Free Web NovelChapter 162: Chapter 162
His head struck the ground with a sickening thud as his body crumpled. It happened so fast that Torben was already lying on the grass before Circe could even react.
A strangled scream caught in her throat as her eyes stung with tears. She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands trembling as she hovered over him, not sure of what to do.
"Torben?" she called, her voice breaking. She shook his shoulders gently, but he didn’t stir. His body lay limp, utterly motionless, and the sight of it made her terror surge.
He needed urgent help. But everyone who could possibly assist was still inside the castle. She thought of carrying him back, but one glance at his size compared to hers made the task seem impossible.
Her mind spun in panic. Should she stay with him or run for help? If she left, something worse could happen before she returned. Yet sitting here, helpless and watching him slip away, felt unbearable.
She hovered there, torn between both choices, her heart hammering in her chest.
But she was spared from making the decision when one of the patrolling guards spotted them and came rushing over to help.
"Your Highness, what happened?" the guard asked, his voice tight with urgency.
"I—I don’t know. He was fine seconds ago, then he just collapsed," she blubbered, fear and confusion twisting her words into a trembling mess.
Tears streaked down her cheeks as the guard wordlessly lifted Torben into his arms.
Circe struggled to keep pace as he hurried toward the main entrance, but she didn’t complain or ask him to slow down. Not even when she stumbled over a rock and fell, scraping her knees raw against the ground.
She bit her lip to stifle a pained cry. When the guard slowed and turned back to check on her, she only waved frantically for him to keep going.
Her hands and knees burned as she pushed herself upright, but she ignored the pain and pressed on, determined to catch up. Torben needed help and they couldn’t afford any delays.
By the time she made it inside and found her mother, she learned that the royal physician was already tending to Torben. There was nothing left for them to do now but wait.
Then her mother’s gaze fell on the stained hem of Circe’s clothes. She gently lifted the skirt and caught sight of Circe’s scraped knees and the small rivulet of blood trickling down her leg.
"Circe, your knees," Thalora said softly, bending to inspect the wound.
A sharp ache shot up Circe’s leg when her mother’s fingers brushed the torn skin, and she had to bite down hard on the inside of her cheek to stifle a cry.
Instead, she forced a smile.
"I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all," she lied. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Her mother already looked so worried about Torben that Circe couldn’t bear to add to it. She stayed still while Thalora dabbed gently at the blood with a clean handkerchief, promising herself she would let the physician tend to it later.
Time stretched unbearably as they waited. It felt like hours before the physician finally emerged from his workroom. His face was ashen and drawn, his expression so grave that Circe’s stomach twisted in dread.
He didn’t even glance her way as he passed, heading straight for her parents, the King and Queen of Westeria, who stood a few feet away. The murmur of his low voice reached Circe’s ears, but she couldn’t make out the words.
She didn’t need to. Whatever he said wouldn’t ease her mind. She needed to see Torben herself, to see that he was still alive and well.
So while the physician and her parents were locked in quiet, tense conversation, Circe took her chance. Moving quickly but silently, she slipped through the door of the physician’s workstation that had been left slightly ajar.
Her eyes immediately found her brother’s figure laying on the physician’s operating table
Her heart lurched painfully.
She moved closer, sucking in a sharp breath as she took in the bandage wrapped around his head. He lay frighteningly still, his chest rising and falling only slightly.
Soon, she was standing right beside him and immediately she noticed the strange feeling that clung to her the second she entered the room. She managed to ignore it before, choosing not to give it much thought but now as she stood so close to Torben, the feeling had become unshakable.
She could suddenly feel him like she had never had before. She could feel the flutter of his pulse, growing weaker with every second that passed. She could hear his heart beating, struggling to keep him alive and failing.
His breaths were so shallow that his chest barely moved. He looked like he wasn’t breathing, and despite knowing that it was just the two of them in the room, Circe suddenly felt the essence of someone else with them.
She didn’t understand how but she could feel that it wasn’t a person but an entity whose presence sent icy dread down her back.
Her ears were filled with death’s haunting rattle and for a while it was all she could hear. And she knew instantly that it was here for her brother.
Just as thought popped into her mind, she watched Torben’s arms begin to pulse with those strange glowing threads that she saw before.
The threads hummed with energy. It seemed to call out to her with its hypnotic song, luring her in and she was too weak to resist.
But just as she reached out to touch one of them, someone yanked her back sharply.
She gasped, turning to see her mother. Thalora’s eyes were wild, fear burning through them like fire.
"No, don’t touch him!" Thalora cried, shoving Circe away from Torben’s still body. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Circe stumbled, clutching her small hands to her chest as though she had been burned.
Her mother turned away from her, scanning the room with a look so fierce it sent a chill through Circe’s entire body. It was as though Thalora could see what Circe had felt.
"You are not taking my son," Thalora spoke low, voice trembling with defiance. "I will not let you."
It felt like her mother had screamed the words directly into her ears.
The glowing threads still pulsed, although now it was faint and its call was no longer as strong as it was before.
Circe didn’t know it then, but when her brother opened his eyes again, nothing between them would ever be the same.
