Hardly a Lady

XI

3 months later

Giselle lounged on her bed, her knees tucked up to her chest as she resisted the urge to vomit again. She didn't know what had come over her recently, but the past few days she had been so sick that she'd been unable to leave her rooms. Blair had open the windows to allow some air in, but the room still stank of vomit, which only encouraged Giselle to be sick again.

Kendra had sat up with his mistress all of last night, dabbing her forehead with a cold cloth whenever she became too hot. Giselle had been thick with fever yesterday - which had thankfully broken during the night - but all guests had been forbidden from visiting her; the King, Queen and Will included.

Her husband had sent her a bouquet of fresh flowers when he had learned of her illness, and promised that he would come and see her the moment she was well again. It was too dangerous for him to see her, she knew, and yet she hated the fact that outside of her chambers, the world was continuing unerred, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She hated that Elsa would be taking advantage of the situation by using up the time Will usually allocated to his wife, and had considered on many occasions sending Ash to distract Elsa himself. Perhaps if Will thought that Elsa had been with another man, he would drop her and return to his wife, and all would be well.

No, Elsa would never be so easily distracted from Will, and she'd know that it was Giselle behind it when Ash appeared. The Captain rarely left Giselle's side these days; he had sat outside her bedroom door for the past four days of her sickness, only relenting his post for a few hours at a time when his mistress commanded him to sleep. He was faithful, Giselle had to give him that.

Ash had taken a step back since the wedding, at least in the way that Giselle wanted him to stay close. He hadn't tried to kiss her again, even though they were alone together often and there were plenty of opportunities, considering himself an honourable man who would not betray Will - a close friend of his - and steal his wife's heart, even though Will didn't want it. Giselle longed to feel the comfort of Ash's arms again, his lips on hers, but the Captain was too concerned with his honour to ever make a move.

It was probably for the best; terrible things could have befallen them both if Giselle had allowed the daliance to continue.

As for her husband, Giselle could hardly say that they were as thick as thieves, but they were certainly closer than they had been at the altar. Will came to visit her every day, sometimes bringing with him gifts of books, since he knew that his wife was an intelligent woman who adored reading even more than he. Sometimes they would walk in the gardens, other times they would sit and play cards, but as time had passed the two of them had come to think of each other as friends, as Will had suggested on their wedding night. He still visited her at night, as was his duty, and called her pet names like 'little wife' and 'sweetheart,' but still there was no love there, for Elsa still held the keys to Will's heart, and Giselle had learned by now that she would never relinquish them.

Giselle contorted as another wave of nausea rushed over her, and then she leaned her head over the side of the bed to vomit in the bucket that Allina had placed there. The door to her bedroom opened and Lady Tressema rushed in, panic on her intelligent face, and behind her came the King's physician. Upon hearing that the Princess was sick, the King had sent his own doctor to tend her. Giselle hauled herself back onto the bed and thanked Lady Tressema meekly as the lady rushed forward to wipe her mouth and rearrange her pillows. Doctor Timon - a thoughtful looking man in his mid forties - stepped closer to the bed and set down his leather bag of equipment, bowing politely at Giselle, who nodded her head in reply.

"Your highness, do I have your permission to examine you?" the Doctor asked, folding his hands in front of his long brown robes. Giselle nodded stiffly, turning her face to bury in the pillow. Doctor Timon washed his hands in a bowl of water that Fausella had brought in earlier and then proceeded to open his bag, removing from it a small scalpel. Giselle winced as the Doctor made a small incision on her left arm, and felt a trickle of warm blood escape and run down her arm. Doctor Timon lifted her arm to examine the blood, and then muttered that her blood "was normal." Next he moved to her head, and felt her pulse on her neck. That was "normal too," and so he turned her head towards him to examine her eyes, which shockingly were "also normal." Then, he moved to her stomach, and placed his cold hands on the Princess' stomach. Giselle winced - touching her stomach made her feel all the more nauseous - and Doctor Timon looked up at her reaction, his eyebrows raised. He prodded her stomach for a little longer, then stood up and moved to stand beside Giselle's head.