned and he would have consumed it if it hadn't been for her!" A voice I didn't recognize explained this time around.

It was getting harder to hold on to my consciousness. Every nerve in my body screamed in agony, my muscles felt as if they were tearing apart and the pain in my body only seemed to grow with each passing moment. It felt like there was something vile inside of me that strikes away at my intestine.

I felt something welling up in my throat, thick and metallic. With what little strength I had, I turned my head sideways, just in time to vomit. The loud gasps of horror confirmed what I already guessed it was. Blood, dark, thick and horrifying spilled from my lips onto the floor. Black spots danced in the corner of my eyes as I collapsed back down to the bed, breathing heavily and labored.

Someone muttered curse words under their breath, a string of panicked words I couldn't quite comprehend. Bit I heard the next words clearly. "What sort of poison is this?"

"No one knows, but I heard they are torturing the maid to get it out of her." A voice offered.

"This is really bad, for it to turn the human girl this way, I can't imagine what it would have done to the prince!" A new voice said, dripping with sympathy.

I was still holding on to consciousness when a voice said, "It would probably make the prince sick for a few days and with a healer and the strength of his wolf inside of him, he's going to heal."

"And what about her?"

The voice was silent for a moment, "Send word to her family to start preparing for a funeral rite."

***

CORION POV

I stayed in my room, the anxiety eating away at me. The sight of blood pouring from Aneesa's lips as she fell down to the ground was an image I wasn't going to forget for a long time. A brown eyes wide open with fear as she stared at me, silently asking me to save her and all I could do was just stand there and watch.

Aneesa had laid on the ground gasping for breath, her body convulsing as she clawed at her throat with bloodied hands, trying to find a way to breathe through the poison. I had just stood there watching the whole thing while the guards went to apprehend the maid who had tried to poison me. Aspen had eventually ordered the other servants to get rid of 'this mess' his actual words. It had taken everything inside of me to remain calm when inside it was clearly the opposite.

Inside, I was unraveling. I wanted to rush to Aneesa, offer words of comfort to her, to kneel by her side and take her into my arms while trying to figure out how to get the poison out of her, but I couldn't. I couldn't let Aspen know just how important she is to me. The sight of her dangling bloodied arms as she was whisked away, tore me apart. I had to act like I didn't care even though my heart was screaming in agony.

My legs bounced up and down nervously on my bed as I waited for information in my room. Every second felt like an eternity, the image of Aneesa's pale face and blood streaked lips flashed in my mind. I gritted my teeth, hands clenching into fists, trying to steady my breathing. The door to my bedroom opened and I immediately stood up just as Reagan and Anya walked in.

"How's she?" I asked immediately.

Anya narrowed her eyes at me, her expression sharp as if she could already sense something in my question. "She's fine."

"Barely." Reagan responded to which Anya shot him a disapproving look, "She is trying to hold on but it's getting difficult. The nurses at the infirmary do not think she will last the night. A letter will be sent out to her family to start preparing for funeral arrangements."

I shook my head at him, his words hitting me like a punch to the gut. "That won't be happening, we need to bring her here."

"Agreed, though she should be healing by now." Reagan added thoughtfully, "She has the power of the ruby which should make her immortal."

Anya shrugged with casual indifference that made my blood boil. "Perhaps we were mistaken." Anya stated, her tone flat, "Maybe her body can't handle it, oh well, what a shame."

"Will you just quit it?" I growled at Anya, my voice laced with frustration.

Anya's brows went up as she stared at me. "Are you serious right now? Don't tell me you are starting to care for her?"

"I care that someone tried to poison me!" I snarled, stepping forward. "Someone was brave enough to poison me under my own nose and I didn't know about it, didn't even smell it. But, she knew, Aneesa knew and I'm more interested in finding out how, so yes Anya I do care!"

Anya's expression softened, "How's the interrogation going?"

"The girl killed herself immediately she was caught, I apparently she is more scared of her master than she is of death!" Reagan repeated while Anya muttered a curse word, her voice tinged with frustration.

Someone had tried to kill me, someone tried to get rid of me permanently. I have a pretty good idea who but I must not be so rash about this. I need to figure out a way to fix this out carefully and the only one who can help me is Aneesa and there's no way she can help me if she dies.

"Anya, go gather some clothes for her to change into." I ordered while she nodded her head at me, "Reagan, shroud this entire castle in darkness till Aneesa is safely in my room, I'm going to take care of her!" I ordered stepping out of the room.

I was going to get Aneesa!