Chapter 12: New Blood

The sound of retching filled the queen's room. Her body shook violently. The adrenaline had yet to cease to an undetectable simmer.

"Perhaps you didn't have to overdo yourself," announced a disappointed voice. She peered over her bruised shoulder, catching a glimpse of the doctor before wiping her mouth, forgetting about the sticky blood on her hands. Eisenbach stood tall with her medical bag in hand. Her appearance reminded Riona of Drystan's mother, angry yet ready to help.

"I did not," said the lady out of breath, slouching against her bedframe, a bowl in her lap. Eisenbach crouched, her eyes inspecting the wound. "She cut you bad. If deeper, a muscle would have been severed," she said in her accent.

Riona closed her eyes, resting her head against the dark wood. "Then luckily it's not," she muttered in a feverish daze.

"Why did you do it?"

"She was an infiltrator. She poisoned me. She works for the enemy."

"And who iz ze enemy?"

"I'm not too sure yet," wondered Riona, "But they are linked to Drystan. He was a brilliant planner. I wouldn't be surprised if he planned his workings to be able to flourish without him. That's just how good he was."

The doctor was silent for a moment. Her hands opened the bag, revealing cotton clumps, jars and stretched moss bandages. Riona peered towards the needle and red thread. "Will stitching be necessary?" grumbled the lady, detesting memories of all the cuts she had stitched before. The doctor simply nodded, cutting the fabric away with hag scissors. Riona averted her gaze from her shoulder, flinching her eyes as she felt the stinging of alcohol on her gashes. Eisenbach wasn't gentle either, muttering, "You have slowed. You have lost fine detail."

A glare was sent in return. "I haven't fought in quite a while."

"Because you hide in your study. You should go out. Fight the men."

Riona huffed, "I suppose."

The doctor paused, frowning as she pondered, "Why did you cut off ze wings?"

Riona licked her teeth under her lips. "I want them displayed as a warning," she answered. No further questions were asked as the doctor continued to weave the thread through the soft skin. She tied the knot and cleaned off the blood once more. She stood, motioning the Queen to take off her dress. Riona shook her head, "I feel weak to stand..."

"I shall call ze lord."

"Which one?" frowned Riona.

Eisenbach raised her brows: "The one you snuck with this morning."

Riona gasped, "I assure you, I have done no such thing. Much less what you are trying to imply!"

Eisenbach stared blankly. "Ze wedding iz a season away. It would be no surprise."

Riona gritted her jaw, "You are mistaken. I only asked him to stay out of my way today."

Eisenbach simply turned to request help. Unfailingly, help was already standing outside the bedroom door. Vally moved swiftly, carefully lifting the lady from the uninjured arm and side, settling her on the edge of her mattress. He avoided eye contact, which confused Riona. It unsettled her in an unfamiliar way. A shameful feeling.

His hands softly untied the back of her gown, loosening the fabric, and folding it away from her corset and undergown. "You can remove the corset too," said Eisenbach, "I'm sure it iz something you've done before."

Vally stared towards her with a slight offended expression. He raised his brows as a matter of factly while replying coolly, "Actually no, I haven't."

Riona snorted to herself, leaning forward for him to access her back. His fingers latched onto the string, struggling to loosen the twists yet he gave up, reaching for the scissors to cut them instead. The garment slid off easily, only the blood sticking her white undergown to the leather. She hissed slightly as the cuts were still sensitive. Eisenbach moved closer to lift the dress but once her hands latched onto the gown, Riona slapped her hand onto the doctor's wrist, gritting, "Wait till the lord leaves before you expose my skin."

Vally bowed, "Call and I will be right at your side." Without hesitation, he stepped from the chambers. The queen sat silent, pondering if it was meant for her or the doctor. Also without hesitation, Eisenbach practically tore the dress from her body, exposing Riona to cold air. She shrieked, hands slapping over her chest, forgetting about her stitched shoulder. Eisenbach frowned. "Your ribs seem to have little damage," she commented, probing with the alcohol-soaked cotton at the gashes.

Riona hissed, "Thanks to the corset."

Eisenbach motioned her to lift her arms. Riona did so slowly, allowing only enough access for the doctor to bandage up her side and shoulder. The lady opened her mouth, attempting to fill the concentrated silence. "What type of person do you paint Vally to be?"

Eisenbach paused, answering with careful thought, "You need someone to complete you and I feel that ze lord will not always be there to do so. He moves in ze dark. Who iz to say he won't leave?"

The queen was taken aback. It was not the answer she wanted so in reply she frowned, lowering her arms. "If he wanted to leave, then why would he bother looming in the shadows of my closed doors in the hope for them to open?"

The doctor straightened, lifting her bag with her. "He iz a lord of ze shadows. Perhaps he iz a perfect match for a moth but not for a queen."

Riona's jaw dropped but before words could pour out, the doctor was out of the door. She sat, hands covering her chest and mind puzzled, in the cold. What did she imply by that?

Nonetheless, she reached for the sheets to cover her exposed body and shivering wings. About to stand, her ears finally picked up the knock she expected. "Come in," she hollered, plopping back down on her bed. The room felt warmer when the lord pocked his face in from behind the oak door. He averted his eyes when seeing her cloaked in her bedsheets. "I will call a maid to come help you," he said turning, though he was stopped. "Don't. I have felt enough maids hands on me for the day."

Vally stepped into room, gaze still elsewhere. "Then where do I look for a clean nightgown?"

"The bottom drawer on the left side."

He strolled towards the closet immediately with calm even steps. His hands pulled out a cream-coloured gown, lifting it for the lady to see. "Will this one do?" She hummed a positive response. Valleric breathed, closing his eyes before moving towards her, laying the dress in her lap. His wings spread before her as he faced his back to her, allowing a sense of privacy for the lady as she slipped on the fresh material.

She glanced over her chest when Vally asked unannounced, "I didn't expect a murder today... Even less, to find the Queen covered in blood in her own study tattered in shreds."

"I am hardly cut into strips," she snorted.

He turned. "You could have been."

She looked up towards him. "Though I am not."

For the first time, he sent her a hard stare. "Thank goodness, I wouldn't have wanted my future wife to bleed out as a result of a rash decision."

"A rash decision?" she gasped, "I told you this very morning that I was planning to spill blood." The queen fell silent, her eyes widening. "Did you just call me your future wife?"

He nodded. "I have decided so this very morning just like I have come to the conclusion that I will have to watch you more intently. You are a danger to yourself."

Riona leaned back on her good arm, a smirk tugging at her lips. "If you say so, Lancelot."