Chapter Nine

 

The castle buzzed with excitement over the crowning of the new king. Not since Cleto’s father had there been only one ruler and the people were more than ready for it.

Clair didn’t get to see much of Cleto for the couple of days it took to get things ready. When he came to bed, she was already fast asleep and when she woke he was gone again. The extreme fatigue meant the sickness had returned, and she struggled to hide it from him. She didn’t need him to know how sick she was or how little time it seemed she had left either. Not with an important event such as being crowned king coming up.

He worked to get his kingdom back in order and help his people with tasks like food, fields, and getting the kingdom in order. Clair ended up spending her time with the making of a new dress, when she wasn’t trying to stay awake. A present from Cleto, along with so many other things like jewels, furs and even more dresses. But the one currently being made would be extra special because she would wear it at the crowning ceremony. Constructed of a sparkling gold fabric, it would be embellished with diamonds.

The day of the crowning came and Clair stood on a stool getting her final dress fitting. Excitement was in the air. Everyone seemed so happy to have a good king. Since all the excitement started, this ended up being a very good day for her as well. She wasn’t really tired like she had been and she didn’t have a headache, which put her in a very good mood.

“Perfect,” the seamstress said with a clap of her hands and a big smile. “You are simply beautiful!”

“That she is.” Clair jumped, startled as Kalena came into the room. She stood in the entrance with a fur cloak that matched Clair’s dress. Clair’s jaw dropped and she wanted to run away from Kalena. Kalena must’ve seen the change in Clair for she said to the seamstress, “Will you give us a moment?”

The woman nodded, rose to her feet, and walked out of the room. Just seeing Kalena in a sparking black gown, her own beauty shining, had Clair’s heart pounding and the depression once more hit her. It seemed every time she saw the woman she wanted to cry. Just knowing the special bond between Kalena and Cleto depressed Clair.

“I know what bothers you,” Kalena said as she walked into the chamber and closed the door. She walked to the bed and laid down the cloak. Clair stepped down from the stool. “And I think it’s time we cleared the air between us.”

“What do you mean?” Clair moved away from the woman and tried to act as if she didn’t know of what she was talking.

“It will never be, Clair, so you can relax around me.” Clair frowned at Kalena who only smiled back. “He is my brother now. Being married to Rodas made Cleto my brother, and our laws forbid me to ever be in any kind of relationship with him. Understand?” Clair shook her head. “I can never marry or be with Cleto since I married Rodas. Our laws state he’s my brother, and to marry one’s brother is forbidden and punished by death.” That had Clair’s mouth dropping open. Kalena smiled again. “I know you think there is something between us, but I promise you he cares very deeply for you.” A loud bell rang out, cutting the conversation short. Kalena’s face lite up. “It’s time.”

* * * *

Cleto stood in front of the large double doors to the throne room, dressed, as many of the past kings had dressed. His strong, muscular legs were revealed in the white leather pants he wore, his feet and calves clad in long, black, leather boots. A crisp white shirt under a heavy gold and red jacket enhanced his broad chest. The same sword that killed his brother now hung on his hip in a golden sheath. A long, fur-lined, cloak was wrapped around his shoulders and held there by a thick gold chain.

Cleto took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, and nodded to the men to open the doors. They opened the door as he slowly opened his eyes to the crowd in the hall waiting for him. Instantly, his eyes sought out and found Clair. She stood in the middle of the crowd in the new gown he’d gifted to her, and she smiled at him and seemed to light up when their eyes locked. Just that smile alone eased his nerves and helped to make his feet start the motion towards his throne.

As he walked, people touched his arm, the cloak, and praised him. When he got to Clair, he reached out his hand for her. She took it, and he quickly kissed the knuckles before letting her go. Oh, the joy and pleasure he felt at this moment filled his heart. He didn’t want to let her go and right after his crowning he was going to make sure she knew that as well. He’d always cared for Kalena in the past, but never felt the kind of connection he had with Clair. And without any kind of doubt, he knew it was love that he felt towards Clair—love that kept his magic at its height without any kind of physical help. The purest kind of magic came from the heart he had always been told, and at this moment as he walked toward the crown that awaited him, Cleto finally understood that. Because at this moment he felt so much love for Clair that he also felt the inner magic.

At the steps to the throne, the high priest stood in his white fur robes as well, waiting. Cleto stopped at the bottom and bowed his head. The priest touched the top of it.

“Today is a very special day,” the priest announced. “Today the kingdom of Eltora will have one king, one ruler. The lands will be united as they had once been and how they should always be. Prince Cleto, turn and face your people.”

Cleto turned and his eyes instantly found and locked with Clair. “People of Eltora. Today you lose a prince, but will gain a king. A king you have chosen, and for which I have the privilege of witnessing and crowning as your king.”

Cleto no longer heard what the priest said. He watched Clair and noticed how she was starting to lose color in her face. The glow around her was starting to fade and he didn’t understand why. His view was blocked when another priest stood in front of him and handed him the staff of Eltora, a golden rod jeweled with a very large diamond at the end. When the priest moved away and he once more could see Clair he knew something was terribly wrong.

Her face was so pale white he thought of snow, and she swayed on her feet. A hand shook when it went up and touched her forehead. Fear hit when Kalena put her arm around Clair’s shoulders to steady her, since he could tell that Clair didn’t want to be around Kalena. Kalena looked up, their eyes locked and he could see the fear in Kalena’s eyes.

“Eltora, I crown you prince, now our king!”

The priest’s arms went up with the gold, jeweled crown and then slowly it descended onto Cleto’s head, only it never touched it. At the same time his arms came down, Clair fell to the ground. Cleto didn’t think as he dropped the rod, tossed the heavy cloak off his shoulders, and rushed to her. Everyone in the room cried out and gathered around her. Cleto had to push his way in, but once the people saw him trying to get through they instantly parted and gave him room.

“Clair!” Cleto said her name as he dropped to his knees next to her. He touched her forehead and it came back burning. Within seconds, he had her in his arms, cradling her head. “Send the doctor to my chamber,” Cleto ordered, scooping Clair up in his arms.

More people had to part for him as he walked back the way he came. He carried Clair’s limp body out of the room and up the stairs to their chamber. Gently he lay her down and touched her hot forehead, not understanding what was wrong with her. Just seconds before, she was awake and smiling at him, now she wasn’t responding to anything.

“I’m here my lord,” the doctor called out. He went up to Clair and touched her forehead, then he picked up her arm. Concern was written on the older man’s face. “Everyone needs to leave so I may tend to her, please. Leave the servants. I need to exam and find out what is the cause of her illness.”

Cleto wasn’t about to leave, but Kalena tugged at his arm, making him walk out of the chamber. Minutes quickly turned into hours. People were still in the castle, waiting to hear what might be wrong with the woman that had freed the whole kingdom of its curse. Cleto began to pace the hall. Fear of the unknown gripped him so tight he didn’t know what to do.

The hours kept going by and soon Cleto knew his patience would be gone. Right when he had enough of waiting the door opened and the doctor came out. He looked worn out, drained of energy and of magic. The expression on his face alone had Cleto almost dropping to the floor in fear. He knew something bad was happening and wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear it.

“I’m sorry, my lord,” the doctor sighed. “I’m at a loss. There is a sickness in her head, which all of my medicine and magic cannot treat or fix. I’ve tried until I feared I might pass out myself.”

“Wh—what does that mean?” Cleto asked.

“I have never seen anything like this, or heard of it before,” the doctor went on. “It must be something from her world.”

“What does it mean?” Cleto yelled.

The man jumped and Cleto didn’t apologize. “It means my lord, the lady is dying.”

That statement had Cleto dropping to his knees, head in his hands. He didn’t even try to hold back the emotions and they all came out at the same time. He yelled and his inner magic burst forth in a strong gust of wind. People, tables, and a few other things went flying in his sudden grief.

“Cleto,” Kalena gasped, touching his shoulder.

Cleto shrugged her off and got back up to his feet quickly. He pushed past her, the doctor and into the room. Two of the servants tended to Clair and were just finishing up covering her with a pink silk sheet. They stopped with shock on their faces at seeing him.

“Out,” he ordered them. Everyone around him seemed to just stand there, staring at him with mouths open and eyes wide. “I said out!” he yelled. They jumped then stumbled over each other to quickly leave.

“Cleto,” Kalena called out.

Cleto didn’t acknowledge her and shut the doors. Slowly he walked towards the bed and knelt down at the side of it, taking Clair’s hand into his own. He brought it up to his lips, kissing each knuckle, then turned it over and kissed the inside of her wrists.

“Clair, please don’t leave me,” he whispered right before he broke down and cried for the first time since he was a child.

Cleto held onto her hand and let the tears fall where they may. He cried for everything that not only had been taken from him by his brother but cried for the love he’d just found and was about to lose. A love he hadn’t been able to express yet, and now it might be gone forever. Every bit of pain and sorrow poured out of him and he was unable to hold it back.

How long he stayed on his knees, crying, he didn’t know. Who and when someone came into the room, picked him up from the floor, and settled him in a chair next to the bed, he couldn’t say. The sun started to set and with it came dark clouds to match the darkness that quickly started to close around not only his heart, but it seemed the heart of everyone in the kingdom. He could feel their pain as well. Feel the sorrow they felt for him, felt the pain of losing Clair and it tore him apart. When darkness fell so did the rain. A light drizzle started to hit the window at first, and then as time passed it came down harder and steadily. His kingdom it seemed cried tears that he no longer could shed.

He awoke to a blanket over his shoulders and a dark sky. No sun shone on the land of Eltora. No laugher filled the halls of the castle. No happiness.

Finally standing up, Cleto stretched, kissed Clair’s hand again, and moved to the window. A dreary day greeted him, one to fit his mood. Dark clouds hung overhead and a steady flow of water from the sky. It all matched how he felt deep inside.

“Cleto?” The rasping voice of Clair had Cleto snapping out of his depression and rushing back to her side, kneeling on the floor beside the bed, taking her hand in his own. Oh, how cold her fingers felt in his, so cold, he felt the life slipping from her.

“I’m here.” He brought her hand up to his lips. “I’m here, and I’m never going to leave your side.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she turned her head towards him with a faint smile. “I’m sorry.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I ruined your big day.”

“Nothing is more important than you.”

“But you need to be king.”

“I need you.” He brushed hair from her forehead, and then ran his knuckles over her cheeks. Even though her hands were cold, her forehead burned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She took a deep breath and one single tear fell down her cheek. He brushed it aside. “I really thought this was all a dream,” she sighed, “one wonderful dream, a parting gift and I didn’t want it to end. I mean, in my world a guy like you would never be attracted to someone like me.”

“Then those men were fools.”

She smiled and another tear came free. “I didn’t want to ruin the dream, but once the headaches started—I don’t know. There was something about them and what you said when I started to realize it wasn’t a dream after all. That you really were in my grandfather’s attic, and I freed you and you carried me here. My perfect fairy tale, coming to a bad ending.”

“It’s not the end.”

She reached up and held onto his arm. “It is for me.”

He was speechless at that. Right then the door opened and two of her servant came in, one with a tray, the other with some fresh clothes and bedding. Cleto kissed her forehead, and rose to his feet, lingering longer than he needed just holding her hand. Strange, but he felt like if he let go of it then he was letting go of her.

“I’ll be right back after they freshen you up,” he said. “I’m not going to leave your side.” Another kiss and he headed for the doors.

Kalena stood in the hallway when he went out. “How is she?”

“I don’t know,” Cleto sighed. “I don’t know what to do to make this go away and make her feel better. I’m lost, Kalena. I’m so damn lost. I can feel her slipping away.” He met her eyes. “I can’t lose her. She’s my heart. I—I love her.”

“I know. Come, you need to eat or you’ll get sick as well and be no good to her.” She reached out for him and Cleto took her hand. Together, they walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen instead of the dining hall. The moment the staff saw him they quickly got a plate, placed it on the table seconds before he sat down.

He ate a meal, but didn’t taste it. Saying nothing more to Kalena, he left the kitchen and went back up the stairs just as the servants were coming out. He saw on the tray Clair hadn’t eaten much, but they managed to get her into the bath, then a fresh gown and back into bed. It was enough to drain her. When he was back in the bedchamber, Clair was sleeping deeply. The rise and fall of her chest eased his fear slightly, but didn’t take it away. As she slept, she frowned, almost as if she might be in a bit of pain.

Cleto spent the rest of the day in the room. Kalena sent up another meal, sensing that he might not be down again, and she was right. He didn’t touch much of it.

Clair woke to pain again. She moaned, sat up with both hands pressing against her temple. He was at her side, helping her to take the pain medicine that the doctor had left for her. It worked instantly, but when he helped her to settle back, she began to get a nose bled. That scared the hell out of him, but he refused to let her see it. He stayed at her side, tended to it, and cleaned not only her face but helped to change her gown and bedding. She cried at that, and it tore at him. He knew what she was feeling, and made sure she understood that he wasn’t leaving her side. He’d be there for her no matter what happened. With her insistence, Cleto crawled into the bed and pulled her into his arms. She fell back asleep on his chest, and again a few more tears of his own slipped free.

Hours passed before he slipped from the bed. Instead of trying to get any kind of sleep, which he knew he wouldn’t get, he stood at the window, watching the rainfall. He stayed with her for three straight days. He stood by her side when she had the nosebleeds again. Held a bowl for her when she got sick after trying to eat some food, and held her after she took her medicine so she might get some rest. When the doctor came back on the fourth day, he kicked Cleto out, stating that he needed to tend to himself. He needed to bathe, change his clothing, eat, and if possible get a bit of fresh air to clear his mind. Cleto protested, but the man stood his ground. He told Cleto that he had been looking in his medical and magic books and wanted to see if he could figure something out to either give them more time to help Clair, or see if he could find a cure. The doctor needed time, space, and Cleto’s grief would block him of his own magic, since Cleto’s was thick in the room with protection.

So Cleto left and followed the doctor’s orders. He ate but didn’t taste the food, then took a walk through the castle since it was still raining. The staff tiptoed around him, and he couldn’t blame them. He knew if one said the wrong thing right now he would snap. Being away from Clair put him on edge. He needed to be with her. Needed to be by her side for every second he had left with her.

Two hours after the doctor kicked him out of the room Cleto had enough and headed back. He couldn’t handle being away from her any longer. Right when he got to the top landing the door opened and hope filled him. Hope that something good might happen. However, when the doctor came out, his shoulders were slumped, his head down, and Cleto’s heart sank. He walked up to the man slowly, not wanting to hear the bad news.

“I’m sorry, my lord,” the doctor said, “everything I’ve tried or thought about isn’t working. My magic or medicine just isn’t strong enough to take away the sickness.”

Cleto wanted to fall to the floor. He swallowed hard, dreading asking the question that needed an answer in the worst way. “H—how long?”

The doctor looked suddenly uncomfortable and unable to look Cleto in the eye. “It’s advancing quickly. Maybe another day. The darkness inside her has almost taken over. I’m at a lost as to what to do. I left her more of the pain potion. I am very sorry, my lord. I wish I could do more.”

Cleto just about crumbled to the floor when the doctor patted him on the shoulder and moved away. Instead, he nodded at the doctor, brushed past him and went into the chamber. When he got closer to the bed, he saw Clair holding her head with both hands, squirming on the bed in pain, blood once more running down her nose. Instantly he was at her side, picking up the medicine the doctor left and bringing it to her lips. She took it and it worked so fast that she was no longer in pain before he could put the small bottle back on the table. With a smile, he cleaned her face, and then helped her settle back down on the lush pillows.

She smiled at him. “You’ve made my last days perfect.” He could hear the strain in her voice. So quickly, this sickness was taking over her, taking her away from him. “I don’t think my last boyfriend would’ve been this attentive to me.”

“He’s an ass then.”

Her chuckle turned into a coughing attack. Finally, once she stopped, she said, “Yes he is. This is why I’m glad he left and I found you.”

He couldn’t hold back his pain any longer. “I’m not ready to let you go,” he whispered, tears filling his eyes as he lowered his head to the bed, next to her hand.

Her hand touched the top of his head, fingers threading into his hair, as she always seemed to do, and which he enjoyed. “I know,” she sighed, sounding drained. He raised his head up and looked at her. Clair struggled to keep her eyes open. Right when he thought she might pass out she took a deep breath and her eyes opened again. “I love you. I think the moment when I opened my eyes and you started to dress me is when it happened. No one has ever dressed me before.”

“Same for me.” He reached over and touched her forehead, which felt hot to his touch. “No other has ever undressed me as you have,” he said and sniffed back the tears. “I love you, Clair. Your lord and my gods only know how much I love you.”

She smiled again, eyes drifting closed. “I like that,” she breathed out right before passing out.

* * * *

Kalena stood outside the closed doors to Clair and Celto’s room in the dead of the night. The whole castle was quiet. Not even the dogs made a sound. Everyone in the kingdom mourned it seemed for the upcoming loss of Clair, the woman they all came to love very much.

She opened the door as silently as she could, holding her breath that Cleto might be asleep and not hear her come in. The rain still poured down and beat upon the glass, not stopping since Clair’s sickness present itself. It gave her the final sign that what she was about to do was right. That the land was now one with the right woman destined to be queen to it and to Cleto. Kalena always knew, even back then, that she would never be queen for Cleto. She saw that right after she was betrothed to him. Saw her own future and accepted it long before Rodas banished him and tried to take it. She knew what her fate would be. So as she walked up to the bed, she had no guilt, so sorrow, no self-pity over giving the gift to Clair that she was about to give her.

Hunched on the bed, an arm over her legs, Cleto slept finally. The staff had her told that he would stand at the window when Clair slept and just stare outside, or he might sit next to the bed, holding her hand. Oh, how he suffered and how the whole kingdom wanted to take that suffering away from him. Not to mention how much Kalena worried herself for him.

He barely ate anything, rarely left Clair’s side for long, and wasn’t sleeping. Only when he was exhausted from no sleep did his body give in, and then he slept like the dead. The people were also suffering. They needed their king. They needed the rain to stop and the sun to come back. But she understood what was going on. Cleto was hurting, his heart was breaking at the loss of the one he loved. She feared what might happen to everyone if Clair died and he lost her for good, a thought she refused to let happen.

Silently she moved to the other side of the bed and looked down at Clair. Her face was white, her breathing labored and fast. Using the back of her hand, she touched Clair’s forehead and heat greeted her.

Closing her eyes, Kalena reached out with her own mind and almost gasped aloud when she entered Clair’s body. She saw the sickness in Clair’s head. Saw how large the tumor had grown, how much of her mind it had eaten up. Such pain followed it as well. It hurt Clair, drained her, and made her weak.

Opening her eyes, pulling her hand back and glancing at Cleto, Kalena knew deep down in her own heart, her own soul that this was the right thing to do. She owed the people for her past mistakes and needed to repay them all. And seeing Cleto’s pain for Clair, she had not an ounce of guilt over it.

Carefully, Kalena crawled up on the bed, and over Clair’s body. Once more, she closed her eyes, spread her arms out, and with head back, began chanting a spell that hadn’t been used in more years that any of them really knew. She repeated the words in her own mind before, in a hushed whisper, she let them loose in the air. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked down at Clair, reached for her mouth, and opened it. The sickness began to leave Clair and form a mass in the air. Kalena kept chanting until each drop of the sickness was drawn out, and then she bent over and kissed Clair on the lips. Pulling back just enough to let the magic finish, Kalena’s own inner light began to slowly slip from her body, slip from her lips and into Clair.

Kalena watched her light sink into Clair. Saw the color come back to Clair’s face. Watched the rise and fall of her chest become less strenuous. Felt herself get a bit weaker as each second, each minute passed and her own soul gave up its magic, its life to Clair.

For one tender second time stopped. Clair opened her eyes and met Kalena’s. For that tender time, they both were not in the bedroom, but standing in a sense of nothingness. Kalena felt nothing then. The sickness in Clair was gone. She looked up overhead and there it was, waiting.

“Why?” Clair asked.

Kalena smiled. “Because I love you both.” She closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and accepted the darkness.

Clair gasped and the sickness that hung in the air rushed into Kalena. Air picked up in the room, the bed began to shake, rocked back and forth, and Cleto woke just as the last bit of it went inside Kalena. Kalena levered herself off the bed and Cleto caught her before she fell to the floor, having witnessed Kalena’s sacrifice.

“Why?” he asked, holding her close.

Kalena frowned, the pain in her head so powerful she didn’t think she would be able to answer him. “My...life...for...hers.” She reached up and touched his face. “Justice...for...what...I...did...to...you.”

“Kalena,” he groaned.

“Sh.” She closed her eyes, fighting against the pain. “It’s...done.” Breathing suddenly became harder for her. “My...life...for...hers...” She smiled again at him, her hand still at the side of his face. “Love...her.”

“I will.”

“Good,” she breathed out one last time, then her hand dropped from his face, the life in her body gone. And then the rain stopped and the sun came out, shining on Kalena first, then on the bed where Clair sat up, looking at them both.