27
"My cousin has been a rogue element for as long as I remember. He has never been content to play the part of a bored Royal. That is why I sent him to the North. It is the least contentious border but I obviously underestimated his ability to cause trouble," Damian continued as the pair walked towards the Royal infirmary.
"What are you going to do?" Delilah asked.
"For now? Nothing. Let this ball end and my father become well, and then I will deal with this madness," The Prince paused with a dramatic inhale of breath, "If he ever becomes well that is."
"You must remain steadfast in your faith that he will open his eyes. You cannot waver," The Lady urged feeling the heaviness of the moment.
"I know, I know, I have the whole Kingdom resting upon my weak shoulders. If I falter all my father's work will be lost."
They entered the empty King's sick chamber after a few more minutes of briskly walking through the numerous corridors. None of the usual healers clambered through like the always did which suited Delilah. She knew very few of them would consider their experiment logical or worthy.
"I shall bring the medicine while you can go over the rest of his daily dosages to see if this new medication will have any affect on the old one."
"Very sensible," Delilah had to admit. She opened the box next to the king's bed and looked through the contents. She opened, sniffed and prodded a few suspect looking bottles, going over the haunting melody the orchestra was famous for, in her head; at least she thought.
"You have a nice singing voice," Damian uttered after watching her hum for a few minutes.
"I don't sing, your Highness, so I wouldn't know," Delilah answered back. She picked up another bottle and sniffed the contents before putting it down.
"Damian," The man chided her for not saying his name, "And yet your voice lets me believe otherwise. If I had known I would have asked you to perform for us."
"Then luck was at my side today," Delilah thanked the heavens above for not giving the Prince this inspiration earlier, "What is this smell?"
Damian sat down beside her and took the bottle from her hands, ignoring the soft feeling of her fingers.
"Belladonna, even I know that," He answered proudly after a sniff.
"It's different; pungent," Delilah wondered out aloud, "Belladonna is usually very watered down because it's not the easiest herb to handle for the human nervous system. Could I test the potency?"
"If you know how..." Damian handed the bottle back to her. Delilah picked up the healer's box and picked up a liquid from a stopper and tested a few drops. The Belladonna changed colour. She then added another stoppered liquid and the colour of the belladonna deepened.
"This isn't right. This much amount should not be ingested by any human being. It is too strong," Delilah grimaced.
"Why can't it be this strong?" The Prince asked edgily. There was a severity in his voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"It has severe side effects that could lead to different types of allergies, weakness and even madness," Delilah voice coloured in understanding. The King's symptoms all made sense now.
"But my healers tested the bottles. They would know what is being given is untainted belladonna."
"It is belladonna just the extract is not diluted enough. This is pure, genuine belladonna and any tests on it would reveal just that. It contains no poison or any additives but the Belladonna itself can be used as poison. Have you not heard of Belladonna poisoning?"
"How is this possible, how can a medicine have different effects for different dilution rates," Damian asked with agitation.
"I was once told Belladonna was both a bane and a cure. In this situation it seems the definition apt. This Belladonna is definitely harming your father," Delilah said earnestly.
"Right in front of my very eyes. How could I not see?" Damian roared before taking a seat and clutching his head in his hands.
"The person who implanted this must have been very careful. Their plan obviously has been working for many months," Damian jolted up at her words, "Prince, this is no mistake. No one could be making this medicine without knowing the repercussions."
"Wait here," Damian jumped off his seat, "I am going to send my mother back with the good news and then I have to confront the person who has been supplying this medicine."
"Who?"
"My Uncle."
"Your Uncle?" Delilah was alarmed by the declaration, "But he was so distressed by your father's illness; I witnessed his grief myself."
"My Uncle has had trouble using his right knee without pain for quite some years now and he uses Belladonna to alleviate it. When my father was ill for the first time my uncle insisted he use his medicine; after all he had a continuous supply of pain medicine and it would have been sensible to utilize it," Damian ran a hand through his hair aggressively, leaving it in spikes.
"But it could still have been implanted on the man. The true villain might have wanted to frame him," Delilah tried to search for something less tragic than a betrayal.
"My Uncle is hearty and hale while my father lies fighting onto the last strands of his life. Both men should have been affected if that was the case," The Prince answered; fists clenched; crescents forming on his palms.
"I have to agree," Delilah conceded with a worried look. The Prince had taken to pacing in front of her and it took all of her will power to not take his hand and urge him to stop.
"I must deal with this now," The Prince uttered lowly unable to keep the panic seeping into his voice. The sudden vulnerability in his posture and tone broke Delilah's resolve and she finally stopped him from his endless march through the carpet that was beginning to show signs of being trod on relentlessly.
"I insist you have a seat, Prince. Your worrying is hardly conducive to the situation."
"I must tell my mother, confront my uncle, it cannot be delayed," He continued, haunted, as if he hadn't heard her words.
"Yes, you must but you should sit down first and recollect your thoughts and feelings. Only then you should talk to your mother and let her help you make decisions. This is her husband after all and she has more experience in ruling this Kingdom."
"That- that- Damned man was killing my father. How can I sit down?" The Prince erupted at Delilah but his molten blue eyes instantly softened, "I apologize."
"I can see you are in great pain; apologizes are unnecessary," Delilah bit her lip, "What do you intend to do?"
"I want a confrontation with the man, just one solitary conversation where I could ask him why?"
"Then take your guards with you. What if he puts your life in danger once he knows his game is up?" Delilah advised imaging all sorts of troubling scenarios in her head.
"I don't think a man older than my father could overpower me," Damian scoffed, finally taking a seat next to Delilah, close enough to make her fidget.
"But he has people working for him. Surely you do not expect him to mastermind something this heinous all alone? Remember the man who shot an arrow at you?"
"I remember," The Prince answered gravely, "How could I forget the day you were injured by that arrow."
He leaned in closer and took her glove encased hands from her lap, looking completely immersed in his thoughts, unaware of the intimacy of his actions. She blinked at him, and then at her hand being held palm up in his grasp, unsure of what to do until she decided to clear her throat and the moment was broken.
"I shall escort you to your rooms," Damian stood up, abruptly, letting her hand fall out of his own, "then I shall pay my mother a very important visit."
________
Damian's cloak flared dramatically as he marched down the corridor as if possessed by the demon of wrath. Servants that came in his path were extremely eager to get out of the way before they were trampled by the team of men following him. It was also an awe inspiring sight to behold the usually friendly and genial Queen mirror her son's grave expression as she matched his pace and walked with her hand looped around her son's arm. The somber group finally came to a halt outside an elaborately carved doorway. The Prince nodded sharply and this was the signal for one the men to knock on the door loudly. A flustered servant opened the door and let them inside towards the living room where the Prince's only uncle sat in front of a blazing fire.
"What was the need for this protocol, Crown Prince; I am hardly worthy of such attentions," Damian's uncle got up from his chair and observed the dozen people or so standing in his room with unveiled curiosity.
"It was necessary, Uncle," Damian uttered with great control even though his hands were itching to do inflict damage, "I have something to say."
"And that involves the Royal Guards and my dear sister in law, Queen Rosemary," The dark haired, slender man bowed with a condescending smirk, his green robes easily following his movements.
"I know, Uncle," Damian spat, blue eyes flashing, unable to rein his temper; watching the man grin at his mother with such gall made him want to rip the older man apart, "I know about your treachery and I just want to know why?"
"So, you know then; took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to discover anything before you died," The man replied coolly without a hint of alarm on his face. He eyed his nephew with a steely look.
"I assure you, I do not plan to die any time soon. It is your own skin that you should worry about. You know the punishment for high treason. So tell me why? How could you attack your own flesh and blood?"
"Your father was a fool when he publically acknowledged me as his brother; He as well as I always knew I was nothing, just the bastard child of the king with no real power or consequence."
"You could have asked for more. My husband could have given you your own title and land," Queen Rosemary exclaimed, breaking her silence.
"It would never have been enough! I was older; don't you see? If my esteemed father had been a kinder man he would have married the wrench that was my mother and I would have been legally recognized as the Crown Prince but, no, she was never good enough for him so he took me in but never gave me a proper name," The man growled with his eyes glinting with past fury and pain, his cool composure sliding away from his face like wet paint under a rain storm, "I seethed when the people of the court shunned me because of the taint on my head, I seethed when my father met a young gentlewoman good enough to be his wife and I seethed when she gave birth to a healthy heir and daughters."
"When I grew older and my wife bore my son I knew he would have an equally undignified life. I wished to see my son rule the throne with the talents and wisdom he was born with. It was then I began plotting. Queen rosemary, did you not find it odd that all the children you begot could not live past infancy? Yes, I had a hand in all of their deaths. You do not see the laughter of your young daughters and sons because of me," The man continued with no remorse, "Damian proved to be a much harder challenge. You birthed him at your mother's place and kept him there till he was old enough to walk. He remained safe even after you brought him back because of his infernal luck!"
