Chapter Six

"I need help keeping him still," Bran snapped rather loudly. Rolf's head lolled to one side, and Kalys was not surprised to see how white he looked. There was blood everywhere. She glanced at his parents, who both looked rather sick. Kalys wanted to roll her eyes...had they never butchered an animal before?

She could feel them watching her as she pushed herself onto the bed, and crawl over to where he was laying. She ran a hand over his forehead, pushing the sweaty hair out of his eyes. She gathered his head onto her lap, making sure he stopped half-consciously rolling his neck. He let out a painful groan as Bran pressed on his forearm, which was a bit concerning, but surely nothing Bran hadn't been trained in.

Kalys looked up from Rolf's slightly green face when the door opened and closed. Lilah took a spot beside her parents, her face long and worried. Kalys suddenly felt a touch embarrassed that she was the one up with Rolf instead of his family. She shook her head, if they had been a touch more in tune with their son without getting sick, then they should've done it. Besides, she was his wife. Not that she knew him so much better, but she'd been closer to him in other ways.

"Delilah, go get me some clean towels and soap and water," Bran ordered. "Mother, come work on something he can take for pain."

She watched as the room began to move again, Lilah ducking out of the door, submissive to her brother. Queen Celina, glad she didn't have to watch her son thrash and bleed, began mixing something out of the things Bran had dumped out on the windowsill.

"Should've had him brought to my rooms," Bran muttered, but began examining the arrow sticking out of Rolf's shoulder. "Kalys, I'm going to pull the arrow out when Delilah gets back, but I need you to try and keep him really still, because there's already such a risk for me to lose the tip."

She nodded, thinking of all the ways she'd stabilized horses. She'd always hated that job due to the fact it often felt meaningless. The horse would buck anyway due to pain and not having a big enough brain. At least Rolf was a human who she could explain such things to.

"Rolf," she said gently, appreciating when his dark, lidded eyes came to meet hers. "They're going to pull out the arrow, and it's going to hurt. I'll hold you down as much as I can, but try not to arch your back, even though that feels natural to do."

He nodded, though Kalys wondered how much he understood. Not that he was like a horse, but he'd obviously lost a lot of blood, which seemed to be Bran's main concern. Kalys moved when Delilah handed the clean towels and water to the wizard, and Kalys straddled Rolf's hips, pinning down his arm at the forearm, her other hand coming to press down on his chest. Bran nodded at her, and yanked the arrow out.

If Rolf was unconscious before, he was awake now. Kalys felt him squirm, but she pressed down further, remembering how many times she'd had to do this before. How many times she'd done this in vain. But she couldn't think about her dead relatives now. She could cry later, but for now, she seemed the only useful one here.

"Shit," Bran cursed, "I lost the tip."

"I feel like I'm going to vomit," Rolf suddenly said, and he looked it. His skin was pale and glassy, sweat beading on his neck and chest.

He didn't though, and Kalys watched as he swallowed hard. Bran was digging around for something, producing long tools that Kalys had never seen before. Perhaps that's why so many people had died. Kalys realized that Bran had a very Arkish view of wizardry; very medical and tool based. She wondered if that's what the College taught. It could be discussed later. Right now, they had to keep Rolf from bleeding out.

"Fucking shit, Bran, that hurts," Rolf cursed, making his parents send him a look. Kalys thought it was justified. "Kalys, please let up on my chest a little, you're making it hard to breathe."

"Sorry," she said ducking her head, and removing her hand.

"Stay straddling him, Kalys, I don't trust him not to squirm," Bran told her, though Kalys thought that much was obvious.

She kept her palm on his forearm, pinning it still as Bran dug around in the wound looking for the arrow tip. It smelled like blood, a smell Kalys was normally quite accustomed too, but now her stomach turned. She managed to keep it down though, especially as she focused on her squirming husband beneath her.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Rolf groaned, cursing again. Bran stayed silent, and Kalys used her other hand to push the sweaty hair out of Rolf's forehead. "Bran."

Bran just glanced over at his brother, obviously annoyed, and continued his work.

"Kalys, your hand is too tight," Rolf whined, but she didn't let up. His arm would ache anyway, and at this point she wasn't going to risk the chance of messing up Bran.

"Rolf, darling, you have to hold still," Queen Celina said, coming over to press a mug to his lips. "This should help with the pain."

Rolf subsided his whining and Kalys watched as he began to droop again. His eyes were closed now, though his breathing was ragged.

Bran held up an arrow tip with triumph. "I got it!"

"That's not a justified reason to be so happy," Rolf murmured, and Kalys swung herself off of him. He moved to nuzzle her cheek, and Kalys turned bright red. "Thank you, Kalys."

She turned to Bran for instruction, trying to blink away the look the Queen had just given her. She could tell Bran was trying not to smirk, and she wanted to cover her hot cheeks.

"We cleaned the wound on sight," Bran told her, as she pressed clean towels to stop some of the blood flow. It was much better now than it had been. "But I'll clean it out again."

That part was easy enough, considering Rolf was completely out by the time it came for bandaging. His breathing became more regular, and Kalys nervously stood by watching his chest rise and and fall, a clean white bandage wrapped around his arm.

"Kalys," Lilah started, and Kalys blinked; she hadn't realized Lilah was still here. "It's getting late. You can come sleep in my chambers, if you don't want to disturb him."

"I'll stay with Rolf in here," Bran told her, coming to put a hand on Lilah's shoulder. "That way if anything happens, I'll be right here. I've sent Mother to gather some more supplies from my rooms, too. I'm worried a bit about infection due to our late start, so I'm watching his temperature."

Kalys nodded, and told Lilah she'd be there as soon as she gathered her things. She didn't want to leave Rolf, but she didn't want to make a big fuss about it either. She was still shy about her feelings toward him, especially when it came to her family.

"Kalys?"

She looked up to see Bran looking at her, seemingly knowing.

"I'll send someone to get you if he gets worse," he said softly.

She nodded, tears in her eyes as she walked out the door. Giving one last glance to Rolf still knocked out by some wizard potion.

"He'll be alright."

Bran woke up to Rolf murmuring. Bran had ended up taking the other side of Rolf's big bed, after staying up for most of the night. He was planning on switching off with his mother in the morning if Rolf developed a fever, but at this point he seemed to be doing well enough, so Bran had let himself doze off.

"Rolf?" Bran slid off his end, coming to light a candle so he could see his brother better. He felt warm to the touch, making Bran groan. He hated infections. He began preparing the remedy to fight off the infection, blinking sleep out of his eyes. He stopped short when his brother murmured something,

"Kalys, we have to find out about the baby."

Bran turned around to see Rolf still sleeping, though he was squirming around. Bran shook his head, he could be wrong; besides, it could just be about Casper. Or fever hallucinations. It didn't really mean anything. Besides, they had bigger worries. Sergeant Avery and Pogue had yet to catch the assassin.

"Rolf," Bran shook his brother, remedy in hand. He seemed to wake quickly, and tries to push himself up. "You've developed a fever. I want you to drink this to fight infection."

His brother nodded slowly, and Bran glanced at the purple bruising going up his shoulder. Rolf made a face at the taste, but he seemed too tired to really care as Bran helped him lay back down. He fell back asleep almost immediately, something that wasn't surprising. Bran sighed. This was becoming increasingly more complicated.

Rolf was awake before the morning sun. It usually happened that way at this time of year. A dull ache in his shoulder made him want to cry or to scream or to do anything to distract himself from it. Damn, it hurt. He was still replaying the moment when he saw the arrow whiz in, aimed right for his father's head. He didn't really think, just all of a sudden his body was clinging himself towards his paternal parent. And now he was here; sitting up against pillows feeling helpless and stupid.

Bran was fussing about, something that was extremely annoying. It was also annoying that he'd woken in the middle of the night to his brother on the half of the bed where Kalys should've been. He much preferred bed-sharing with a woman as opposed to a male wizard.

"Rolf, forgive me for asking, but is Kalys pregnant?"

The words snapped him back into reality, as he gaped at his brother. Bran was looking sheepish, and Rolf swallowed, trying to think of what to say. He sniffed. Bran had a talent for bringing up serious topics at the wrong time. It was a wizard thing, being socially unaware.It's why they weren't allowed to inherit the throne. That, and dark magic.

"We don't know," he admitted. "She hasn't been tested, but she's showing signs, though I didn't think it was that obvious."

"It's not that-you we're sleep talking about a baby last night," Bran said. "I just thought I'd ask."

"She was planning on seeing the midwife today, but things got pushed back," Rolf explained. "Please don't tell anyone yet. I'd like to be the one to make that decision."

Bran nodded, though Rolf could see the pointed look on his face. "I can test her. I'm the one who provided Grace with a new testing system, much more accurate."

Rolf nodded, taking a mug from Bran that he promised was for the pain. Rolf blinked.

"You were sleep talking about a baby."

Rolf squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to let tears escape. He'd seen everything; everything was gone. Maybe it was the same dream Kalys had had the other day, but either way, he couldn't stand it. He wanted to hide. But hiding is hard when you're a prince.

Celie, Lilah, and Kalys all ended up in Celie's chambers. It was much easier to position guards outside of three rooms instead of five, and King Glower thought they'd be more protected together, anyway. Kalys shrugged. They were with many of the griffins, plus she was armed. That was something Lilah didn't know about, but Kalys was pretty sure it was a safer option. She trust her skill.

The night had been rough. A mattress had been brought in for Kalys, and while she was very comfortable, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop worrying about Rolf, and wanting to know if Bran really would let her know if something was wrong. By the time morning came, she was exhausted and antsy. And felt like she was going to throw up. Celie and Lilah were still asleep as she vomited as quietly as she could into Celie's chamber pot, desperately trying not to wake them.

She exited, wiping her mouth, to see a maid in the room, seemingly waiting for her. She glanced at Celie and Lilah, still asleep in Celie's bed.

"Royal Wizard Bran sent me to tell you Crown Prince Rolf is ready to see you," the maid told her, and Kalys nodded, slipping a gown on and loosely tying her bodice.

Her skirts swished as she walked hurriedly across the hall to her and Rolf's chambers, pushing the door open as she nodded at the guards.

"Kalys," he said, and she could see he was as tired as she was. She swept the room for Bran before coming to the bedside to press her lips against Rolf's. "Are you so embarrassed of me?"

Kalys could see the humor on his eyes as he referred to her modesty towards affection. She shook her head, embarrassed as tears came to her eyes. His thumb swiped at her eyes, and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Bran found out about the potential, uh, well, baby," he whispered to her. "I didn't mean to tell him, he asked me because I apparently kept talking during my fever hallucinations, and i-"

"You were hallucinating?" Kalys asked, sharply. And Rolf nodded, as if she should know that. Annoyed at Bran, she beckoned for him to continue. He seemed fine enough now.

"Anyways, I told him that we didn't know, and he said he could test you in a much more efficient and effective way here," Rolf finished. "You know, with wizard stuff."

She nodded, noting the swollen, red-purple skin peeking from out of his bandage. "Is he going to splint your wound to keep it stable while the swelling goes down?"

Rolf looked at her surprised, but shrugged. "I hope not."

"He should," she said grouchily. "And I guess it'll be nice not to have a fuss, though now I suppose Bran thinks me a whore."

Rolf recoiled, sending her a weird look. "Shit, Kalys, don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"What's a little extreme?" Bran asked, an armload of tools that he set beside everything else on Rolf's windowsill.

"Nothing," Rolf said quickly. "How are you going to test?"

"I just need a sample of Kalys's blood," Bran told them, and he grabbed a needle and other things. He beckoned for Kalys to sit, and she did. "And a couple minutes."

She winced at the prick of the needle, though she felt that may be a bit offensive to her husband who'd been impaled by an arrow. He just stared off into space. Bran placed the something in her blood, and Kalys looked away. Their chambers had been full of blood in the past hours.

The silence was filled with panic. Bran was messing with things, gathering clean bandages to redress Rolf's wounds. Rolf kept staring out the window, and Kalys could feel the tension. Kalys herself just felt like she couldn't think of anything.

Bran picked up the test, squinting at it, a surprised look on his face. "You're definitely pregnant. Nine weeks. Which places it back awhile, back to your wedding."

Kalys could've told him as much, but she was much more focused on Rolf. The rising sun shine from his window shone onto his face, his jaw set, and eyes squeezed shut. Humiliation rose in her, and suddenly she very much wanted to be alone. She could feel Bran's eyes on her.

"Bran," Rolf croaked. "Can you leave please?"

The words were blunt, no tact in them. If Bran was hurt, he didn't show it, and quietly left the room. Rolf opened his eyes and tears fell down his cheeks.

"I don't know what to do or to say," he whispered quietly, Kalys feeling much the same.

She stayed quiet, watching him. He looked utterly helpless, confused, but most of all, exhausted. She supposed this was all coming with threats of assassination, after grueling surgery, and a restless night.

"We're both very exhausted," she said, coming to undo her gown to slip out and into her shift. "Let's try to sleep for longer, and see if we come up with anything after that."

Rolf nodded, closing his eyes as he maneuvered around in their bed. Kalys was surprised she could sleep, maybe it was because they at least had answers or because Rolf was right next to her now. She didn't know, but didn't have time to figure it out before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

Celie was having a hard time sitting still. Both her and Lilah were antsy, and Rufus's pacing wasn't helping things. They gathered in a sitting area together; the family plus Pogue and Lulath. And well, Rolf and Bran, but Bran was assessing that matter at the moment. The room had been carefully searched before they could enter, and now guards were posted outside the doors, holding weapons.

Dagger sauntered, seemingly unbothered by the ruckus, Bran and Rolf and Kalys following him. Both Bran and Kalys were glancing back at Rolf, looking at him as if he were some sort of fragile glass that was about to break, an annoyance that Rolf wasn't even trying to hide as he pushed Bran's outstretched arm away. Rolf was still very pale, and looking to be a a great amount of pain, his arm pinned against him in a sling. He sat down heavily beside Celie, good arm next to her. She patted his hand. He gave her a weak smile.

"The assassin has been found, and shot on sight," King Glower informed them. "While I don't like taking such measures, especially because now we have nothing to work with, it was a matter of public safety."

Celie only felt a touch sick about someone being assassinated, probably because it never happened, though she supposed if anyone tried to kill her father, she would want them dead.

"Was he from Sleyne?" Rolf asked, and Celie could hear a strain in his voice. "Has anyone claimed him?"

"I'm testing that now," Bran assured. "He doesn't look like he's from around here, but Sleyne City holds a numerous diversity of people."

Celie nodded. She didn't really know what she was doing here. Most family meetings because of crisis had to do with griffins or the Castle or the Ship or Arkwright. Not things like assassins. It seemed much too mundane, or really, rather normal. Then again, she supposed Prince Khelsh had been an assassin. But that had been such an odd adventure compared to the following ones, considering the last four had been very connected to each other.

"I suppose we'll find more answers soon, then," Queen Celina hummed. "Probably just an act of defiance. Really it happens often enough in other countries."

"Other countries don't have a magic Castle, or griffins," Rolf pointed out, wincing as he sat up. "Really, considering that our military has grown ever stronger, and with our alliance to both Grath and Vhervhine, not to mention griffins and a magic Castle, it seems rather stupid of someone to try and assassinate the king. Good Kaioon, we have the upper hand when it comes to wizardry considering the College. It seems rather naive to think someone would do that without an army behind them."

King Glower grunted, shifting. "It's a good point. I-I do think we need to tread very carefully, but perhaps it's not as dramatic as you make it seem, Rolf."

Rolf squinted, obviously not in the mood to be questioned. Celie thought he was right, and by the looks of Pogue and Bran, they did too. Maybe it was a touchier subject to her brother considering he'd been the one shot.

"There's not much we can do until Bran does some tests," King Glower decided. "We'll up security, and I've sent messages to the dukes and governors of Sleyne, though I have a feeling I may have to take leave and go oversee border issues."

Lilah made a noise in her throat. They all remembered the last time King Glower had left; it had not ended well.

"Owen," Queen Celina said suddenly, and apparently he had not discussed this idea with her yet. Celie wrinkled her nose, hoping it wouldn't break out into a fight. "Rolf would be ruling here then."

"It's not my first choice," King Glower told her gruffly.

"Why would Rolf be ruling here?" Lilah asked. "You wouldn't go, too, Mother?"

"Of course not," Queen Celina said. "That would be much too risky. But since Rolf turned sixteen in August, it's illegal for him to rule with a regency. And since I'm a licensed wizard now, I couldn't take up Castle matters while your father's away. I used to be able to bypass that rule by acting as regent, but if anything happens to your father, Rolf would be crowned, even if I was still alive. Or if Owen chooses to leave the Castle for war purposes, Rolf will be left in charge."

Rolf curled his lip.

Celie thought the matter was rather complicated and left it alone. She trusted Rolf more than ever, and she couldn't really see him making any unwise decisions, but still didn't want her father to leave. It hadn't really been very long since they'd been apart when she was in Grath.

"It may not even come to that," King Glower soothed, gripping his wife's hand. "We will just have to be very smart. And up security."

Rufus butted heads with Dagger, causing him to squawk, and Lady Griffin to snap her beak at her sons. Celie thought it was a very familial moment. Rolf just smirked.

"You will all have bodyguards," the king announced. And Celie shuttered. "I've worked the out. Cecelia, I don't trust you not to trick or wriggle your way out, so I trust that you will stay with Pogue unless you're in your chambers. Considering Rufus is full grown now. There will be guards milling the halls, and I want Rolf, Lulath, Bran and I to be armed at all times."

Celie frowned. Why couldn't she be armed? While Pogue was her first choice of bodyguard because he'd put up with her wandering, she was annoyed at the thought of being followed. Rufus was an excellent bodyguard, and maybe if her mother would let her learn how to use a sword, things would be much safer.

"Don't look so offended," Rolf whispered in her ear. "Kalys actually knows how to use weapons and Father hasn't mentioned her."

Celie thought that was a good point. She had no doubt Kalys was probably much more skilled than half the guards they had, but was deemed to weak to carry as a woman. Celie lidded her eyes. Sometimes she hated the world she lived in.

"Rolf, you look green," Lilah fretted, and Celie looked back up at her brother. He did have a bit of a sickly hue to him, though Celie shrugged. It didn't seem much different than when he had black blister or snapped his arm in half on the Ship.

"His wound is infected," Bran clucked. "And he's probably ready for some more antibiotics."

Celie glanced at Bran over the odd word.

"A potion made from materials that fight off bacteria in the body," Bran clarified. "It's a very scientific side of wizardry. For medical purposes."

Celie nodded. As she stood up to leave as their meeting adjourned, she inwardly groaned as Pogue stood up to follow her. This was going to be very annoying.