Trevor’s chest heaved heavily and it was obvious that he was still angry. He still stared at the door after Triton left. Devon tried putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him, but he shrugged it off.
He turned to Maria. "You shouldn’t be hiding there. He obviously smelt you."
She stepped out of her hiding place with her head slightly lowered. "I...I’m so sorry." She stuttered. Orıginal content can be found at NoveI★Fire.net
He inhaled deeply and sat on a chair while still looking at her. "How much of everything did you hear?"
Maria hesitated, wondering if he was angry at her for eavesdropping. His expression looked quite indifferent so she couldn’t tell.
"Is he your brother?"
Trevor nodded his head and she saw something like a sliver of pain in his eyes. "Yes."
"I’d take you to Veilwood in a week." He said, interrupting her second question. "I have a lot of things to attend to. Are you okay with it?"
He placed a hand on his chest as if feeling pain. His eyes were narrowed and he had a slightly grimaced expression on his face.
Devon was already by his side, trying to hold Trevor up.
"What did that bastard do to me?" Trevor spat as he gripped his chest even harder.
Maria rushed to his side, holding his hand and rubbing his chest.
She turned to Devon, her face filled with worry about Trevor. "Get him some water."
Devon left and emerged later with a cup of water. She supported him to drink all of it. He calmed for a moment and took his hand off his chest.
He held Maria’s hand tighter and coughed heavily several times.
"Trevor, are you alright? Do I call the nurse?" Maria asked in a tone full of concern.
"I’m fine. I just need some rest." He stood up and shrugged their hands free, signaling them that he could walk by himself.
He only took two steps before staggering. They rushed towards him and he crashed into their arms. Maria held him tightly as he collapsed on the floor.
"Trevor! Trevor! Wake up!" She shouted as she patted his face. His eyes fluttered until he finally shut them.
"Devon, what’s happening?"
Devon squatted by his side and tried tapping him, but he still lay unconscious. He placed a finger over his nostrils and felt air coming out from there, showing that he was breathing.
He stood up. "Hold on. I’d call the nurse."
After Devon left, Maria remained crouched on his level. She didn’t understand what was happening to him. She didn’t know if it was his brother that just left that caused him this pain, but one thing she knew was that she wasn’t going to lose her mate who had put every effort into taking care of her.
Alice arrived, and this time, she wasn’t alone, she came along with a man. Other rogues who were around assisted in carrying Trevor into his room. Once they were done, Alice requested that they leave the room.
There was mumbling among them. Everyone was eager to know what happened to the king. Trevor had always been strong to lead, and if the King was broken, his people could become worse.
"Please leave," Callum, the man who had accompanied Alice addressed the people once again.
After another round of murmuring among themselves, the rogues dispersed. Only Maria and Devon remained with Trevor and the nurses.
"He still breathes and his heart still beats," Callum said as he checked Trevor’s vital signals.
Alice lifted his palm and the sole of his feet to reveal a black spot. She turned towards Callum. "Aren’t these the same spots we saw on two other sick people?"
Callum squinted his eyes at the places Alice referred to. He touched it with his hands.
"What’s that?" Maria asked curiously.
Callum took a deep breath as he continued pressing on the spots. "I have a wild guess of what may be happening. The blight. It’s returning."
"Impossible!" Devon exclaimed with folded arms. "We just prayed to the moon goddess last night. The lands cannot be cursed with more diseases."
Alice shrugged her shoulders. "Probably, she didn’t listen to our prayers. Two people are already down with something ."
"Is there anything that can be done to help him?" Maria, who had been quiet and worried the entire time, asked.
"We just have to leave him to rest. He’d wake up by himself and then we could feed him herbal tea to reduce the effect of the blight." Alice said.
"Don’t worry, you can’t contact the blight from another person. You can only get it when you go far into the forest." Callum said as though noticing Maria’s worried expression. "Right now, no one should go deep into the forest until the blight is over. He must have gone there in the early hours of the morning."
"He did." Devon acknowledged.
Trevor was covered with a blanket to rest. Everyone soon dispersed from the room, leaving only Maria there with him. She sat by his side, her gaze never leaving his face.
She continuously placed her hand over chest to be sure that his heart was still beating.
She wondered if she could also contact this strange blight and if it would still be safe for her to go through the forest and travel to Veilwood, but safety had to come first, and remaining within the castle walls seemed like the best thing to do.
"Mate, please recover," She muttered as she placed a hand on him. She refused to leave and curled beside him, lying by his side.
Her mind spiraled with thoughts. Trevor had referred to the visitor as his brother. This brother seemed familiar to her, and she wondered if he had any correlation to her past.
The visitor had also teased about recognizing her scent, maybe he knew her. She bit her lower lip in regret, maybe she would have come out of her hiding place for him to see her and recognize her.
If that man truly knew her, she had to find him again, but how?