Capítulo 352: Not a Nibble
Nanny rested on a fluffy bed surrounded by pillows. Three healers and a half dozen servants were attending her, as her unconscious form lay still. Food and healing water awaited her on the nightstand in case she should ever become lucid enough to eat.
"We made sure Nanny had everything she could possibly need. It doesn't make up for our error, I know…" The Doctor was still reeling from his subordinate's mistake in declaring Nanny dead.
He had not even bothered to check because of everything else going on. What a near-fatal error he had made! With how far back the Doctor and Nanny went on the palace staff, he would never forgive himself if he let her die now.
"It is not your fault, Doctor," Aurora could see the dark thoughts spread across the physician's face. "You have done all you can. It is wonderful, though you know Nanny will hate all this fuss."
"Bunch of pomp and nonsense…" Devrim mimicked Nanny's voice. "I have better things to do than to be waited on hand and foot like some helpless prissy nobleman."
The Empress pursed her lips. "She wouldn't say that last part."
The Emperor shrugged and blew out his cheeks. "No, but I am pretty sure she thinks it."
Aurora tilted her head from side to side; she could not argue. "I suppose we shall have to wait until she awakens and ask her."
Nurlan, who had taken control of the wheelchair, pushed Aurora and Colvyr to Nanny's side. A path was cleared so she could come up alongside the bed. Having delivered his mistress, the general moved to one of the walls to stand beside Anna and Velia.
Anna stood very still and listened. The lady-in-waiting knew that she was there to monitor every move of the Empress so that she could easily step into the woman's place when Aurora left.
Velia was present to keep an eye on the young prince in case he needed anything. The young woman clung to the wall, her nails digging into the folds of her nursemaid's uniform for dear life. Anna noticed the woman's discomfort and laid a comforting hand on her arm.
"Just breathe," the lady-in-waiting whispered. "It will be alright."
Velia nodded slowly and stopped shivering. "I've just...I have just never been so close to death. No one is supposed to be injured in a nursery."
Anna nodded slowly. "I understand. I have had my own share of near death experiences. It can shake you to your core. If you need some time, you could ask Her Majesty..."
"No, please! Don't trouble the Empress. I am fine." Velia straightened her back. She stared forward, unwilling to speak anymore.
At the bed, Aurora looked at the still woman with a sense of longing. Nanny was the closest thing she had to a loving mother.
Although after the attack, Aurora began to wonder if some of Zephyra's distance from her daughter had been partially to protect the young princess Aurora from being attacked in such a manner.
Hiding Aurora by ignoring her and showing indifference to the child would have been a brilliant move to protect the budding princess from Zephyra's many enemies, even though it was incredibly hurtful to the princess herself. There was no way to prove the former Empress's intention, but the fiery-haired woman felt a tinge of compassion and love for Zephrya when she considered the option.
The small amount of affection was nothing in comparison to the overwhelming love Aurora had for her caretaker. Nanny was far from perfect, but she always protected and cared for Aurora even when no one else did. Seeing the stalwart woman like this brought the Empress to her breaking point. She struggled against the tears.
"Hello, Nanny."
Aurora reached out with her good arm and took Nanny's hand. The large woman squeezed it reflexively.
"Always quick to comfort others, you big softie," the Empress smiled. "We need you to wake up, Nanny. It will be much easier to heal you if we know what is happening inside you. Can you hear me?"
The old woman shifted in the bed but did not open her eyes. Colvyr, not understanding that Nanny was still asleep, excitedly jumped from the chair onto the soft pillows and the caretaker's arm.
Nanny did not react, and the child screamed, "Nana!"
"Nanny is sleeping," Aurora reminded the prince. He put his finger to his lips and shushed, crawling along the bed back to the chair.
"Doctor, it is time to change the dressing on the wounds," the healer whispered behind the Empress and Emperor.
"Your Majesty," the doctor said in an apologetic tone.
"I understand, but I am not leaving. However, I do not think Colvyr needs to be here for all that. It is time for a meal and a nap, isn't it, Velia?" Aurora motioned for the nursemaid to come forward. Velia seemed not to hear her and stood transfixed like a statue on the wall.
Nurlan nudged her. "Nursemaid," he called gruffly.
Velia's empty expression turned to confusion and then embarrassment as she realized that all eyes were on her. "A meal and a nap for the young prince," Anna muttered under her breath toward the small woman's ear.
Velia limped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty. Shall I bring him back to you as soon as he wakes?"
"I don't know," Devrim began to answer as he picked up and handed the child to his nursemaid, but Aurora disagreed.
"Yes, Velia. That would be lovely. Thank you."
With care, the small young woman took the toddler in her arms and limped toward the door. As she reached the door, Velia heard a cry of exclamation by one of the healers. Realizing her mistake too late, the nursemaid peeked over her shoulder to see what caused the commotion. As she saw the slickening purple ooze on Nanny's stomach, her consciousness quickly left her.
If not for the quick reaction of Nurlan, who caught the woman, and Anna, who caught the child, one or both of the individuals would have cracked their heads on the sturdy marble door frame.
"I will take care of it." Devrim joined Nulan to escort the fainted nursemaid, while Anna took Colvyr and went in search of one of his other caretakers.
Though if worse came to worse, the lady-in-waiting was more than happy to feed, change and let the baby rest on her. Her own children were getting older (her youngest was already two!) and soaking in the baby snuggles sounded delightful, if only it were under better circumstances. No matter what, prince Colvyr would be taken care of.
The outcry at the bed came from one of the healers. Nanny's wounds across her stomach, which had been recently cleaned, were again tinged with the purple sickness just like Aurora's.
"I did my job," the healer cried. "I would not have left her like that!" The others nodded their agreement. They had seen her clean the old woman and rebandage it.
"Is she getting worse?" Aurora asked anxiously.
The doctor tapped his chin. "She seems to be in an endless loop. The water helps and her body fights--just like you, Your Majesty--but neither of you can seem to flush it from your system. Her wound is just far worse, and she is suffering for it. I am still shocked she is alive at all."
"It's that drop of fairy blood," the Empress mumbled with a small smile. "Fairy blood and a tenacious nature which could almost rival the Maker. I wouldn't be surprised if she argued with him enough that he agreed to send her back."
"That is quite a theory," the Doctor responded, unsure if he should answer at all. He finished patching up Nanny and covered her with a blanket. "I want to keep an eye on both of you, for now."
"Very well. The rest of you are dismissed to the other room. I will take care of Nanny for a bit." Aurora ordered.
The healers and servants looked at one another and quickly cleared the room. From the side of her chair, Aurora brought out one of the books she had borrowed from the vault.
"Your Majesty?" the doctor raised his eyebrows in question.
"I hope to wake Nanny with my voice. I can think of no better way than to read. Why not read my research out loud to her? Perhaps it will do us both some good." The Empress pulled back the cover of the Creaturepedia and began with the first page. "Afanc- believed to have died out long ago, this crocodile-like creature has the body of a beaver and thrived before the land was separated..."
Aurora droned on for over an hour. Each time Nanny stirred, she would read louder and faster, hoping to coax the woman from her slumber, but it did not work. Devrim and Nurlan returned and listened too, though they looked on the verge of sleep themselves before the Empress had even reached the letter 'c'. Only the doctor seemed mildly interested, and that was because he hoped to find a cure from one of these magical beings.
Pausing, the Empress closed the book. "It is times like these that I miss Birger terribly."
The former Councilman had died opposing the coronation of Alaron as Emperor. He had been an avid bibliophile and helped Aurora research problems before. Devrim, who was resting on a cushioned chair, opened his eyes and nodded. "He was a good man."
"Seems like I will have to continue my research on my own..." the Empress sighed.
"I will help!" Devrim realized as soon as the words came out of his mouth that they were false. The Emperor pulled at his collar under his wife's withering gaze. "I mean that will help in other ways, like making sure these creatures are captured. That will give you more time to research." He nodded.
Just then, Anna returned with the slightly rested prince. "Velia is still not herself and the other nursemaids...well I just did not want to turn him over to them, if I am being honest. Prince Colvyr took a short nap and has been well fed. He has been asking for his mother and Nanny ever since he woke up."
Setting the book to one side, Aurora welcomed the little prince to her. Anna released the child, and he immediately crawled across his mother's lap with determination in his eyes.
Colvyr climbed onto the bed, and with a speed that only a naughty child can muster, he hurried up to Nanny's face and pinched her cheek. Nothing happened. However, he was unwilling to be ignored by the person who normally doted on him. So, doing the only thing left in his tiny arsenal, he reached up and grabbed Nanny's nose...
And bit her.
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