The King's Lover-Chapter 465: He’s Dying

"Rylen!"

"Your Highness," Rylen replied with a quick bow to hide his surprise. "I heard you went to see His Majesty," he added quickly to prevent Caius from asking why he was there.

Caius’s gaze darkened. "I did."

"How is His Majesty?" Rylen asked more questions about the king, knowing that it would displease Caius and keep him from paying close attention.

"I am pretty sure you know just how he is," Caius replied and walked past his cousin, stopping in front of Rose’s bedchambers.

He knocked, and Rylen immediately assumed he had been dismissed and walked onward, down the stairs, without saying another word. Caius looked at his cousin and then at Caira’s room; he was pretty certain the sound had come from there.

Rose’s bedroom door opened before he could think too much about it. Her shock was palpable, and for a moment she couldn’t speak as she stared at him with her mouth agape.

"Your Majesty," she whispered, looking around after she recovered. "What are you doing here?"

He narrowed his eyes as he walked into her chambers and shut the door. "I don’t suppose that’s how you’d greet me."

"I apologize," Rose quickly said as she stepped aside to let him through.

It was about time for him to arrive in her room as usual, as her maids had long taken care of her empty dishes and dressed her for bed. However, not only had he used the wrong entrance, but he was still in his daytime clothes, complete with his belt and boots; the only thing missing was his sword.

"Apology not accepted," Caius said and threw himself into the nearby chair while Rose stared at him with amazement, still unsure what she was looking at.

She glanced at the door and back at him. At first, she thought about the consequences, but it was not hard to notice that Caius looked tired, so she quickly brushed that aside and approached him at the chair.

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?" Rose softly asked as she peered at him, wondering if he had gone to see his father as she had requested.

He was sitting with his eyes closed, leaning back with his hands against the armrest, but as soon as she spoke, Caius opened an eye and gestured with his palm for her to come closer.

Rose knew that when she was close enough he would pull her onto his lap. Nevertheless, she was worried about him, and he looked as if he wanted to be comforted.

Rose let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, wondering why she cared about this lunatic. She took two steps forward, and before she could make the third step, his hand stretched out and pulled her into his lap.

"Typical," she muttered but got comfortable.

Caius didn’t say anything back; he just traced a finger back and forth across her arm while she rested her head on his chest. She lifted her head to peek at him, but he was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused.

Rose pouted, feeling slightly awkward. She didn’t know whether to ask again or let him tell her in his own time. He seemed satisfied to hold her in his arms without saying anything.

Rose closed her eyes as she tried to listen to his heartbeat, while her legs dangled as she sat atop him. She didn’t know how long she sat there listening to the steady rhythm before he spoke again.

"I went to see the King," he simply said.

Rose lifted herself immediately so she could look at his face. He looked down at her so their eyes met. What Rose saw wasn’t as detached as Caius wanted to seem. Whatever he had seen troubled him.

Her first instinct was to ask how it went, but she smiled and said, "Thank you."

Caius’s eyes squinted for only a moment. "I do intend to get my reward."

"Of course," she replied, still unsure what the reward was but Caius didn’t want to bring it up and she was curious about the events with his father. "How did it go?"

Caius glanced away briefly. "Same as usual."

"You lost?" she asked with exaggerated horror, even though she already knew the answer.

Caius glanced back at her. "Of course not. He plays worse than you."

Rose wasn’t sure if that was a compliment to her or if he was equally insulting them both. It also didn’t help that he smiled slightly at the last part. If he wasn’t in such a bad mood she would have said something snarky back.

"Then it wasn’t the same as usual," she replied with her smile back in place.

Caius let out a sad laugh. "I suppose you are right."

Rose nodded with a knowing look on her face as Caius met her eyes once again; then his expression got serious, and even the sad laughter was missing, leaving only sadness.

"He is dying," he suddenly blurted. "I have always known that he is sickly. His lungs don’t work as well as they should. But this time around, he will die."

Rose leaned back against Caius, resting her head and hand on his chest. "I am sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said and grabbed her hand that lay on his chest. "He isn’t even a good father."

"He is still your father," she said.

Rose half expected Caius to argue, but he didn’t; rather, he held her hand to his chest and didn’t say anything else. She wasn’t sure how to comfort him, and Caius didn’t like to speak about distressing things, but she still wanted him to know that she was here.

They sat in silence; it didn’t feel heavy or uncomfortable. In fact, it felt wrong to speak, and Rose just sat in his arms, his hand still pressing hers to his chest, while she watched the candle on the table melt.

"I should get you to bed," Caius said after some time.

Rose nodded; she had long figured out that there would be no lessons today, but it was irrelevant, and it would be cruel of her to even think of that when Caius was in this situation.

She knew he would rather pretend he didn’t care, but seeing one’s parents about to die in this manner would thaw the coldest heart. Rose didn’t know how badly ill the king was, but if he had been sick long before Caius was born, she could only imagine his state.

She winced as she recalled her mother. The last days had been hard, and even thinking back brought the memory as fresh as the day it happened. She would give anything to have her mother back, but she knew she was never going to have that.

So she wanted to comfort him as best as she could, because it wasn’t going to get easier, and in some ways, it made her happy to see that Caius was affected by his father dying. She had been worried his heart was too hardened, but here he was sad that the father he hated was dying. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He wrapped his arms around her as they lay in bed, and she did the same. He had taken his tunic off and was lying in only his pants. He held her tightly so that she had to angle her head just right to be able to breathe.

She recalled their earliest encounters, and the memory faltered. It wasn’t the same. Rose didn’t forget the terror she felt, but she noticed that it didn’t prick as hard as it usually would.

She knew she wouldn’t forget, but it was hard to hate him with all that she knew and the things he did differently now. They’ve come a long way and things weren’t as they used to be; she couldn’t deny that.

When Rose woke up the next morning, Caius was still fast asleep, which was unlike him, as he always seemed to wake up before her no matter how early she awoke.

She pulled back so she could look at him; he still had his arms wrapped around her, but his hold wasn’t as strong. A lock of hair rested on his forehead and Rose was tempted to brush it away but she knew that would wake him up and she just wanted to watch him for a little bit.

He was sleeping peacefully, breathing softly. His thick lashes rested on his cheeks and his eyes moved about behind the lids. He was dreaming; she could tell.

She wondered what he was dreaming about, and Rose had a smile on her face as she watched him. Suddenly, as though being aware he was being watched, his eyes flew open and met her staring straight at him.

Rose was embarrassed; there was no hiding what she was doing, not with the wide smile on her face and she tried to get away, but Caius held her in place.

"Watching me sleep, are you?"

"I was trying to wake you up. You snore like an old dog."

She didn’t know why she said that, and as soon as the words left her lips she regretted it, but the pleased look on his face annoyed her. It didn’t help that she was utterly embarrassed.

"Old dog, eh? Woof!"

Rose stared at him with amused horror. "Did you just bark?"

"I don’t know," Caius shrugged. "Perhaps I was snoring."

"Yes, you were!" she muttered and tried to get out of his grip, but Caius didn’t let go.

"Your Majesty, please let me go," she pleaded.

"What, Rose? You have to speak louder; this old dog is deaf." As he spoke, he kissed the side of her neck hard enough to leave a mark.