The First Queen *Sample Only*

Chapter 15

I could feel the sharp teeth leaving my neck at one point, but it didn't matter. The burning sensation continued, and it was not just my neck that hurt, it was my entire body, and it was happening so intensely that I kept wailing as tears streamed down my face and my lungs were depleted of oxygen. I felt like I was drowning in pain and knowing that the teeth had left my skin and the agony continued terrified me. What if the pain never stopped? It felt like it had been going on for hours already, even though it had only been a few seconds. I was leaned back against the wall, clutching my neck, and wailing. It was all I could do.

I was so focused on the pain that I was hardly aware of the things going on around me. I could hear people talking, but it sounded muffled to my ears so I couldn't tell who was speaking or exactly what they were saying. In that moment I didn't want to know, and I didn't care enough to try and listen. I knew that I was being carried somewhere now, but I wasn't sure who was carrying me and where they would be taking me. I didn't care about any of those things. I just kept my hands clenched tightly over the wound on my neck, crying and screaming when I felt blood trickle through my fingers.

I ended up on my bed. I guessed it was because the king had carried me there. My tear filled eyes caught my maids. They all looked frightened beyond words. The timid little blonde was holding Lydia's hand and Lydia just watched me in horror. They seemed concerned, like they thought I would die. And with the amount of blood flowing out of my neck maybe I would die. At least the pain would end then.

"Get the doctor." The king barked out.

His words sliced through the pain and released a pinch of optimism in my mind. Yes, the doctor would come. I had never seen a doctor in my life, my owners would not pay for one, but I knew they were healers. Some even called them miracle workers. A doctor would give me something that would make this insufferable pain vanish or at least lessen. Yes, a doctor was what I needed.

"The human doctor or the pack doctor?" Lydia asked.

When I glanced at her I could tell she was trying her best to be strong, but the way her chin quivered showed her true feelings and it made me cry harder. She was scared; my solid maid who had seen it all was scared.

The king's attention was snatched away from her the second my wails increased and my sobs racked my chest again, nearly choking me. The concern and confusion was plain on his face. It seemed he may have orchestrated this awful event but now he wanted to end it just as badly as everyone else.

"Both, we need both." He replied without looking at her.

Lydia left immediately, leaving my other two maids to hold each other's hands and watch the event unfold.

King Archer seated himself on the edge of my bed. He still appeared to be quite alarmed, but when he leaned down towards me I was the one who became even more distraught.

"Get away from me!" I screamed.

"I want to help." He countered.

He sounded calm and collected, like this was something that happened every day and that made my stomach clench tightly with unease. Perhaps this marriage was going to be much more painful than I had initially imagined. Perhaps my morning wake up call would be a sharp bite to the neck and blood loss.

"I don't want you near me!" I cried, desperately thrashing on my elegant bed, "You tried to kill me!" I wasn't sure what I would accomplish by flailing, even if I hurt him I couldn't get away. I was already beginning to feel dizzy and weak.

King Archer looked at me with clear distress in his features. His lips parted as if he was going to deny my accusation, but then seemed to think better of it. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes before he leaned away from me.

I lay perfectly still once I was sure he wasn't going to touch me. I bit down hard on my lower lip, causing blood to trickle into my mouth and I kept my eyes clenched shut. Every muscle in my body was tense and ached with cramps. My hands still cradled my neck, I could feel liquid dripping onto them and spilling over onto the bedding, but I didn't dare move. The pain had lessened a substantial amount, but I still feared that if I moved an inch my control would evaporate and screams would pour out of my mouth once more.

"Who was it?" King Archer asked, his voice breaking the long silence. "Who was in your room last night?"

"I wouldn't tell you before, I certainly won't tell you now." I snapped back, my eyes opening and a small whimper escaping my mouth at the end of the sentence. "You are an animal, you tried to kill me."

King Archer opened his mouth, those dark eyes looking furious instead of remorseful once more, but just as he was about to speak the door opened and two men rushed to my side. They both went to work immediately, both of them demanding that I take my hand away from my neck, and the instant I complied they were examining the wound intensely. They worked efficiently, instructing me to move in ways that wouldn't cause me pain so they could see the extent of my injuries, and they spoke to one another using terms I didn't understand. Still, I listened to all of their directions and gritted my teeth together when they bandaged my neck. And even though I didn't know these men I could tell the kinder, gentler one was not fond of the colder one. And they had disagreed over something.

"What happened?" King Archer rasped out, "I never marked my first wife, I don't know if this is normal."

The two men exchanged sideways glances and the one who was taller with a cooler demeanor answered first, "Because you are a werewolf and she is not your bite is toxic to her. She lost a lot of blood and needs as much rest as she can possibly get. I can see that she was not in good shape before this incident and that only increases the severity of the issue. My recommendation would be to allow her to heal and to never attempt to mark her again." He ordered, packing up his supplies. "She is not one of you and should not be treated as such." With that, he left the room, completely disregarding me and my maids as he went.

I had no idea what some of his words meant, but I could see the fear and hurt in the king's expression. That had not been the answer he wanted to hear at all.

"And you?" the king whispered, almost sounding frightened when he spoke to the other doctor, "What do you think is going on?"

"I think he is partly right, she is not in good shape and it is no surprise to me that her body could not handle the marking. However, when I look at the wound I don't believe it is deep enough to be a legitimate mark. I worry that you will have to mark her again to make it permanent. That being said, now is not the time for that. Her body needs to heal before we can make any assumptions about our next step."

"Thank you." He murmured when the doctor was about to exit. The doctor bowed before departing. Then king archer turned back to me, "You have to stay in bed for the next few days. I will send in the doctors to check in on you every morning, but if you ever feel unwell you tell your maids and they will alert someone immediately. I want you to move very little until we are sure that you are well enough, do you understand?"

"What is 'marking'?" I asked, disregarding his question.

The king stood up and straightened his jacket, "You are not allowed to leave this room unless absolutely necessary and under no circumstances are you allowed to leave the palace until further notice. Do you understand that, Willow?" the king demanded.

"Yes." I said, hoping he would believe my lie.