The Lonely God

59.

-HER-

"I am scared," Is the next thing that I utter before I bury my face in his chest and break down into tears. His arms are instantly around me, holding me close to him and giving me a sense of safety. As I cry, I feel something travel up my food pipe. In the next moment, I am pushing him back and rushing to the bathroom.

He is hot on my tail and holds my hair back as I throw up. I continue to sob silently in his arms after I am done emptying my stomach. I feel so overwhelmed by my own emotions but soon, serenity engulfs me as he reaches to me through the bond and tries to calm me down.

"Oh, Neff," He runs his hand over my back while I bury my nose in the crook of his neck and breathe in his intoxicating scent. Vesta is missing. She is not responding to my pleas of help and I wonder why. This makes me sob harder.

I hear the bedroom door open and close outside the bathroom, signaling the arrival of a Healer. Arles lifts me up in his arms before he takes me to the bedroom and lays me on the bed. I refuse to desert his arms, so he sits on the bed with me in his arms as the Healer checks me.

"You'll be alright, Nefret." Arles assures me as he places a gentle kiss on my forehead. It's enough for me to stop sobbing but not enough to stop the internal turmoil raging inside me. Suddenly, the skin around my arm tingles with pain and soon, I realize that the Healer is taking my blood samples.

I let out a small whimper as I dig deeper into his chest to the point when I could hear his heartbeat clearly. I concentrate on its rhythm and soon, I daze off. It is after some moments when I am being shaken awake by him.

The Healer has left with my blood and Arles has said that in less than an hour they'll test it and bring it back. After that we lay together in the small bed, engulfed in each other's warmth and scent and on top of that- silence.

"This bed is so small," I comment when I had to fold my limbs so that he could properly fit.

"Well, it wasn't meant for us," He says and looks down at me. Blood rushes to my cheeks as soon as I understand the hidden message in that phase. I try to act oblivious to it and busy myself doing and undoing the button near his shirt's collar, diverting my gaze from his.

After a few moments of silence, a light knock on the door is heard. Arles gently presses an assuring kiss on my forehead before he gets up and attends the door. I could only hear whispers before he steps out of the door and closing it behind me, leaving me alone in the room.

~

-HIM-

"What's the matter?" I ask as soon as I shut the bedroom door behind me. The stern look on the Healer's face has the concern for my mate rising like a high tide. My mind races with all the possibilities of things being wrong with her but Rey doesn't agree with me. It's as if he knows something but is reluctant to tell me.

"Your highness," The healer bows in front of me before he continues, "I put the queen's blood through various tests and everything came out normal," I could have signed in relief after hearing his words but the slight edge to the tone with which he spoke has me waiting for him to tell me more. The air is slowly thickening with tension around us as I stare him down to tell me more.

He lowers his eyes from me, unconsciously feeling dominated by my powerful and regal presence. "And?" I persist as I step closer to him. I know that there's more to what he had said and it's eating up my insides to know what's it. Is something wrong with my Nefret?

It can't be!

"And?" I growl when he doesn't answer me. His silence is feeding the panic and anger inside me and these two are the most dangerous combination if they influence my actions.