Mortal (Book 3)

Chapter 29

When the guards escort us back to the palace, Ulfric and Galmar quickly disappear to go speak in private, making sure to leave me behind. Carth follows my eyes as I watch them disappear up the stairs.
"Want me to find out what they're talking about?" She whispers. I smile at her slyly.
"No, thank you. But will you do me a favor and send a message?" I ask her.
"Of course."
"Could you please invite Thorwulff of Windhelm to join us for dinner tonight?" I ask her. She smiles and begins to step away to talk to a guard.
"Will do." She says.

~

Ulfric and Galmar are very clearly avoiding me for the next few hours before dinner, but that's fine as I use the time to catch up on my reading in the throne room. Marcurio appears at the top of the stairs, approaching me slowly.
"Is this a bad time?" He asks cautiously.
"No, I'm not busy. What is it?" I ask.
"I examined Aela as you asked, but I wasn't able to identify what magic was used, although I agree with the priestess that it's something unnatural... It would help if I could ask her questions about what happened, but her fever has made her completely delusional. She keeps asking to speak with you." He explains.
"I see... I'll try to talk to her." I say, standing and setting my book down. He follows me downstairs to the room Aela is being kept in. When I enter, she's been moved from the bed to a large wooden table with one thin blanket below her and one over her naked body.
"The healers had to move her out of the bed, it was irritating her infection." Marcurio explains. Blaise sits next to her on a stool as she mumbles to him quietly.
"Aela...?" I ask.
She rolls over to face me.
"Ah! She comes to dine with me at the table!" Aela gasps.
"Aela, how are you feeling...?" I ask.
"I feel nothing. I only know. And see." She sighs, smiling and closing her eye.
"Tell her what you see." Blaise tells Aela.
"I see fire and death. You'll know my friends soon, my Queen." She says as if trying to comfort me, reaching for my hand. Hers is covered in burns, so I hold it as gently as I can.
"What can you tell us about what happened to you? They want to help you heal, Aela." I ask her, changing the subject. She shakes her head.
"So many things have happened, and none of them will ever heal. What's done is done, and the inevitable chases me in my dreams." She sighs, smiling still.
"This is very strange... I've never known her to talk like this, not at all." I say to Marcurio. I look at Blaise, perched on the stool on the other side of the table, staring blankly at Aela's face.
"Blaise, why don't you go see Camilla for a while, see if there's anything she needs." Marcurio suggests, following my train of thought. He insisted before that he could handle it, but I'm not sure that's true anymore.
"Your majesty, can I talk to you?" He asks, seemingly ignoring Marcurio.
"Of course, Blaise." Marcurio and I take him back out into the hallway.
"That lady isn't crazy." He says, looking at the ground.
"What do you mean?" I ask him.
"The things she's talking about are real. She... She told me she saw my parents... She saw how they died. She doesn't know about that." He says softly.
"Blaise, when did she say that?" Marcurio asks.
"Right after you left. She said she saw arrows in them." He explains. Marcurio looks at me, eyes wide in confusion, but I'm skeptical.
"I don't think this was something you were ready to see. Aela is very very sick, but she isn't a seer, I promise you. As for your parents, I know it pains you to be without them, but they're at peace. Now, go see Camilla and wash up before dinner. Your face is dirty." I tell him. He nods and runs off to find her.
"Nova, I don't know about this... I've seen a lot of people with fevers, and they don't talk like that..." He says.
"I know, but you agreed some sort of strange magic was at work here. I think once she heals, the delusions will wear off." I tell him.
"My Queen... Mother of queens..." Aela calls from her room. I step back into the room as she reaches out for me.
"What is it?" I ask her as I sit back down next to her.
"I have much to tell you, and little time. You have been careless and inattentive, ignored your own nature, and there is a price to be paid in blood. This is inevitable now, but can be salvaged. Do not reach for him, Queen of dragons, Queen of fire. I beg you, do not hold his hand! There is nothing to stop the horrors to come, only slow them down." She says. Her words are strange and send chills up my spine.