He was in and out of consciousness for some time. He remembered waking to throw up. Waking to the bedclothes soaked with p.i.s.s and feces beneath him. Several baths. There were voices too. His father"s voice and the doctor"s."Father?" he rasped at one point.
"James. Thank the G.o.ds you"re alright."
"Lilly?"
"Put her from your mind, James. She tried to kill you."
He shook his head. "Healer."
"Heal her?"
James shook his head slightly and closed his eyes. He was falling asleep again, but he needed her. "She"s… healer." His head tipped to the side and he returned to the darkness.
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He woke somewhat to the sound of someone coughing. And coughing hard.
"Lilly?" James ask.
"I"m… here, Prince."
"Lilly?" he asked aloud.
"She"s here, Son," the king replied.
"Allow her to approach. Please?"
The king nodded to the guard who lifted her to her feet. Then he let go. Lilly weaved on her feet. She staggered over to where James lay in bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, turning her head away from him as she coughed. He reached out to her. His hand touching her back. He watched her face scrunch and his hand felt wet. James removed his hand and saw blood.
"What have they done?" he asked in thought.
"Light punishment for someone they believe tried to kill you," she replied softly.
"But you didn"t."
"Didn"t I?"
She turned to face him, allowing the candle light to sweep over her face. The light reveal the many colored Adremedian poisons on her lips and the black grooves that had burned her face. James looked at her in confusion. He reached up and traced the black grooves on her face.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Poisonous tears."
"When did it happen?"
"The day I left the summer home."
"This is what you meant about being the image of death."
Lilly gave a single nod.
"Can you heal him?" the king asked impatiently.
Lilly turned her head slightly toward the king then back to James with furrowed brow.
"My father wants to know if you can heal me," James told her.
"I can aid the rest of the process," she nodded. "You"ve recovered faster and have much more strength then my healer"s blade alone could have given you."
"The doctor has been here."
"But what has he been able to do to a.s.sist the detox?"
"Water."
She shook her head. "Water alone would not have brought you to this point."
A guard stepped forward to take her away, but James held up a hand to stop him.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Is there anything not Human in your ancestry?"
"Not that I…." His head tipped back and he groaned.
Lilly shifted down by his feet and uncovered them. She took one foot in her hands and worked the reflexes. James cried, but didn"t pull his feet away from her. She worked both before he rolled over to vomit. His stomach gurgled loudly, too. When he had stopped throwing up, Lilly helped him out of bed to use the chamber pot.
"How long have I been out, Lily?" James asked, as she helped him back to bed.
"Several days, James." She coughed more and curled on herself.
James held her to keep her from falling off the bed. He even pulled her down to lay beside him. He pulled her firmly against his chest and cried. Lilly held him back. Touched him gently. James cried harder. He heard his father step away and tell the guard to keep a close watch. His crying softened as he slipped back to sleep.
He felt disoriented when he woke. "Lilly?" James asked.
She didn"t respond.
He rolled over to find himself in bed alone. "Lilly, where are you?"
She still didn"t answer.
He buried his face in his pillow as fresh tears stung his raw eyes and face. Had he killed her? Had his crying been noisy enough to push her deeper into the disease that had already come upon her? He cried and slept. Cried and slept with his father"s occasional company as he checked to see how James was improving. For nearly a week James struggled to get up. He felt weak, but not weak as he had when he tried to kill himself with Lilly"s poison covered lips.
"How are you feeling today, James?" his father asked.
"I don"t know anymore," he replied.
King Chasio nodded then turned his head when the door opened. A very prominent frown depressed the edged of his mouth.
"What is it?" James asked.
"Looks like a letter," he replied. He got up from the chair and accepted the letter from whoever held it. He glanced at the seal and sat again hard. King Chas...o...b..oke the seal and read the letter. "How is this possible?" he whispered.
"What?"
"It"s a letter from Carthago."
"Carthago? My younger brother?!"
King Chasio handed James the letter and he read it.
James,
I feel compelled to write to you. I hope all is well with you and you are in good health. For many years now I have been in different places, facing many challenges. I have finally decided to come home, but I find myself laid low with disease and unable to travel. I wished to see you and Father one last time before I die. The doctors have no hope that I will survive the long journey still ahead of me.
Unless fortune smiles upon me, Farewell,
Carthago
"How is this possible? His letters home stopped years ago." James asked.
"I don"t know," his father admitted.
He watched as his father again looked at something he couldn"t see.
"Father who stands there?"
"No one."
"Then why do you keep looking over there?"
"A trick in the light, James."
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" he asked, shaking the letter a little. "There is nothing within three days ride of here. Even if several people traveled non-stop, there is no way the letter could get here in three days."
"I don"t understand it either James, but the letter is written in your brother"s hand and sealed with his Signet. Neither one can be duplicated."
James sat up and leaned forward slightly to get out of bed. But as he leaned forward to stand, he found himself falling forward. His father caught him and lay him back down again. "Why?...Why am I so weak?"
"You"ve been quite sick, James. Give yourself some time to recover."
"No! I need to find out who falsified the letter."
His father stopped him and all light left the room.
"What"s going on?" he asked. The lamp was re-lit and Lilly bowed to the king before leaving the room.
"Lilly, wait!"
She stopped.
"Is Carthago really alive?"
"He is. I must go now." Then she silently left the room.
"Are you recovered?" he thought asked her.
"I am," she replied. "Thanks to your tears."
"I don"t understand how my noisy crying healed you."
"I do not understand it either. I only know it works. Now sleep."
James closed his eyes, not wanting to to rest. But not long after closing his eyes, James slept for the rest of the night.