A Guardian's Fate (Book #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I accept."

The brief sternness on her father's face faded, transformed by a wide grin. Elouise averted her gaze to the floor, defeated by an answer that should have brought her joy.

Something was wrong.

Something had to be wrong.

Elouise knew this the moment she saw Godwin staring at Eldon. As if he was responsible for this arrangement, and he felt proud of the outcome. It was his smile. He appeared on the verge of laughter anytime her father spoke.

Perhaps she was being paranoid. She wanted to believe her father had truly changed. Except that couldn't be possible. At least not this easily.

She supposed it didn't matter how genuine this was. Because Eldon had said yes.

However, his response came with another bout of concerns.

Her father had promised gold. Would they have enough for the entire region? Elouise was confident that whatever Henry had done would secure enough gold to settle the Arendice debt. What about for this deal, though?

Aside from that, this also meant Eldon was going to be here—live here. That should have brought her solace within everything else. And it would have if she had not begun to wonder how he honestly felt about this. She could not sense any regret from him. His face was a blank slate, and she knew he was purposely concealing all emotions from her.

Elouise had wanted him to be able to stay permanently, yet she never considered how it would affect him. What if he missed his home after a few months? What if he grew tired of constantly being at her side?

No, she needed to think more positively. That was always her problem, wasn't it?

Her father clapped his hands together, startling her from her thoughts. "Fantastic! Yes! This is fantastic! We'll have to start"—he abruptly halted.

Elouise raised her head and furrowed her eyebrows as she noticed the sudden fright in his eyes and how pale his skin had gotten. "F-Father?" Without waiting for a response, Elouise rushed around his desk. Then she gasped and jumped back as her father fell over.

"No!" she cried, dropping to her knees beside him.

Godwin was at their side within seconds, checking her father's pulse.

"I-Is he fine? What happened?" she frantically questioned, her breath coming out in short spurts. She attempted to check his forehead with her trembling hand. Then Godwin grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to meet his cold stare.

Elouise yanked herself free. "What is wrong with you?"

"This is precisely what I had hoped to explain to you earlier, Your Highness."

"W-What?"

Godwin sighed and shook his head. "Your Highness, I told you that your father's illness was baffling. By that I meant, it is incurable."

"N-No!" Elouise attempted to shove him aside, wanting him as far away from her father as she could manage; but the older man was stronger, barely moving an inch. "That is not possible! Y-You said you cured him! A-And he was..."

Godwin nodded, his frown deepening. "Once I realize there is no longer any hope for my patients, I give them just enough of a boost. It is so that they can live out their final moments with those closest to them. It does have its side effects, which you witnessed today. However, that does not mean none of it was real. Everything he experienced today—all that joy—was real. I gave him that opportunity to live one last wondrous day with you."

So, this had been his plan, then. Every single part of it. The part Elouise couldn't figure out, however, was how exactly Godwin benefited from this. How could he benefit from Eldon being here?

Elouise wanted Godwin to burn from within. She wanted him to suffer for deceiving her. And, for that fleeting moment, she didn't care if it meant exposing her magic to everyone else in the castle.

"How could you do that?" she yelled in his face. "I trusted you to make him better! I trusted you!"

"I did make him better, Your Highness," Godwin calmly defended.

"It is not the same!" Then the flame on the candle behind Godwin came to life.

"I told you I would make him more comfortable, which I did!" Godwin elaborated. "I gave him the opportunity to spend one last day with you! What else could I have done other than pronouncing him dead the moment I saw him?"

Elouise snarled at him, though she couldn't ignore the stinging in her eyes and nose. She couldn't cry... she refused to.

Then a hand gently touched her right shoulder. She snapped out of her rage once she realized it had to be Eldon.

Eldon moved his hand away and continued to crouch down beside her. His proximity further subsided her fury.

Elouise took a deep breath. And although she no longer wanted Godwin's body to go up in flames, her words remained loud and determined. "I want you out of here!" She pointed a finger at the doors. "Get out! NOW!" It was that final word that finally alerted the guards and had them rushing inside.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?" one of them asked as they both rushed over to see for themselves.

Godwin slowly rose to his feet, readjusting his shirt and neckerchief. As he tried stepping away, spears rose to his neck, holding him in place.

"What have you done to His Majesty?"

"Have you poisoned him?"

"Murderer!"

"Stop!" Elouise screamed, halting the guards before they even dared to take a step closer. "Lower your weapons."

The men hesitantly obliged.

"My father is alive, and he shall remain that way," she said, pointedly glaring up at Godwin. "I would like him to be taken to his bedchamber. He..." Elouise blinked and glanced back at her father. And she immediately wished she hadn't.

His cheeks were sunken, and his skin had taken on a sickly tone of gray. If it weren't for his rising and falling chest, she would have believed him to be nothing more but a corpse now.

Elouise bit down on her quivering lower lip, waiting a beat before speaking once more. "H-he... he needs rest. That, that is all."

The guards crowded around her to lift her father off the floor. Meanwhile, Godwin stepped around them and exited the room without another word. Elouise let him, having no more strength left for anger.

Once the guards were gone with her father, Elouise faced Eldon.

His lips were puckered in a slight pout as his eyes scanned every inch of her face. She wondered what he was thinking. She didn't want him to speak, though.

She merely wanted to feel him closer. To remind herself she wasn't alone. He was here. And she had no other way of showing her gratitude than to lean in and press the side of her face against his chest.

Then Elouise wrapped her arms around his middle and shut her eyes tight, allowing herself to whimper quietly.