Rejected

Chapter 20

"My cousin has been a rogue element for as long as I remember. He has never been content to play the part of a bored Royal. That is why I sent him to the North. It is the least contentious border but I obviously underestimated his ability to cause trouble," Damian continued as the pair walked towards the Royal infirmary.

"What are you going to do?" Delilah asked.

"For now? Nothing. Let this ball end and my father become well, and then I will deal with this madness," The Prince paused with a dramatic inhale of breath, "If he ever becomes well that is."

"You must remain steadfast in your faith that he will open his eyes. You cannot waver," The Lady urged feeling the heaviness of the moment.

"I know, I know, I have the whole Kingdom resting upon my weak shoulders. If I falter all my father's work will be lost."

They entered the empty King's sick chamber after a few more minutes of briskly walking through the numerous corridors. None of the usual healers clambered through like the always did which suited Delilah. She knew very few of them would consider their experiment logical or worthy.

"I shall bring the medicine while you can go over the rest of his daily dosages to see if this new medication will have any affect on the old one."

"Very sensible," Delilah had to admit. She opened the box next to the king's bed and looked through the contents. She opened, sniffed and prodded a few suspect looking bottles, going over the haunting melody the orchestra was famous for, in her head; at least she thought.

"You have a nice singing voice," Damian uttered after watching her hum for a few minutes.

"I don't sing, your Highness, so I wouldn't know," Delilah answered back. She picked up another bottle and sniffed the contents before putting it down.

"Damian," The man chided her for not saying his name, "And yet your voice lets me believe otherwise. If I had known I would have asked you to perform for us."

"Then luck was at my side today," Delilah thanked the heavens above for not giving the Prince this inspiration earlier, "What is this smell?"

Damian sat down beside her and took the bottle from her hands, ignoring the soft feeling of her fingers.

"Belladonna, even I know that," He answered proudly after a sniff.

"It's different; pungent," Delilah wondered out aloud, "Belladonna is usually very watered down because it's not the easiest herb to handle for the human nervous system. Could I test the potency?"

"If you know how..." Damian handed the bottle back to her. Delilah picked up the healer's box and picked up a liquid from a stopper and tested a few drops. The Belladonna changed colour. She then added another stoppered liquid and the colour of the belladonna deepened.

"This isn't right. This much amount should not be ingested by any human being. It is too strong," Delilah grimaced.

"Why can't it be this strong?" The Prince asked edgily. There was a severity in his voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"It has severe side effects that could lead to different types of allergies, weakness and even madness," Delilah voice coloured in understanding. The King's symptoms all made sense now.

"But my healers tested the bottles. They would know what is being given is untainted belladonna."

"It is belladonna just the extract is not diluted enough. This is pure, genuine belladonna and any tests on it would reveal just that. It contains no poison or any additives but the Belladonna itself can be used as poison. Have you not heard of Belladonna poisoning?"