Hellebore didn’t dignify that with a response and simply headed back to her room to clean up. He was just trying to get under her skin.
Her maids didn’t look at her directly the whole morning, but Hellebore was the one blushing every time they looked away. Itwas ridiculous. Nothing had even happened, and even if it had, they were married.
As soon as she was dressed, as much as she could be with her belt, goggles, and mask on the floor of Taiyo’s room, a healer was coming in on Taiyo’s orders to look her over. Hellebore let the healer do his job, but she rolled her eyes the whole time. She was perfectly recovered. It had just been a little paralytic, nothing major.
What concerned her most was the fact that Taiyo was dying, and she still hadn’t gotten answers about it. But when she finally got rid of the healer and tried to burst through his door since it was her turn to corner him, he was already heading through the other door, cleaned up, saying, “I have to go deal with the fact that two Moon Elves managed to get past our guards, into the palace, and find you without anyone seeing them. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Hypocrite!” Hellebore called out as his door shut behind him.
Fine.
She went about her day like usual. Only her “like usual” was plagued by a strange pit in her stomach as the leaves in her samples crumbled to black rot. When she looked at her vials of the petals suspended in liquid, she only saw Taiyo’s thick, black blood on the stone.
When she dropped a beaker and the glass shattered, all she could do was stare at it, unable to feel her own fingers like the paralytic had returned.
She was here, playing with plants, while Taiyo was dying. She had a thousand questions, but what was most disconcerting to her was the fact that she was wondering… Was there a way to save him?
Why did she care if he died? Why would she want him to live?
Chapter 16
Hellebore left her lab right before sunset. She’d made no progress with Taiyo’s slow death haunting her every step.
She had her maids help her change into a nightgown early so she could dismiss them, not paying any attention to their selection as she was focused wholly on the strange turning of her stomach and tightening of her chest when she wondered how long Taiyo had left.
She then went through the door connecting their rooms, but Taiyo wasn’t back yet, so she settled for pacing while she ruminated.
Hewanted to get ontoherfor going behind his back, not trusting him, not valuing her position?
She was ready for a fight when his door finally opened and he stepped into his room, face pallid, looking like he’d been run over by a carriage, and the fight in her eased. It didn’t vanish completely, but it softened, not that she could ever let him know that.
What on earth was happening to her?
He looked up after shutting the door, startling to see her. His eyes widened as they travelled over her standing in front of thewindow. A brilliant sunset was behind her, painting her in its light. But he wasn’t looking at the sky. She looked down to take note of what she had on.
It was a silk nightgown that fell to her ankles and dipped lower in the neckline than her usual attire. Mostly because exposed skin was a hazard as an alchemist. However, the nightgown had a soft, sheer capelet falling around her shoulders and chest, the hem of it hovering below her bust, trimmed with a lace that shimmered in the light of the sunset coming in through the windows. The colors were different than her usual attire, certainly. The silk started at the neckline as a soft pink before it faded into a gold which faded into orange traveling down to her ankles. The capelet had a gold tint to the sheer fabric. She hadn’t worn Sun Elf colors since her own clothes had arrived after the wedding.
She looked up to see Taiyo was staring at her. He took a deep breath, lips twitching up in a smile before starting to cross the distance between them. His voice was low and husky as he said, “Hellebore—”
The intense, heavy look he was giving her, along with the speed with which he was approaching, sent a jolt through her, causing her heart to race. She quickly stepped back, crossing her arms and saying, “I’m here for that explanation you owe me.”
His step faltered, and he came to a stop beside the bed. His gaze darted over her again before slowly pulling back up to her face, and Taiyo’s voice still sounded off as he said, “That’s all you’re here for? Nothing else?”
“I broke a beaker today. I haven’t done that since I was thirteen.”
At her abrupt non sequitur, he leaned back against the post, the look in his eyes fading as it was replaced with something softer. “Is it the paralytic? The healer said it was all gone and there were no side effects.”
“No. It wasn’t that.” Hellebore huffed, rolling her eyes. “You don’t get it. You don’t understandwhyI dropped it. I got nowhere today. I haven’t been able to focus on anything, and it’s allyourfault.” Now that he wasn’t looking at her so strangely, she regained her confidence and took a few steps toward him.
“How is it my fault?”
“Because all day there has been one thing and one thing only on my mind, driving me to distraction.” Hellebore dropped her hands to her hips, voice rising as the frustration of the day caught up to her again.
Taiyo still stared at her dumbly.
She scoffed and pointed both hands at him. “You! All day, the only thoughts in my head are of you, and it ismaddening.Because of you, I cannot focus. I cannotthinkof anything but you!”
But instead of being insulted at her fury-laced words, the look from before returned and he quickly pushed off the post, crossing the distance between them. A smirk spread across his lips and he laughed softly. “I don’t see the problem here.”
