A Terrible fate

Part 21

"What?" Lionel looked from her to me, placing his hand back on my head and moving me so I was looking at him, "I didn't hear, did she really?!"

"She did! She was trying to say something!" She was jumping more now, even throwing in a little twirl. "I thought I heard a familiar little noise and when I popped up she looked at me and tried to say it again! I saw her mouth move and heard her little voice!"

Did she know me? I tried to pull my head away from Lionel's hand so I could see her. She sounded like she knew me.

"What was she saying?" Lionel kept his grip on me. It isn't rough but he was most certainly not letting go. "You heard what she was trying to say, what was she saying?"

"She was stuttering a bit, I think she was trying to say something like 'I'm' uh... 'I'm something!"

"What is it, are you hurt? Where does it hurt? Is it in your head? Do you feel like you'll be sick again?"

Lionel's questions were like a rapid-firing bow, shooting off one after another so quickly I could barely understand him.

I was really dizzy and now I was really tired. Could I go back to sleep for a little bit before they start asking so many questions?

"Give her a moment! Give the princess a moment!" The doctor was getting into the noise again. He swatted Lionel's hand away and gave the maid a quick order to go get something for me to use if I got sick again.

His hand replaced Lionel's on my head, using it to guide my face around so he could look at me properly.

"She seems fine. She must have just woken up and moved suddenly. It can happen after someone hits their head as she did."

"She was just trying to say that she wasn't!" Lionel turned from the older man back to me again, "Are you alright? What's wrong?" He could barely get out any more words before the doctor cut him off again.

"We don't know what she was trying to say! What matters is that she was speaking. Now stop asking her so many questions and let her gather herself for a moment!" he was gruff and grumbly. He reminded me of the military doctor that my Uncle always went to see. Especially Uncle Barret always grumbled about how the palace doctors never knew what they were doing. He was the one with the heavy metal clubs, he and Uncle Quetzal were the most massive people I had ever met. They could hold me in one hand if they wanted to.

"Fine..."

Lionel and the doctor whipped their heads back to me. My voice was a little louder than a mouse's whisper, but they had heard it this time.

"She spoke..." Lionel's eyes went wide and the doctor's mouth went agape again.

"She spoke!'' Lionel shot up from the chair next to the bed, "I need to write to the king! And his majesty the prince! This is astounding!" he practically flew out of the room, the door slamming into the wall as he went.

"Careful with the doors!"

There was barely a moment of silence before Lionel burst back into the room again, "Oh my goodness she's speaking." he whispered this time, staring at me.

"Yes, we've established that already."

"What does this mean? Is she recovering? You need to do an exam right now, to check on her health's progress!"

"It could mean any variety of things." The doctor growled out, "I think that right now the princess needs to rest."

He then, with surprising speed, got me settled back into the bed with instructions to rest and that someone would be with me in a minute to help me bathe and clean up and get something to eat if I could stomach it.

Grabbing Lionel by the arm he then managed to pull the knight out of the room, closing the door quickly and gently behind them as I heard their voices trail off as they argued down the hall.

Maybe he was Uncle Barrett's and Uncle Quetzal's doctor, he seemed like he was used to dealing with strong and headstrong people.

I didn't fall back asleep this time, though I tried to for once. I snuggled deep into the warmth of the blankets and the soft pillows and shut my eyes, trying to fall back into a nap. My head hurt and my body felt like it was going to fall apart if I didn't get some rest, but still sleep evaded me.

I suppose I could just lay here with my eyes closed for a while. Mother always used to say that even just laying somewhere with your eyes closed for a bit was enough to get some rest. Not as good as actually sleeping, but better than staring at the ceiling restlessly.

So I did just that, feeling the sun rays that shone through the windows dance on my eyelids. There were some noises from outside of the room, hushed whispering giddy scales, and a few happy giggles. I wonder what had happened to make everyone so happy?

Maybe I'll get to know you soon. Or maybe I'll fall asleep in a little bit.

The door gently swooshed open and I heard some quiet footsteps enter, there was more hushed whipping. I moved my head and opened my eyes to look at them.

It was some maids, one of the ladies stewards my mother kept, and two guards who were poking their heads in the room to look at me. The girl from earlier was in here again, smiling brightly at one of the other girls as they disappeared into the ensuite bathroom. I heard the water start to run a moment later.

"Good morning little princess!" the lady steward, Bethany I think?, spoke quietly. Her smile was bright and her big blue eyes were sparkling.

Mother always liked Bethany, he said that she seemed to light up a room and that she was very good at getting things done. Father liked her because she did the work that three of his stewards couldn't get done in a day.

"Hel-Hello." It still sounded odd, the little noises that were made whenever I tried to speak. It felt like last night when my legs were not truly my legs anymore.

There were little gasps and all the movement around us seemed to pause. I saw the guards beam at each other before their heads ducked back outside of the room, one of them crossed over to the other side of the door and I could hear them whispering to each other.

The maids were all looking at me, I could feel their gazes on my body as I sat in the bed. I was probably a mess right now. Mother said that only your staff should ever see you as a mess, it helped maintain the air of royalty that we needed to keep around us with the rest of the castle.

"We're here to bath you and to get you into some new clothes. Would you like one of the dresses that the prince from Reobeth sent along? Or would you like one of your dresses?"