The Emperor’s Daughter – Chapter 14, Karis

Karis woke up the next morning and was startled to find Sayana still in bed with him. This was unusual for her. He touched her shoulder, and she didn’t stir. He frowned. He turned on the light. She was deathly pale and was barely breathing. “Imre,” he shouted, rolling out of the bed as panic set in.

Imre came running into the room, followed by Ardatha. “Your Imperial Majesty, what’s wrong?”

“The empress.” Ardatha voice sounded choked.

“She is still breathing.” Karis looked at the two servants. “Get a doctor in here. Now.”

“I’m on it.” Ardatha turned and ran from the room.

Two doctors came pounding into the room with Ardatha close on their heels a short while later. They scanned Sayana. One of them grabbed a vial from his kit and jammed it into his hypo spray before pressing the device into her neck. The other looked at Karis.

“Poison, Your Imperial Majesty.” He wore a very serious expression. “A very nasty one. We need to get her to the med lab to check the baby.”

“Take her.” Karis looked over at his valet. “Imre, send word to the seneschal that none of the Imperial family will be attending today’s festivities.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre grabbed his pad. “I’ll send for the others as well. They can get you dressed and then you can go to the med lab.”

The doctors carried Sayana out on a stretcher while Karis fretted. Adem and Lucan arrived and got him dressed in record time. He thanked them and made his way to the med lab. Sayana was still unconscious, hooked up to various monitors. “Your daughter’s heart rate is slower than we’d like. We’re monitoring her now to make sure the antidote does its work on both of them.” The doctor who had been taking care of Sayana’s prenatal care was now in charge of her treatment. Karis finally took the time to look at the man’s identification tag.

“Are they going to be all right, Jean?”

Jean looked surprised that Karis had used his name. He looked at the monitors again. “It’s hard to say, Your Imperial Majesty. We think the empress ingested the poison last night, which means it’s had all night to work its way into her system. It’s had a long time to affect both mother and daughter. We don’t know if we’ve gotten the antidote to them in time to do any good.”

“I am going to go talk to my sons.” Karis looked at him. “I have nothing else to do today, nor do they, so we may all be in here at various times.”

“I think she would appreciate that, Your Imperial Majesty,” Jean said.

Karis turned and went to the princes’ enclave. The princes were just finishing their breakfast. “Father, what is wrong?” Ethian asked. “Should you not be getting ready for court?”

“Sayana was poisoned.” Karis looked at the princes. “The doctors think she ingested it last night at the high feast. She is in the med lab right now. They – they do not know what is going to happen to her and your sister.” Karis fought the urge to break down. He didn’t want his sons to see how fragile this made him feel.

Ethian didn’t have any such reservations. He broke down. Fallon put an arm around Ethian’s shoulders. “Father, can anyone go see her?” Fallon asked, looking over at him.

“I have already told the doctors to expect any one of us dropping in at various points today.” Karis’ heart broke as he heard Ethian’s choked sobs. “I am going to have a word with Demetrios, as he does not stop working even though we do, and then I am going back to the med lab. You are all welcome to come and join me whenever you wish.” The others nodded and moved in to surround Ethian.

Karis returned to his suite. “Is she going to be all right?” Ardatha watched him anxiously.

“They do not know, Ardatha.” Karis swallowed hard. “The poison has had a long time to work itself into her system. They are not sure if the antidote is going to do any good.” Karis dropped onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. Not yet, he told himself. He looked up. “Imre, get me Demetrios.”

“Right away.” Imre sent the message.

Demetrios arrived twenty minutes later. “How can I help you, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“You can tell me how someone managed to poison my wife when all our food and drink was scanned before we ever ate or drank anything.” Karis looked up at him.

Demetrios stared at him. “I – I have no idea, Your Imperial Majesty. Unless…” His voice trailed off. He frowned. “Unless they somehow got in before the feast even started and poisoned her glass and silverware. It’s an old method, one I haven’t seen used in a long time. But it’s a known assassin’s trick if your target is wealthy enough to afford someone to test their foods for poisons.”

“We never thought to have the dishes scanned for poison.” Karis stared at him in horror. “Just the food and drink.”

“I’ll have a word with the guards to start scanning everyone’s dishes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Demetrios looked grim. “That way we won’t have a repeat of this incident. I’ll also set people on the task of finding out who and how.”

“Thank you, Demetrios. It may be too late for Sayana, but if it means my sons will be safer, I will take the help.” Karis managed to hold it together despite what those words meant to him. Demetrios bowed and left the room. Karis buried his face in his hands and began to sob.

He didn’t know how long he cried. A soft, gentle voice said, “She’s not dead yet, Your Imperial Majesty.” He looked up into Ardatha’s pain-filled expression. “You should go be with her now.”

Karis nodded, went and washed his face, then returned to the med lab. Ethian and Fallon were already there, each holding one of Sayana’s hands. Jean looked on soberly. “Prince Ethian commented she looked like she was already dead, and Prince Fallon pointed out that both of them still had a heartbeat, so they were very much still alive.” Jean watched the two princes for a moment. “Prince Ethian took hold of one of her hands and told me he wasn’t moving until someone forced him to.”

Karis nodded. “Ethian is very close to his mother. I did not really expect anything less.”

Fallon saw Karis come in. He stepped back and made room for his father. Karis moved to take his place. “The others will come in later. Ethian wanted to come now, and I did not want him coming by himself in case something was to go wrong,” Fallon told him.

“Thank you, Fallon.” Karis hadn’t realized just how close his sons truly were.

Fallon retreated to the chair the princes had sat in the last time Sayana had been in the med lab and simply watched as Karis and Ethian held onto Sayana’s hands. No one said anything for the longest time. Jean regularly checked her monitors, occasionally adjusting feeds or injecting something into one of her lines. He frowned at one point and adjusted one of the scanners and then nodded with satisfaction and moved on.

Meinard came in and joined Fallon. Still Karis and Ethian kept up their watch on Sayana. Jair and Hanzo arrived a couple hours later. Still the painful vigil continued. No one moved or spoke. They simply watched.

“Shouldn’t they be leaving to get food by now?” a young doctor asked Jean.

“The Imperial family will leave when they are ready,” Jean told her. “The empress is well loved by all of them. Something as trivial as food has no meaning for any of them right now with her life and the life of the princess hanging in the balance.”

It was almost eight when Jean checked the monitors again. “The princess’ heart rate is back up to normal. She seems to be reviving.”

“And my mother?” Ethian looked at him anxiously.

“Her numbers are improving as well, Your Imperial Highness,” Jean told him after a moment of reading through the scans. “It’s still too early to tell for certain, but things are trending up for her.”

It was midnight and still none of the Imperial family had left the med lab. Jean came out and checked the numbers again. He sighed with relief. “Your Imperial Majesty, Your Imperial Highnesses, I can say with a great deal of assurance that Her Imperial Majesty will recover.”

“She will?” Ethian looked at him with hope spreading across his grim face.

Jean turned the monitor so they could see it. “I know this means nothing to you so let me explain. These numbers indicate the level of the toxin in her system.” He tapped a button, and everyone saw red. “These were her numbers when she came in today. As you can see, not a good start.” He tapped the button again and it flashed to the current reading. The red was significantly lower and now there was a great deal of blue. “The blue shows the antidote is working. At the rate of decline I’m seeing, she should be awake some time tomorrow.”

The princes all looked relieved. Ethian regarded the numbers soberly. “Father, can I be excused from court tomorrow?”

“You want to sit with her until she wakes up.” Karis looked at his son.

“Yes please.” Ethian turned pleading green eyes, so much like his mother’s, onto his father.

“I cannot get out of going to court tomorrow so one of us needs to be here to watch her.” Karis gave in immediately. “I will allow it. Send your servant to Imre as soon as she is awake. He will send someone to let me know.”

“Yes Father.” Ethian immediately agreed.

“For now, I want all five of you to go get some sleep.” Karis looked at all his sons.

“Yes Father.” Fallon turned to his brother. “Ethian, I will sit on you and force feed you one of your pills if you do not take one as soon as we get back to the enclave.”

Ethian looked at Fallon. “I will take one. Anyone else need one?”

Jair raised his hand. “I will. I am very tense and will not be able to sleep without help.”

“Are you sharing your sleeping pills with the other princes?” Jean asked.

“Once in a while I do, when they have issues getting to sleep.” Ethian shrugged. “They do not need them all the time like I do. And yes, Jair, you can have one.” He looked at Jean. “I will be back after breakfast.”

“Very well, Prince Ethian.” Jean nodded. “We’ll know to expect you.” The princes left.

Karis raised Sayana’s hand to his lips and kissed it before following his sons out. He made his way back to his chambers. He looked at Imre and Ardatha. “They will both live. She should wake up some time tomorrow. I have to go to court. I cannot miss a second day. Ethian is going to sit with her. He is to send his servant to you when she wakes up, Imre. Send someone to let me know.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I know Timur. I’ll only send you word if he brings me the message. If I hear anything from anyone else, I’ll have the guards take them straight to Demetrios.” Imre knew what to do.

“Excellent. I am going to bed.”

Imre helped him change clothes and Karis fell into his bed. He passed out immediately. He woke early enough that he made it through breakfast and was in place with the princes when court began. He saw the looks people gave them when they saw that neither Sayana nor Ethian were present. He ignored the looks and tried to pay attention to the entertainment that morning but found his mind kept drifting to his wife.

Lunch came and Imre served him his solitary meal before he left to attend the afternoon entertainment. It was halfway through it when Adem appeared at his side. “Timur just told Imre she’s awake, Your Imperial Majesty. She’s very upset and the Imperial doctors want to know if you can come and help Prince Ethian calm her.” Adem spoke quietly in Karis’ ear.

“You four want to excuse yourselves and go check on Sayana? The doctors are concerned because she is agitated.” Karis spoke quietly to Fallon, knowing he would pass it along to his brothers.

“She is awake?” Fallon asked. Karis nodded. Fallon leaned over and whispered to his brothers. They looked at their father and nodded. There were several loud murmurs when as a unit the members of the Imperial family that were present rose and left the great hall.

Karis led the princes to the med lab. Ethian was holding his mother’s hand and talking to her. Sayana looked distressed. Karis came up and took her other hand and the princes gathered around her. “My heart, you need to calm down. You will hurt yourself and that will not do you or the baby any good.” Karis spoke soothingly to her. Jean nodded approvingly from just out of sight. He’d apparently been the one to suggest Ethian call for the rest of his family.

Sayana saw Karis and the princes and visibly relaxed. “You weren’t poisoned?”

“No, my heart. Unfortunately, I could not get out of going to court for a second day in a row without causing an issue. The other boys and I were there, waiting for Ethian to send us the news that you had woken up.” Karis kissed her fingers.

“He said you were all right, but I had such a terrible dream.” Sayana’s voice was weak, and her face was still very pale.

“It is all right, my heart. I am here. We are all safe and sound, and now that you are recovering, we are all much better.” He stroked her hair and that seemed to help settle her a little more.

Some of the color came back to her cheeks as she looked at the princes. “You brought everyone.” She managed a small smile.

“We were all worried about you, so Father brought us to see you.” Fallon smiled. “The entertainments were boring anyway. You are not missing much.”

Sayana laughed weakly. “The entertainments have been boring, haven’t they?”

“They save the really good stuff for the high feasts, which is the only reason to attend them, if you ask me.” Meinard winked at Sayana.

This made her laugh again and seemed to drain a lot of the tension from the room. Karis was very grateful for his sons. Soon the entire Imperial family was doing their best to cheer Sayana up as Jean came over and busied himself injecting things into her feeds, pulling some lines off, removing some monitors though Karis noticed he kept the one on the baby.

“Kaelea,” he said suddenly.

Sayana looked at him, as did the princes. “What?” Sayana looked confused.

“We can name her Kaelea, for my mother.” He looked down at her face to see what she thought.

Sayana thought for several long moments. The princes seemed to be thinking about the name as well. Sayana smiled. “I like it. And it would be a good way to honor her like I did my brother.”

“I like it.” Ethian smiled at his father.

“So do I.” Fallon nodded his agreement.

The other princes agreed. “Then it is settled. We are naming her Kaelea.” Karis looked at Jean. “How long does Sayana have to stay here?”

“Well, her numbers have dropped to zero on the toxin. Kaelea is looking healthy.” Jean checked the monitors. “If you want to escort her back to your rooms, you can take her back now. I would suggest something simple for a meal for dinner tonight as she is going to be slightly nauseous. She should be completely back to normal in a few days.”

“I really want a shower, and to get this foul taste out of my mouth.” Sayana grimaced.

Jean unhooked her from everything, and Karis helped her sit up. He steadied her as she got to her feet. “The boys and I have to return to court. Ethian, you will have to change and join us.” Karis looked at Sayana. “Can you manage on your own?”

“I’ll have Ardatha and her sisters.” Sayana frowned. “I’ll read for the evening and maybe I’ll go to bed early.”

“All right.” Karis kissed her. “Imre will let me know if something happens.”

The princes headed back to the great hall, with Ethian returning to the enclave to change before joining his brothers. Karis took Sayana back to their suite and left her in the care of her servants before rejoining the court. There were some whispers that he had returned and when Ethian joined his brothers there were a few comments about that.

The two hour gap between the end of entertainments and dinner sent Karis back to his rooms to check on Sayana. She was curled up on the couch reading. She looked up. “How is it going?”

“I am going to be fielding a lot of questions tonight.” Karis smiled wryly. “People were commenting on our arrivals and departures even though the entertainment was going on.”

“I’m sure they’ve noticed my absence as well.” Sayana looked up at him.

“I am certain they have.” Karis sat down beside her. He noticed her hair was loose. “I do not usually see you with your hair down.”

“I have a slight headache, Jean said it’s to be expected, so I decided not to have anyone pull on my hair.” She ran her fingers through it self-consciously.

Karis wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him. “My heart, I nearly died myself thinking I was going to lose you.”

“I was afraid when Jean told me how close we came to me dying.” Sayana took hold of his other hand and entwined her fingers with his.

“We know how you ingested the poison.” Karis kissed her on the cheek. “Now we are trying to figure out who.”

“How did they manage it?” Sayana asked. “I know everything I ate and drank was scanned.”

“It was not in the food or drink.” Karis grimaced. “Your dishes were poisoned. Demetrios says it is an old assassin’s trick. He never thought of having the guards check for it because he never thought anyone would use it against us. Now he is having them scan everything, so it does not happen again.”

“At least I survived this attempt, and we can be on guard against it happening again.” Sayana leaned into him. “I wish you didn’t have to have dinner with the court tonight.”

“I do too, my heart.” Karis sighed. “I took yesterday off so I could stay with you. I cannot afford to take today off as well.”

“I understand.” Sayana answered with a sigh of her own.

Karis held her until it was time for him to rejoin the court. He made his way to the antechamber. “Is she all right?” Ethian asked.

“A little lonely, but she is all right.” Karis hadn’t wanted to leave her. “She was asking Ardatha for something simple and light, saying that the doctor wanted her to keep to something plain to keep from being sick tonight.”

“I wish I could have had dinner with her instead of having to deal with the court tonight.” Ethian looked unhappy.

“You and me both, Ethian.” Karis agreed with his son. “Remember, she has been ill. Do not mention the fact that she was poisoned. If they ask about the baby, do not give away we have decided on a name for your sister. Simply say both mother and child are doing fine.”

“Yes Father.” Fallon was watching Ethian.

“If they get pushy, refer them to you?” Meinard asked.

“Yes, Meinard, refer them to me. I will deal with the pushy ones.” The doors opened and the Imperial family made their way to the high table. Karis felt decidedly odd with the glaringly empty seat beside him, but he prepared for the evening of questions to come and waited for the meal to start.