My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 298

The ride back to the King’s City was slow.  It was dark and their horses were tired.  Delaney knew they probably should have stayed a night at the ocean house but she couldn’t stand the thought of wasting any more time now that she had the last thing Helena needed to save her husband.

She, Bernard, and Duncan ate some of the food that was in the basket before stopping so they could give the rest to their men.  Sensing their mistress’s eagerness to be back, the men decided they would snack on it while the carriage was moving.

Delaney was so excited she thought she might pop but she was also incredibly tired.  She realized she seemed to get tired faster than before she was pregnant.  She leaned against the side of the carriage and soon fell asleep, thankful this stretch of road was smooth.

By the time they reached the city house, it was closer to the morning than they had expected.  The horses were exhausted and so were their men.  Delaney sent them all to sleep but asked that the other men in the stables saddle a different horse for her.

“Delaney you need to sleep,” Bernard argued, “You can take the tooth to the witch once you’ve had some rest.”

“No,” she shook her head, “I won’t rest until she has it and can begin her work on saving Vincent.”

“Well then we’re at least coming with you,” Duncan said and called for two more horses to be saddled.

They rode to the castle as quick as Delaney dared, not wanting to chance harming her baby.  The men at the royal stables looked shocked to see them but took the horses and said they would see to them.

Delaney was sure she looked like a mess but she didn’t care.  In her hands, she carried the box with the dragon’s tooth and that was the only thing that mattered.  Luckily it was earlier enough in the morning that there were very few nobles awake and those that were, were only so because they had not yet gone to bed after a night of drinking.

The wine-soaked men and women that Delaney passed looked at her with wide eyes but she didn’t give them any attention.  Her mind was on getting to the witch’s rooms.

Bernard and Duncan followed close as she led the way to the winding staircase.  It was so late that there weren’t any torches lit along the walls.  Duncan took a candle from its place in the hall and used it to light their way.

Finally, Delaney began to smell the scent of damp earth mixed with herbs.  They walked through the archway into the room and she hurried to the door she knew was Helena’s.

Knocking lightly, she suddenly worried the witch might be angry to be woken up.  Before she had a chance to think more about it the door swung open and she was surprised to find Helena standing there already fully dressed.

“Delaney,” she said with a smile, “I had hoped it would be you.  Of course, I didn’t know anyone else who would come at this hour.”

“I’m sorry about how early it is but I have it,” Delaney said quickly, holding out the box, “I have the tooth.”

The witch looked intrigued as she took the box from the duchess and turned, walking back into her rooms.  Delaney signaled for Bernard and Duncan to wait before she followed Helena in and closed the door.

The witch sat the box on the table in the glow of the firelight and opened it, carefully peeling back the wax paper inside to reveal the pearly, razor-sharp tooth.

“This is it,” Helena gasped, “You got the perfect tooth.  I was stuck in a place of trying to find out how the tooth could pull back in the poison but this is perfect.  This tooth doesn’t have any poison left in it so it will be able to pull the poison out of your husband’s body.”

“Really?” Delaney asked, “H-How will it…”

“I’m still working out the details,” Helena answered before she could finish, “It’s going to take me more time.”

“But Helena,” Delaney said quietly, “I don’t know that we have more time.”

The witch looked at her seriously, “We will have to hope we do my Lady.  There’s nothing else we can do.”

–

Leaving Helena to work, Delaney returned home with Bernard and Duncan as the sun began to rise.  They trudged their way up the stairs and each to their own bedrooms.  Delaney closed her curtains to block out the light before collapsing on her bed and falling asleep fully dressed.

The next thing she knew, she was being woken up by her growling stomach.  Delaney groaned, rolling from her side to her back, pressing her palms to her eyes.  She needed more sleep but her baby wanted more to eat.

She rang for Ms. Bird before climbing from the bed and clumsily beginning the process of undressing from the road-worn clothes from the day before.  When her maid arrived with a tray of tea and cakes, Delaney devoured nearly all of them.  Ms. Bird chuckled as she watched.

“I wasn’t sure how long you were going to sleep my Lady but I should have guessed our little Lord or Lady would be waking you up soon.”

Delaney sighed and nodded, finally feeling satisfied.

“Have we had any word come from the castle?”

“No my Lady I’m afraid not.”

“Very well,” Delaney ran her hands over her face, “Then I think I’ll have a bath while we wait.”

Ms. Bird was happy to oblige, hurrying off to begin preparing the water.  Delaney sat at the small table in the room, wrapped in a robe as she ate a bit more and admired the clear, blue sky.  She wondered if Vincent was home looking out and thinking of her too.

–

Delaney soaked in the warm bath and washed every inch of her body and hair.  When she was satisfied she’d gotten rid of any grime built up from their time traveling, she relaxed back against the back of the tub and closed her eyes.

She was still so tired and the water was so nice and warm.  She dozed off as she rested there.

Not long later, she awoke with a start.  Sitting up, she blinked and tried to remember what had woken her when she heard it again.  A sharp knocking at the door.

Standing, Delaney dried herself quickly and wrapped her robe around her before calling for the person to enter.

“Oh my Lady I’m sorry to disturb you,” Ms. Bird came in flushed and wide-eyed, “But you’ve had a letter come from Edgewood!”

Delaney snatched it from her hands and took it to the window to read by the fading light as the sun set.  She had hoped it might be from her husband but she saw the handwriting and knew right away that it wasn’t.  It was from Miles.

Popping off the wax seal, Delaney quickly read the short letter her brother-in-law had sent her.

Vincent was deteriorating.  He was struggling more and more to breathe and his fevers were growing steadily higher.  The medicine was barely helping his pain now and Opal couldn’t make more fast enough to keep up with how much he needed.

If he wasn’t sleeping he was in a sort of feverish, delusional state.  He was only aware and himself again for short bursts in which he would ask where Delaney was and if she’d returned yet.

Miles wrote that it was time to give up this venture.  Vincent was dying and it was too late to save him.  He wrote that she needed to come home and be with her husband before he passed because there was no one else he wanted with him more.

Delaney’s knees went weak beneath her and the letter fell from her hand.  She dropped, sinking down into a chair and looking out the window where grey storm clouds were beginning to gather on the darkening horizon.

Ms. Bird hurried forward and picked up the letter, reading over it quickly.  When she looked up at Delaney again her eyes were wide and full of tears.

“Oh my Lady,” she said quietly, “What-What are you going to do?”

Delaney was silent.  She didn’t move, staring outside at the sky as it grew darker until she could no longer make out the clouds but knew they were there because of the little flashes of lightning that began to light up the sky.

“My Lady?”

“Have a messenger go to the castle and tell the King and Queen that I would like the use of their fastest horses for our carriage.  The horses we used yesterday won’t have recovered enough to make a long trip.”

“But-But Lady Adair… What about the magic from the witch?”

“You read the letter, Ms. Bird,” she said quietly, her voice trembling.  When she turned to look at her now her eyes were rimmed with tears.

“It’s too late.  I’m going home to be with my husband.”