I must admit, I'm dissapointed I haven't gotten many reviews. I guess I'm spoiled...(my first ever fanfic, "I Will Stand Beside you in your Anguish",got a ton of reviews the first chapter...) Anyway,here's chapter three,I hope you like it.
With March came the Sweating Sickness. It was terrible. Francis died, and shortly after the prince and princess fell ill. Theresa's appeared to be a mild case, but Jon was hit hard.
The two were put in adjoining rooms. When Alana dared to visit, she did not like what she saw. She had Sir Myles kick everyone out of the rooms and cleared the air. She tried to use her Gift to heal Jonathan, and when that didn't work she asked the Great Mother Goddess for help. Her prayers were answered. (A/N: It all happened in the book…I don't feel like typing it all up.)
Jon was getting well, but Theresa was worsening. Alana, exhausted from the effort it took to heal Jonathan, was not even aware of her friend's condition.
Raoul was the first to visit Theresa. "Hey beautiful." He said, sitting down by her bed.
"Hi." She said weakly.
"What are you doing worrying us all like this?" He was trying to sound cheerful.
"I'm sorry." She looked up at him with sad eyes. "Is my brother better?"
"He'll be fine. So will Gary, Alex, and Alan. Worry about yourself."
She didn't hear his last words. She had fallen asleep.
Raoul still didn't leave. Eventually the king and queen entered. Raoul jumped up and bowed very low.
The king knew Raoul as one of Jon's close friends. He took interest in his children's lives-that was something Raoul greatly admired him for. A king and a father.
"How is she Raoul?"
"I can't say, your majesty. I'm not a healer."
"I see." The king was quiet for a moment. "I was so worried about Jon I neglected to think of Theresa. And now my daughter lies in bed with no one to help her."
Raoul was silent. Then, abruptly, he left. I know Alan and Sir Myles did something for Jon. I have to find out what.
He rushed to Sir Myles' rooms. "Sir Myles, as you know, the princess is not well. I have to know what you and Alan did for Jon."
"I didn't do a thing. Alan used his Gift to ask the Great Mother for help."
Raoul bit his lip. He didn't have the Gift-but he had to try something.
He practically ran back to the room. The king and queen had left.
Kneeling before Theresa's bed, he whispered these words. "Great Mother, I know I don't have the Gift. I don't know if you wish to hear me, but I need your help. The girl in this bed is not ready to die. It's not her time. So please, help her."
He almost fell over when a voice replied. "You must help her yourself. I'll take you where you need to go."
A bright flash engulfed Raoul. He opened his eyes to a dark place. There, Theresa slept soundly. He gently picked her up. With the princess nestled safely in his arms, he turned to go back, not noticing the Dark God looming over him. Well, he didn't notice until the Dark God stepped in front of him.
"Um…hi." Raoul looked at the Dark God, trying to think of an easy way to get out of there. "I'm just taking back what's mine."
The god was not amused. The ground began to shake.
"Hey, let's talk about this, okay?" Raoul was trying to keep his balance. "Look, you can't have her. Not for a long time."
The ground shook harder, and Raoul fell on his ass. "I'm not leaving without her." He said angrily. "She's not yours yet." He glared at the god. "Isn't being immortal enough for you? We're not immortal, you can at least let us have the time we deserve!"
The shaking stopped, and the god relented. Raoul thought he was home free, but the Dark God lashed out, opening a wound on Raoul's face. Then the Dark God disappeared.
There was another bright flash, and Raoul was back in the room. A strange sound resonated off the walls. The voice was laughing. "You've done well."
Raoul didn't realize he was still holding the princess until Gary walked in.
"What are you doing?" He asked sharply. "And what happened to your face?"
Raoul touched his face. He felt blood, but he wasn't really thinking about it. "Let me explain."
He told Gary everything. From the praying to the voice to the light which brought him to the dark place. Then about the Dark God. Raoul was getting increasingly tired as he spoke, but he ignored it. At the end, Gary was skeptical.
"You argued with a god? The Dark God for crying out loud. Do you have a death wish!"
Raoul just shrugged. "I just did what I had to do."
Gary pounded him on the shoulder and grinned. "You're crazy. But it looks like it worked."
Theresa had stopped sweating and mumbling incoherently. Instead, she was breathing evenly and slept peacefully. Raoul moved a damp piece of hair off her forehead. He was so relieved she was okay.
Within the hour she awoke, her eyes bright and mind clear. She demanded to know what happened, but when Raoul told her her expression was unreadable. She did thank him with a kiss on the cheek, which made Raoul blush and Gary laugh.
Gary had a servant inform the king and queen of their daughter's improving condition, and they came immediately.
"Oh, my little girl." King Roald hugged his daughter tightly. He didn't seem like a powerful king then. He just seemed like a father.
By now, Raoul felt all his energy had been drained. He stumbled back to his room. Laying on his bed, he vaguely thought he should have the cut on his face looked at, but he fell asleep before he had the chance.
The next morning Raoul didn't wake up normal time, so Gary went to pester him. Beating on the door, he called, "Hey get up. I'm not doing all the work around here today."
Dragging himself out of bed, Raoul headed towards the door. His body felt like lead, and the cut on his face stung like crazy. He opened the door to an all-too-happy Gary, which didn't make him feel any better.
"Whoa, what happened to your face?" Gary asked. "Didn't you clean that up?" He was referring to the cut across his face.
"I was going to…" Raoul didn't want to admit he'd fallen asleep.
"Whatever. Let's fix you up, then we have work to do. Afterwards we can check on Jon and Theresa."
"Where's Alan?" Raoul asked, checking behind Gary for their little friend.
Gary shrugged. "He finally woke up this morning and disappeared somewhere. Guess he expects us to do all the work."
Gary kept mentioning work. It was giving Raoul a headache. He rubbed his temples. "Okay…why don't you look for him while I get this taken care of?"
"Okay. Meet you by the fountain, okay?"
"Yeah…"
The two split apart. Raoul's head was pounding, so much so he slumped down and leaned against the wall. Eyes closed, he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Raoul?" He opened his eyes to Alan's voice.
"Hey."
"Is something wrong?"
Raoul's head was swimming. He couldn't concentrate on Alana.
"Raoul?"
His head felt like it was splitting open. His eyes watered from the pain. Holding his head, he fell limp to meet the floor.
"Raoul!" Alana knelt beside her big friend, shaking him. She tenderly touched his wound, then his forehead. She pulled back fast-he was burning up.
Dundundun...hehe. I have up to like chapter 7 written out, but I haven't typed it. You'll have to suffer.