The Bell of Freedom (King and human romance)✔

Chapter Thirteen

A few days later, I curl up in a ball atop my fresh sheets as I feel too sick to move. Christian visited me yesterday and he said that a virus had swept through the palace, causing most of the humans to fall severely ill. There's speculation that it came from one of the girls that were saved, but no one knows for sure. Christian doesn't return today so I presume he's just as sick as myself. He's the only human I've had contact with apart from Wendy in the last three days so he must have passed it to me. I clench my hand around my stomach as I resist the overwhelming sensation to throw up. My fever is out of control, I slip in and out consciousness for most of the morning.

When I wake for the eighth time, Cain is standing at the foot of my bed, watching me with sympathy. He has a tray in his hands and he brings it closer. He doesn't ask to join me in the bed and I'm too weak to stop him. He sits down next to me and then places a hand to my forehead.

"Your energy levels are dangerously low," he comments. "Eat this."

I try to push myself up the headboard but I can't make it far. Cain reaches behind him and moves the extra pillow behind me, it supports me just well enough so that I can sit straight. I start coughing profusely into my hand, the sound makes him flinch.

"It's like this everywhere," he says. "I've tried to isolate the sick to the best of my ability but even the ones that have no symptoms seem to be passing it on. Here, take these, they seem to be helping." He places two pills into my mouth and then brings a cup of water to my lips. I swallow them down difficulty and then I carry on drinking, signalling for him to take the cup back when I'm done.

He then brings a spoon of tomato soup to my mouth and pushes it inside gently. "For the first time since my arrival here, I had to learn how to cook." He grins to himself, prompting a smile back from me. I swallow it down, cringing as it leaves a strange taste in my mouth. "It's not that bad, is it?"

I shake my head.

"Good," he whispers, bringing another portion to my mouth. "Don't worry, the guards are feeding the others soup too. Though most of them can't keep it down. I should have stopped the slaves from coming here the moment I heard of it, this is my fault."

My head starts to spin and I drift back down to the bed, he withdraws the spoon that he was bringing to me and drops it back into the bowl.

"It's okay," I hear him say. "Sleep."

I don't sleep completely. My eyes close but the fever won't allow me to rest. I feel his fingers against my hair, moving it out of the way of my face. I hear him place the bowl on the nightstand and then a strong, freezing shiver runs over my body as I tremble from the cold. I hear him leave the bed before I fall asleep.

I wake up some time later with a blanket wrapped around me underneath the covers. The comfort is relaxing, I snuggle my face deeper into the soft fur. Cain is still beside me; he's turned away from me. I'm not completely sure because I'm out of it from the fever, but I could swear that he's asleep too. Creatures don't sleep. They never sleep. To test it, I reach my hand over to his and I tap my fingers against his palm. The touch should make him react in some way, but he doesn't. Am I imagining this? Maybe I'm still dreaming.

I observe him as he keeps his face turned away. His chest moves up and down every three minutes or so, it is the first time that I've ever been able to look at how a heart beats inside a creature's body. I keep tapping my fingers against his skin gently, finally gaining enough courage to entwine our fingers together. He doesn't even stir. Impossible. He is asleep. I close my eyes, growing too weak to remove my hand.

Cain stays with me through the entire night. I watch as the sunlight turns to a beautiful darkness inside the room. I stare at the moon's sprays through the window. I finally reach a point when I am desperate for the toilet and I have to remove myself from the bed. I hold a hand to my head when I stand and then I pull the blanket tighter around me. It takes me ages to cross the room, I limp and hold on to the shelves for support, stopping halfway to taste some water from a nearby jug. After I relieve myself, I walk back into the bedroom to see Cain watching me from the bed, the flush must have woken him up.

"Do you need some help?" he asks.

I shake my head as I make my way back to the bed. As I pass the window, a sharp light captures my attention. I stand still as I look at the bright stars scattered among the black universe. Before I learned the truth about what happened to my parents, I used to think that they were among those stars. Watching over me, protecting me. Maybe there are many humans that are, those that managed to die before being consumed. Maybe they're all up there, watching over the rest of us. I clutch tighter to the blanket and I slip back into the covers of the bed.

"Look at me," he whispers.

I turn over slowly, using the extra pillow for support as I try to sit up. I only make it so far before I'm laying down. He smiles at my attempt and touches my cheek softly.

"I want to try something but I'm afraid," he says.

What could he possibly be afraid of? I didn't think he'd be scared of anything. When he touches me, there is no hunger in his gaze, there is no shiver as though my soul is calling to him. He is giving me a different look, one that displays the same fear that he mentions.

"Your sickness is clouding my appetite," he says. "Your soul isn't appealing to me right now, I mean it is, but I can resist it. Something else is appealing to me."

"What is?" I whisper.

"This might be my only chance to try it."

"Try what?"

He stares at me longingly, and I swallow as his lips carefully position themselves towards mine. He waits for a moment, giving me silent permission to stop him. I don't reject it. I lay still as his lips brush against mine, the contact making my stomach sting with a relaxing pleasure. I'm too weak to kiss him back so it's over in a few seconds, but in those short seconds, I can feel a heat sweeping over my flesh that I did not prepare for. His lips are as soft as I remember, gentle and timid, he's probably scared he might hurt me. He pulls his face away with a sharp breath as he scans my eyes for some kind of reaction. The only thing I offer him is a smile.

"Since you kissed me during our connection, it has been my desire to try that again," he says. "None of the other girls ever did that, or ever tried. They've always been disgusted by me. Why aren't you?"

"I don't. . ." I begin.

"I am taking your soul, Aurora. Your spirit, your essence. Piece by piece I will leave you weaker and drain you of life, eventually taking your last breath. Why aren't you disgusted by me?"

"Because I have no choice," I whisper. "There is no point."

"You had a choice in that kiss and you know you did," he says confusingly. "I've tasted your desires, there is nothing you want more in this world than for your kind to be free. I wasn't one of those desires so what changed?"

"I'm sick, Cain," I say, my lips trembling as I try and turn away. "Please stop asking me questions."

He doesn't say another word and I'm grateful for that. I lay on my back, keeping my eyes on the cream ceiling. He lays on his back too, taking up most of the room of the bed. I feel my hand leave my stomach as he entwines his around it. I don't understand what he's doing, I feel as though he's just tested me for something and I have no idea if I've passed. I feel too sick to think about it. I close my eyes, falling asleep with his hand around mine.