Fated Eclipse: The Illegitimate Princess And Her Alpha Suitors

Chapter 372: A Mother’s Vigil

Lyria’s POV

They looked shocked.

For a moment, there was no reply. Phineas and Brayden simply stared at me, their expressions caught somewhere between surprise and confusion. The silence stretched between us and I cleared my throat softly.

Phineas blinked.

He turned to Brayden, who nodded slowly.

Then Phineas spoke.

"Where is it you are going, Your Highness?"

I hesitated.

"It is a s-secret," I said. "But you n-need to look incognito. M-mask your scent too, l-lest someone finds you."

He turned to Brayden again. Brayden nodded once, and a silent understanding passed between them.

Phineas bowed.

"I shall return shortly, Your Highness."

He disappeared down the corridor, his footsteps barely audible against the floor. I waited, my hands folded before me, my heart beating steadily. The minutes stretched.

Then he returned.

He wore a cloak now, the hood pulled low.

I gave him a small nod.

Then we began to move.

We kept to the shadows, our steps careful. The corridors were quiet, empty of servants.

I was aware of the risk in what I was doing.

I had only recently left the Queen’s presence. I had been punished for speaking out of turn, for existing too loudly in a space that did not want me, and yet here I was moving through the very corridors that led back toward the wing where the Queen’s chambers resided.

But I could not help it.

Duke Valenridge had told me, at the lake, that when I felt like giving up I should return to my anchors. He had told me to spend time with them. To let them remind me why I was still here, still fighting, still putting one foot in front of the other when every reasonable instinct said to stop.

One of those anchors was in the Queen’s wing.

The other was Duke Valenridge himself, though I did not think I would have it in me to go to his chambers. I had no idea where it was too. And after all that transpired today,

I simply wanted my mother.

If only to look at her face for a little while.

We moved in silence, keeping to the edges of the corridors where the lights did not reach properly. Before long, we had reached the place where my mother was being kept.

I looked at Phineas.

"Keep w-watch," I whispered.

He nodded and positioned himself near the door without another word.

I noticed, as I had noticed before, that there was no guard posted outside. Not for the first time, the thought crossed my mind that this might be deliberate. But as for the reason why, I had no idea.

I pushed the thought aside and went in.

The chamber was dim. A single candle burned on the table beside the bed, its flame small and steady in the still air. The room smelled of herbs.

I moved to the bed immediately, removing my hood as I did so, wanting my mother to recognise me if she happened to open her eyes.

I knew it was a futile hope. I had known it every time I came here. But I held on to it still.

I noticed there was still no change as I sat beside her.

She was as frail as before. Her face was pale and thin, the skin drawn tight over the bones beneath it, her breathing shallow and slow. The blanket over her barely moved with each breath. I stood beside the bed and looked at her for a long moment, and I thought, as I sometimes allowed myself to think in the quiet of these visits, whether she would ever recover.

"I m-miss you," I said softly. "You al-always knew the r-right things to s-say. The right th-things to do."

I paused, swallowing the tightness in my throat.

"Some days it is h-hard to move forward. And I am n-not going to pretend otherwise — this is one of t-those days. But even so, I will t-try to hold on. So you m-must hold on too."

I paused gazing at her face.

I longed to hear her voice. That lovely voice of hers that always seemed to be able to calm me even in the toughest times. I longed to see her eyes open and look at me the way they used to. With warmth and every love she could muster.

I exhaled slowly.

"I made a m-mistake, mama." I said softly.

A terrible one too.

"But you n-need not worry about that. I will d-do everything I can to fix it."

I paused.

"And I w-will fix you too. I am t-tired of seeing you like this. So t-tired of it."

I sat quietly for a moment, my hands resting in my lap, listening to the soft, laboured rhythm of her breathing.

Then suddenly I had a thought.

Kathryn was a healer. A capable one, from what I had seen. Surely she could help — even with the herbs my mother needed, even in some small capacity that might make a difference where nothing else had managed to.

My eyes lifted.

Yes.

I rose immediately and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to my mother’s forehead. Her skin was cool beneath my lips.

"I swear I w-will correct my m-mistake," I whispered against her brow. "And I w-will make you b-better. I promise you that."

I straightened and smoothed the blanket over her with careful hands, tucking the edges in gently, the way she had done for me when I was small and the world had not yet shown me everything it was capable of.

Then I adjusted my cloak, pulled the hood back into place, and turned toward the door.

It was a risk, approaching Kathryn. Everything in this palace was a risk. But I trusted her, or at least I trusted what I had seen of her, and I had long since concluded that there were certain risks worth taking and certain ones that were not, and this fell squarely into the former.

Once the sun rose, I would send for her.

There was nothing else pressing. The Queen had forbidden me from meeting with any of the three winning candidates, and though I admitted to myself that I would have genuinely liked to spend time with all three of them, it could not be helped. The dates would proceed without me. Either way, my mother came first.

She always had.

I moved to the door quietly and opened it.

Phineas fell into step beside me at once and we made our way back through the shadows, retracing the path we had taken, keeping to the edges of the corridors until the familiar door of my chambers appeared ahead.

I slipped inside.

The room was quiet and dark and exactly as I had left it.

I removed my cloak, set it aside, and lay down on the bed.

Finally, I fell asleep.

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