The Assassin And The King [Completed]

| Chapter Ten : The Wings |

▪︎ Valerian Kingston ▪︎

I hold a shaking Kaitlyn with my arms firmly wrapped around her form as she rests her head against my chest.

The occasional whimpers from her makes my heart drown for some reason.

As gently as possible, I try to caress her head to provide her some comfort but that has her gripping onto me tighter, "Stop Moving." She grits through her teeth making me bite back a smile at the authority in them.

Even in her current condition, she manages to be. . . bossy?

I nod subtly, being careful of not moving her.

"Ouch!" She sniffles, her hands curling around the lapels of my tunic.

A heart-rending shudder shoots through my being and I'm tempted so bad to comfort her but then I stop realizing it's not my place to do so when she'd clearly asked me to not move.

But concern claws at my insides as I see her state worsening with every passing minutes. When it reaches a point where I start feeling panicked, I try to lift her up in my arms.

"Ah!" She cries out holding onto me so tightly that I can feel her nails scrapping my skin underneath all the clothing.

"What are you doing?" She whimpers.

The voice has my mind and heart in turmoil and all I want to do is lessen her suffering with an urge so strong I can't even explain.

How do I help her? How do I make the pain stop? What do I do to make it hurt less?

"I'm taking you to Dulcamara. She'll know how to ease the pain. She has portions there." I stand up as she starts writhing violently in my arms.

Something is terribly wrong and it's terrifying me and I have no clue what to do or why I'm feeling so unsettled by seeing her like this.

"No no no. I don't want to go anywhere! I don't want to move. Everything is hurting so bad." Her hands are trembling and so is her entire body.

I stare down at her face. Those electric blue eyes are squeezed shut in pain. The dark lashes framing the eyelids soaked in tears.

"You'll be fine. I promise you, Kaitlyn." I gently brush away the hair from her wet face and tuck it behind those round ears, "You'll be fine. We just have to go there. We'll be there in a few minutes and then the pain will go, I promise."

She looks up at me and nods with great difficulty as if the task itself cost her a lot of effort.

"Milord," I finally realize that we aren't alone and without turning to the demon coachman,

"What?" I ask.

"The carriage is broken. How do you intend to go. . ."

"That's my matter to handle." I fix him with a blank stare over my shoulder, "As for your concern, you can rest in the shed I prepared for the night. By tomorrow morning, reach Dulcamara's lair with a proper carriage."

He nods deep in thought.

"Well?" My voice is stern.

"Sorry, I shall depart." The demon wastes no time to rush into the shed and look anywhere but at me.

Good.

A light whimper gets my attention back to the girl in my arms. I tighten my arms around her firmly being very careful not to hurt.

"Close your eyes," I whisper to her as softly as possible.

Kaitlyn glances my way with teary eyes before obliging without a word. The submission has me feeling unsettled. The Kaitlyn I know-no matter in how less duration it was-would bend to no one. She'd never oblige to me if she was fine.