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The first year of Cardan's reign seemed to consist mostly of parties and revels. Tonight was perhaps the most exhausting one that Jude had been to since Cardan’s coronation. One song bled into another until Jude couldn't even separate the dancers into individuals as they whirled around to the music. The candlelight didn't help. It only gave the entire hall a hazy dreamlike quality that made Jude feel as though she'd had too much wine. It was also unusually hot tonight.
"If they only knew at whose command they danced," Cardan murmured snidely. His voice hit Jude's ear strangely, as if he had spoken from a distance. The words themselves didn't even register.
"Yeah," she replied mostly out of an obligation to respond to being spoken to. Another night, perhaps, she would be more cautious about answering yes or no to questions she didn't understand. Cardan turned to her and studied her face, as if seeing her standing beside him for the first time.
"Are you alright?" he asked. That Jude heard. She blinked rapidly, coming back to herself.
"I'm fine," she said.
"You're flushed," Cardan's hand came up as if he were going to touch her face. "Too much wine?"
"Haven't had any." Jude sighed and leaned against the throne. She was rapidly losing the energy for this conversation. She longed to slip away and go to bed, but she didn't dare leave Cardan to his own devices. Not so soon after Mother Marrow had nearly tricked Cardan into marrying her daughter. All she needed to do was keep him out of trouble for another few hours. Then she would try to get a full seven hours of sleep. She would have Tatterfell bar anyone from bothering her. That would make her happy, Jude thought. Maybe she'd even get the chance to snap at High King Cardan himself. That would make Tatterfell's entire year.
Cardan stood suddenly, startling Jude out of another daze and drawing the eye of all the revelers.
"I grow bored," he announced. "You may continue this drudgery without me." He motioned for his guards, and the Roach and the Ghost materialized at his side. Cardan took a few steps away from the dais when he looked back at Jude, frown still on his face. "Aren't you coming, Seneschal?"
"Oh, yeah," Jude muttered. She fell into step behind Cardan with the Roach and the Ghost bringing up the rear. The Bomb was already at the door waiting for them. Every step for Jude was more of a struggle than the last. Her tired legs felt as if they were moving through thick mud, but somehow she managed to keep pace with Cardan until they were out of the dance hall and in a comparatively empty corridor. Then, her steps slowed noticeably. The Ghost raised a brow, eyeing her with concern. Jude tried to say she was okay, but suddenly even that was too much effort. The floor rocked violently beneath her feet, although none of her companions seemed to notice. What they did notice, though, was the way she clutched at the wall as her legs finally gave up.
"Jude!" someone, she wasn't sure who, cried out. She was half-way to the floor when she was caught up in someone's arms. Then she was looking into Cardan's dark eyes. There was an expression there she hadn't seen since the night she took him hostage.
"Has she been poisoned?" the Roach asked.
"I can't tell," the Bomb said. "I need to get her where I can examine her."
"Is there a tunnel near here?" Cardan asked sharply. "One that will get us close to her rooms?"
"I'm fine," Jude said. "I was just dizzy." No one acknowledged her. They were too busy trying to inconspicuously access a hidden tunnel before too many people saw the King of Elfhame cradling his seneschal. When the mercifully cool air of the tunnel hit Jude's overheated skin, it gave her enough of a boost to try again.
"I'm okay," she said, wincing at the growing tickle in her throat. "I'm not poisoned. I just had a dizzy spell. I can walk now."
"Oh really?" Cardan scoffed. He set Jude on her feet. She was steady, but her limbs felt heavy and she dragged her feet. After she'd taken a few steps, Cardan snorted with disgust and swept her up in his arms again.
"Woah!" Jude gasped. "I said I can walk."
"We'll get to your rooms faster if you don't," Cardan retorted.
"I could take her if-" the Roach started to say. Cardan turned to him with an absolutely murderous look, though, and he shut his mouth.
"I don't know of any poison that would do this," the Bomb said. "She's probably just sick." Jude scowled in her direction, unable to see well between the dim light and pounding in her head.
"I am not sick," Jude snapped. "I just didn't get much sleep the last few days."
"I'm sure," the Bomb said. "And when is the last time you ate?" Jude scowled at her.
"Who made you my mom?"
"Well, you made me king, so I'm pulling rank," Cardan said. "If you're sick, you're not leaving your rooms until you're well."
"I'm not sick." After that declaration, Jude ran out of energy to continue fighting and dropped her head onto Cardan's shoulder. He flinched when her forehead grazed his cheek.
"She's feverish," he told the Bomb.
"We'll have to send for some medicine. There are human physicians in the palace, right? They'll know what she needs." The Bomb began discussing Jude's care with Cardan, which Jude found irritating. They were discussing her as if she wasn't there.
"I just need to sleep," she said to no one in particular. " 'm okay." Sleep was, indeed stealing over her. Between the soft murmur of voices around her, the steady rocking of Cardan's gait, and her fever, Jude was already dozing by the time they made it to her room. She woke again when they emerged from the tunnel into her sitting room.
Cardan paused, and Jude saw him glance around in surprise. Jude smiled to herself. She was glad that she had Tatterfell to keep things tidy. Cardan had seen the mess she’d made of her rooms once, and that was enough.
Finally, Cardan let Jude down. She went into her bedroom to change out of her suddenly far too constricting party clothes and into something more comfortable. Outside, she heard Cardan and the others talking softly. She zipped the front of her pajamas and padded back out to the sitting room.
“You’re all still here?” she asked. “I told you, I’m fine. I just need a good…a good…achoo! Achoo!” The force of her sneezes aggravated the steadily worsening headache and made Jude’s head spin. She sat down on her sofa with a groan, resting her head against the arm.
“Bomb, send for the physician,” Cardan ordered.
“On it.” The Bomb nodded once sharply, and headed for the door.
“Stop!” Jude huffed. “I don’t need a physician!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jude.” Cardan waved at her dismissively. “If you’re worried about the physician seeing you in…whatever that is you’re wearing, don’t be. I’m sure they’ve seen equally as odd.” Jude lifted her head to scowl at him.
“If you’re going to make one of my onesie, you can leave,” she told him dourly. “In fact, just leave. All of you. I’m not sick. I’m fine. I just need sleep. I’ll be better tomorrow.”
“The physician’s coming,” the Roach said. “It’d be a shame for Bomb to drag them all this way and turn them back. At least humor us. If you’re not sick, there’s no harm done, and we can leave you alone to rest.”
“Or the physician can chalk it up to a quick workout and the lot of you can leave me in peace, anyway. I vote for that plan.” Jude set her jaw mulishly and glowered at the three men.
“You’re shivering,” the Ghost pointed out. Jude crossed her arms tightly and tried to focus on controlling her trembling.
“Of course I’m shivering,” she said, clenching her jaw so her teeth wouldn’t chatter. “It’s freezing in here. There’s a…a draft, or something…” The three men looked at the fire blazing in the hearth and turned back to Jude skeptically.
“I’m not sick,” she insisted. “I’m not.”
-:-:-:-:-:-:-
“It’s the flu, Seneschal.” The human physician was an older woman- maybe in her forties, if Jude had to hazard a guess. There was a no-nonsense energy about her that quelled even Jude’s combativeness.
“I really don’t feel all that bad,” Jude told her. “Maybe it’s mild.”
“That’s possible,” the physician conceded. “Still, I’d recommend bedrest for a day or two, just to be sure.” Jude rolled her eyes and let her head fall backwards. She winced as the motion made the aching in her head spike sharply.
“You sound terrible,” Cardan drawled from where he sat lounging in the corner. “It’s as if a rock learned to speak.” Jude glowered at him, but didn’t dare mouth off to him with the physician there to witness. Still, she wondered why he was there.
“There’s also the potential to spread,” the physician continued as if neither of them had spoken. “It’s unlikely that any of the Folk could catch it, but it’s not unheard of. Especially amongst the youngest of them.”
“What if I wear a mask like yours?” Jude pointed to the mask the physician was wearing. She recognized it as what she’d seen doctors on mortal TV shows and movies wearing. She knew that sick patients could also wear them to stop germs from spreading.
“I do have extras,” the physician nodded slowly. “But I would still recommend that you rest for a day or two. You have a fairly high fever, and you could make yourself sicker by not resting.”
“She’ll rest,” Cardan assured her. Jude’s glower intensified. He was getting very presumptuous.
The physician didn’t stay much longer after that. She left Jude with her recommendations for rest, fluids and ibuprofen for her fever. Then, with a promise to check in on Jude in a few hours, she was gone. Cardan got up and picked up the thermometer that the physician had used to take Jude’s temperature. It was and old style one, made of glass and some red liquid, instead of a digital thermometer. Cardan seemed to be fascinated by it. He held it up to the light and stared at the lines marking the temperature. Jude was certain he’d never even had to consider something like how to measure a fever in his life. After a moment, he set the thermometer aside and picked up the bottle of pills the physician had left and read the bottle.
“I-bu-pro-fen,” he sounded it out. “And this is supposed to help your fever?” He turned the bottle around and read the back “Temporarily reduces pain due to headache, toothache, menstrual cramps. Temporarily reduces fever. Well, that’s not helpful. We want to end your fever permanently.”
“It’s only temporary until my body can get itself back to normal,” Jude explained. She winced at how raspy she sounded. “It’ll do to get me moving, though. Give that to me.” Cardan frowned at Jude and pulled the bottle out of her reach.
“You were told to rest,” he reminded her. “And there’s a chance you could get one of the little Folk sick.” Jude shot him a scathing look.
“I don’t need it,” she said. “I’ll take the medicine and wear a mask to protect the three children who are sometimes in the palace.”
“She said you could get sicker,” Cardan persisted, still holding the pills out of Jude’s increasingly weakening grasp.
“I’ll be fine,” Jude huffed.
“Why won’t you rest?” Cardan demanded.
“In case you forgot,” Jude said, slumping back onto her bed limply, “you’ve left the actual work of ruling to me.” Cardan lifted his brow, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
“I know you’ve done a lot to keep Elfhame from sinking into the sea, but I doubt it’ll all be undone by you not being there for a day or two.”
“Cardan, you nearly got yourself betrothed to a hag’s daughter because you were offered something shiny.” Jude had to shut her eyes against the throbbing pain in her head.
“There’s nothing to worry about there,” Cardan assured her. “I don’t intend to do any work while you’re sick. In fact, I may make myself very scarce around the palace for the next few days. It’s been a while since I’ve had a proper tour of Faerie. Or perhaps a pleasure cruise. Maybe I’ll visit the mortal world for a day or two and see what other innovations they have to offer.” Jude opened one eye to see he’d picked up the thermometer again, and she snorted at him. Or rather, she tried. It was difficult with her nose so congested.
“That’s not even current,” she told him. “That’s really old. All the thermometers are digital now. They’re computers.”
“What’s a computer?” Cardan asked. Jude sighed and let head loll to the side as she waved him off.
“Never mind. It would take too long to explain.” She turned back to him and reached her hand up. Cardan looked startled, but after a moment, he reached out to take her hand in his. Jude stared up at him baffled.
“The ibuprofen,” she rasped. “My head hurts. I need the medicine.” Cardan snatched his hand back as if he’d been burned and he spun away from her.
“Right,” he muttered, clearing his throat. “The- yes…um…” He snatched the bottle up and pulled at the top. It didn’t come off. Frowning, he tried twisting the top instead. It just spun around the mouth of the bottle without moving up. Frustrated, he hit the bottle against the nightstand. Jude let out a weak chuckle. Cardan’s eyes widened in surprise at the sound.
“You have to squeeze the sides and twist,” she told him. He did as she said, and after another three tries he managed to get the top off. He carefully tapped the bottle into his hand until one pill came out. He gave it to Jude.
“Give me two,” she said. Cardan looked at the bottle again.
“It says to only take one every four to six hours,” he told her.
“It’s just a suggestion.”
“Are you just trying to take enough that you don’t feel the need to rest?” Cardan eyed Jude suspiciously.
“No! I concede defeat, alright? I’m sick. I will stay in bed. But I need two pills ,” Jude insisted. “It’s fine if I take two. Trust me. I’ve taken more than that at once plenty of times.” A strange look crossed Cardan’s face. It was almost like horror. Or worry.
“The bottle says that could cause stomach bleeding.”
“It doesn’t happen to that many people,” Jude replied in almost a whine. “They just put that on the bottle so if it does happen, the makers can’t get in trouble.”
“I don’t think you should risk it.” Cardan started to put the top back on the bottle. Jude groaned.
“Please, Cardan.” At that plea, he froze. Jude looked up at him nearly on the verge of tears. “My head really hurts.” It took Cardan a moment to gather himself. He smirked at Jude and tapped out another pill for her.
“You must truly feel unwell,” he said. “I don’t recall that you’ve ever said please to me. Although, I have imagined it. Many times.”
“Don’t get used to it.” Jude rolled her eyes before she threw the pills in her mouth and chased it with a glass of water. Now that she wasn’t resisting so hard, exhaustion settled on Jude like a physical weight. Her limbs felt achy and heavy, and though the medicine seemed to be taking effect already, there was still a dull, steady throb in her head. Jude shut her eyes against the lamp light. Suddenly, a day or two of resting in bed didn’t sound so bad. Cardan studied her for a moment, and seeming satisfied that she wasn’t going to get up and start terrorizing the palace, he turned to go.
“Cardan?” He paused and saw Jude watching him. “Are you really going to tour Faerie?” Cardan smirked at that.
“It would be a shock to my subjects, wouldn’t it?” he said. “If I just showed up in some town or other unannounced. But no, my dear Sensechal. I have no plans to leave the palace. I’ve actually been meaning to visit the Court of Shadows. It’s been too long since my last lesson with the Roach. And the Ghost has promised to train me in sword play, so that should I ever have to cross blades with you, I may have a fighting chance.”
“Ha!” Jude scoffed. Her eyes drifted shut again. Cardan stood at the door watching her for a moment. When Jude seemed to be asleep, he turned to leave.
“Cardan?”
“Will nothing make you rest?” Cardan sighed, turning back to Jude. Her eyes were barely open, and if she was annoyed with his annoyance, she made no sign.
“Can you get me some orange juice?” she asked. She was already half asleep again. She looked very small, Cardan thought with a start. Very small and very young. The High King was suddenly struck with the realization that this formidable, nigh unstoppable force of a woman was only just barely not a child anymore. She was young and mortal…and fragile. Cardan gripped the doorframe very tightly for a moment before he nodded at her.
“I’ll send a carafe,” he promised. “And maybe…maybe I’ll check on you in a little while.” Jude didn’t open her eyes or respond, but she smiled. Cardan decided to take that as an invite. He smiled, too, shutting the door as he left. He started to leave Jude’s suite by the main door, but he stopped and went to where he knew there was a secret tunnel entrance and left through there instead. After all, Jude would probably not appreciate anyone marking how often the High King visited her rooms for the next few days.