“Whatdoyou see?” Elowen pressed.
Theo was finding it hard to follow the conversation, so he let his mind wander as the physician spoke. It was much more pleasant to focus his attention on Elowen, on the little crease between her brows as she listened anxiously to the physician, on the way her hair flowed like molten gold over her shoulders, on her perfect features.
“Do you perhaps not drink wine in Siqual?”
He had no idea why Elowen was asking Xavier about cultural matters. When had the physician stopped speaking?
“We do, of course.” Xavier sounded confused.
“Does Theo?” Elowen pressed.
“He’s not a drunkard, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Xavier said. Was he offended on Theo’s behalf? It was apparently Xavier’s day for showing loyalty to his little brother. “It’s not unusual for him to drink a glass of wine with a meal, but he’s too principled to do anything to compromise his reason. So if you’re suggesting he’s just nursing a heavy head from a night of too much—”
“No.”
Elowen’s hair swished around her shoulders as she gave her head a quick shake. Theo watched the motion, mesmerized. He could have sworn the trickle of magic issuing from the movement felt different from other Dust. Sweeter, more familiar, like he’d learned the rhythm of her movements. What bizarre thoughts was his addled mind entertaining?
“I wasn’t suggesting drunkenness,” she said, her words still directed to Xavier. “I think we need to consider poison. I noticed last night that he seemed very affected after drinking wine during our betrothal ceremony. But he only drank half the goblet, if that. I was surprised it was enough to have that impact.”
“That definitely doesn’t sound right,” Xavier said, alarm in his voice. “We need his guards in here. If there’s a possibility of poison, this is a different matter entirely.”
“Indeed.” The physician sounded uneasy. Theo’s eyes had drifted closed, and he couldn’t tell which royal the man was speaking to. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but I don’t think we should take any such steps without first seeking instructions from the king.”
Someone was arguing back, but Theo’s interest in the conversation was waning. Letting his focus drift to the sensation of Dust created by Elowen’s movements around the room, he felt the soothing embrace of sleep creeping over him.
Chapter
Nineteen
Elowen paced her receiving room, her arms crossed over her stomach. Neither the pacing nor the posture helped lessen the clenched sensation in her midriff. She’d been kicked out of the infirmary about an hour before to allow a series of tests to be run on Theo. Once they realized he’d lost consciousness, she’d sent a servant immediately to alert both her father and Theo’s guards. She hadn’t anticipated that once her father arrived, he would insist on her vacating the room while a team of physicians made a full assessment of the visiting prince. Whether it was to avoid distressing her or because he considered it improper for her to be in what had become Theo’s sleeping chamber, she wasn’t sure.
At least Prince Xavier had insisted on staying. The physician had treated the royal family all Elowen’s life, and she had no reason not to trust either his medical judgment or his integrity. But she still didn’t like the idea of Theo being prostrate and vulnerable without someone watching over him who took the threat seriously. His brother wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt Theo further if he was present.
Could it really be possible that Theo had been poisoned? The thought was horrible, and she tried to reassure herself that shewas being foolish. The physician hadn’t seemed to think it likely. He’d clearly thought Theo had contracted a disease, likely due to a weakened body from the rigors of the tournament. But he’d seemed absolutely fine to Elowen the evening before, up until their betrothal was sealed. His deterioration after that point had been visible.
In fact, he hadn’t been himself in more ways than one. Were the things he’d said to her in the corridor, even the fact that he’d almost kissed her, merely the result of a feverish mind?
It was a depressing thought, but Elowen refused to let it crush her. Maybe the onset of an illness had lowered his defenses, and maybe at full strength, he wouldn’t have chosen to let her hear and see those things. But the vulnerability she’d seen wasn’t artificial. Whether or not he wanted to show them, he did have emotions where she was concerned. She just wished she understood why he seemed so afraid of them.
A frantic knock on the door made Elowen stumble in her pacing, and she surged forward, hoping desperately it was an update about Theo. But when she flung the door open, it was Sophia standing pale-faced between the guards flanking the doorway.
“Sophia!” She pulled her friend inside, shutting the door with a snap on the curious guards. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m not,” Sophia said tensely. “Elowen, what are we going to do? How are we going to get him out of this mess?”
It took Elowen far too long to comprehend Sophia’s words, and when she did, she felt a stab of guilt at how completely Theo’s illness had made her forget her friend’s predicament.
“Simeon,” she said, lowering herself onto a settee with a hand to her head. “Simeon is still locked in the dungeons.”
“Yes.” Sophia’s voice was impatient, and the way she was wringing her hands told Elowen that she was on the edge of falling apart. “And no one will help me. You’re the only onewho’ll even believe me that it can’t have been him.” She paused anxiously. “You do believe it, don’t you Elowen?”
Elowen didn’t answer right away. She thought about Theo’s words of caution regarding Simeon, and the incident with the scarf, and the servant’s own declaration that he was bolder than she thought. She’d seen something in his eyes when he looked at Bertrand, something that told her he was reaching his limit.
Then she thought about the houses crushed under the landslide, and the devastation of the town below the dam. Not to mention the sight of the tower collapsing right on top of her and Sophia.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Yes, of course I do. There’s no way Simeon caused the disasters to get some kind of revenge.”
Relief crossed Sophia’s face, and she sank onto the settee next to Elowen.
