The King's Mistress

Chapter 194: Poison

"Sierra, what are you doing here? It’s too dangerous. You need-"

She interjected him immediately without hesitation, "I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to get you out, father."

"Sierra," before he could protest, Leon had a coughing fit.

He collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, much to the shock of Nettle and Sierra. Together, the two women helped him return to his room and got him to bed. Nettle went away to get some medicine for Leon while Sierra tended to him by his bedside.

She rubbed his back while helping him to take a sip of water. Leon was breathing laboriously, which only pained her more.

"This is all my fault," she whispered in defeat as she slumped her shoulders.

"Nonsense," Leon said between coughs, "I’m the one who’s ill, not you."

She looked up at him with a steeled gaze, "This is all Cedric’s doing, isn’t it?"

Leon nodded.

"I should have stopped him when I had the chance-" the coughing cut him off once more. It took him a while before he gathered enough strength to continue, "I’m not what I once was."

Sierra wiped the sweat off his forehead with a damp cloth, "Don’t say that. Things... happen. Not everything is within our control. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything to change it."

Leon turned over to face Sierra. He could see it in her eyes. There was something brewing in his daughter’s mind. But ever since he saw the King he served for decades breathe his last, Leon feared the worst.

"Sierra, you need to leave. It’s not safe for you here," he warned. He was holding her hand tightly as he spoke.

She shook her head, "No, I’m staying. Father, Cedric can’t be King. He can’t rule."

"Don’t..." before he could speak in protest, another bout of coughing stopped him.

Nettle returned to the room with a bowl of medicine. Sierra took the bowl from her and fed it to Leon herself. But before doing so, she made sure there was no poison in it.

She had spoken about it to Vy before and her friend gave her a device that would enable her to determine if something had been poisoned in it. When she tested the medicine, she was relieved to know it was clear.

"How long has he been taking this medicine?" Sierra asked Nettle.

"For about two weeks, Miss Sierra. But..." Nettle bit her lip, uncertain if she should continue.

She insisted on hearing the rest.

"He hasn’t improved much even with it. His coughing has been getting worse," Nettle confessed.

"Nettle..." Leon was about to chide his maid when another bout of cough stopped him.

"Father, you can’t go on like this, you’re not getting any better," a new sense of urgency filled her voice.

Opal slithered out from Sierra’s wrist, resting on her father’s chest. Leon was a little stunned to see the small snake, but he did not flinch. He reached out his hand to caress Opal on her head, feeling her scales beneath his fingers.

’Sierra,’ Opal hissed to her as she looked over at her, ’My venom can heal him.’

"What? Opal, do you mean it?" Sierra gasped in surprise out loud.

Leon and Nettle looked over at her in confusion. They did not know she could speak to Opal, so for a moment, they thought she had gone mad. But Sierra did not have time for that now.

As Opal gave her more details, she asked Nettle to prepare a small cup of water. All they needed to do was to collect the snake’s venom, mix it in the water and feed it to him.

Opal slithered up to the cup they had prepared and bared her fangs. She secreted the venom from her glands into the water. Once she was done, Sierra stirred it and handed it to Leon.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked as he was about to drink it.

"Why wouldn’t we be?" Sierra asked, referring to herself and Opal.

Even the little snake looked over at him, wondering why he would not trust them. After all, he had known them both for so long. Would they really try to poison him even more than before?

Realizing there was nothing for him to fear, Leon drank the contents of the cup without any hesitation.

’It should take its full effect. During that time, he should have uninterrupted rest,’ Opal explained.

Sierra relayed the information accordingly as she helped her father to lay back down in bed. Just as she was to take a step away from him, Leon held onto her hand tightly.

"Where will you go next?" He asked worriedly.

In truth, she had not thought that far ahead. When she heard him coughing, she was so worried she pushed all of her plans out of her mind. She prioritized him above all else.

Just then, a set of footsteps coming toward the room caught all of their attention.

"It must be the patrolling guards," Leon said in haste. He turned to Nettle, "Bring Sierra into the records keep."

Nettle nodded as she quickly grabbed onto Sierra’s hand, just as Opal slithered back onto her wrist. Sierra wanted to stay for just a little more but held her tongue. If the people outside heard her, she would be in grave danger. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

The maid brought her to the bookshelves at the side of the room and pulled out one of the books on the shelves. In an instant, the shelves parted ways, revealing a hidden room.

Sierra did not have any time to ask questions as she was pushed in and the shelves closed back up. Lucky for her, there was a small gap for her to look back out into the room, and she could hear what went on within it.

Shortly after, the doors to the room burst open and a set of guards entered. Along with them was a familiar face. A face she wanted to rip apart.

"Cedric," she hissed in anger.