This chapter is dedicated to @Fforreading whose addition to the "The King" gang was a blessing. I appreciate the time you take to comment and voice out your thoughts.
She jumps when she hears sudden knocking on her door. Her heart is beating in her ears, are they here to arrest her?
The knocking continues. She rushes to the door and unlocks it.
"come with me" Says Luke and he hurriedly starts running. She grabs her kit and follows after him.
"Is it Arthur?" she asks, her voice worried.
"no Arthur is fine" he says "somebody else isn't"
they enter a room and Bell's eyes connect to the body lying on the couch. She doesn't know him. He's groaning in pain, Blood seeping from his side. Arthur is standing over him. He turns towards her. His eyes are hard, his lips are pressed tight in a straight line but she can see the frown lines slightly. He nudges his head towards him.
"go ahead"
She walks over to the man and kneels next to him. She lifts his shirt to see what exactly happened and she winces. Multiple slash wounds with glass shards embedded in his skin.
"what happened?" she asks Arthur and tries to ignore the blood on his hands.
"Non of your goddamn business" snaps Luke
"easy Luke" warns Arthur
She tries to ignore the fact that Arthur just defended her and she turns towards the man. She starts removing the glass and cleaning his cuts. She's about to start stitching when he says "get him stable then move him to your place. I wan't him out of my sight"
Arthur leaves.
Bell doesn't reply but she heard him. She starts stitching the man up and after she's done she bandages his wounds.
Luke walks over to her "done?"
"yes" she replies
"move" he orders and Bell stands up and moves away as Luke and two other men haul him up. Bell gathers her kit and starts walking after them. She's overwhelmed with adrenaline that she can't stop to think about what's happening. As she follows them she sees Katia standing on the side, staring at them. She catches Katia's eyes connect with Luke's before they walk past her. Katia's eyes turn to Bluebell for a split second before Bluebell passes her as well. Bell keeps her face down after that and tries to keep up with their pace. They're hurrying, making no sound what so ever. It's dark and they're taking a longer, hidden route. Instead of the previous way her and Luke took. It's obvious they don't want this to spread. Why though? who is he and what happened to him? why so many secrets....
They reach her place and they drop him in one of the spare beds she has in the room. Luke suddenly approaches her
"you will tell no one about this" he warns and Bell nods her head quickly "Arthur seems to trust you though I can't for the life of me figure out why... you better not let him down"
he walks out leaving Bell staring at him as he leaves.
She hears a load groan and incoherent words. She turns towards the injured man and she sighs. He's in pain, that much she can tell.
"help me" he whispers "help me"
She walks over to him and runs her fingers in his hair.
"shhh" she soothes as strokes his hair "you're going to be fine"
he opens his eyes "save me"
"you're saved" she says and she smiles despite herself to make him feel better "It wasn't that bad anyway. You're stitched and bandaged. You need rest. I'll make you something to help you sleep-"
"no!"
she flinches, surprised by the ferocity in which he denied the drink she was going to make him.
"It's going to help with the pain-" she tries to explain but he isn't listening
"no don't drug me!"
She furrows her eye brows at him and sits next to him on the bed "you're perfectly safe..." she holds his hand
"see?" she asks "you're with me, you're fine"
"don't leave" he begs
"I'll make you the medicine, it will help you sleep and I'll watch over you all night. How does that sound?"
he nods slowly
she smiles "okay"
1 hour later he's drugged and dozing off. She slowly uncurls his fingers from her hand and she slips her hand out of his grip. She smiles as he sleeps. She missed having a patient. She missed taking care of people, of offering them comfort. It's why she loves it so much. The happy feeling she gets in her heart when a patient of hers is sleeping peacefully. They all look like children sleeping like this and she can't help but mother them. It's in her nature. To be so caring and nurturing to people. In a world filled with so much hate and violence her kindness makes her feel refreshed, Happy even. She brushes his hair away from his face then she hears a noise. She gasps, turning behind her sharply.
She stands up instantly, shock cursing through her.
"Queen mother" she says
Arthur's mother is standing by the door, her eyes red with tears.
"Did my son come here?" she asks and surprisingly her voice doesn't carry any weakness, any tremor. Bell shakes her head.
"no your highness"
"you always sit so close and touch your patients so intimately?" she sounds annoyed, possessive.
"he was scared" Bell says and she can hear the whore comments at the back of her mind. She keeps digging her whole deeper and deeper doesn't she?
"make sure Arthur doesn't come here" she says urgently, her tone switching to panic in an instant.
"why would Arthur come here?" she genuinely asks
his mother shakes her head "he has no merciful bone in his whole body" she whispers "not one. You make sure to remember that"
A shadow behind his mother catches her attention and her breath lodges in her throat. His mother catches her eyes and she turns around slowly. Arthur is standing by the door. Luke by his side.
"what's this?" asks Arthur "a gathering?"
he walks in and Bell notices a humorous glint in his eyes but there's something dark about his slightly turned upwards lips, the shadow of a smile. His eyes are too cold though, too angry for it to be real humor.
"neither of you should be here" he says as he inches further into the room.
"Arthur-" his mother starts
"you be quite" he snaps suddenly, the anger coming back. They both flinch at his sudden outburst. His cold eyes turn to Bell and he says "step back"
she glances at his mother as she steps away from his way. She's so confused. This somehow feels like a personal family matter that she somehow lodged herself into. Arthur walks over to the man on the bed and he says "bye Victor"
"What are you doin-" Bell starts to ask but then she gasps loudly, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide in shock. Arthur has grabbed a pillow and is smothering him with it. Pressing it tightly on his face.
Bell is so shocked she can't hear anything, can't focus on anything but the image of Arthur suffocating the man. Slowly her hearing comes back and she blinks. His mother is frantic, begging him to stop.
"wait" she softly at first but her tone turns to panic in an instant "wait...wait wait wait"
her breathing increases instantly and she starts panicking "no!" she says "no no stop please!"
But Arthur isn't listening. The man is awake now, his limbs are thrashing everywhere trying to push Arthur away from him but Arthur isn't budging, isn't moving an inch.
"Stop!" she sobs "Arthur please! Stop it! leave him alone!"
Luke is restraining his mother. Bell suddenly regains control of her limbs and she walks closer to him only to stop a couple of feet away from him, too scared to get nearer. Her panic has increased.
The man won't last long.
"Arthur!" she screams his name "let go of him!"
she tries again "Please Arthur don't!" she cries "I'm begging you please don't kill him please, please, please"
He suddenly turns towards her, his face impassive as he stares at her tear streaked face.
"please" she begs "please"
she hears a noise from under the pillow and she sobs "please!"
He presses his lips tight in anger and abruptly lets go of the pillow. Bell releases a loud breath as the man takes in a deep breath, he turns to his side, coughing and wheezing. She closes her eyes as she feels a sudden, overwhelming sense of relief. Her legs suddenly feel so weak and she drops to the ground.
Arthur throws the pillow away and he pushes the man on his back "you have Bell to thank for keeping your life" he hisses then he turns to his mother who's crying now.
"he doesn't stay" says Arthur
"he's my husband" says his mother, her voice breaking.
"I don't care" he snaps "he leaves"
"If he leaves I'm leaving with him" his mother warns
Arthur's jaw clenches "I see you're still as weak and pathetic as ever mother" he sneers "father would be proud"
"If he leaves I leave Arthur" she seems unfazed by his words
Arthur snaps "you're not going anywhere with him!" he shouts "you're forbidden to ever see him again. If I find out you snuck out to so much as glance at him, I will lock you in a tower and strangle him with my own hands"
"You are a monster. Just like your father" she says coldly and leaves.
Arthur only stops for a split second to watch her leave before he turns around and suddenly presses against the man's wound tightly. Bell whimpers as the man shouts in agony "If I find out that you so much as stared at her for too long I promise that I'll shove a knife in your eye and we both know I'll deliver"
Bell wants to vomit. He finally lets go of his wound and he gasps for breath. Bell's heart breaks for him and her tears fall harder. She looks down as she starts crying again.
"Send men first thing tomorrow morning and throw this piece of shit out of here somewhere far where people won't recognize him. Keep spies on him, if he talks too much or causes any trouble an arrow through either eye should do the trick"
Luke smirks and nods in approval "sounds good"
She's disgusted, appalled by both of them. How can they call themselves human if they can joke and smile while they cause another human pain.
Arthur finally looks down at Bell on the floor.
"so much tears for a stranger" he says and Bell hears a hint of...jealousy in his tone. She looks up at him, her brain muddled.
He walks a step closer to her but she backs away instantly. A look of pure judgment on her face in spite of her best efforts to keep her thoughts out of her face.
"Is all that hate directed at me?" he asks, a smile tugging at his lips.
She wrinkles her face in disgust slightly as she stares up at him, tense and ready to react if he steps closer to her again.
"Is this how you thank me for keeping him alive?" he asks "perhaps I should finish it"
he walks back towards the man but she stops him
"no!" she shouts
he freezes and turns towards her
"Why do you care if he lives or not?" he snaps "you don't even know him"
"he's a patient-"
"maybe if you knew what he's done you'd change your mind"
"I don't want to know" she shakes her head "I don't care what he did-"
"I think you should know"
she shakes her head furiously "that's not my job-"
"who do you think did this?" he points at his injury "huh?"
She feels her lips tremble, she looks down.
"oh" he says "you thought it was me"
He laughs and the sound makes her flinch.
"sorry to burst your bubble but I'm afraid this violent act wasn't done by me" he says "It was done by my mother"
"I don't want to know!" she snaps "It's not my job to pass judgment on my patients!-"
"she hurt him to save her life-"
"-I'm a doctor! A healer!-"
"-she always chose abusive assholes as husbands and she never seems to be able to leave-"
she closes her eyes "I don't want to kno-"
"-this isn't the first time he hits her but this time he had his hands on her throat and to save her life she smashed a vase on him so that she can take a breath" he's walking closer to her now "tell me Bluebell..."
He crouches in front of her, his eyes almost level to hers.
"Is this not justice?"
She doesn't hesitate "this isn't justice. He didn't kill her"
He just stares at her.
"You're saying I should let him kill her?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying killing him is wrong" she snaps "you can't just pass judgment to whoever you want! there's a law you have to follow-"
"I follow my own law" he says and she stops short. He's the King. He can do whatever he wants.
She stops talking. She's arguing with the king, not Arthur, not a normal guy. This could be dangerous.
"what?" he says "no comeback?"
"no your highness" she whispers, looking down.
"Is it your highness now?" he asks "funny how you can conveniently forget that I'm a king when you want too"
"What do you want?" she hears herself ask. She's tired, it's late and he doesn't seem like he's planning on leaving.
"What do I want..." he says softly, like he's asking himself. He sighs and says "I don't know"
She looks back up at him, her confused eyes meeting his deep in thought ones.
"Why do you feel so deeply for strangers? Why did we cross paths that day? Why did Richard of all the soldiers end up saving you out of all the other slaves? Why you?"
She gaps at him, confusion more prominent on her features.
What the hell is he saying?
"hmm?" he asks, his eyes focusing on her again. If he's looking for answers he won't find them with her. She's not even sure of what he's saying right now. A new feeling starts to spread in her mind. Fear. She's starting to feel afraid.
"Why does my mother's cries not faze me but I stop when you beg me too?" he asks, anger seeping back into his tone.
She's frozen, shocked by what he's saying. Beats her. She doesn't even know why he stopped.
"Say something" he snaps
She can't move her eyes from his, they're looking at her so deeply she doesn't dare break the eye contact.
"I don't know what to say..." she says softly
"What are you thinking?"
she looks down "I'm thinking I'm tired and I want you to leave"
"That's it?" he asks "that's all you have to say after what I just told you?"
She doesn't reply.
he waits a minute but then he stands up and says "fine"
She watches as he walks out of her room. Luke must have left before because she's alone with the injured man. She instantly starts to cry again.
For the first time she's starting to think everybody could be right. Maybe there is something between them. Suddenly she knows what she has to do. She needs to leave before she digs her grave deeper.
She turns to the man who's passed out by now. Her eyes follow the drops of blood on the floor.
"oh no" she whispers and crawls to him. She opens his bandage and a soft sob sounds in the empty, quite room. His stitches opened and he's been bleeding steadily for a while.
"oh no" she says again, finally noticing the pale color of his skin "oh god no"
She quickly tries to stabilize the wound. He's been bleeding steadily for minutes while she was talking with Arthur. How could she be so neglectful? To not have checked on him sooner? How dare she check on him now? She should've instantly checked him once Arthur stopped smothering him. Instead she cowered away like the coward she is. She feels an overwhelming disgust and hate directed towards her.
You are a coward. If he dies its on you. If grandmother saw you now she'd be sick.
Her self hate talks makes her cry harder.
"I'm sorry" she tells him
"Damn him! Damn Arthur!" She throws a rag on the floor in anger. The man stirs. That makes her anger drain. She sighs.
"sorry" she mutters "go back to sleep"
She stands up and goes to a couch placed in front of the bed. She lies on it and closes her eyes. She has a small bedroom for her but honestly she'd rather stay here incase he needed her. Regardless of what he's done she's still his doctor. She won't let Arthur's hate seep into her. She won't let it. She closes her eyes and she tries to imagine she's with her grandmother again but every time she closes her eyes she sees Arthur's face and she looses sleep again.
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Hey everyone!
We reached 8k!! wow so many people added the story to their reading lists and voted on the chapters. I hope the new readers will start to comment and share their ideas. I think I know all my distinct followers and readers by now but I would really like to know the voices of the new people. Welcome to the gang guys! Pleasure to have you.
Hope this was worth the wait. Wow this was a really hard chapter to write. It took me a lot of replanning and rewriting. I think I wrote 3 different versions of this chapter and each version is so so different and took the story in a very distinct place. I finally decided on this because I liked the progress made in this chapter. Like always I really don't like picking apart my work because it means I'm a crappy writer but I can't help it. I feel like I need to explain the chapter a little bit. This chapter was so important because finally Bell is starting to think Arthur could actually be having feelings for her. Of course this chapter makes Bell dislike Arthur even more. You can really see the difference in their personalities. This is why I wrote "Black and white" in the description. You can finally see that dynamic in action. They really are opposites and I think it's really interesting to see how that will work out and if its possible for them to become something more with their very different and opposite personalities.
- P&P { 11,08,2018 ( 3:56 am Abu Dhabi time) }