Page 72 of The King's Sword
“We wait and see if you’re still alive in ten minutes,” Barret said as he took the cup and set it aside.
Gemma burst into the room, the door hitting the wall with such force it made everyone jump. “What happened?” she demanded.
Evander stood. “Queen Sabine has been poisoned. Barret administered the antidote.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Gemma asked as she came over and inspected Sabine.
“I believe so,” Barret said. “I’m going to make a few more concoctions just in case. I’ll be back in five minutes.” He bowed then left the room.
“Lucky for you Barret is the best apothecary around.” Gemma smiled and patted Sabine’s leg.
With each breath Sabine took, she felt better, stronger. Maybe she wasn’t going to die after all. Relief filled her.
Gemma eyed Evander, her eyebrows raised as if in question, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he kept his focus on Sabine.
Now that she was feeling better, she had some questions for Evander, but there were a couple people still lingering around and she didn’t want to speak in front of them.
As if reading her mind, Evander put his hands on his hips and ordered everyone out of the room, including Gemma.
Once Evander and Sabine were alone, he came and sat on the edge of her bed. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out and taking hold of her hand.
“Yes.” Her eyes became heavy. “I’m just tired.” And her body ached from all it had been through over the past hour.
Evander nodded. “I’ll let you sleep.” He made no move to leave.
Sabine closed her eyes, and a sense of calm filled her.
A few minutes later, she heard Barret mumble to Evander about having given Sabine something to knock her out and that she needed to rest. The bed shifted as Evander stood. And then the room went silent. She had to be alone.
Rolling onto her side, she drifted to sleep.
“Father is looking for you,” someone whispered.
Sabine could tell she was still in bed, but she was half asleep, unable to open her eyes. Maybe she was dreaming.
“Shh,” Evander replied. “Don’t wake her.”
“You need to deal with the mess you created,” Gemma whispered.
“Me?” Evander said. “You were supposed to make sure he was clean before he stepped foot on the palace grounds.”
“And you were supposed to kill him quickly,” she replied.
Evander didn’t respond.
“Let’s go,” Gemma continued. “You have to face him sooner or later about this.”
Evander sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m sure he already has another plan.”
It sounded as if the two of them left the room.
Sabine had no idea what they were talking about or if she’d dreamed the entire conversation. Dreams often didn’t make sense.
* * *
Sabine awoke and rolled over. She found Queen Serilda sitting next to the bed.
“Good morning,” Serilda said. “How are you doing?”
