by Kiki Leach
“Take her as well,” he said, referring to a now screaming and panicked Esme.
“Yes, Prince.”
She began fighting the man as he attempted to remove her from the room, kicking and scratching, screaming at him in the manner of a child.
“I wish to stay with him!” she shouted over and over. “I need to remain at his side!”
He managed to carry her out with the help of another, while Norvack and his father tended to an ill John.
“What in God’s name!” said Eliza under her breath.
I shook my head as my heart rate increased. “I don’t know. I don’t know,” was all I could manage to say.
She pulled us to the corner of the room as more men entered, as well as servants to clean the vomit from the floor and his chair.
I stared over at Norvack who kept looking at us while making strange faces. He knew whatever had happened, I had known of it, though I could tell he wasn’t the least certain of his suspicions.
Eliza grabbed my face and forced me to look into her eyes.
“You said we were not to kill him!”
“He won’t die!” I said. “At least, I don’t believe he will.”
She shut her eyes. “God. You’re not certain.”
“I don’t believe he’ll die. I…” I stopped. “She must have taken the wrong serum. If given the correct one, he would not behave in such a manner. Nor would he be vomiting and sweating.”
“What would occur instead?”
“Nothing! At least not for another few hours. He would have become tired, weary, but never this. I don’t know. Perhaps it was the poultry, instead. Perhaps the food wasn’t meant to mix with the serum. Or the servants didn’t cook it properly, to its completion.”
“I don’t believe so, Cinderella,” she snapped. “I believe your handmaiden purchased the incorrect serum, and now a man may die because of it.”
“Even if it were so, nothing can be traced back to us. I never wished him dead. Nevertheless, we must remain as calm as possible and stand aside our husbands. You must stand aside the king as he prepares to grieve for a man he wishes were his son instead of his own, all the while knowing nothing of his true intentions.”
“Mother,” Norvack said, startling us. “They’re taking him to Willem’s chambers.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked.
“We won’t know until the physician arrives, which is why I suggested he be taken there instead of back to his own room. I promised the king I would stay with him until then. I wish for you at my side, Cinder.”
“Of course,” I told him.
“Thank you. Father will escort him and then return to his chambers. He said he can’t bear to see another man die like Willem.”
I looked to the queen as she glared at me.
“I shall go to him.” She kissed her son and hurried from the room.
As Norvack and I waited for the physician in Willem’s former chambers, John kept his eyes on me and a smile on his lips. I stood across the room, leaning back on the dressing table with my arms folded.
“I could die,” he said, his teeth glinting in the moonlight. “I could die and you would never care.”
“You won’t die,” I told him.
“Oh?” He lifted his brows as best as he could. “Are you certain?”
“Not in the least. But I was once told that informing a man that he could in fact die while on his purported death bed was not the most sincere or clever thing to do. Therefore, I refrain from it.”
He chortled and coughed a little.
Norvack looked out the window, only frowning at us from time to time.
John stared at him for a moment and shifted against the bed. “Your father informed me that you stayed in this room during your recovery from battle. You almost died as well.”
“Yes,” he said. “I fell from my horse, injuring my back.” He turned and leaned away. “And then I was stabbed near the heart by one of your men.”
“My apologies, Prince. I can never apologize enough for that unfortunate moment. It’s not something I ever wished upon you.”
“No apologies necessary.” He moved about the room and tugged at the curtains. “I’m fully recovered now, which is all that matters.”
“And with the help of such a devoted wife, might I add.” John smiled weakly and refocused on me. “Tell me, how did you help the prince to recover?”
“She remained at my side,” Norvack interposed. “She gave me a reason to continue on.”
John nodded. “I believe she has given me a reason as well. Different, of course.”
Norvack scowled, confused. “Of course.”
Before long, the physician arrived with one of the queen’s maidens. He spoke to Norvack for a bit, then looked over John, checking him, and asked us to wait on the other side.
I walked up and down the narrow hallway as Norvack remained still against the wall, watching my every move.
“What did he mean in there?” he asked. “Your giving him a reason to live as well? A different reason as he said.”
“God only knows, he seems quite delirious at the moment --”
“Not too delirious to speak as well as he did. And my mother, sniffing the inside of his goblet, what of that?”
“I hadn’t noticed. Perhaps she wondered if his drink had been filled with something more than wine.”
“And what on God’s green earth would make her wonder such a thing, Cinderella?”
“I don’t know, Norvack. Perhaps that is more of a question for your mother.”
He sneered. “Perhaps it is.”
Moments later, the physician opened the door and invited us back into the room. John was nearly grinning from ear to ear when he saw my face. It made my heart jump a little, and not in a satisfying way.
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Norvack.
“From what he described as happening, as well as the profuse sweating and seemingly blurred eyesight -- ”
“Is he going to be blind?” I asked.
The physician shook his head. “No, no. It only seems to be a side effect from the poison.”
“Poison?!”
“Imagine that.” John looked over at me, his eyes flaming with anger and rage. “Someone within this very palace wished ill upon me, possibly even death.”
“Are you certain it was poison? Perhaps he had a bit too much to drink,” said Norvack.
“I never had more than a single goblet from the serving tray. As did we all. Yet it seems I was the only one affected by that single drink. No chance of the wine going sour, which means as stated, I was indeed poisoned.”
I rolled my eyes upward and bit the inside of my cheek.
Norvack looked down at me and I swallowed hard.
“As my husband asked, are you certain of this?” I grinned. “Perhaps it could be any number of things, such as a mild ailment from the winter?”
“To suddenly occur at the dinner table?”
“Stranger things have occurred, I suppose.”
“Not in this case, I must inform you. It was indeed poison, Mistress,” the physician stated again. “And with the amount he was given, he’s fortunate to have lived. Quite fortunate. Now given the circumstances, I must inform the king.”
“Oh,” moaned John. “I don’t believe such a thing is necessary, as I am in fact going to survive, correct? No need to worry the king of such matters.”
“If you were in fact poisoned,” said Norvack, “we have no choice but to learn of the culprit.”
The physician looked to he and I, then back to John. “The prince is correct, sir. Though you shall survive, you will need extensive care. The king must be made aware of why; the surrounding circumstances and the possibility that if this person is not found, it may happen again.”
“Cinder?” asked John. “Your handmaiden served the wine, yes?”
I gasped. “What is your motive in asking?”
“What is yours in refusing to answer?”
>
“You’re quite aware it was Brigita who served the wine, but she would never harm a fly… or a snake, such as yourself.”
He snickered at sat back on the bed. “It was someone else, then. We shall learn of who soon enough. However, I still advise against informing the king. No need to turn this into a sort of witch hunt.”
Norvack nodded, but appeared to remain at a loss. “Very well. We shall not inform my father, but you are clearly in need of medicine’s.”
“I may not be of much use in that regard,” replied the physician. “As it stands, I have no remedy to completely cure him of this poison. What I was able to give is only temporary and will relieve him of the sweating and nausea. Since I am not certain exactly what he was given tonight, I am not eligible to --”
“Yes.” Norvack puckered his brows and looked straight ahead. “Yes, I’m sure we’ll find a way of knowing exactly what he was given, and when. As well as the one responsible for his condition. Though it may not be tonight. In the meantime, I wish to thank you for your time in coming. I’m aware that it was so last minute. My apologies to your wife if you both were awoken by my men.”
“Nonsense. I am here to serve the prince and his king. Though as I said, I have only managed to control some symptoms. His progress must be monitored. If only I knew of what he were given --”
“Again, we shall learn of it soon. And inform you of it. Why don’t I see you out? We can speak more of his condition and what may be needed to make him as comfortable as possible on the way. Hmm?” Norvack opened his hand toward the door. The physician became almost immediately suspicious of his intentions, but obliged in what I assumed was fear only.
“I shall see to him again soon.”
“Yes, of course.” Norvack turned to me and held out his hand. “Cinder.”
“Cinder,” John said softly, waving his hand. “Please stay, for only a moment. I wish to speak with you in private. Please.”
“I don’t believe that is a good idea, John,” said the prince. “You’re in need of rest.”
“It will only take a moment of her time. Only a moment.”
I stared at John, assuming his true intentions and placed a hand on Norvack’s arm.
“It’s fine,” I said. “There’s no damage that can be done to me. Escort the physician and I shall meet with you soon.”
He waited for a long while, staring at us both. Then he kissed me and left the room in a slight huff.
As soon as he was out of sight, John sat up a bit and leaned forward.
“Now close the door,” he said.
“I prefer it open.”
“I prefer it closed.” He grinned. “Unless you wish for the entire palace to become aware of not only your murder of the first born son of the king, but your husband’s right hand man as well.”
I raced toward the door, slamming it shut.
He laughed loudly.
“You’re a sick bastard.”
“I am indeed sick this evening, Cinderella, no thanks to your little plot against me.”
“I don’t know what you are referring to.”
“Don’t play me for a fool. I’ve seen your game and have played it far better than you ever could. I should have realized it the instant you so graciously served Norvack his goblet of wine. You would never.”
“I wouldn’t? No one wished you dead,” I told him.
“You wished me gone.”
“I wished you had never come here! Was I to sit by and say nothing as you attempted to dethrone and slaughter my husband in your quest for power? Or was I to react as I did in ridding you from a place in which you never belonged in the first?”
“I saved your husband from his death that night!” he spat.
I leapt forward and lunged toward him. “You saved him from nothing!” I hollered. “Absolutely nothing, he saved himself from -- ”
Before I knew it, he had slid a hand up my chest and to my throat, clutching so tight I could barely breathe.
I dropped to the bed as I was losing air, and wrapped my fingers around his hand, attempting to pull away as he drew me closer and closer to his face.
“I shall have your head for this,” he muttered against my lips. “I shall have your head!” He squeezed a bit tighter before finally releasing me.
I jerked away and stared down at him as he coolly lay back against the headboard.
“You mad, miserable son of a bitch!”
“If only I had known my mother,” he said.
“She’d have tossed you to the fire or a pack of angry, bloodthirsty wolves if she had known what was good for her -- what you would become!” I placed my hand around my throat, soothing it as I exhaled and gulped. I hadn’t realized I was shaking until I stood up and saw my leg rattling against the bed.
And then I grit my teeth and knit my brows, determined not to show my fear in his presence.
“You shall have nothing from me,” I told him. “Only the courtesy of your own true death if I can manage to get my hands on anymore of what you managed to foolishly swallow tonight.”
“I shall have your head on a spike!” he screamed, spittle escaping from either side of his mouth. He waved his arms like a madman and stared at me for a long time. Then he sat back and turned from me, and appeared to begin sobbing silently. Tears rolled from his eyes onto his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away. “I trusted you, Cinderella. Above anyone else within the walls of this palace. I trusted you most.”
“That was your first mistake.”
“And shall be my last.” He turned to look into my eyes once again. “If I were to inform the king --”
“Shall you?”
“If I were,” he snapped. “What shall he do to you?”
“The same as you claim. Leave my head rotting before his palace for all of Denmark to see.”
He nodded, and then smirked and chuckled. “That isn’t enough for me. I wish for you to suffer pain and know it. I wish for you to suffer the pain I feel now, in this very moment.” He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. “The same pain you felt the moment you realized you had suffered the loss of a child with Norvack.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he hissed. “You suffered a miscarriage. One, perhaps two or three. And you’re pregnant now. Will this be number four?”
He was malicious, unfeeling and unsympathetic. It enraged me.
I saw a letter opener on the desk beside him and reached for it, placing it near the center of his throat.
He looked upward and smiled. “Would you dare to slaughter me on Prince Willem’s bed? The same as you had with him that night?”
“I killed him outside of the palace, not within. And I sent a sword through his heart. Give me time to find a way to remove you from this bed and I shall manage with you as well.”
I leaned away and violently tossed the opener onto the floor.
He straightened himself on the bed as best he could.
It was silent between us for a long time before he spoke once more.
“I never knew you despised me this much.”
I laughed to myself and moved my head. “Are you joking? You nearly destroyed everything I ever was. You continued to use and discard me every night for months on end, and then demanded I rid myself of my child if only to save YOUR image! The absolute nerve of you to now question ‘what ifs’.”
“Cinderella--”
“No,” I stated. “You attempted to destroy whatever innocence I had left inside of me, you attempted to destroy any potential I had to better myself, because I never thought I was good enough to be something more than someone’s whore. You’re the reason I was afraid to trust Norvack or myself with him. You’re the reason for so many terrible things in my life prior to this moment, and I could blame you all night or for the rest of my life, but what good would it do? It would be similar to blaming my parent’s or the orphanage for treating me like the worthless va
grant I was always known to be. It’ll never change what happened to me just as this will never change who you are as a person, ever.”
“I changed myself for you,” he muttered angrily. “I changed who I was and what I knew I could become, for YOU.”
“Changing included continuing to treat me like a whore upon entrance into this palace.”
“No --”
“Yes! You may not wish to acknowledge it or believe that you are not the same man, but I refuse to ignore it. As does my throat!” I pointed.
He looked to the bed again and grinded his teeth. “I never meant for that to occur.”
“Oh? Your tight grip and vile threats said otherwise.”
“I never meant to harm you. You…” He groaned. “You must understand my point of view in realizing you in fact wished me dead!”
“I never wished you dead! Only removed for the night, to inform the prince and king of your plans. You were a fool to believe I would continue to betray my husband in your favor.”
“You planned to tell him everything?”
“Yes.”
“Including your own lies?”
I shifted my eyes from his and went over to the window, looking out onto the lawn. Norvack had escorted the physician to his carriage, and handed him a few pieces of gold for his trouble.
“You were expecting Norvack’s child.”
“Yes,” I finally said. I turned back and he looked up at me in shock that I had answered. “And another, of which I lost as well. And I am indeed with child now, and I may lose this child as well.”
“How far along?”
“What does it matter?” I asked. “I refused to be intimate with my husband because I feared losing the child at any time. I feared the devastation he would suffer in realizing that his only wife may never carry his child to complete term. I may never provide an heir for the future King of Denmark, thus ending whatever legacy may have been gained from it. All of this you wished to know, and for what? To use against me? To inform Norvack in the hopes that he would turn against me? In favor of what? Of you?” I stared at him until he was forced to turn away. “Do whatever you wish with this information, John.”