Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (34 page)

“I’m ok,” she said again. Her head remained down, still focusing on the blankets in her lap.

“You don’t remember your name?” Raven asked eagerly.

“No,” she said hoarsely.

“Can you at least show us your face?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Caspian asked politely.

“Please leave me alone.”

“What’s wrong?”

She was quiet, unresponsive, and perhaps secretive.

“Are you all right?”

“Cas, leave her alone. She obliviously feels very strong about keeping her identity to herself. She ate and drank and we even got a few sentences out of her-,”

“Be quiet Raven.”

“What? What did I say this time?”

“Be quiet and just listen.” He hissed quietly.

Surely enough when they were quiet they could hear almost muffled sobs, weeping. She was crying.

“Miss? What is it?” Caspian rose from his chair, placing his hands on the table in alarm. She was whispering something over and over until she uttered a cry.

“My baby!” she cried, shocked. She stood, still looking at the bundle of blankets.

Caspian, sensing something was wrong, launched from where he stood. He threw himself across the table, trying to reach the panicked woman.

She remained standing, staring helplessly at the bundle of blankets. “My baby, my baby,” she repeated.

Caspian rested his hands on the bundle of blankets, unable to get her to release it. “Please, I must see the baby so I can find out what’s wrong.”

“He’s sick,” she cried.

“Please let me have him. I am a doctor. Let me see what’s wrong.” Hesitantly, the woman let go. “Raven get my bag now! It’s in the kitchen!”

Raven flew from his chair and ran to get the bag.

“How is my baby? What’s wrong with him?”

Caspian tore away the old blankets. He made a face once he touched the baby’s forehead. The baby started to cough. He was sick.

“It’s ok. It’s going to be just fine.” He checked the baby over and then looked at the woman. She’d fallen into a faint. Caspian was shocked, reached out with one hand, still holding the baby and caught her. He knelt beside her and screamed for Raven.

Raven ran into the room, threw the bag across the table to him.

“Help me!”

Raven noticed the woman on the ground and immediately came over. Caspian started shuffling through the things in his bag desperate to find the medicine he needed. At last he found what he was looking for. He held the vile of liquid, bit off the top, and gave it to the baby.

He handed the baby to Raven and picked up the woman. He took her to the sitting room and placed her on the couch. Raven was behind him carrying the baby and the medical bag.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Caspian unclasped the tight cape fastened at her neck to see her trembling chest. He ran his hands against her neck and chest, feeling for cuts and didn’t find any. He searched his bag again and gave her some medicine.

“She is very sick. The sickness gave her a bad fever that hasn’t broke yet. It explains why she’s confused and why she forgot so many things. She couldn’t get food because of it. See how thin she is? The baby is malnourished too. She just passed the sickness to the baby.”

“Will she get better?”

“If the antibiotics work, she’ll be better within a few days. In the meantime it will take down the fever.” He eyed the baby that was asleep because of the medicine. “The baby should get better too.” He was quiet and studied the sleeping woman.

“Aren’t you going to
unmask
her?”

“No. She doesn’t want to be. I will respect that. It’s the least I can do.”

Raven’s eyes rolled over to the baby. “When do you think she had him?”

“I’d say he’s a good six months at least. He might be older. I can’t really tell because he’s under weight.”

“Should I put him upstairs? I’m sure there’s a nursery up there.”

“Sure. Make sure he stays asleep.”

“You’re staying here?”

“Yes. I have to make sure the medicine works.”

Raven nodded his head and walked upstairs. Caspian watched the woman that night. He put blankets over her when she was cold and took them off when she got too hot. Eventually the fever subsided completely, just as he’d hoped. By the morning he was exhausted and fell asleep right beside the couch.

Warm sunlight filled the room and woke the woman. She sat up weakly noticing the doctor at her side. “Where am I?” she asked aloud, hoping he would hear. He stirred in his sleep. He could hear her, but he wasn’t fully awake yet.

“Where am I?” She repeated.

Caspian sat up, hearing her this time. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, answering her. “You’re at the palace,” he said sleepily.

“Caspian?” He looked at her now.

“Yes.” He said, surprised she knew his name.

“Don’t you recognize me Caspian?” He shrugged. He couldn’t see her face. “Oh, sorry. You can’t see me, can you?”

She reached up, pulled the cape hood back to reveal her face. He faced her now, squinted his eyes for only a moment, and then smiled and embraced the woman. He pressed her to him, clutched her long red hair.

“Amelia,” he whispered, “it’s really you.” He moved back to admire her and she smiled back.

“I’ve been trying to find you.”

“I knew you’d come back. I waited so long, but I knew you would return.”

“I’ve been reincarnated for a while now.”

“Tell me what happened. Why did you leave the hospital? And the baby-,” he started.

“I’ll explain, but first, how is he?”

“I gave him some medicine. He slept through the night so I’m hoping he’s better.” He paused. “Please tell me what happened.”

“Well I woke up from reincarnation about…seven months ago. Somehow when I was reincarnated, so was the baby.” She paused to smile. “And immediately after I woke I came to get you, but you were nowhere to be found. There was chaos around me. People were running in the hospital and didn’t notice me. So I wrapped up the baby and I left to find you. Though once I stepped foot outside I saw that our beautiful City was being destroyed. I saw soldiers in the street and I saw Chenille. She was alive. She stood next to a man with a wicked smile and I knew he was an enemy. I thought he must’ve been holding Chenille as his captive. I couldn’t afford to be his captive too, even though my heart longed to free my friend. She looked bad and as much as I wanted to run over and help her, I just couldn’t jeopardize myself or the baby. I left the City and I went into hiding where it was safe. But it never seemed safe enough.
I
was never safe. I knew each day I roamed alone I was at the risk of being captured. It was that man’s face, the man beside Chenille, who drove me each day to go on. He’d destroyed our City, families, and our Queen as far as I was concerned.”

She looked away. “I went to seek refuge in the Frozen Waterfalls but Pearl, Taj’, and their children were gone.  I couldn’t stay there alone. So I traveled. I kept my eye out for you. I scanned the streets but you were nowhere to be found. I assumed that you were also a captive. With that thought, I decided to stop looking for you. I went on, lived, and raised the baby myself until I was sure the war was over. That’s what I did. Then, I started to make my way back. I had lived on my own very well with the baby, but on my way back here, I got sick. It was just a cold at first but I neglected to acknowledge that it was important. I continued to push myself until I didn’t know where I was. Soon I lost my appetite and then I couldn’t even hunt for food. I knew the baby was getting sick, which only made me push on. Soon I didn’t know who I was or where I was. All I knew was that I had a baby and we were both starving. Somehow I ended up here. I found you after all.” She embraced him and he kissed her lovingly.

“I didn’t even know it was you. You wouldn’t take off your cape.”

She smiled and laughed quietly. “I wasn’t thinking straight. But…now that the war is over, what happened?”

“Sebastian was the cause of the war. He was the man you saw. He held Chenille captive, but Pete destroyed him…well,” he paused, “Pete had a Ceremonial Trial and his punishment was that he was given Lucian’s heart. So when the heart took over he summoned Jasper and Jasper destroyed Sebastian.”

“Where is Chenille and Pete? What about Fitzray?”

“Chenille refused to have a Ceremony with Fitzray because of the Ceremonial Trial. She was guilty about Pete. Fitzray was killed in an accident, to never return. As for Pete, Lucian’s heart made him weak and almost killed him. It tortured him and put him to sleep. Chenille couldn’t take it. Everything was overwhelming her. She got my bag one night when I’d foolishly left it unsupervised and she found poison. Pete apparently woke up after she’d taken it and probably saw her suffering, but they were attacked by a foreign enemy.”

“Oh no. I was too late to see her. I wanted to see her and show her the baby. Oh, why was I too late?” Her eyes filled with tears.

“You must understand Amelia. She wanted that. She even left me in charge.” His eyes rolled away from her. “She didn’t even have an heir. Her own baby was killed before it was born.”

“Speaking of babies, look who’s up!” Raven chimed as he walked down the stairs. He handed the baby to Amelia. “I’m glad you’re doing well. The baby is too.”

“Raven, this is Amelia, my Eternal Mate. She was looking for me, but then she fell ill.”

“It’s nice to meet you Amelia.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Raven. Thank you for looking after my baby.”

“I was just telling Amelia that we don’t have an heir to carry on the Silver name.”

“Yeah,” Raven frowned, “it’s too bad.”

“Well, what about the baby?”

“What about him?”

“Look at those eyes. Look at how marvelous they are,” she chimed.

They were gold, the most luxurious shade of gold. They were the color of Lucian’s eyes and the color of Sebastian’s eyes.

“What about them?” Raven asked.

Amelia smiled happily, bouncing the baby in her arms. “Well you know I didn’t name him yet. I wasn’t going to name him until I found you so we could name him together.”

“Well if you’re implying his eyes,” he paused. “I am
not
naming our son
Gold
.”

“No, but what about Silver?”

“Silver,” Caspian said quietly to himself.

“He would almost be like an heir then. He’d carry on the Silver name,” she continued.

“I never thought of it like that.” He gazed down at the baby. “Then I guess that would make him the heir?”

“I guess it does. If anything…we could always say he was Pete and Chenille’s son. Of course then he would be Silver
Silver, but either way he would still be Prince Silver.
King
Silver.”

I watched them smile down at the baby, the new Prince, the new
King.
  Caspian took the baby from his Eternal Mate and held him in his arms.

I could feel myself smiling at the sight.
This
was how it was supposed to be. I felt happy. Catastrophe would be a better place – a better planet. And the scene started to fade from my view. I felt myself float away from the palace. I was floating further away from Catastrophe. I could hear Caspian’s voice as he told the creatures about me.

“I have sad news to bring to all of you today. Today our King and Queen rest together in an eternal sleep. Nay, will they wake from passing time, nor will they sleep forever without being alive in spirit. Let us all remember our great Queen, who sacrificed herself to Sebastian, knowing that he would one day be destroyed. She knew one day we would be free again. Let us remember our fallen King who loved his Queen as any Eternal Mate should. Without him, we may still be at war with the werewolves, our brethren, and mourn over thousands of slaughtered dragons. We may still have a gap between the worlds. Our Bridge may never have been rebuilt. Let us remember our fallen Prince, Fitzray, who loved our Queen as much as our King, if not more. Without him…well, where should I start? He was the one that helped our King change. Now good creatures, we shall prevail together still. We shall not be suppressed by an immortal again. I hope that our great City will never undergo such devastation again. I know we can rebuild it. I cannot guarantee that there is no evil or difficulties here on Catastrophe, but never again will it hurt us the way it did. We are more united now, more than ever.” He took a breath.

“And I cannot promise you a perfect world. Our Queen asked me to take care of all of you and this planet before she died. As you know, she did not have an heir to carry on the royal name. So my Eternal Mate, Amelia, and I will do our best to keep order. We do not ask for you to call us King or Queen.” He paused and Amelia handed the baby to him. “But as for our son, all must call him as though he is the heir of the throne. His name is Prince Silver and you shall address him as so. One day he may become your King, but for now he is here to keep a very important name alive.”

I could hear thousands of creatures kneeling before their new rulers and their Prince. The sounds faded away and I was surrounded by silence.