"Wait, what?" Daphne paused, not believing her ears. What was it that Zephyr mumbled in delirium?
Baby? His fault? His baby? She strained her ears to hear more clearly, but Zephyr’s words were slurring together from exhaustion. This close, it was impossible to miss the dark circles under his eyes. Did Zephyr not sleep the entire ti she was unconscious?
Did he get pregnant― no, Daphne stopped herself from going down that route. She was not an expert in magical creatures, but even she knew that griffins laid eggs and male griffins weren’t capable of birth. There should be no baby from Zephyr.
Now she knew that Zephyr was definitely ill, his body was shivering in her hold. He was definitely hallucinating things. She had never been pregnant; the only baby she knew was Princess Bianca―
Suddenly, a sharp pain laced through her mind, as though soone took a knife and carved the insides of her skull. Daphne let go of Zephyr and stumbled backward, nearly falling onto her bed as she hissed in pain.
Why was her head aching so badly?
Suddenly, Daphne was lying on this very sa bed, but this ti, Healer Sirona and Queen Lavinia were standing before her, their faces tinged with grave despair and resolution. Daphne heard the weary croak of her own voice, sounding broken and sadder than she had ever recalled it sounding since she had arrived in Xahan.
’It’s gone, isn’t it?’
Gone. Sothing was gone. What was it?
Daphne searched her mind frantically for the missing piece of this puzzle, but that elusive piece kept slipping through her hands like lting snow. The more Daphne tried to reach for it, the more pain she felt.
In the end, she could only give up reluctantly, panting from exertion as she laid back down on the bed. The only thing she could be sure of was that she had forgotten sothing mightily important, and no one seed fit to remind her of it.
That caused an ominous feeling to grow in her gut. The last person who purposely kept secrets from Daphne was none other than Atticus, and then she found out that her beloved husband had gotten Sirona to harvest Nereus’s eye.
What terrifying truth was she missing?
"Queen Daphne, we have bought the food you asked for." The servants returned, but then they froze in horror as they witnessed the sight in front of them― the griffin was now shaking in his chair as though he had a seizure, while Queen Daphne was lying back on her bed, a faint sheen of sweat on her face.
King Atticus was going to kill them once he found out.
"Get Healer Sirona and Queen Lavinia! This is an ergency!"
Frantic footsteps echoed along the corridors as the servants ran out. Daphne sucked in deep breaths, calming herself down. She patted her skin dry, as she quickly thought of a brief plan to proceed.
Sirona burst into the room, her hands glowing a signature purple. "Daphne! How are you? The servants said you were sweating!"
Daphne shook her head, internally upset that Sirona didn’t even spare Zephyr a second glance. "I’m fine, but I’m more worried about Zephyr. Sirona, look at him! He’s shaking! And he’s so thin!"
Finally, Sirona’s eyes registered Zephyr’s sorry sight, and she cursed under her breath, quickly getting the n to put him on another bed as she examined him. Daphne quickly staggered up, demanding to see.
"Daphne, you should rest," Sirona advised.
Not only did Daphne need the rest, but it was best that she did not see the state that befell Zephyr. There would be too many unanswered questions otherwise.
"I’ll let you know my findings later. Zephyr might not be comfortable with you looking at him in such a state."
Sirona had a point, but Daphne had enough of secrets. "No, I must know. Sirona, he barely said two words to before he started screaming and shaking," Daphne insisted, worry infused in her voice. "Zephyr is very dear to . I cannot bear to see him suffer. Please Sirona, treat him, I won’t get in the way. Just let take a look."
Faced with such an impassioned plea from soone of a higher status, Sirona could only agree, ntally hoping that sothing would interrupt Daphne’s viewing.
Why had the griffin decided to visit Daphne, and why didn’t anyone report anything? Atticus didn’t ban Zephyr from visiting Daphne, only because he predicted that he would be too much of a coward to even approach her.
And who knows what Zephyr might have slipped in his delirious ramblings?
"What did Zephyr say?" Sirona asked curiously, wondering how much lying she would have to do to get out of this ss.
"He said he got his wings retracted, then I asked him to eat with , and then he started shaking," Daphne said easily, choosing to emphasize the more innocent parts of Zephyr’s visit. She had a feeling if she ntioned the baby and the headaches, all hell would break loose.
"I see," Sirona frowned as she turned her gaze back to Zephyr. The n had removed his top, causing Daphne to gasp at how sharp Zephyr’s bones looked on his body. What’s more, his body was also bruised in places, as though soone had hit him over and over again.
How could this have happened? Zephyr wasn’t unbeatable, but he certainly wasn’t soone to let himself be treated like a punching bag.
Sirona internally swore the mont she saw his condition. If she was allowed to tell the truth, it would be so easy to have a reasonable explanation for Daphne. Clearly, this fool was starving and hurting himself as so kind of punishnt for his failure to keep Daphne’s child safe. His haggard state was due to his emotional turmoil and physical adversity, caused by her one and only king.
How could Zephyr’s body heal properly, when he wasn’t eating?
Daphne choked out a sob as she looked over Zephyr.
"Sirona! How could this have happened to him?" She demanded, her voice wet with tears. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and envelop him in her arms. "Tell !"
Sirona could only bla one person for this, and she wasn’t even lying this ti. Much.
"Daphne, this is all Jean Nott’s fault."
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