ASCELLA: The Untold (Untold Stories 1)

30

"Sire!"

As I was about to give Josh an answer, a soldier from the outside suddenly entered the infirmary and pushed the curtains to the side. Josh and I immediately went away from each other and acted as if nothing happened.

"Please, do speak." Josh leaned on his back. I felt him look at me but I avoided his gaze.

"It is quite a personal matter of yours, Sire." the soldier replied and kept his posture.

"Do tell." Josh answered and crossed his arms.

The soldier sighed as he sensed that his insisting self couldn't force the Chief. "It's about your sister, Sire."

After hearing the soldier's answer, Josh's eyes widened in shock that it made him turn around and look at the soldier's eyes. "W-what about her? What about Mara?"

"She's passed on, Sire." Josh's lips parted in surprise and it made him stand up. 

"What? H-how?" he stuttered as he awaited the soldier's response.

The soldier gasped before he decided to tell Josh the answer his heart longed for. "She took ill on the road, Sire. Bandits met her on the way and ended her suffering as she traveled alone in the cold."

Josh was on his back and I cannot see his face but seeing his shoulder slowly trembled, I can tell that his eyes are filled with tears by now. "You can go."

The soldier left as told, Josh on the other hand turned silent and I was at lost for words. I reached my hand out to him and tried to tap his back but he managed to speak first. "Nurse,"

The nurse from the nearest station immediately ran to where Josh stood. "Yes, Your Grace."

"Notify me when she's good to go. Make sure to give her adequate nutrition." Josh instructed and began to walk towards the door.

"Understood, Your Grace." I was given no chance of speaking to him since he already left right before I could grab his sleeve.

Josh left with no words to spare, I watched him leave while the nurse injected something in me using the syringe. After a couple of minutes, I fell a sleep. Minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days. The nurses told me that I can now go and so I immediately did.

They instructed me that I should take some herbs every after meal and to prevent any situations that I really don't adore happening, I obeyed. After a couple days again, I was fit and good enough to walk and go back to work.

"Sire. Captain Dankworth wants to speak a word with you." the guard uttered after he knocked twice on the Chief's door.

"Let her in," Josh said from the inside and so I walked in.