Lethal Lineage: New Lines

Chapter 13

Meira, Amedeo, Lorna, and Percival all came to see me as soon as I stopped crying. I held Larken's hand tightly through the whole visit, afraid that if I did something, anything, it all may disappear.

Elide came shortly after to clear some things up. He brought food, which was my main focus upon his arrival. I started shoveling Mac and cheese into my mouth before he got a word out.

"Nathara, first and foremost, I want to apologize for putting you in this situation." He tells me. "It seems as soon as Asena arrived here, she began slowly dosing your drinks and food with a slow acting poison. When you were weakened, she gave you a water bottle with a nearly lethal dose."

"Bitch." I mumble through my food, hatred making me stab at my plate harshly.

"Are you aware of how long you've been in a coma?" Elide hesitantly glances between Larken and I from the foot of my bed.

"Two weeks." I swallow hard, eyes taking in Larken's stubble covered face.

Obviously he'd been too worried about me in that time to even think about taking care of himself. To be honest he needed a shower. Who was I kidding? I was just laying in a bed for two weeks. I needed a shower just as badly.

Elide nods and clears his throat. "In that time, Asena was taken into custody by the Royal Court. She was held and questioned until Larken found the evidence to prove her guilty. This morning she was sentenced to fifty years in solitary confinement until reevaluation."

I push my food around, absentmindedly nodding to show I was listening. A large part of me was still stuck in that Lineage Day loop. Two weeks of reliving that one day endlessly.

"Nat?" Larken touches my arm which still had an IV attached.

My lip trembles as I finally tell them. "Whatever Asena gave me, it stuck me in a never ending loop of Lineage Day."

"I'm truly sorry, Nathara." Elide lowers his head.

"But hey," I straighten up and swipe my nose. "I survived two weeks."

Elide meets my eyes and smiles faintly, nodding. "I'll have your things moved before you're discharged."

"What?" Larken frowns in confusion, eyeing his uncle.

"If you're okay with it, Elide promised me I could be your 'roomate' if I could survive the two weeks with Asena." I shrug. "Technically, I survived."

"Of course you did." Larken smirks, eyes drooping slightly. He seemed to be on the verge of passing out in his chair.

Elide wished me well before leaving us. I push my tray aside and scoot over, urging Larken to join me before he succumbed to his obvious exhaustion.

"Hey, don't-"

I pull out my IV so there are no tubes or wires for us to get tangled in, rolling my eyes at Larken's protest.

"You're the only medicine I need right now." I tell him.

Larken chuckles as he snuggles up to me in the small cot. "That was so cheesy it almost hurt to hear."

"I've got two weeks worth of puns and cheesiness to catch up on." I snicker, relaxing in his embrace.

"I look forward to making fun of every single one." He mumbles. A moment later he is snoring into my hair.

*

"We missed you so much! We have so much to tell you!" Meira hugs me tightly, surprisingly stronger than her small fairy size would let on.

I chuckle and return the hug before I drop my lunch tray, relieved to be joining my friends again with no threat of Asena popping up.