The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 743. Unconscious

Chapter 743: 743. Unconscious

There was a fire, something was burning, and Jael could hear piercing screams. The smell, scream, and bright light hit him all at once. Jael didn’t understand what he was looking at, and it took Mauve’s voice to break through. He rushed forward to where she was on the ground, her hands on her stomach, as he watched the source of the fire skid around.

"Jael," she whimpered. He picked her off the floor, carrying her in his arms. There wasn’t any time to waste; the fire was spreading. He needed to get her out of the trees and, at the same time, find a way to stop the fire from spreading.

It was hard to process all this information at once while also trying to figure out what could have started the fire suddenly—and the clear fact that the Paler had been burning. Getting Mauve out of there was far more important than anything. She coughed, and Jael started walking out to the field.

"Hang on," he said.

"Fire!" Danag called. Jael couldn’t see him yet, but his voice was as clear as day. "How did the fire get started? What’s that scream?" Voices filtered through the smoke toward him. The rest of the vampires must have noticed the fire.

Jael could understand the reasoning behind the last question. If his hands weren’t busy, he would have had them deep in his ears. The screams were loud enough to make him want to rip his head off. They were guttural, and it was clear the source of the screams was in intense pain.

Jael burst out of the trees, coughing, just as Danag appeared at his side. "Sire," the guard called. "You found her." There was relief in his voice and something else. He clearly had questions to ask, but anyone could see that now was not the time.

"Find a way to stop the fire, Danag. Mobilize as many hands as you can get." It would not only be dangerous to let the fire go on, but it could also put the castle at risk.

The fire was bigger now, the screams weren’t as loud but still gut-wrenching.

"Yes, Sire."

Jael walked past him just as he saw a handful of vampires rushing toward him, with Louis leading them. "What are you doing here? Where’s the Paler?" Jael asked angrily. His question was directed at all of them.

"The Palers fled," Louis spoke.

"What?" Jael asked.

"Yes. We heard a loud scream, and they just froze and fled. Then we saw the fire. We will put it out—take her inside."

Jael looked down at Mauve in his hands, and her eyes were closed. He wondered if she had fainted. She shouldn’t have been affected by the fire; he got her out of there as fast as possible. But he could imagine how scared she was—that was definitely enough to drain anyone of their strength.

"Okay," Jael said without any argument. He rushed for the castle, not missing the vampires that fled out of it with buckets of water. They bowed to him as he went through the doors.

There was so much going on. He rushed upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time. He burst through his bedroom doors and was quick to place her on the bed. He pulled at her clothes as he tried to undo them, wanting to check if there was anywhere she was hurt and he hadn’t noticed.

The door burst open, and Mill walked in. "Sire, did something happen to Mauve? A servant saw you bringing her in unconscious."

"Get me a bowl of water and a clean rag, Mill."

"At once," Mill replied and sped out of the room. When she returned, Jael was still on the bed beside Mauve, holding her hands in his.

"Sire," she called softly.

"Wipe her down," he mumbled.

Mill moved quickly. There was dirt on Mauve’s hands and clothes. She removed the heavy ones and cleaned the dirt as best as she could. Mauve didn’t stir through all this, and Jael just held her hand in silence. There weren’t any injuries on Mauve; she was just clearly unconscious. The baby sounded fine, and Mill had to resist the urge to place her ear on Mauve’s stomach just to be sure everything was fine.

When Mill was done, she pulled the covers over Mauve, and Jael reluctantly let go of her hand so she could be tucked in properly.

"What happened?" Mill asked.

"I don’t know," he said. "I truly don’t know. She wandered, the castle got attacked by Palers, and then the fire started."

Mill didn’t think the Primus was making much sense, and he knew he wasn’t. He was just as confused, but more than anything, he was relieved she was fine. He was also very angry that she would do something so reckless that would endanger both her and the baby—but her scolding would come later. As long as she woke up, that wouldn’t be a problem.

"The fire!" Mill yelled and rushed to the window.

"Have they been able to put it out?" Jael asked absentmindedly, his gaze never leaving Mauve.

"Yes, but I don’t know. Something is wrong."

"What do you mean?" Jael asked.

"They’re gathering around something. It’s still burning, but I can’t see clearly from here."

"You can leave, Mill. I will keep an eye on Mauve."

"She is fine, Sire. I think she was just frightened."

Jael nodded. "Yes, me too."

"I am glad she’s fine."

Jael swallowed and nodded his head. "Yes, me too," he repeated mechanically.

Jael didn’t even hear the door close. He didn’t hear the voices outside; he also didn’t notice when the voices started to slowly head back into the castle. The only thing that drew him from the locked gaze he had on Mauve was a knock on the door. It was Louis.

"Go away. Whatever you have to say, I’ll hear it after sunset."

"This is very important, Sire, and not only that—the guards are asking for some kind of explanation."

"Do you by any chance have a clue?" Jael asked.

Louis bit the inside of his jaw, deciding what to say. "I don’t," he decided.

"And neither do I. Leave me alone. As long as there are no casualties and the fire is out, go away."

"I am here about the dead Paler we found," Louis stated.

Jael froze. "What?"

"Yes. It was on fire, and after the fire stopped, it was a dry husk. A simple touch would turn it to ash."

"Are you sure it’s not some dried wood you saw?" Jael asked.

"I promise, it isn’t."

Jael swore. This was big. He wanted to see what Louis was talking about, but there was no way he would leave Mauve all by herself. He had done that a lot of times, and the consequences were always grave.

"We will talk about this after sunset. I want a proper report. Leave me alone and make sure everyone does the same."

Jael could only imagine the confusion currently spreading among the vampires. The fire had been tried before—Palers wouldn’t even light. You’d think their skin would be perfect for catching fire, but they were completely unbothered. For a Paler to have died from a fire no one knew how it started, Jael also had questions.

The worst part was that the only person who had the answers was currently unconscious, and he didn’t know when she would wake up. Jael wanted to punch something. He was only away for a few moments. How did it turn out like this?

Mauve stirred, mumbling some words, but it was hard to hear what she was saying. Jael quickly grabbed her palm and squeezed. She stopped moving immediately, and her hand went limp. For a moment, he assumed the worst, but the steady beating of her heart told him otherwise.

When Mill came to call him for the last meal of the day, Jael chased her off. She offered to bring his meal to the bedroom, but he vehemently declined. He knew he didn’t have any appetite; there was no point in trying to force himself to eat.

"What do you want?" Jael yelled as the door opened without waiting for his order.

"I heard what happened—at least some semblance of it—and I came to check on Mauve and you," Lady Marceline said. The last part was lower in pitch than the rest.

Jael didn’t respond to this.

"Is she okay?" Lady Marceline asked and walked forward, taking the initiative since Jael wasn’t outright asking her to leave.

"I don’t know," Jael replied. His voice was heavy.

Lady Marceline moved even closer, her confidence increasing with each step. She lightly touched Mauve and pulled her hand away immediately. "She is fine," she said. "Something must have happened, but I am sure she’ll pull through. She’s stronger than you think."

Jael nodded, and Lady Marceline slowly retreated. "If you need me, I’ll be back at the drop of a hat."

Jael nodded again, and Lady Marceline couldn’t help the smile on her face. It wasn’t concrete, but it did feel very nice for Jael not to react as harshly as he usually would. Too bad it had to be in such terrible circumstances. She truly hoped Mauve was fine, she didn’t want to see her nephew looking that dejected.