Thethia: Royal Palace, Queen's Bedchamber

• King of Thethia, Wynston •

"How's the Queen doing?" Wynston asked.

"Your Majesty, Her Majesty had not spoken a single word since she regained consciousness. Her meals were also left almost untouched," The royal doctor shook his head dejectedly. 

"Leave," he exhaled, raising his hand to dismiss everyone in the room. The royal doctor bowed and took his leave together with several other maidservants, leaving him alone with his wife. 

He walked into the bedchamber and noticed that she wasn't lying in her bed. Instead, she sat in one of the plush armchairs facing the window with a pillow in her arms. Her amber eyes stared lifelessly at the window as her body rocked back and forth repeatedly. He wasn't sure what went through her mind at the moment, but since that time, he knew that he had lost her entirely. The royal doctors said that it was an irreversible illness of her heart and mind, there was no chance of her returning into the way she was unless she could reconcile with her own pain.

He watched as she smoothed her hand over the pillow, cradling the inanimate object in a manner similar to how she would hold a baby in her arms. He vexed at the sight but he didn't dare to let her hold Elizabeth again because the child was too frail. The previous time, Nadia held her too protectively and tightly that the child almost died in her arms. His wife was no longer stable enough to care about her child and he knew that separating them only worsened her health. Even so, he couldn't risk having Elizabeth near her unless the child was fully recovered. Weighing his priorities, he couldn't help but sacrifice his wife for the greater good.

In the past, he used to worry that they would be childless and the Kingdom would be without an heir. Yet, when the blessings finally arrived, he wanted to ensure that he could have a strong heir so that Thethia could thrive. After all, he did everything for the Kingdom. Nadia didn't understand his intentions and he never expected her to. All he wanted was her trust in him and have faith in his quest to build a formidable Kingdom that would reign the realm in the years. Looking at her now, he could only exhale in exasperation and unsure what to make of the person she had become.

Wynston made his way towards the armchair that she sat on and called her softly, "Nadia."

She didn't respond, still staring blankly at the window. He wasn't sure if she hadn't heard him or refused to hear him. Sighing, he reached to hold her hand and the sudden touch startled her. Nadia immediately retracted her hand and held tightly onto the pillow in her arms. She became screaming frantically, "Nobody hurts my Eli! Nobody will hurt her!"

"Nadia."

When his wife treated him as such, it pained him. He had never imagined that one day he would stand in such a difficult position. Nadia had grown to be so cautious of him and it was as though they had gone back to those days when she first arrived at the Royal Palace. He remembered the amount of effort it took to bring her to like him then. Seeing them now, it felt like they went straight back to square one. Only that, any effort wouldn't be enough to bring his wife back to how she used to be.

"It's you! You want to hurt my child!" Nadia pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You want her dead!"

"Nadia, calm down!" he tried, his voice tinted with frustration.

Everyone guarding outside the bedchamber remained unmoved because they knew he was in the room with her. Of course, no one would dare to enter even when Nadia's yells grew more and more desperate each time and she was sobbing miserably while grasping tightly onto the pillow in her embrace. No one would dare to enter their space other the queen's personal attendant.

Marie bowed politely towards him before mentioning, "Your Majesty, Her Majesty is not in an appropriate state to continue the visit. Please forgive my rudeness as I request for you to take your leave."

"I will visit another time. Take good care of her." Wynston released his hold on Nadia and turned, wanting to leave.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Marie responded simply and quickly attended to the queen. 

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• Queen of Thethia, Nadia •

Nadia knew she fell unconscious because the next time she woke up again, her head felt extremely heavy. Looking out of the window, it seemed to be already late in the evening. She raised her hands and pressed her palm against her temple, trying to ease off the dull ache that pounded against her temple. 

Recently, she felt unusually off and there were gaps in her memory that she couldn't fill no matter how hard she tried. The last memory she had was of her writing a letter in response to Duchess Lavante and that was all she could remember before this moment. Previously, the same incident happened and she realised that she only woke up two days later when she asked Marie for the date. Nadia pushed herself to sit and pulled the thick blanket aside to get off the bed. She called weakly, "Marie."

"Your Majesty, may I be of any help?" Marie inquired, staring intensely at her as though trying to figure her out.

"Did something happen?" Nadia asked, confused.

"No, please excuse my rudeness," Marie quickly shook her head but she noticed relief in her voice.

"Marie, I've been wanting to ask about my children," Nadia requested, knowing that it had been days but she hadn't been awake too long to hear of what happened to them.

"Your Majesty, I don't think—" Marie said.

"I need to know," Nadia interjected. "They're my children and I need to know about them."

Marie lowered her head slightly and uttered, "Princess Elizabeth is currently staying in Aster Palace."

"What about Eli?" Nadia raised the question urgently.

"Princess Elianna is residing in Heather Palace," Marie said quietly, her voice dropped lower with each syllable.

"Heather Palace? How could he...?" Nadia could not hold back her tears any longer. Her heart ached so badly for her poor child. Heather Palace was the rumoured solitude palace located deep within the royal grounds which had been left abandoned for as long as Nadia could remember. No one would ever visit that place and anyone being placed there may as well be of no existence to the rest of the world. "Marie, tell me... Tell me what her fate is."

Her aide kept her head low to avoid facing her and she could only prepare herself for the worst. Marie explained, "The King only announced the birth of Princess Elizabeth. Then, he ordered for Princess Elianna to be transferred to Heather Palace immediately and only left one maidservant to attend to her."

"One?" Nadia frowned and she asked many more questions. "What about a wet nurse? Does the maidservant feed her herself? Would she treat Eli well?"

Marie took longer to respond each time she asked a question and Nadia was already in tears when she waited because she knew that the answers would only be outrageously ridiculous and heart-wrenching. Yet, she waited because she had to know about her child. 

Marie tried her hardest to explain, "Princess Elianna was fed with milk from goats. There was no wet nurse assigned to Heather Palace and her attending maidservant, Lylia, is too young to provide for her. However, please do not worry about Lylia. She's a good child and I was the one who chose her to take care of the princess."

"My child—" Nadia ached as she cried sadly. "My poor child."

"Your Majesty," Marie exhaled a sigh and she seemed to be holding back on something.

"What is it, Marie? Please tell me everything I need to know," Nadia pleaded, rushing her to speak her mind.

"I received a letter from Lylia a few days ago and she was asking for help." Marie lowered her head while speaking in a low voice, "She said that every observed new moon, Temple Keepers would arrive in Heather Palace to draw Princess Elianna's blood for Princess Elizabeth."

"Blood?" A horrifying feeling surfaced and the tension within her chest tightened. The horror soon turned into an unknown wave of sudden anger when she vexed, "Why would Elizabeth need her blood?"

"No one could figure out the reason, but it wasn't just a prick for a droplet of blood. The Temple Keepers held the baby down and cut her wrists." Marie's voice grew softer each time and when Nadia tried to imagine the cruelty done to her child, her body went weak and she fell forward. Her hand clenched over her chest and she pressed against the pressure that was robbing her ability to breathe.

Above her cry, her voice scratched through hoarsely, "Marie, how could they? How could they do that to a child? How could they do that to my child?"

Marie said nothing except to hold onto her hand and stayed by her side until she calmed down. Closing her eyes, she asked, "Has Jason returned to the Royal Grounds?"

"Knight Wayland is expected to arrive back by tomorrow," Marie responded.

"Please have Jason to visit me once he returned, I have matters to speak to him about," Nadia mentioned. 

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behind the names: 'Heather' has a flower language of 'solitude'. 'Aster' has a flower language of 'royalty'.