"Take your rest. By this evening, you will be escorted from the palace," Luna Queen Presley announced, smoothing her regal skirts as she rose to her feet.
Adeline instinctively tried to push herself up, but the Queen placed a firm, restraining hand on her shoulder. "Stay in bed. You must recover some of your strength before the sun sets. And do not say a word of our conversation to anyone, especially not Gideon. You have witnessed his temper firsthand. I can handle the way he speaks to me, but I cannot guarantee your safety if he learns of this." She patted Adeline's cheek with a calm affection before sweeping out of the chamber.
From her place on the pillows, Adeline watched the Queen pause at the heavy oak doorway. She leaned in to whisper a sharp, hushed instruction to a waiting maidservant before she disappeared around the corner.
A moment later, the maidservant entered, carrying a tray laden with food. "Miss Valois, I've brought your meals. You must eat; the medicine won't sit well on an empty stomach."
Adeline winced, attempting to swing her legs over the side of the mattress, but the maid was quick to intervene.
"Please, stay still. I will bring the bed table to you."
"Thank you," Adeline murmured. "I didn't mean to create more work for you."
"It's my job, Miss Valois. This is mutton soup; it will help you regain your strength quickly," the maidservant explained, carefully positioning the steaming bowl on the bed table.
She poured a tall glass of water before bowing slightly and retreating from the chamber.
Adeline took a sip, the warmth spreading through her chest. She began to eat the tender pieces of mutton slowly, savoring a flavor she hadn't experienced in years.
In her father's house, she had spent hours over the stove preparing such delicacies, yet she was never permitted a taste; Catalina ensured she survived only on the scraps and stale crusts left behind by her and Janessa.
As the meal warmed her, her thoughts drifted back to Gideon and his orders for a brutal punishment he had leveled against her family.
'Why is he cursed?' she wondered, her spoon pausing mid-air. 'The Luna Queen spoke of it with such certainty... that his wife is destined to die. If that is the truth, why would the Alpha Prince show any interest in me?'
The memory of his golden eyes made her heart skip a beat, but at the same time, she had a fear she couldn't explain.
'The Queen assured me I would be safe. She said she would handle her son's wrath herself, but can anyone truly stand in the way of a man like Gideon? Also, he's the first one who showed concern toward me.'
Adeline shook her head, trying to clear the fog of her own thoughts.
It was a dangerous game to be this curious about a man like Gideon. She had learned the hard way that Alphas were storms to be avoided, not studied, and he was the most wicked of them all.
To survive, she needed to keep her distance, not unravel the mysteries of his curse.
Once the bowl was empty, she called out softly for the maidservant. The woman appeared almost instantly, gathering the pills from the bedside table.
Adeline swallowed them with a long draught of water, feeling the cool liquid soothe her parched throat. With gentle hands, the maid tucked the heavy linens around her, ensuring she was comfortable.
"I will return to wake you when the sun begins to set," the maidservant promised, her voice dropping to a soothing murmur. "Until then, let the sleep take you."
Adeline offered a faint hum of acknowledgement. It felt as though the medicine were pulling a curtain over her mind, and before she could even question the heaviness in her limbs, she drifted into a deep slumber.
~~~~~
Gideon inclined his head in a respectful, albeit brief, bow as his father entered the study.
Alpha King Huxley shrugged out of his heavy overcoat, handing it to a waiting servant without glancing back.
"I heard you terrified my envoy," Huxley remarked. He lowered himself into a high-backed velvet chair, his hands resting on the ornate, cushioned arms.
"I was agitated, Father," Gideon replied, his voice level despite the underlying tension. "You chose a bride for me without so much as a consultation. It was an overstep." He paused, his golden eyes flickering. "However, my anger has cooled. I have decided that I want to marry her."
The Alpha King's brows shot up in genuine surprise, his posture momentarily losing its rigid composure.
"I fully expected a tantrum, perhaps even a challenge to my authority, for forcing this union upon you. It was no easy task to find a match," he admitted, leaning forward slightly. "The only noble Alpha willing to offer his daughter's hand was Adeline's father."
"I expected the same," Gideon said. "I walked into that room fully intending to tear the heart from her chest, but..." He trailed off, his eyes momentarily glazing over as if reliving the moment his path crossed hers.
"But what?" Alpha King Huxley arched an eyebrow, reaching for a gold-trimmed cigar. He took his time lighting it.
"Your Majesty shouldn't forget that our eldest son is cursed to lose any woman he claims," Luna Queen Presley's voice rang out as it echoed through the vaulted study.
She stepped from the shadows of the doorway. "Is marrying Adeline even a mercy on Gideon?"
Gideon's gaze narrowed into a predatory slit at his mother's intervention, but he remained silent.
"You seem more concerned with my fate than anyone else in this palace, Your Majesty," Gideon remarked with sarcasm.
Presley tilted her head, her gaze fixed on him. "Is that not the very reason you have never allowed a woman of your choosing into your life? You don't wish to go through the pain of losing your mate, do you?"
"It was never the curse that made me stop," Gideon countered. He took a slow step toward her, the golden light in his eyes flaring with a sudden heat. "I simply never found a woman who could bring the storm inside me to a standstill. Until now."