A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 64-65

Jono 2nd ,3330 A.G

"Andrew!" She whisper yelled, only the second person to try. "Andrew!"

  His sister and, by the laws of Praris- sister in law, stood by the door and watched as Chen Jade sighed. This were normal - or so she reminded herself. She'd seen grief take many forms; from one of House Simonett's farmers never shedding a tear to one of it's servants somehow finding a way unto the roof, angling his neck, and jumping in just the right way. He'd been an educated man, she'd just wondered where he would've gotten such a book- so she could keep it for a list of ways to end other patient's suffering.

  But she would and could not do so with the man before her. The high lord of Kaeles, who could not afford to do what he were doing for long.

  He turned to her a moment, a moment that felt so long she grew hopeful of his rising- then she saw his eyes.

  So reddened and swollen it were a wonder he could still see, with such large bags despite only having a day to get to that point.

  "Andrew...." She tried again, her voice softer. She thought there used to be a chair next to their bed, during the time she'd come to check on Krea- but it were gone now. So despite how it pained her knees she knelt, putting her at eye level with the high lord of Kaeles. "Krea was.... her death is felt by us all. It will be felt by all of Kaeles but.... she would not wish for you to lay here the rest of your life. We both know it, and we both know she would wish you to be so.... melancholy you cannot bring yourself to rise for..... their funeral."

  Nothing. No eye twitch, no blink- she had to watch multiple moments to make sure he were breathing.

  "If it is any consolation......" she gulped. "Very few feel... the sort of love you and her had. Surely the.... Memory of those moments makes this......."

  She were going to say somewhat tolerable, but even as the words were thought they felt wrong.

  "I loved her too." Jade kept going when Andrew's eyes forced him to blink. "Not in the same way, of course- but I'd never expected to love again either. She was..... even as a child I could tell she weren't.... What most of the world considers a proper lady- however wrong the world is. Her parents were constantly reprimanding her for her mouth, constantly having to remind her how to sit in dresses- and eventually she did tolerate them but it look a while. She.... when she was very young she insisted she wasn't going to marry, so she kicked and screamed like a two year old the first time her parents told her she'd been betrothed to Noah. Hells, she only stopped being upset when she met him and decided he were tolerable enough. And when she started to fall in love with you at the beginning of your marriage.... I'd never seen her happier. You'd remember- she wouldn't stop smiling for multiple weeks."

  He did remember, and that only made things worse. Still he rose- just to a sitting position, so Jade stood.

  "You may do what you wish." He shrugged, every muscle in his body feeling weak. "I cannot..... I will not get out of this bed. And I.... do not feel like speaking to anyone."

  Jade almost started to ramble again, then decided against it. Perhaps what he needed were quiet, a room to himself without people constantly coming in and out telling him they were sorry for his loss. She'd be lying to herself if she didn't think his daggers on the knight stand, parchment cutting blade on the desk, and the container of tea leaves(with uneven edges) made her nervous- but they could not remove those things without upsetting him further.

  So instead she bowed, slowly retreated to the hall and closed her door.

  There, she saw that Louis, Nota, and their father had also joined in on the eavesdropping.