A/N: I own nothing. Enjoy!
Jason looked at the young woman's pale face as she slept fitfully.
"It seems that these people didn't even know the extent of what they were handling," the prince murmured.
The palace doctor nodded. "She'll live as the paralysis was temporary due to the short length of time she was handling the flowers. Had she been around the flowers any longer, I would not have made the same prognosis. I am still ashamed to admit I do not know much about this Nightwalker."
Jason waved his hand to dismiss the doctor. "It's fine, Solano. Keeping her alive is what we need for now. Any news on how the treatment is going to remove the effects of fascination magic?"
"It's slow, but there are signs of improvement." The palace head mage bowed her head. "We apologize for not being able to complete our tasks in a timely manner."
Jason's face was cold, but there was nothing he could do about the results of the investigation. His hands itched to tear down the people who had dared to harm those close to him.
The young woman before him was one of the palace staff who had tried to sneak in the Nightwalkers. Despite every effort Jason had placed upon tightening the cracks between palace security, he had failed. Princess Medea's power was stronger than he had anticipated. With the factor of Marquis Ares using his influence to help traffic such poisonous flowers, everything was slipping faster than Jason could imagine. If they were sneaking in Nightwalkers and potent aphrodisiacs, what else could they sneak into the kingdom? And all the evidence was circumstantial at best and wouldn't adhere in a royal trial.
Jason had no idea what arrangement was between the aristocratic faction, Marquis Ares, and the Colchis nation, but the end result could not be good for Cuora. Percy's father, the Archduke and prime minister, was secretly probing into the details of such a potential arrangement, but info had been severely lacking. Jason's own suspicion was while the aristocratic faction's goal may have been to get to Jason on the throne as a puppet, it was possible Marquis Ares was seeking the throne for himself or to tie himself in some way to it. The marquis would have to murder through several royal descendants of the Cuora including the Jacksons before the crown would land on the marquis. Jason had already heard of how the marquis was trying to pair his daughter to Percy, so perhaps marriage was another way to tie down the throne.
"Solano. How is the future Duchess Jackson's health?"
The golden haired doctor stepped forward. "I've examined her three times thoroughly."
The tone of the doctor's voice belied his slight frustration of Duke Jackson's insistence on triple-checking his fiancee's health.
"I am glad to report that she is healthy, and there are no symptoms that I can predict."
"And as for an heir?"
The doctor coughed. "That is breaching patient confidentiality, Your Highness."
Jason raised his eyebrow.
"Like I said, she is healthy," the doctor emphasized the last word. "In all aspects."
"That's good, then."
The doctor muttered something unsavory under his breath, clearly disgruntled that the prince was pushing him far too much past the ethical domain of what the doctor was comfortable with.
Jason chose to ignore it. Ethics were unfortunately nothing but shades of gray in order to keep his kingdom and the people he cared for safe. It would have been...troublesome had Lady Chase been replaced with someone else like Lady Eris.
Kelli resisted the urge to clench her fingers into fists. Princess Medea's temper had often flared up in the past couple of days. Yesterday, the Colchis princess had slapped a maid and had her back whipped for bringing in the same tea served on the day of the salted tea incident. And now Kelli was facing the same temper for apparently brushing the princess' hair too hard. Her back was spared, although her cheek was not.
Kelli knew what was the reason behind Princess Medea's anger. It seemed another one of Medea's schemes had failed.
One of the advantages of being a lady-in-waiting was being exposed to all the salacious gossip in the palace. Rumors had spread quickly that two palace staff had tried to poison the Cythera princess and ended up incapacitating the future Duchess Jackson instead. And the poison was rumored to not only have infertility effects but also have come from the Inferis nation. It was only for a brief time, but no one knew if any of the two women were actually impacted.
Talk had also spread to the aristocratic faction, whom were beginning to call for health examinations of the Cytheran princess. Kelli had to commend Princess Medea for this. The Colchis princess had implicated the Inferis princess for her country producing the source of poison while trying to cause harm to the Cytheran princess. If Princess Piper was found to not be able to have children, then she was out of the running as a princess consort candidate.
Still, Princess Medea did not seem pleased about the results. Perhaps the poison was detected far too early for any effects to occur, and Prince Jason was also rumored to be spending more time with the Cytheran princess, supposedly tending to her health out of concern from the recent incident.
Kelli scoffed inwardly. It would be a shame if the poison hadn't had enough time to take effect. If there was a possibility that Annabeth could not have children, then Kelli believed that surely Duke Jackson would end his engagement with her. Served that bitch right.
"What the hell are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and finish braiding my hair. Do you want to take your turn on the whipping block, too?"
The annoyed voice of Princess Medea broke her out of her thoughts. Kelli bit her lips and remained silent. How she wished the brush in her hand was a pair of scissors instead.
It was time to find Luke again. Relying on Princess Medea seemed to be no longer a safe option.
Percy glanced worriedly at Annabeth, who was flipping methodically through her paperwork. A normal person after falling sick would usually take a break and rest. Maybe even go on a nice vacation somewhere, like the lovely seaside villa that Percy owned. Annabeth, however, decided to throw herself into the midst of company work in the mansion's library.
Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth's shoulders.
"Percy?" Annabeth turned her head. "Oh, you're here?"
"I've been standing here for nearly five minutes."
She gave him a wry smile, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you can live without someone giving you attention for five minutes."
"Haha. Very funny." Percy placed his chin on the top of her head. She smelled like gingersnap cookies and lavender. "I thought I told you to take three days of rest."
"I know, but I just needed to..." Her voice trailed off. Annabeth gestured widely to all the paperwork on the table.
"You know that's why we hire employees. If you start taking their jobs, they'll have nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs." Percy gently pulled the papers out of her hand. "Were you bored staying at home with nothing to do?"
"Well, apparently somebody is being too fussy. I'm really quite healthy, Percy. The doctors have all confirmed that."
"Really?"
Percy leaned over and cupped the side of her cheek. Despite her claim, Annabeth's face was pale, a noticeable difference from her usual tan complexion. Not to mention, there were slim shadows belying her fatigue underneath her eyes.
"The staff tells me you don't seem like yourself," Percy noted. "And don't blame the staff. They were concerned about your well-being. And so am I."
Annabeth frowned. "I said I'm fine. My family came over this afternoon and just about smothered me to death. Not you, too."
But Percy could see the tiredness reflected in her. He didn't intentionally have his staff keep a strict eye on her as if to keep her locked up in a cage, but Percy had been worried about Annabeth overexerting herself so soon after the Nightwalker incident. The unpleasant meeting with Marquis Ares had also made him concerned for Annabeth's safety. Annabeth had been far too entangled with politics for his liking. If Percy could keep Annabeth safe inside the ducal mansion, he would. But with Annabeth's personality, she would easily find some way to slink out of the mansion. And then he could be in domestic trouble for seemingly trying to lock her up. He didn't want to pull a Jason, after all.
Sighing, Percy leaned down until their faces were just a few inches apart. Tilting Annabeth's chin, he searched into her eyes. Annabeth averted his gaze. He had a feeling she was hiding something from him.
"You're too close," she muttered.
"It's because I'm feeling sad." Percy lamented.
"What?" Annabeth looked back in surprise.
"I feel sad because it seems my lovely fiancee does not rely on me." Percy skimmed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. "These lips claim that she is fine, when she really is not. It makes me feel abandoned. Like I'm not trustworthy."
He leaned even closer, letting his own lips brush against her forehead. Slowly, his lips trailed down the curve of her nose, to each soft cheek, but deliberately skipping over her lips. A soft sigh escaped Annabeth's lips as Percy kissed the edge of her jawline.
Perhaps he was distracting her far too much from the seriousness of their conversation at hand. Percy paused, letting some of the haziness from her stormy eyes clear out.
"Am I that much of a failure as a future husband?" Percy said, softly.
Annabeth blinked, confusion coming over her face. "Why would you think that?"
"Because it feels like you're blocking me out."
Percy clasped her hands in his, beseeching her to tell him what was wrong. They sat there in silence in the library. Percy was just about to give up and say that they should go eat dinner when Annabeth opened her mouth.
"I was just thinking about the contract."
"Contract? If this is about the business-"
Annabeth shook her head. "Not that one. The contract we made before we got engaged to each other."
"Ah."
Truth to be told, Percy hadn't thought much about it these days. Perhaps it was because of the turmoil that had been going on in the palace with the Nightwalker incident combined with tense council meetings that Percy had almost forgotten that his upcoming marriage to Annabeth had been built upon two pieces of paper and words of promises. A marriage of just political intentions. At least from the beginning it had been.
Somewhere along the way, that contract had evolved to something more. For him, that is. But what about Annabeth?
"What is it about the contract that has you worried?"
Did she want to change it? Did she think that being next to him as the future Duchess was beginning to be far too dangerous as he got more involved in the Cuora nation's politics? If so, did she want to leave him? Somehow, the thought of Annabeth leaving him for another man made his heart hurt. If it had been another woman, Percy wouldn't have bat an eye. But if it was Annabeth...
Annabeth took a shaky breath to steady herself. "I was just thinking about something stupid. I'm being stupid, really."
"Nothing is stupid when it concerns you."
Annabeth smiled sadly, curling her fingers with his. "I made a promise that I would have to give you an heir within three years of our marriage. I listened to what Dr. Solano said about the effects of the Nightwalker. And even though he said that there won't be any lingering symptoms, I can't help but think that I won't be able to fulfill that portion of the contract in time."
In her grey eyes, there was some sort of longing or despair that Percy could not figure out the reason behind. It was as if she was somehow looking at the past, mulling over tears she had not been able to shed. He never wanted to see that look in her eyes again.
"And if that happens...then what do I do? Is that the end of all of this? Will you have to take on another woman for an heir?" Annabeth's voice cracked. "Will I have to leave you?"
With that, the last walls in Percy's heart crumbled away. "Of course not!"
Bitterly, Percy wished that that clause of the contract had never been put in. Too late now. He hadn't thought of the consequences of what would happen. The mere thought of another woman who wasn't Annabeth repulsed him.
"Didn't the doctor say that you were fine? And even if that happens, we can always adopt from the orphanage you're sponsoring. Don't cry, Annabeth."
Mortified, Percy brushed away the tears that were slowly leaking out. Right then and there, Percy made a silent vow to never make her cry again, unless they were tears of happiness.
Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy's neck, burrowing her face in the crook of his shoulder and neck.
"That's why I said it was stupid thoughts. But it is comforting to hear it from you." Her voice was muffled.
"It's not stupid, and I won't leave you. This, I promise." Percy took a deep breath. "Because I love you."
A/N: Hello, everyone! Hope you all are staying healthy and well.
Still being buried under the last of my secondaries, but I have a few upcoming interviews to show for my efforts. Hurray! Now all I have to do is not be socially awkward during these virtual interviews. And not have the internet fail on me during the interviews. And not freeze up during a difficult question. And not...okay, you get it. I need to stop being a neurotic pre-med now. Alexa, play a TWICE song so I can cheer up.
Anyways, thanks for your patience. Yay, we work out some communication chinks in this chapter! And the big L-word has emerged :o ohh la la!
And we're just 2 reviews from 500! I've never had that many reviews before, so this is a huge milestone :0 Thanks for all your well wishes, and I do enjoy reading through your comments and discussions. I'm so sorry I can't reply to all of them just yet, but I hope you know that you all are in my hearts and you have my well wishes.
As always, see you next chapter!
Updated A/N: Welp, I can't see any of the 20+ reviews that were posted since 9/4/20. RIP.