Disclaimer: Sookie Stackhouse - Southern Vampire Mysteries belong to Charlaine Harris.

Chapter 20

Christian's Point of View

Christian was beginning to get fed up with Isabelle's refusals to do anything but lay in his bed and sleep or cry. She hadn't even seen or spoken to Sookie since that first day and he'd barely seen his brother and Sookie himself, being too wrapped up in Isabelle's emotional state, plus she had him around her little finger. He'd had enough.

He had hoped that all four of them would be good friends, enjoying a close relationship. But fate seemed to have other ideas and his patience with Isabelle was wearing thin. It felt like he was treading on thin ice all the time. She won't speak of the time she'd spent at her father's home, when her father had locked her up. He understood that she uncomfortable relaying and reliving the events that took place; but at the same time, the more she kept it bottled up, the more she was killing herself inside.

He thought of his brother but the more she shut him out, the more he was being pulled away from her. That thought scared him shitless.

He couldn't picture his life without his Isabelle, but at the same time he realized he could eventually become accustomed to living without her. If things didn't start improving, he would be left with the only option imaginable: to end it with Isabelle and arrange her to marry a lord or knight he knew well and trusted to treat her right.

Christian also started thinking of the harassed-looking maid this morning who had come barreling into his room. She had caused Isabelle to wake up screaming and him to jolt upright from a deep slumber. He'd almost attacked the breathless maid due to his frightened reaction.

She'd said his brother had demanded that he go down to breakfast this morning, as he and the princess were otherwise engaged. The maid wouldn't go into details; she just stated that the princess wasn't very well this morning and the king demanded to be left alone until at least noon, when they would have to go down for lunch.

Christian had offered to pay the maid a handsome sum of money to get more information out of her. Like all the maids who were desperate to earn more money to care for their families, she agreed. She'd said that the princess was up at the early hours of the morning looking very green and had been vomiting. She'd also said that the king had ordered her to get a bucket and to change the sheets, then he'd told her to leave as soon as she was finished.

He never saw the maid again since then. Normally there are one or two around, but he didn't see any as he walked up from breakfast. He had several conversations with some men of the court and mingled about, catching up on some gossip and feeling a little freer than he had done in a few weeks, having constantly been locked up with Isabelle and dealing with her emotions.

Christian made it back to his rooms and made a decision before he backed down. He didn't want to face her wrath, but he was going to be the man and take control again. He should be in charge of his relationship to an extent; he would never push her to do anything she didn't want to do, but this was getting ridiculous.

She'd been out of his rooms only a couple of times since they'd returned to the castle, but now, if she can't even walk a few steps to his brother's chambers, then he's going to threaten her with getting a doctor to check her over to make sure she isn't ill.

He squared his shoulders and marched into his rooms, building up all the confidence and will power he could muster and opened the door to his privy chambers and entered his private bed chamber where - surprise, surprise - Isabelle was still in bed. She wasn't even sleeping, as he could tell by the rhythm of her breathing.

Right, he thought. It's now or never. No turning back now. Christian moved over to the bed and pulled back the covers, causing Isabelle to sit bolt upright and blink a few times staring at him as if he'd grown another head.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked him, trying to pull the covers back, but he held onto them with all the strength he had.

"We, my dear, are going to visit my brother and Princess Sookie." He said in a firm tone. She looked as if he'd slapped her.

"I can't, I don't want to. Plus, your brother's fling probably doesn't even like me, after the way I laughed at her introduction." She shot back at him, not giving in on trying to get the covers out of his grasp. He glared at her.

"Sookie isn't my brother's fling, Isabelle, she's The One. You've been locked up in here for too long to actually notice the change in my brother and I have a feeling Princess Sookie isn't going to be going anywhere..." Hell, he knew that for sure. Sookie won't be going anywhere too far from his brother's side if what the maid told him was true and his theories about her words where true. He guessed that Sookie was with child, but he couldn't be certain.

"I'm still not going Christian, I don't want to. I do not want to be centre of attention like I was the first time I reluctantly went with you, I refuse to be put through that again on my own." She told him with equal firmness in her tone. He rolled his eyes at her.

"The reason we went by ourselves last time was due to Sookie and Eric being otherwise engaged. If you'd come down instead of staying here all the time, insisting I stay with you, if you'd actually accepted my invitation to come down to mealtimes with me, then you'd know you wouldn't be alone, because Princess Sookie will be there too. She's asked after you every time I've seen them since we've arrived," he said.

He knew he was unable to hide the annoyance as he continued, "I'm not asking you to come down to breakfast with me. If you'd been listening, you'd know I'd already been down to breakfast by myself. Sookie and Eric didn't come down, because she wasn't feeling very well this morning. It is now after mid-morning, and we are going to pay them a visit to show are concerned like any normal couple would be about a family member who was feeling poorly." Christian inwardly smirked, already possibly knowing what had made Sookie ill this morning, but he wasn't going to tell Isabelle that.

"Bu-" He cut her off.

"No buts Issy," he said abruptly, using the nickname he sometimes calls her when it's just the two of them and things are going well. He hoped to soothe her by using it. "I'll be sending for a maid to help you get dressed then we are going to visit my brother. There were a lot of concerned people at breakfast, wondering where the King and Princess were."

He walked out leaving her looking speechless, her mouth open in an unladylike fashion and he felt triumphant and smug as he left his chambers to call for a maid.

It took the maid and Isabelle an hour to get ready, and he stood by Issy's side the whole time. She had a tight hold on his arm as they walked towards the door of his bedchamber.

"You'll be fine, Issy, I promise. I'm not going anywhere." He whispered into her ear, placing gentle kisses in her hair as he patted her hand that was resting on his arm as she seemed to relax.

He opened the door and stepped out of the room with her; then they slowly walked across the round room to his brother's chambers and knocked on the door. Isabelle tensed. After knocking three times on the door, he rested his free hand on hers and squeezed. She gave him a weak smile in acknowledgement of his support.

When no one answered, he knocked again. He took a step back when the door opened, remembering that the last time he'd knocked on the door, he'd gotten a less-than-warm welcome, and he did not want to get punched again. He was greeted by a maid who ushered them in.

The sight that greeted him took his breath away.

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