The Illean Lady (The Illean Fanfics #1)

Chapter Thirty Eight

Rona was squeezing my hand tightly but I couldn't keep still. The thunder was angry and wild outside of my bedroom window and the rain came down with the kind of untamed fury that made me wonder what got mother nature so pissed off. I continued to chew away at my nails and paced the length of my bedroom.

Maria, Chastity, and Zelli took up residency in my room. Maomi was knitting furiously to try and calm her nerves but when I spotted the tears running down her face I walked over to her and handed her a tissue. She gave me a tight smile and wiped at her cheeks. Kathrine kept herself busy with cleaning. Rona seemed the most distraught of the girls. She adored the Queen and the thought of her dying...

Well.

It killed all of us.

When the King and Queen went to visit the Southern provinces they didn't expect the sudden outburst of disease. It was almost like a modern day plague swept over the entire country. For the past week the castle was on a lock down and the ball was moved to next Thursday.

"Do you think..." Maria swallowed and her pretty accent was strained. "She'll be alright?"

Zelli looked at me and we both knew. I looked down. I had wanted to go and see Cal but this seemed like such an intimate private family time for him. All of  us feared getting sick. The headaches, sudden weight gain, nausea, vomiting. Shortness of breath, coughing, fever, rash, the aching, the cramping. From what we knew the Queen obviously didn't have all the signs but she had enough for the doctor to suspect she was exposed to the illness. Right now it was called Haleston.

"I can't believe this is happening," Chastity shook her head and her blonde hair fell and covered her pretty face. "This is insane."

"I should go see him."I said finally. "I feel horrible-!"

"What, you don't think the rest of us do?" Zelli asked. "We can't, Mil."

"But you're not-!"

His best friend, I almost said.

I let out a deep breath. "But you're not immune. I am."

Zelli rolled her eyes.

I have never been sick a day in my life and I thank my dad, and bitchy step mother, for shoving those vitamins down my throat all those years. Disease was afraid of me and my kick ass immune system.

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. "I'm going to step out, maybe stop by the kitchen," I said approaching my door. "Want anything?"

They shook their heads and I was gone. 

Walking down the halls of the palace I felt so strange. Everything was pale and lack luster. It was in the week the Queen spent feeling ill the color and life was sucked out of the country like a vacuum cleaner. I didn't understand how one person could have this much affect on so many people. 99 percent of the country have never ever seen the Queen in person let along know her well enough to mourn her in her time of being ill. I didn't understand how one person could so deeply affect other people.

Sometimes, I'd catch maids and servants crying and I'd catch guards trying not to look they lost any sleep the night before and rub away the bags under their eyes. It was almost as if everyone was sick. No one could explain what was wrong with the Queen- it looked like the common flu but mixed with the other strange symptoms they didn't know what to think.

I thought several times about going up to Cal and just holding him in my arms and asking him if he was alright. I knew he wanted to see me, he sent me a letter whenever he could, but his family was more important. Turning the corner I bumped into a running girl and nearly fell flat on my ass. When I looked up I saw a pale face, with round blue eyes, and long yellow blonde hair.

It was Princess Delaney.

"I'm so sorry!" She said frantically as she sniffled. "I didn't mean to bump into you I just-!"

"Hey," I bent down next to her and rubbed her back but for some reason she couldn't stop crying. I didn't know what to do so I looked around for a way out. "Come."

I ushered her to a tucked away corner of the palace and sat her down. I reached into my dress  pocket, bless Rona for giving my dresses pockets, and handed her a tissue. She blew her nose and even in cleaning her buggers she was royal.

Weird.

"I think you need to take a breather," I said rubbing her shoulder.

"I don't know what to do!" she said frantically. "They don't know what's wrong with mommy, I can't lose my mother! You should see them Lady Milada they all look horrible, and I-! And I-!"

"Shhh," I pulled her close to me and she cried into my shoulder.

I hardly ever talked to the other princes and princesses they were always M.I.A. But for some reason i felt bound to Princess Delaney and responsible for keeping her comfortable. She was a couple of years older then my eldest half brother and right around the same age my own mother died....

The universe was one fucked up son of a bitch.

"Daddy doesn't even look like himself anymore!" she sobbed. "I've never seen him cry before, he was crying today! It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen!"

I squeezed her tighter. I know what that felt like. Dad's were supposed to be strong. They were supposed to pick you up when you fell down and fight away all the monsters in your closet. To see them cry....or in pain was terrifying. Because if Daddy, the big bad monster slayer, was crying what did that mean?

"Everyone is so different."

"It must be so hard for you." i swallowed hard and squeezed her so tight I thought I might crush her little bones. "She'll be alright. I know she will."

"It's so strange," she told me. "Mommy doesn't look sick but she...she gets sick sometimes."

I held Delaney for what felt like an eternity. I waited until she stopped crying and had one of the maids take her up to her room.

This was going to be hard.