Hope Falls

Avani leant in, resting her head against his and closing her eyes. "All I have wanted is to lose myself in a crowd, and feel like it was only just us. All I have wanted is this."

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Kael leant in, in towards the kiss though only momentarily before he recoiled so dramatically his back his back hit the wall behind them. "Indira."

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Agatha's chest heaved, reeling from adrenaline. "Is."

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"You are shit, absolute shit. Both of you. No wonder so many were taking during the wasting if you can not even recognise when people are unwell!" Aodhan raged, grip tightening on Isolde as opposed to hitting the the wooden counter beside them. Face red with rage, "What is the point of you?!"

“You - you pulled a knife on him.” Iskra stated with a short laugh, utterly shocked. “I did not even know you knew how to use one.

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“I am sorry I - “ Indira swallowed, hand still remaining on his shoulder when he moved, causing her to slip forward a little too before she removed it. “Do not hate me - I feel everything for you… Forgive me, please…”

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“I am very glad you have your wish, wife.” Ruairi chuckled happily. “I have a wife… how odd…”

“The wasting was incurable. Once it starts it cannot be stopped. Sir I understand you are angry, and concerned about our Queen but there is nothing to find. Hire Healers from every corner of the continent if you wish, have the foreign Prince and Princesses look at her to see if it is some foreign ailment but there is nothing for us to find!”

"One of the nobles grabbed me roughly when I was younger than Zen, th- they..." Agatha swallowed. "The only person to see anything was the kitchen maid. After that I had an interest in cooking. She showed me how to wield a weapon like it, how to make anything a defence weapon. I will not allow you to be grabbed like that, I will not be grabbed by that."

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"Odd? No. Not at all, all I find odd is how it took you so long to find one. I don't believe that you have ever met yourself."

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Kael shook his head. Silent, still. Gripping the vines against the wall behind him as he tried to focus before he dropped it, and reached out for her in silence.

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"You have not tried!"

"Aodhan!" Aoife retorted sharply. "This is not appropriate and if I must banish you from these rooms then I shall! Allow your wife to rest!"

“I think the best course of action is to give the Queen a sedative tonic to allow her to sleep consecutively for three days, to fully rest and get her energy back up to where it should be.” Lily approached gently, glancing to Aoife for her opinion. “And then when she is rested we reevaluate and re do all the tests when she is in a better state of mind.”

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“You flatter me. But of course, a Princess cannot have an ugly husband can she? I knew I must be charming.” Ruairi teased.

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Indira walked into his arms as soon as they were extended, leaving all hesitation behind her.

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“You saved us from whatever else they planned.” Iskra nodded, hand moving to her chest. “We need… we need to be believed. We need people to believe that they were going to hurt us further like the brutes they are. You saw the look in their eyes, Aggie.”

"You give her any such thing and I will have your heads! If she needs to rest then she shall, you will not force her to do a thing or else it will be blasphemy!"

"You must allow us to do our jobs, Aodhan, You are being entirely unreasonable!"

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"Ugly? You? You have never believed that have you?"

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Kael engulfed her in his arms, his fingers knotting in her hair as he kissed her hungrily.

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"They were b- b- but it doesn't look like it. We need to find a way to make it look like it, so that we are safe. So they can not twist any of our lies."

“Prince Aodhän I think you are also in need of something calming. I think the Coronation pressure is also getting to you.” Lily shook her head, before approaching softer. “I understand you are concerned, Sir, I do. We all want the Queen well. I would tell you if I thought she were sick or unwell. But she is not. It is exhaustion. Please allow me to help her recoup.”

“Aoife!” Wyatt shouted as he entered the healing wing outside the door, stumbling as he made his way to one of the beds, impaled hand being held by his wrist as the blood continued to drain from it.

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“I… hit me. You must as hard as you can. Hit me! My face… make it hard!”

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Indira let out a low moan as one of her hands rested once again on Kaels shoulder, the other on his face to pull him closer to her as she returned his kisses with the same fervour.

“There are far more handsome men than I out here Avani. But it is not something I have cried over, I assure you.” Ruairi chuckled.

"Do not patronise me! I have watched a wife die once before I will not do it again. None of you listened to me back then either, not at first, not when the treatments may have worked." Aodhan seethed. "You will do something Lily, Isolde is not going to meet the same fate as Nes. I will not watch another wife die!"

"Aodhan, no one is..." Aoife cut off, easily distracted when her name was called. Offering Lily an apologetic look as she excused herself from the room. Grimacing as she stepped into the room Wyatt had stumbled into, and took him in. "Shit, what happened to you, Hawk? Crazy wedding."

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"H- Hit you? No... No, I cannot."

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Kael moaned quietly against her lips

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"There are certainly not. I see none."

“The younger Caleeri bitch stabbed me because she was removed for insulting the little Prince. Psychotic little cow.” Wyatt hissed through gritted teeth. “I don’t even know if the knife is clean or what she has put on it. I knew better than to take it out but I am bleeding more than I expected anyway.”

“I will not let Her Majesty die, I promise.” Lily frowned, “I truly believe the Queen needs plenty of rest and hydration.”

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“You need to. And then I will squeeze the bruises they have left on your arms and wrists. We need to show the Queen what they were aiming to do when she questions us.”

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“Kael…” Indira whispered his name as she moved from his lips to his jaw, before kissing slowly down his neck, pulling away the clothing to give her better access.

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“It is not something I think about at night Avani, all is well.” Ruairi assured. “All is well.”

"You will not be giving her anything to force her to sleep! You will not be taking any time away from us if she is going to - " Aodhän cut off with a guttural sound, choking on his own words. "You go near her with any sedative and you will be our new vase."

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"The more nerves the weapon has cut, the more muscle it has damaged the more it will bleed." Aoife frowned, grabbing bandaged and beginning to wrap it around the weapon as she spoke. "You are in pain from it? That is good. Once it is removed and stitched I will check your fingers for feeling."

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"I don't know if I have the physical strength..."

(( Night night ))

“Okay, okay. When she is unable to consent it is you it falls to, and if you do not consent then you do not.” Lily nodded. “But I do believe it is rest she needs Sir, and then she will be fine. You are not going to lose the Queen.” She reached over and patted his arm reassuringly. “She is exhausted, extremely so. But nothing else.”

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“I can feel fucking everything. The blade is jagged. She knew exactly what she was doing!”

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“You must try. We cannot allow them to send us back home. Uncle will lock us away with shame. We will never be seen again.”

"'A Caleeri girl trained to know how to cause an immeasurable amount of pain, who knows what amount of damage, with a seemingly low level blow.: Aoife hummed in amusment. Dousing small towels in numbing herbs and returning them to the space around Wyatt's wound so she could pull the weapon out. "The Queen is suffering with exhaustion, currently. Worse than you or your men have ever had after a battle. The next steps on how to tackle this will come from Aodhän, if he can pull himself out of his pit of worry fast enough."

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"I have heard that bullshit promise before." Aodhän mumbled numbly, shrugging Lilly off of him and moving to lay on the bed with Isolde. Arms wrapping around to pull her in.

“Keep it from Kael, tonight.” Wyatt sighed deeply. “All of it. He was trying to enjoy the event and then the Caleeri bitches opened their mouths. Telling him his mother is unwell will only add on to it all…” he hissed through his teeth with a groan as the knife was pulled out.

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“The wasting is incurable, Aodhän… I’m sorry for your loss. But nobody promised you Nerissa would not pass when the wasting was spotted.” Lily reminded him gently. “I’ll make up some tea for hydration, no sedatives. Try and give it to her if she rouses to keep her well.”

Aoife lifted the blade up, raised eyebrows at the saturated edges. The twists in the metal. Placing it down on the table, she informed. "I'm going to stitch this hand up, bandage it. Then I need to do some tests with you, make sure your fingers still work."

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"I will."

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Agatha sucked in a breathe through her teeth, closing her eyes as her hand lifting to land a blow to her sister.

“Does the blade look poisoned? I do not trust them.” Wyatt exhaled deeply as he clenched his working hand.

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Iskra cried out at the hit, moving her hand to her mouth to stifle more noises coming out. “It’s okay…” she said, the words muffled. “W-well done…”

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Lily left the room, glancing back the once before closing the door behind them.

"Made to maim, made to kill. It isn't a lady-like thing." Aoife hummed, grabbing all she needed to stitch the gaping hole in his hand. "I can't imagine the damage it has done inside. No signs of poison though."

---

"I'm sorry." Agatha sobbed then, dropping her trembling hand back down to her side. "I- I- I am so sorry."

“No, it is fine. It is how we will fix this. It is okay. It is how we will get out of this situation.” Iskra assured her sister, reaching out and pulling Agatha into a gentle embrace. “We will fix this. We have not seen eye to eye with Daphne but she will not tolerate us being manhandled and abused as such. It’ll be okay.”

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“I didn’t even think to have my men search them for weapons why would I? Why would they even - “ Wyatt shook his head. “I cannot be out of commission now, not with the coronation looming.”

"If you arent able to move your fingers, you can't hold a weapon and you won't be able to work until your nerves have had a chance to... at least try to heal." Aoife grimaced. It not taking long for her to finish the stitching, and then bandage. "Try and move them for me now, each one at a time and then all together."

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Agatha hugged her back more tightly, trembling.

“We will fix this. I will not allow us to be sent back, I promise.”

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Wyatt exhaled shakily, able to move each finger, though some it was only a slight dip or shake.

"Mm," Aoife hummed, gently resting her palm over his and instructed stoicly. "Now squeeze, as hard as you can."

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"I had to do something. I had to. He had hurt you, and.."

“I know, I know. You did good, you saved us from whatever else they intended.”

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Wyatt gritted his teeth and squeezed her hand, face paling at the sharp shoot of pain that rippled up his arm, shaking his head. “I - “ he shook his head once more as he dropped it.

"You need to take the next few days off, at the very least. Try not to use it much, minimal physical effort. I'll reassess then, come up with exercises if we must." Aoife frowned at him. "I'll let everyone know who has to. You go home, Wyatt."

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Agatha swallowed, hands moving to wipe at her eyes as she finally leant back.

“Do not tell Kael about the Queen tonight. Not unless Aodhän orders it. I fear after the insult to his son this would send him spiralling, and we cannot have that so close to the coronation. He cannot afford to look weak for even a second or it’ll all collapse…”

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“When they come knocking for an explanation we tell Daphne how scared we were. Towering men who were manhandling us in such a way, hurting us. You were scared they meant to go further and you acted for your own protection.” Iskra instructed gently resting her hands on her sisters shoulders.

"No, we will let the boy enjoy the party. He needn't know about your injury until tomorrow either, it would ruin all of the fun."