With both of them working, they were able to finish the research just as the sun was coming up the day of the celebration. They were allowed to sleep until two in the afternoon before they needed to get ready.James was all ready in the ballroom standing out of sight. He watched as guests came in with seeming indifference until he realized that more kept coming.
"Carthago. I thought you said you would keep it small."
"I can"t offend anyone James. You know we can"t afford to go to war."
He sighed and wondered how Lilly would take it.
The ballroom doors opened all fell silent. James stood and Lilly walked towards him. As she pa.s.sed, many of the ladies whispered to each other behind their handfans. Once she was next to James and they sat, the din of conversation slowly picked up again. Many of the guests came up and introduced themselves. James repeated the introductions in thought and Lilly smiled and nodded. After the introductions were made, music started playing and some of the guests danced which helped with the noise level.
For a few of the dances, James took her out on the floor. Though her eyes spoke of pain, her soft smile kept James in good spirits. About a third of the way through the evening, James noticed that Lilly was looking at the guests differently. Her gaze had become studious, as if she were looking for someone. It wasn"t until halfway through that she stood and approached a young man in red, standing close to the wall. Duke Tribus.
He looked startled when she approached, but her soft smile put him at ease. James watched the two of them for a while. He was curious as to what was going on since they just seemed to stare at each other. Where they talking? How was that possible? Had she opened another channel? Young Duke Tribus nodded and they stood. He left as if to head back home and Lilly left through another door. What was she doing? Slipping out for a moment he followed Duke Tribus outside. The young duke"s carriage, and Lilly, were waiting. He watched in horror as Lilly kissed him long and deep before the young duke got in his carriage and left.
Lilly sat on the steps and wept. She had given the duke enough poison to render him unconscious so when his body was riddled with pain from the poisons he wouldn"t feel it. He would be dead soon after getting back home.
"Lilly!" James yelled, moving quickly down the stairs. "What have you done?!? Have you completely lost it?! Your lips are..."
"Poisoned!" she cut in. Lilly looked at him, a steady stream of tears ran through six of the eight grooves. "I know."
"Then why did...? He"s going to die now!"
"Yes, but he won"t die in pain."
"Won"t die...? What are you saying? You did it on purpose?"
"Yes, James. He is already dying. All I did was give him a way to die without pain."
James looked out across the courtyard. "Why didn"t you use your knife?"
"It would have only prolonged his suffering."
He turned to her when she started to stand, but she didn"t get far before she collapsed.
"Lilly?"
"Dis-ease has set in. Time to rest."
James picked her up and carried her to her room to sleep. Then he left a servant to watch over her until he could come back. When he got back the only person who realized he had gone was Carthago.
"There you are James. Where did you go?"
"Lilly is sick."
"Is she all right? What"s happened?"
"This," James replied, motioning to the crowd. "It was because of this I asked you to keep it small, since you were so insistent we have one."
"A celebration made her sick? That"s absurd. She must have had too much to drink."
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"Adremedians are different than us Carthago. They get sick if there is too much noise. I"ve told you this."
"Nonsense. Bring her in here. It"ll be fine."
"Car..."
"James, as your King, I command it."
"And as my brother?"
"I ask it."
James let out a sigh of displeasure then left to get Lilly. He entered as Lilly wrested her knife from the servant and plunged it into herself. "Release!"
"Sir, I..."
He held up a hand and sent her out. He watched Lilly pull out the knife. It didn"t come away clean this time.
"Lilly?"
She looked at the knife and sighed. The blade was covered in poisons, but the dis-ease remained. "It"s all right James. What troubles you?"
"First of all you"re bleeding..." He moved to inspect the area where she had stabbed herself.
"Look at the knife in the light, James." He turned the blade in the candle light and saw the rainbow of poisons. "Now, what really troubles you?"
"The king commands you to return to the celebration."
Lilly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "All right." She sat up with a little difficulty and James bent to pick her up. "No. Let me walk while I still can."
He helped her to her feet and they returned to the banquet hall. As she sat, several courtiers kept glancing at her as if unsure of what to make of her sudden complexion change. Once Carthago asked to dance with her and she consented. During the dance, he talked to her. When she was seated again, her breathing was a little hard and her hands were shaking. Occasionally she would blink rapidly to try and stop tears from falling. James tried talking to her, but she struggled to focus on what he was saying.
The celebration finally ended and everyone left. James was quick to send for a doctor and get Lilly to bed. From the way her face scrunched it was apparent that it hurt to breathe. The doctor checked on her then shook his head. He didn"t think she would make it through the night. Alone with Lilly, James laid his head on the bed and wept. He cried until he fell asleep. He woke the next morning to silence and nearly panicked, but then he saw her chest slowly rising and falling. Her brow wasn"t quite so furrowed, through her skin looked pasty white against the black grooves.
"Lilly."
"Thank you…, James." Her eyes opened slightly.
Lightly his hand brushed her cheek and she smiled. He returned the smile with tears in his eyes then fell forward and cried on her shoulder.
Though her arms felt heavy, she managed to wrap them around his shoulders. Soon his tears were silent and he just lay with his head on her shoulder.
"Lilly, how are you feeling?"
"Tired. You?"
"Wishing we hadn"t had the celebration."
"Did you not have a good time?" Her hands moved down his back a little then fell away.
James sat up and looked at her. She looked at him. "It was good, until..." He looked away.
"I understand." Her arms never moved.
James picked up her hands and placed them on her chest. "I"ll let you rest." He kissed her forehead.
"James." She feebly tired to raise her hand to his face. He leaned down and pressed it to his cheek. "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. I"m going to go for a ride. I"ll be back later."
"Alright. Be careful."
"I will." James kissed her hand and left.