The Brave Human Mate

69.

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King Romulus' POV

It started as an uneasy settlement of noises filtering through one ear and drifting to the other, but once they stayed, they weighed heavy enough to cause a throbbing ache. Romulus found himself twitching, aggravated that his restless sleep would hardly be any at all helpful to tackle the rest of the day, but oh what a way to wake up.

While Rhea's scent wasn't nearby, he knew she was close.
He hadn't awoken when she left the bed, leaving him alone in the room.
But after gently feeling the space beside him, it was left entirely cold.

Empty.

A frown erupted on his face as he groaned once more, silencing the room and any whispers that may lay about. Had he fallen asleep in his study?
Where was Rhea?

"Sir? Can you hear me?" He hadn't responded, thinking it was a taunt than anything else as he took in the better half of the room. His room, to be exact.

Confusion flashed over as he took in the figure closest to him, the one who more than likely spoke to him. "Yes, I can hear. And smell and see just as any wolf can." He promptly silenced, but upon getting to his feet, that is where the struggle truly came from as he fell promptly to his knees and clutched the better half of his stomach.

"What's happened?"
"Poisoned, sir. You were poisoned." It was one of the simplest ways to get the issue across, but the anger bit the King's tone as quickly as ever.
"Poisoned?!" He roared, and the poor Assistant Healer had ducked and bowed to cower themselves lower than Romulus' status.

"I have alerted the guards to tell Beta Elias and Delta Lyall, they wanted to be notified right away." That wouldn't do, not when Romulus had clutched the male's robes and pulled him closer. Just as he was about to question him, the door to the room opened with a quick swing as both acting Alpha and acting second in command had come forth to greet the King.

Even with as much time has passed, Elias had always known that he was not Alpha material—Much less Alpha King.

"Goddess, sir! Get back in bed!" Lyall hurried to do just that, easing the King back under the covers. Though that did little to nothing to get Romulus to relax.

"Poisoned?"

"You are dismissed, go check on..." Elias had stalled his order, nearly outing an even worse predicament than what he was about to share. "Yes, you were poisoned. They have been identified and are set to be on trial."

"When?... How?"
"Through the wine. It's suggested that there was more wine in Rhea's room." That was true, at one point they had taken a bit more—But not much.

Had it truly been enough to leave him bedridden for... "How long has it been?"

"Since the Ball? Today would have been the two weeks mark. Since an antidote was found? Two." Disbelief had caused Romulus to sink further into his pillow.
No wonder his body ached.

"I take it Rhea made the antidote?" Elias had been able to withhold himself. It was Lyall, however, that sucked in a breath. Feeling the temperate drop ever so suddenly.

"She did...In a sense." The acting Alpha had questioned, avoiding the point, but Romulus could feel that something had turned wrong.  "What is that meant to mean?"
"While the story isn't confirmed, it is said that Lady Rhea was kidnapped during the Rogue attack. You were unreachable and already deemed past intoxicated from whatever was in your system. The Rogues were able to take Rhea and held her for days. Drex had spent every moment tracking her down to find her." The Royal Delta continued on, but it was as they both expected, Romulus' eyes had instantly gone black at the mere mention of Rhea.