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68% FORCED MATRIMONY / Chapter 17: Chapter 16.

章 17: Chapter 16.

"Anne!' Charlotte ran to her but was too late to catch her. She kneeled beside her maid.

"Anne, what's wrong?" the maid wouldn't answer. There was foam at the corners of her mouth.

"Guard!" she screamed. 

One appeared at her door. 

"Bring me a doctor," she instructed.

The guard was unsure, there was blood at his lady's feet. "My lady, are you alright?"

"I said, bring me a doctor!" Charlotte screamed again. She carried her maid onto her bed, unaware of her reopening wounds and bloody foot, afraid of witnessing another death.

She felt the girl's, forehead. It was too hot. She fetched a towel and a bowl of water and pressed the wet clothing onto the girl's forehead and neck. The fever wouldn't go down, and the towel only got hot to the point of making the fresh water almost warm.

The maid began to convulse, her arms twisting at awkward angles.

"Guards!" she shouted again, "I said I need a doctor!"

"Anne, can you hear me? A doctor is coming." Tears were streaming down her face. Her hands shaking so hard she was spilling the water all over the floor.

The soup, still hot, had burned her unbandaged foot, but Charlotte was too busy to notice.

"Milady, you called for a doctor?" the guard entered with an old man.

"Is it your foot, Lady Charlotte?" the doctor asked.

Charlotte stared at them, wondering if perhaps her ears were lying to her.

"Is it my foot!" she was shouting, but she felt like there was no other way for these men to understand her.

"Is it my foot?" she repeated. "Can you not see the girl convulsing on the bed?"

The doctor looked past her at the maid. 

"She's only a maid, my lady, you called for the palace doctor."

Charlotte blinked, shocked.

"You will help her right now, or so god help me, you will not have your head tomorrow," she said, her voice dangerously low.

Though the doctor knew she did not have the power to do so, he still felt threatened. After all, she was the chief advisor's daughter.

Reluctantly, he went to the girl on the bed and began working on her.

Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief, she had been worried the doctor would not help. She turned to the guard, wiping the tears in her face, she said, her voice shaking despite her resolve, "I need to speak to the prince."

"I'll take you to him, milady."

"I'm not leaving her," she said, sparing a look at the doctor, afraid he might leave if she left him alone in the room, or maybe even kill Anne. "You bring him to me."

The guard was uncomfortable. He threw a look at his partner, who nodded at him. They both knew, it was inappropriate for the prince to be called from his duties, but were too afraid to deal with the wild woman before them.

"Of course milady." the guard bowed and left, wondering if he would be beheaded by tomorrow, for disturbing the prince.

Charlotte walked back to the bed and sat beside the maid, stroking her hair as the doctor crushed herbs in a mortar.

"What's wrong with her, is she sick?" she asked.

The old doctor hesitated. The stupid maid had tried to abort a child. He scowled, this was not his duty in the palace. He wondered who he was supposed to report to first.

"I'm sorry, milady, it appears your maid is allergic to something she just consumed." he lied.

"She drank my soup, oh my God, it's all my fault! If I had-"

The doctor jumped as if he had been struck.

"Your soup?" he asked. "She drank your soup?" 

Charlotte nodded.

The old doctor stiffened, realizing the situation he was now in. Heads would roll in the palace before nightfall. Had the lady deceived the king and his son?

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Milady, why would you try something so, dangerous?" he asked even as he realized that something did not quite add up.

"I don't understand doctor, what do you mean?" she asked.

The doctor studied her face, the poor girl did not know what was in her soup.

"Is she the maid that brought the soup?" he asked.

"No," Charlotte answered. "If she had, she would have known she was allergic, would she not?"

"Who did?"

"The chief maid herself. She said it would help get my strength back," Charlotte answered, realizing that the doctor knew something he was afraid to tell her.

The doctor focused his attention on his herbs, avoiding the inquisitive gaze of his Lady. He hoped his old friend had nothing to do with the bowl of soup delivered to the future queen, but then, Beatrice rarely knew when to stop.

Charlotte watched as he poured the mixture into the maid's mouth, and was amazed at how effective it was, for the maid went still immediately, and her breathing slowed.

"Thank you, doctor. Will she be alright?" she asked.

"I'm afraid there is a possibility she will not have children of her own, Lady Charlotte. May I look at your legs now, please? I like my head on my shoulders, milady." he answered, a painful smile on his face.

"Why will she not have children? You said it was an allergic reaction," Charlotte asked, her eyes suspicious.

"Milady,-"

"Tell me the truth, doctor. A doctor and his patient ought not to have any secrets, don't you know?" she asked sweetly, a threat in her voice. 

The doctor shivered. What power this young lady held, he noticed. He would hate to be on the receiving end of her wrath. He had heard about her when the king brought her into the palace, 'an uncultured, untamed girl, who owns a sword and knows how to use it' the maids had gossiped.

He looked at her now. 'Perhaps the king was right in choosing her, she would make a great queen one day.' he thought.

Making his resolve, he answered. "I'm afraid, milady, that your bowl might have been poisoned."

Charlotte took a step back, her head swimming.

"Someone tried to kill me? Again?" she asked.

"It wasn't to kill you, milady." he paused, weighing his words. " It was to abort your baby."

"I'm not pregnant," Charlotte said, her voice a little defensive and confused.

"Then you would be barren." the doctor said bluntly.

To his surprise, the lady smiled.

"Maybe I should have drunk it," she mumbled to herself. "But why did she react like that?" she asked. "It looked like she was dying."

The doctor offered her a sympathetic smile, "Different people react differently to different medicines," he said. "May I look at your leg now, please," he added, a strain in his voice.

Just then, Oliver burst into the room. 

"Charlotte, well, you look well, why did you call me?" he said, noticing she was standing on the other side of the bed on both her feet, but not noticing her bloody bandages. The doctor winced. 'I'll die today.' he thought to himself.

"Someone tried to kill me again," Charlotte answered him, a smile on her face. "No, actually, the doctor says they were trying to make me barren."

The prince was confused.

"Why are you smiling Charlotte?"

"Maybe I should have drunk it," she said. Then, her face lit up. "Is there any more in the bowl?" she asked.

The doctor took the bowl and tipped it to the floor, holding her gaze, unsmiling.


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