Collaterals

By What Virtue?

A/N: double update, today. More to come through the week, if all goes according to plan :).

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"It is only, your Lordship, that she is still unwell, and—."

"Unwell?" Khaled's head snapped to the side as he looked to the shorter woman, one of Leila ladies-in-waiting. "Did the physician not say it was all just a shock of the mind? That she would recover in time?"

"Yes," She nodded slowly, though, as though not entirely certain of the claim. 

Khaled frowned at her, then took another step forward. Only the lady slipped between him and the door so that there was such little distance between them that it prompted the guards to steel a glance at them. Khaled took a frustrated breath as he forced a step back away from the lady, gritting his teeth as she spoke.

"Only the Princess is tired and..."

"And I wish to see her!" He uttered the words out too quickly, too...desperately. But what if...what if she did not wish to see him? Khaled fisted his hands. The thought struck him suddenly, and to say that his heart was not stumbling into a fluttering mess would be a lie. 

The Lady spoke slowly, now, as though to calm him, "She was only up for a few hours yesterday, as your lordship knows, and today all her highness has done.." She glanced to the guards stationed by either side of the door before lowering her voice, "All her highness has really done is eat the food I've brought to her mouth. Like...Like a child."

Khaled's eyes had the sharpness of freshly sharpened blades as he looked to her. "Is she decent?"

The question seemed to strike her as so odd that she stood,  dumbfounded,  blinking before she opened her mouth, closed it, then nodded, "Yes."

"Then I ask you move, respectable Lady, for I will see her." And then he took a step forward so that all she could do was move to the side before Khaled pushed the door open. 

The smell of burning bukhoor  slithered into his nose as he scanned the dimly lit reception; she was not in it. The fact should not have shocked Khaled, given that Leila had not exactly expected to receive him. As though undisturbed by the disarray of their new reality, the gold vases he'd gifted her remained untouched, lined side by side atop a shelf.  

The young lord could hardly help himself, legs carrying him to the vases. A smile wove through his lips as he put his hands atop pressed flowers, one or two set carefully by each vase. They were dull, now, loosing the shine of a fresh batch. Still, the thought of her pressing them against the pages of those Tainish books she read, or perhaps into one of the Aradic Poetry books he'd suggested...The thought of her checking to see if the flower had fully flattened...the thought of her setting it by each vase...

"Have you finally made time in your busy schedule to come see the Princess?"

Khaled's lips turned sideways as he turned, giving the Captain a sour look as he responded in Tainish, "I was not so allowed, you'll remember."

The Captain looked him over, hands settled on the pommel of his sword as they always were. "Quite the position you've found yourself in, young lord. I have not previously seen a noble, even one with coffers as vast as your own, step up to command in lieu of the crown. By what virtue, I wonder?"

Really, there was little need for Khaled to converse with the Captain. Little need beyond the fact that the man guarded Leila, and seemed to do a fine job of it. "It is all temporary. Till Leila is well enough to claim the throne."

He raised his brows, "Ah, yes. How quaint. Only I do hope someone is planning on telling her soon, of her newfound responsibility."

Khaled's brows creased. "She doesn't know?"

The Captain frowned. "I thought it was upon your decree she remain surrounded by such useless buffoons." His jaw moved to the side, as though he were grinding his teeth atop one another. "No. She's done little more than sleep. Eat when prompted. Or so I've heard," he shrugged, his hands moving to motion around him, "This is as near as I've been allowed to the Princess."

Khaled shared a look with the guard. If her own guard did not know exactly how she fared, then...

"If your Lordship would get comfortable, Perhaps I could prompt her out of bed, allow her to meet with you." The Lady from outside returned to the reception.

Khaled shook his head, turning to look at her, "Let her know I should like to enter her...bedchamber. I would not like to hassle her out of bed."

The lady pressed her lips together, but Khaled stood firm against the rush of blood sloshing into his cheeks, ignoring even the Captain's sarcastic raise of his brow as he insisted, "I am not to meet her unsupervised, am I?"

"No, your lordship."

"Then do make haste."

A moment later, he was guided through the columns, heavy curtains pulled aside so that he could step into...Khaled squinted, eyes doing little to adjust to the darkness of the room before he cringed them shut, coughing into a closed fist. The smell of Bokhoor was much stronger, here, so much so that he wondered just how she could withstand it. Khaled wiped at his eyes, clearing his throat as he straightened. And blinked. And—

The young lord had not noticed just how many people there were in the room. The Ladies-In-Waiting had curtseyed to him upon his entrance, standing in a line just by the tip of the bed. And then... Diviners. So many Diviners, lining the furthermost wall so that they all looked to the bed. And there, on the bed: Leila.