Treasured

33)

Mr. Price's P. O. V.

I wasn't quite sure what was happening. I mean, I saw everything with my own two eyes...I could logically comprehend the series of events that transpired, but I felt like the world didn't make sense. Like I was drowning. Adrift in a large sea with no one to anchor me...

Wren was a mess. Cedar was in grave danger. And then there was...

Tears stung my eyes as I turned from the entryway. The constables were just leaving after taking a record of the incident...the murder.

A murder in my own home, no less! A sob rose up in my throat, choking me and forcing a tear to trickle down my cheek. I groaned in the deepest agony a man could ever know, grieving for my lost love. Mourning a bond with one of the most precious souls I had ever met.

A bright star.

Orion...

~

A terrified scream echoed in my ears, prompting me to abandon my office, where I had spent the majority of the evening. The cry had sounded so horrified the hairs on my arms stood up and a cold chill raced down my spine.

I spotted a slim form flit inside just as I entered the beginning of the long corridor leading to Wren's new chamber. A glimmer of understanding increased my urgency as I realized it must be dire.

Alas! I was half a minute too late! The briefest glimpse of a black cloak was all that I perceived upon arrival. Chaos was having her way in the room a Wren hysterically screamed from the other side of the bed, his head barely visible from my position.

I quickly advanced, thinking only of the little lad that was crying incessantly.

Blood. It was everywhere - the floor, the curtains, the bedsheets, and of course...the three people who laid in a tangled heap. Wren was frantically pressing his hands on Orion's chest, trying to stem the flow of crimson. But I knew he was dead from his frozen expression and the stillness of his chest.

Cedar looked pale, dazed, and faint as he managed to prop himself up on the wall. I noticed that Wren wasn't dressed, displaying his leg carelessly, as well as the rest of his body. Vulnerable, terrified, and panicked, I knew I had but one recourse.

I quickly wrangled a robe over him, tying a sash in place before anyone else could see him. And as predicted, the rest of the lads came pouring through the door in mere seconds.

"Fletcher, the doctor!" I ordered, voice strong and firm. "And send a guard for the constables too."

"June, Branson! Help Cedar onto the bed and bind his shoulder. Sal, take Robin away from here!" I commanded.

The boys scrambled to obey, as I knew they would, although Sal paused to be sick in the chamber pot at the sight of all the blood.

"What's happening?" Johnny asked darkly, pausing in the doorway to see what the hubbub was all about.

"Johnny, tell me when the doctor and constables get here please," I demanded, scooping Wren into my arms, not even flinching as he thrashed around.

I headed down the hall, carefully holding onto Wren. My mind was craving in on itself. I felt like I needed to help too many people at the same time - I wanted to cry, to scream, to feel the ice cold pain that had pierced me through, but I couldn't - not yet.

Wren had to be calmed down. Cedar needed to be tended to. The constables would need an explanation...

I felt like I couldn't breathe.