The King & the Stable Boy

XXIII: Power Sickness

Noah

I found myself being shaken awake by a concerned looking Malick.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, looking at him curiously.

"Do you have any idea what hour in the day it is?" he questions.

"It can't be more than two hours past dawn."

"It's an hour past noon. You were supposed to meet with His Majesty and some others over lunch and when you didn't show up, he grew worried and called for me to come check on you. It appears as if you've come down with a fever."

A fever? Shifters hardly ever got sick and if they did it was a bad sign.

"A fever? What could have caused this?" I question him, now heavily alarmed.

"To conclude this I'm going to have to ask you a series of questions. Do your best to answer them."

I nod, waiting for him to ask the first one.

"When's the last time you went through heat?"

"A week or so ago."

"Have you been under any sudden increase of stress recently?"

"I've been stressed for the coronation but I wouldn't say it's irregular."

"Any weird changes in diet?" he questions.

"No."

"Accepted any strange looking beverages or food you didn't order?"

"Heavens no. You don't think this is a poisoning do you?"

"I'm not counting anything out, Your Highness. I doubt it was poisoning, however. Unless it was wolfsbane you wouldn't have any reaction. I think this might power pains."

"Power pains?"

"It's more common before one completes the mating ritual if they are about to rise in status. With being royalty, you get extra powers, as I'm sure you're aware of. You're probably getting ready to receive the burden of being linked to the kingdom, nothing too major. If the pain grows sharp however and feels like acidly is in your veins, then I'll be returning to my poison theory." Malick concludes, standing ready to get up and go.

"Wait!" I call after him. "What's going on with you and Roman?"

"Your Majesty I believe your overstepping-"

"I'm not asking as your ruler I'm asking as your friend."

He sighs, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Having a mate is not what I thought it to be." he admits, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at me.

"What's wrong? Are you both unable to see past your differences?"

"I wouldn't say that's the problem. It's more like we think too similarly that's the route of things. We are both much too stubborn to agree with one another and too prideful to admit that we're wrong, and I know that we both do."

"You act as if I wasn't there when you threatened to castrate and murder him in the medical wing."

He sighs.

"What happened?"

"So he came to apologize and clear things up. He wasn't cheating on me, thank the gods, but he completely invaded my privacy and did something illegal because of some dumb birth year." Malick says bitterly.

It took me a second to process what he was revealing to me.

"He looked through your birth records?" I say incredulously.