Red Riding Hood | BoyxBoy | COMPLETED

Spell Broken

Fawkes' POV

Temporarily incapacitated in the fight with LuPur, I had not seen Alex leave with Cassidy. And by the time I'd gotten medical aid and been brought back to the royal dens, Prince Alex and Cassidy had already found their way to Healer Trish.

Other than flesh wounds on my arm and my chest, I was relatively healthy, so I went to check on the Princes. On my way, I bumped into Queen Annabelle and Lord Winters, who were anxious for an update.

"Prince Alex and Cassidy are safe, your Majesty, my Lord," I reassured them. "They are with the healer. I will inform you once I get to see them myself," I said. "Don't worry."

I slipped easily into Healer Trish's infirmary. Prince Cassidy lay unmoving on the cot as Prince Alex held him, whispering quietly into his ear. Instantly, I was on guard. Had something happened to Prince Cassidy?

My head throbbed with a sudden spike of pain and I saw a flash of red. With a sharp inhale, I moved quickly to confirm my vision. The healer pushed me out of the way, but not before I caught a glimpse of blood on white linen.

"You shouldn't be here," she stated in annoyance. "Get out."

My Prince looked up then. "No, it's fine," he said tiredly. "He's a friend."

Healer Trish pursed her lips but didn't object.

"What happened?" I asked tentatively. Prince Cassidy seemed unnaturally still.

Alex looked helplessly at the healer. I came closer, standing at Prince Cassidy's other side.

"Is it...the baby?" I tried to keep the dread from my voice. It didn't make a difference.

My friend couldn't answer. He turned his face, pressing it distraughtly into Prince Cassidy's hair. Prince Cassidy was hardly awake, but his features scrunched in pain, sweat beading on pale skin.

"Your Highness," said the healer. "It is too late."

"No," Alex snarled. "Fix it!"

Healer Trish looked sorrowfully at them. "I cannot," she said gently. "The heart has stopped."

"Then do something to start it again!" he cried.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said kindly. "The pregnancy was borne from a spell of intention, only the caster can save your child."

"Then we'll find the caster," Alex vowed.

I frowned hard. There was a dawning realisation in my mind. "Alex," I murmured. "Tell me when this happened?"

He swiped furiously at his eyes but answered my question. "I'm not sure," he said. "Probably sometime after Rinidae was killed."

The healer and I made eye contact. I shook my head. "Alex," I said gently. "Rinidae is gone."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he demanded.

"He was anchoring the spell that allowed Prince Cassidy to carry your child. If your child was born before he died, it would not have affected the baby," she explained.

My friend clung tightly to his husband. "What if the baby was born now?" he asked desperately.

Healer Trish shook her head once more, to Alex's growing despair. "It would not work. His Highness is only about four moons pregnant. The babe has not fully developed its organs."

Prince Alex was openly crying now. I watched as Prince Cassidy sluggishly took his hand. "It's alright," he mumbled so quietly that only Alex and I could hear him.

"Your Highness," she urged quietly. "You must give up on the baby. Prince Cassidy has lost too much blood. If I don't save him now, it will be too late for both of them."

Alex nodded though his face was grief-stricken. "Save him," he said hoarsely. "Save Cass."

I touched his shoulder. "I'll keep everyone away for a while," I told him kindly.

My friend nodded miserably. Healer Trish was working hard to staunch the bleeding as I left the room.

~

Over the next few days, the only people to see Prince Alex and Cassidy were Queen Annabelle, Lord Winters and me. Prince Cassidy was resting from his miscarriage and both of them were grieving. The only time we saw them was when we brought up food.

Queen Annabelle and Lord Winters, in particular, were very focussed on making sure they didn't forget to eat. And when I visited them, it was to ensure that they weren't too cut off from the outside world. I thought they rather appreciated my presence since I brought a distraction by telling them stories of my adventures and of Prince Alex's siblings.

Cassidy had asked about my investigations once, but after I told them about it once, they never asked again.

When Alex asked about his siblings, I informed them that Prince Colin and Timmeu wanted to visit them but had been asked to wait for now. I didn't push when the couple agreed that would be best. Seeing Prince Timmeu would be hard for them, I thought.

Princess Seffrin was fine, though she was spending more time with Duke Kellen, who had been pardoned for his crimes. Apparently, King Olcan had been aware of that the whole time and her attendance at the ritual was an unforeseen event. While still not entirely fond of her uncle, he was now the only other human member of her family and she was teaching him to be human on top of other duties that had been doled out since half the court had gotten themselves arrested.

Holly Laren, the other girl who should not have been at the ritual as I'd learned, was currently under Queen Tasha's care. She had gone through a traumatic event and was now a werewolf instead of the human she had been her whole life. Her father, Councilman Laren, was part of the group and her mother didn't seem to care for the girl. Personally, I thought it was a good idea to keep Ms Laren away from her family at the moment. Besides, Prince Colin was doing an admirable job of teaching her to control her shift—some of which he'd learnt from Alex himself, I'd heard.

Other than that, Prince Alex and Cassidy didn't seem to care for any other updates. I left them to their peace.