Chapter 104. Broken Prayers

DOVE

“We are doing all we can to remove the poison, Your Majesty,” he said, not daring to look at me. No one did.

My face was red from crying, and I did not look the same. I was a shadow clinging to hope. Time felt dense in my body, lacking the affection I had missed so much—his affection.

“How much?” I asked impatiently.

“If you mean how long it will be before we know if you will be saved, I am afraid we cannot know, Your Majesty. I am sorry, I…”

I suppressed a sob in my throat. I couldn’t bear the thought of doubt. I clung to the belief that he would survive; he always did, managing to get through everything.

Jacob had entered the castle unconscious, poisoned by the bites of spiders that had attacked them. Seeing him in that state completely destroyed me. I hugged him so he could hear my voice calling for him, begging him to stay by my side and not leave me alone. No one dared to speak to me because what had happened was so terrible that they co