The Heir Apparent - a historical why choose, rh, poly, MMF, spicy romance ✅

Chapter Sixteen

Casimir

"The queen has fainted," Laef, the queen's lady's maid, yelped at me after slamming both her fists on my bedroom door.

"Fainted?" I asked, my heart dropping even as my pulse sped. "How? When? What do you know?" I asked, trying not to run, knowing it would create a panic, but making my strides purposeful enough that Laef had to rush to keep up.

"She made her way out of the dining hall looking pale as a spirit. She was stumbling. And then she fainted straight away."

"Did she vomit?"

"No."

"Do you know if she had a fever?"

"I do not, doctor," she said, sounding distraught.

As she should.

Anevay was not merely her queen. She had been around for most of Anevay's life.

"Has she ever fainted before?"

"Only from shock when she was told she was queen. She has always been very healthy. Tough as a boy the same age as her, in fact," Laef added, puffing up a bit.

I figured it was not the time to inform her that girl children and boy children did not, in fact, differ in their hardiness, but that the way they were treated directly impacted their health.

Girls, always indoors in restrictive garments.

Boys, out in the sunlight running around and having adventures.

I burst into the door of my exam room, finding Anevay still in the careful arms of her guard who looked nearly as pale as she did.

"Is she feverish?" I asked, moving across the room toward them as Laef stepped inside, closing the door.

"No. No, she is ice-cold," Riven said, and, indeed, when my hand reached out to her, she was cold. Far too cold.

"Put her down on the table," I demanded. "Put some logs on the fire. We need to get her warm. Laef," I called, reaching out to start rubbing her arms. "We need to chafe her. The blood is not moving as it should," I added, and the maid was quick to start at Anevay's feet as I worked my way up her arms and chest.

"What is it?" Riven asked after stoking the fire. Indeed, it felt like the hottest part of summer in the exam room as I stopped chafing Anevay and pressed my ear to her chest instead.

"I do not yet know," I admitted, my stomach clenching hard at the words.

Because she was still far too cold to the touch. And her breathing was fast and shallow.

Not good signs.

"Was she behaving strangely?"

"She was getting paler by the minute. And then her speech was a bit... slow. Slurred, maybe. Like she had too much to drink. But she did not."

"You are sure?"

"Yes. She had one half of a glass. She was drinking mostly water, not wine. You do not think..." Riven went on, trailing off.

"Think what?" I barked, pulling open her eyelids, finding the insides far too pale.

"She is the sovereign. The new ruler," Riven said.

"Spit it out, man."

"Could she have been poisoned?" he asked, making my gaze shoot over in his direction.

Poison.

Of course.

Of course.

It had not occurred to me at first since the average person did not find themselves poisoned, at least not in the middle of a meal.