Crown of Beauty and Vengeance

Chapter 19

           

           

Chapter 19

Lyv couldn't stop looking over at the crown prince, still unconscious, still lying on the cot he'd been on all afternoon and all through the night.  She hadn't gotten any sleep, not when she was keeping by his side just to make sure he was still breathing. 

They had a few scares, which she had been the only one to witness since they happened during the night when everyone had gone to bed.  Not all of the venom had been drained from his body, hiding and laying in wait to drain his magic more.  Lyv immediately knew what was happening close to midnight when the gray lines reappeared on his chest and raced for his heart. 

But doing what she'd done before, she saved him again...and did a more thorough sweep of him.  Her knife in which she used to cut the small incision to push the venom out was laying on the cot beside him, still covered in blood, still resting on the bloodied and venom-soaked cloth. 

And yet she didn't want to use it to slit his throat as she'd imagined throughout the year previous. 

Not when she felt what he was holding onto. 

Even though Destan hardly talked about his older brother in the few weeks they spent getting to know one another, she knew from their few conversations and rumors going around that Jai hadn't been the best crown prince he could be over the past year or so.  Though he'd been gone for most of the time on missions the king and queen sent him on, he would drink himself into a stupor whenever he was in Ayveri or keep to himself even while being out in public. 

But that soul wound she'd felt the day before...she might have poked around it more during the night to see just what it was about. 

And she got her answer. 

The guilt he held onto from what happened the year before back home in Escarral was eating him alive.  Of breaking his promise of aid to her father, of Gideon ripping their friendship and brotherhood away from him because of what he'd done.  Then there was the disappointment he brought to his parents and his regret over not spending more time with his siblings... 

And guilt over what he did to Lyv because of Amory.

That was what killed him the most, the scene in the throne room playing over and over in his subconscious, the look on Lyv's face as she stared at Amory's decapitated body on the red-stained marble floor.  And that he left without doing something to stop her mother. 

Knowing he was still holding on to that...she almost felt sorry for the poor bastard.  A dark part of her was glad to see him suffering. 

And then there was that knife.  No.  No, she didn't want to kill him.  Having him drown in his guilt seemed like a better punishment. 

So, the following morning, she cleaned up her mess from the middle of the night and was wiping off the knife when there was a knock on the infirmary door.  She looked up just as Destan came in carrying a tray with breakfast on it. 

"Did you even get any sleep last night?" he asked, setting the tray on a clean part of the table. 

She shook her head as she walked toward him.  "No.  Didn't even eat dinner...so thank you for breakfast," she told him. 

But before she could reach for a slice of bacon, Destan grabbed her hand and pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms.  Of course, Lyv was caught off guard...but it was nice.  Nice to be held the way he was. 

"What is this for?" she asked, laughing as she returned the hug. 

"For everything you did to save my brother, including staying up through the night to watch over him," he told her...and then kissed the side of her head.  "So, thank you."