My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 293

“There are some things I know I’m going to need,” Helena said, looking between Delaney and the Queen.

“Of course,” Delaney nodded right away, “Whatever you need.  We’ll get it.”

Helena looked over a few pages in her books before coming up with a list for them.  She held it out and Sophia took it, being the closest.  She read over it, nodding as she went.  When she got towards the bottom though she stopped and frowned.

“You’re quite sure you need all of these things?”

Helena nodded, “If I have any chance of saving him I know I will need at least everything on that list.”

Delaney looked between them, seeing the concern on their faces.  Feeling her patience tested, she snatched the list from Sophia’s hands and read over it herself.  At first, she thought everything was fine until she got to the bottom and saw the item that had given the Queen pause.

“You need… You need a tooth from the dragon?”

“Yes,” Helena nodded, “That will be very important.  We’ll need it from the dragon who injured him.”

“The dragon he killed?” Delaney questioned, feeling the need to clarify, “The one that bit him in the war that he killed?”

“Yes,” the witch confirmed seriously, “The tooth has to be from this dragon because there’s no way to tell if all dragons have the same poison.”

Delaney looked down at her hands and then at Sophia.  She began to turn her wedding ring around and around.

“What happened to the bodies of the dragons after the war ended?”

“I-I don’t know,” the Queen said quietly, “The land had been farmland before the dragons infested it so… so Daniel told the farmers they could go home once Vince had killed the last male.  He gave them money so they could start over and rebuild.”

Delaney felt a stab of worry but quickly swallowed it back down.

“It’s alright,” she said, getting to her feet and handing the list to Sophia, “I’ll get the tooth if you will get the rest.”

“How are you going to get it?”

“I don’t know,” Delaney sighed, “I suppose I’ll have to start by going to the place where Vincent fought and killed the dragon.”

–

Sophia and Delaney thanked the witch before hurrying back to find the King and the other men.  They weren’t in the room where they had been before.  It took the women a little extra time but then they spotted the men out practicing their aim with a bow.

The sun was rising, making it grow steadily hotter outside.  A slight breeze blew, ruffling the Queen’s long black hair.  The King was the first to see the women and as soon as he did he stopped what he was doing and dashed across the lawn to them.

“What did she say?” he looked at them urgently as he worked to catch his breath, “Can she save him?”

Duncan and Bernard had now caught up to him and looked eager to hear the news as well.

Delaney glanced around, seeing some of the nobles out strolling through the gardens.  She wanted to make sure none were close enough to overhear them.  Vincent wouldn’t want anyone to know he was so sick.

Together then Delaney and Sophia told them the hopeful news.  As soon as it was out of their mouths, Daniel let out a rush of air and ran his hands over his face.

“Thank God,” he said quietly.

“There are some things we have to get,” Sophia told him, “Things Helena will need to help Vince.”

“Alright,” he nodded, “We’ll get her whatever she needs.”

“Delaney is going to get the last thing.  It’s going to be a bit more complicated though.  She needs… She needs a dragon tooth.”

Daniel, Bernard, and Duncan all stared at her in surprise.  They watched the women and waited as if they were expecting one of them to suddenly say it was only a joke.  After moments passed and they didn’t, Bernard cleared his throat.

“How um… How do you plan to get a dragon’s tooth?”

“We need one from the dragon Vincent killed,” Delaney answered, “So we won’t have to deal with a live dragon.”

The men continued to stare at her, not seeing that as much of an improvement.

“Alright,” Duncan spoke slowly, “So we’re going to go get a tooth from the dragon Vince killed… Where is it?”

They all turned to look at Daniel.  He glanced between them nervously before shrugging and shaking his head.

“I-I don’t know.  I would assume it’s still in the field where Vince killed it.”

“Alright,” Delaney sighed and dropped her eyes for a moment, “Well how long would it take us to get to the place where Vincent killed it?  I want to get Helena the things she needs as fast as we can.  I don’t want my husband to have to suffer for any longer than he has to.”

The men considered her question.  Duncan was the first to answer.

“If we left now we could probably get there and back before dark or close to it.”

“Alright,” Delaney nodded, “Then let’s go.”

–

They said goodbye to Daniel and Sophia before climbing back into the small Adair carriage.  Delaney could see the King and Queen both looked worried but she didn’t care.  She would do whatever she had to in order to save her husband.

Vincent had faced down this dragon and killed it in order to save everyone in the land.  The least she could do was get a tooth from the thing now in order to save him.

She was quiet as the carriage drove through the city in the direction of the field where the war had been fought.  When they drove by the hospital Delaney felt a chill crawl up her spine.

That place had been scary at night and was somehow equally scary during the day.  She remembered going there with Miles to see Vincent after the war.  She had been terrified of her future husband at that point.  Now she found herself wondering how awful it had been there for him.  The hospital definitely didn’t seem like a pleasant place.

With plenty of time on their journey, Delaney’s thoughts began to get away from her.  She found herself wondering what would have happened if she had stayed at the hospital that night with Vincent or even just gone back the next morning.  Would she have fallen in love with him even sooner?  It would have kept him from offering the terrible one-year deal she hoped.

Most importantly she wondered if she might have been able to convince him to let the witches try to help him.  She had never had any problem working with witches herself so maybe she would have been able to convince him it was a good idea.

If they had come up with a cure for him right away, she could only imagine the pain and suffering he would have been spared.

Delaney lightly shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts from her mind.  It didn’t matter now.  She couldn’t change what had happened.  Besides if things had gone any differently, maybe they wouldn’t have ended up as madly in love with one another as they were.

–

Outside the world went from wide-open fields to forests and back again.  They had passed several little farms and estates that made Delaney think of Honeywell.  She even missed it.  Once Vincent was better she promised herself she would take him there.  She wanted him to see how lovely it was in the warm weather.

Another thing to look forward to and a reason for him to get better.

The trees grew thicker and thicker and the road became more narrow and bumpy.  Delaney had to brace herself against the side of the carriage to keep from slamming into Bernard over and over again.

Both men were staring out the windows and Delaney was surprised when she noticed how on edge they both seemed to be.  They were stiff and nervous, not making a sound and barely blinking no matter how many bumps they hit.

All of the sudden the trees outside seemed to vanish.  When Delaney looked outside she expected to see more open fields again but what was there instead was unlike anything she had ever seen.

All around the road it was evident there had once been a forest here but all that was left was half-burned tree trunks and scorched earth.  The trunks grew up until they were about as tall as a person but what had been above that was gone, burned away.

The ground was mostly muddy and brown although she could see that here and there were little patches of green grass beginning to poke through and reclaim the place.

The men had grown even tenser beside her and Delaney was about to ask if they were alright when the view outside the window changed yet again and she saw what they had been dreading.

Outside there were no longer any half-burned trees.  There were no more little spots of green giving signs of life.  It was a scene from a nightmare.  The ground was black and gravely and covered in something chilling.

Bones.