The Bleeding Heart

Chapter 19

Pic of Rose McIver as Nadyn Jameson! =)))

The Bleeding Heart

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Chapter 19

"He's been poisoned," Nadyn announced to those present in the infirmary - the king, the queen, the princess and Adrian Levi.  Behind them, other healers were busy detoxifying the unconscious prince.  "Did the prince do anything dangerous in the past few days?"

A cold silence engulfed the room as Queen Riza glared daggers at her husband, seething, "Yes, he went hunting this morning."

"I see," Nadyn nodded patiently, ignoring the tension in the room.  "Well then, that will explain it."

"Explain what exactly?" Erielle asked.

Nadyn stood up from her chair and gave the people who were currently in the room a better view of William's leg, pointing to a punctured wound, "Do you see this?  This is the part of the leg where the poison started to flow.  Seeing as he was hunting, the assailant probably didn't have time to inject the venom directly into a vessel, which is very fortunate for us."

"Venom?" Theodore uttered.

"Yes," Nadyn nodded.  "Venom."

"The effects do kind of look like the wound came from the venom of a snake," Adrian reasoned.

"Partly true," Nadyn agreed.  "But a snake did not cause this wound."

"What?"

"You'd see two wounds if a snake caused this," Nadyn explained.  "But only one is visible.  However, it is very obvious that what is happening inside the prince's body is caused by snake venom, so that could only mean that a man used some sort of poisoned dagger or knife to give the prince this sort of wound."

"So what you mean to say is that some man took venom from a snake and immersed the dagger or knife in it and then used that weapon to poison my son?" Riza asked to confirm.

"Yes, precisely, my Queen," Nadyn nodded.  "But since the venom wasn't injected from the orginial source but rather from the dagger and the fact that the venom wasn't injected directly into a vessel, the travel flow of the venom is slower, giving us more time to suck out the venom before it went to the vital parts of the body with worst case scenario being comatose or death."

"So, you have stopped the poison then?"

"I have already got the poison out of his system," Nadyn proudly announced, earning sighs of relief from the audience.  "Right now, the medics team are detoxifying his system so as to ensure that all poisonous substances in his body will be flushed out immediately.  The others have also cleaned out the wound and we'd soon put a bandage over it to protect the wound from becoming infected."

"That's a very huge relief, Nadyn," Riza sighed.  "Thank you very much."

"I'm just doing my job, Your Highness," Nadyn bowed respectfully.

"Duty or not," Theodore said.  "We still owe you our thanks.  You have our deepest gratitude."

"Well," Nadyn said sheepishly.  "It wasn't just I who got the poison out of the prince's body, Your Majesty.  It was a team effort."

"Of course," Theo nodded.  "Your medical team also have our thanks."

Nadyn then bowed, "I apologize, Your Highnesses but there are still some things that I have to attend to.  I would take my leave now."

"Yes, of course, we shouldn't keep you from your duties," Riza nodded understandingly.  

Nadyn then walked away, leaving the family and Adrian alone.  Erielle, sensing the immediate tension that rose between her parents, spoke up, "Adrian and I will be taking our leave now.  Now that William's alright, Adrian and I still have...uh, a lot of duties to take care of."

"Well then, you may go," Riza said stonily, though her hard gaze was focused on her husband.  Erielle and Adrian took their leave, leaving the couple to their own business.

Theodore gulped at the the sight of his wife's anger, suddenly very afraid of what will happen in a few minutes.

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"Evangeline, I am so happy you could make it," Riza hugged her relative.  "I know that we haven't met each other officially but you definitely are a splitting image of yourmother.  I apologize for only being able to meet you now.  I've been very busy, you see."

"I'm very honored to have been invited to stay in the palace, Your Highness," Evangeline smiled.  "Thank you very much for doing so.  And it's alright for greeting me late, I don't mind."

Riza then sighed.  "I think that you know as well as I do that I did not ask you to come for a mere visit.  I'm afraid that I have an ulterior motive for inviting you to Orion."

"It is no trouble, Your Highness," Evangeline shook her head, offering a small smile.  "And please, do not be embarassed with your questions.  I'd try to answer them the very best that I can."

"Thank you," Riza said.  

"My family may not be living directly under Aria's rule but they still died because of the war," Evangeline told her, her voice low.  "And I wouldn't want to suffer another war."

"I can understand," Riza nodded.  "It is very hard...Evangeline, your grandmother, she was the midwife of Queen Rosaria?"

"Yes," Evangeline confirmed.  "She was already a midwife in the palace years before but became the head midwife only when Queen Rosaria became queen and when the queen was pregnant with Prince Eric, my grandmother was her personal attendant.  She then retired just a year after Princess Athena was born due to age."

"I see," Riza nodded, interested.  "Your mother once told me that when Rosaria was pregnant with her first child, she was acting rather strangely."

"Oh yes, that was because Queen Rosaria was carrying another man's child, or so my grandmother believed," Evangeline explained.  

"So your grandmother didn't have any other theories as to the cause of Queen Rosaria's strange behavior?"

"None that I recalled of."

A silence passed between them.

"Queen Riza," Evangeline started.  "There is another thing."

"Yes?"

"A lot of people thought that Queen Rosaria never loved King Edric."

"Didn't she?"

"Well she didn't love him at the start of their marriage," Evangeline explained.  "But she did love him eventually."

"Is there a possibility though that your grandmother's theory that Prince Eric was a love child with the gardener Queen Rosaria was rumored to be involved with is true?"

"Honestly, there is some truth behind that, actually..."

"I see."

"Your Highness, when Queen Rosaria was pregnant with Princess Athena, Queen Stella from Titus visited Aria.  And coincidentally, they were both on their thrid trimester.  The eeriest thing though is that both of them went into labor and gave birth at the same time."

"Oh yes," Riza nodded.  "Denise and Athena do share the same birthday but I never knew..."

"That was because nobody among the midwives let it slip out of the castle walls," Evangeline explained.

"Why?" Riza asked.  "Is there something wrong with what had happened?"

"You see," Evangeline said.  "The midwives were scared that maybe, possibly, the babies were switched."

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Note: For Nadyn's explanations about Prince William's wound, I am not sure whether my guesses were accurate or not.  But since this story is happening in an alternate reality, anything can happen. So please do not insult my knowledge on medicine.  Thank you! =)))