A Sick King

That morning had started off different than the many he had woken up to before. His skin felt warm to the touch, a sticky mesh residing over his skin like dew. Reminding him of a humid summers day.

He felt tired, like a weight had trapped him to his bed as the sheets clung to him. 

He slowly pulled his legs out from under the confining blankets, letting them dangling over the side of the bed as he pressed the palms of his hands harshly to his stinging eyes. A pressure seeming to well up behind them. He glanced over to the window, a soft glow seeping through the curtains. The clock on his desk reading that it was time to get ready for school. 

He shirked off his tiredness. Although it was unusual, he had been out strolling late that night. So it had to be that he hadn't slept enough. Quickly, he got dressed and ready to leave for the mirror to the main campus. Striding through the long winding hallways of Diasomnia. 

"There you are Malleus, running a bit slow today, are we?" Lilia crooned from above him, his upside down face wearing a blinding smile. His smile fell into a tight lipped frown, his brow furrowing together in concern. Malleus looked flush, a pink haze residing on his cheeks. An almost invisible sheen of sweat on his forehead accompanying his unfocused gaze.

Lilia righted himself so his feet were now firmly on the floor. Cocking his head to the side, his eyes narrowing into slits as he looked at Malleus with great scrutiny and concern. 

"Are you feeling alright? You seem a bit under the weather" Lilia questioned, his eyes softening. 

"I feel fine, I'm just a little tired that's all, thank you for your concern" Malleus brushed off, stepping around Lilia to continue his journey to class. Lilia taking place by his side. Once more looking him up and down with apprehension. He didn't look fine. He reminded him of what Silver had looked like when he had come down with a nasty fever. 

He peeled off a glove, contemplating whether he should check Malleus's forehead much like he had done with Silver, before once more gloving his hand. Malleus seemed confident that nothing was amiss, and if he said he was fine, he was. If he did feel off, he would tell him. Lilia once more assumed his smile, continuing to walk by his side until they parted ways at the mirror. 

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Malleus rolled his shoulders in discomfort. His lips forming a thin line as he grimaced at the uncomfortable heat he was trapped in. He glanced once more to his classmates. A pounding thundering against his temple. No one else seemed to be suffering from this sweltering heat. Their pens all scribbling away as they jotted down notes. Professor Trein rambling on about a war that had happened eons ago. 

He was never going to be able to focus like this. 

He could barely register the bell ringing to signal class being over. Staggering to the door as the room swayed before him. What was wrong with him...he couldn't have been poisoned. Could he? It was unlikely, he hadn't drunk or eaten anything that could have possibly been laced. But at this rate he was going to lose a days worth of classes if he didn't find a way to rid himself of this...this...whatever was making him so weak.

He could go to the infirmary of course, but he would miss all of his classes that way. He was the ruler of Briar Valley, and if he were to shirk off classes over a minor inconvenience, then what would that say about him as a ruler? Lilia would be disappointed. 

Just as he had reached his next class an idea struck him like lightning. He simply would use his magic. It wasn't exactly hard. Honestly, he doesn't know how he hadn't thought of it before. He blames his slowness to realization on his difficulty to focus today.