「 firelordhans ; continued 」

As Henrik brought his father down to his mothers bedroom, he started to shake again. The fire in him ached to blaze, but since Hans had literally taken some of the burden, his fireplace heart had been reduced to embers. Henrik’s fingers still twitched, and the heat from the flames on his hands earlier had left them with a tingle. He understood why his father had done it, but Henrik wished he still had the comfort and warmth of the fires in his chest rather than the lukewarm temperatures there were now.

          But all of those thoughts  vanished when he charged into his mother’a bed chambers. He had been in here earlier, to wake her up, as last night, Anna had promised a day full of painting and adventures throughout the surrounding Kingdom of the Southern Isles. But when Henrik had tried waking his mom, she was unresponsive. Shaking, or yelling, or jumping on her bed would not bring her out of slumber and Henrik had started to panic, thinking the worst, that maybe… maybe his mother’s daring personality had finally caught up with her.

          When they entered the room, Henrik and his father found Isobel, the head nurse, and one of her orderlies already tending to his mother. ❝ I heard the boy’s cries and came rushing with Siobhan. ❞

          Henrik watched from the corner, still shaking vigorously, as they assessed his unconscious mother.

Isobel however, was back in action. The first thing she had checked before Hans and Henrik arrived was Anna’s previous burns from childbirth, and those seemed fine. Nothing had blistered or been irritated. After all, it had been years since the little one was born. but she had dutifully checked anyway, and when nothing was found, Isobel lowered her lady’s skirts and went up to Anna’s head.

          Slight fever, she determined. She placed two fingers on Anna’s neck. ❝ Her pulse is low, but still there. And she’s faintly breathing. I see no external wounds—Siobhan, please help me lift her nightgown so I can check for anything internal, if there’s bruising anywhere. ❞ As the other woman helped, Isobel checked Anna’s stomach, arms and back, but there was no bruising.

          Her brow furrowed. What was wrong with her? Why wouldn’t Anna wake up?

          ❝ Ma–Ma’am… ❞ Siobhan stuttered out, and when Isobel looked her way, she found the maid holding a cup of tea. ❝ There’s some tea gone from this cup, and it’s cold. It must have been from last night. I smelled it, Isobel, and— ❞ Instead of continuing, Siobhan handed the china to her her, and Isobel took a small whiff—

                                            —and immediately retracted.

          ❝ Nightshade, ❞ she whispered, and then turned to look at the King. ❝ Someone slipped Nightshade into her tea. ❞