The palace broke into a frenzy afterwards, with maids and guards rushing in and out of the king's chambers. With a terrified heart, Maya barked out orders but she still couldn't wait for the doctor to arrive before Dexter received treatment. Having had her own share of poisoning attempts, she knew how dangerous this things could be. "What time is the doctor arriving?" She asked, as she paced around the room, her voice strained. By now the king was already in bed, shielded from sight. " He should be here soon, Your Majesty." Rosa replied, equally worried. Maya glanced at Dexter who was already losing color. She can't wait till the doctor arrives. He might have been dead by then. Banishing the thought, she turned to Rosa, a frantic look in her eyes. "Get me all of the herbs that are available in the palace, mortar and pestle, a pot and a jar of water. Hurry!" She rushed back to his side, tears slipping out of her eyes. "Please, Dexter. Stay with me. You'll be fine and

Dexter woke up to someone caressing his face. Fluttering his eyelids open, his gaze landed on a figure just beside the bed. His eyesight cleared and he saw it to be Maya. She had been sitting down beside the bed, all dressed. The worried expression she had on dissolved when she saw he was awake. "Hey..." he started to say but a fit of cough took over, his entire chest feeling like it had been stomped over by a horse. He groaned, rubbing against it. "Careful, careful." Maya said soothingly, rushing to assist him. Gritting his teeth, he let out a low groan before managing to sit up straight. Taking in a deep breath, he let out a sigh. "Thank you." "How do you feel?" Maya asked, placing a hand on his forehead. "My entire body aches but I'm fine." He replied. She smiled. "You'll get better." She said gently. Dexter carefully regarded her. Although she looked fine, the paleness of her skin and eye bags under her eyes told him a different story. "Did you get any sleep?"

It was the day of the execution, Maya stood in front the mirror, watching as the maids dressed her, a grim look on her face. She was wearing a red velvet gown that was lined with gemstones and above her head, a crown was in place. She wasn't sure if Dexter would be showing up and frankly, she didn't ask him. She knew how hard it would be to do this alone. A knock came on the door and it opened, Geoffrey walking in. "Everything is ready your majesty." Geoffrey announced with his head bowed. Maya regarded him with a nod of his head, her body tensing. Wrapping a cloak around her body, she started out of the chambers, her maids lining up behind her.... Fleurie was close to passing out. Staying in the dungeon for the past three days without food or water had pushed her to the edge and now she wondered if Maya just wanted her to starve her to death in here. She'd been plagued with nightmares and no one had come to see her since she's been locked up in here. As time p

Days grew into a week and weeks into a month. No sign of Nicholas anywhere. Every raid or search that had taken place yielded no success. It was as if he just disappeared into thin air. It made Maya restless because she knew there was no way he would be backing down without a fight. She could only hope and pray he eventually gets caught. Although their relationship was back to normal, no one could deny the underlying tension growing in the palace. Earlier there had been an uproar in the royal council following the death of Fleurie and Gavin's threats of retaliation to which Dexter had promptly increased the castle's defense. Like Dexter had predicted, he had no intention of letting it go. Fully recovered, Dexter had begun to spend a lot of time working and training to recover his full strength. It was something Maya was always excited to see. She always made sure she was present when he trained. Winter arrived but it was unlike any winter Maya had experienced. Other than the below fr

Four weeks later. After that night, Whatever had made Dexter so worried seemed to disappear with the wind and everything was back to normal... Except for the heightened security in the palace. In the weeks that followed, Maya wasn't allowed to go anywhere without having multiple guards and maids with her. But she didn't mind, mainly because she had no energy to go anywhere. She'd been unable to walk without a wince since that night and whenever Dexter saw her groaning, a look of embarrassment would cross his face as he tried to look away. Maya would use that opportunity to glare at him. He seemed guilty to have caused her that much discomfort but Maya just thought it hurt so good. when she finally regained control of her legs, she was always too sluggish to get out of bed so she spent most of her time inside the king's chambers. Today however had to be one of the worst days yet. Maya had woken up that morning with a heavy nausea and headache which grew into something