Death Bed Secrets

Lady Vasant’s room was brimming with people it seemed. Two servants had been assigned to her today to tend to her every need. The doctor, a man who was likely approaching middle age (at least from Islana’s perspective) with a full head of white hair and the lines of time beginning to etch on his face stood off to the side. He was speaking with Lord Vasant, who reached out and grabbed Islana’s arm before she could go any further into the room.

“Lady Vasant has asked to speak alone with you,” The Lord pulled her off to the side, out of ear shot everyone. “Don’t take long. I want you in my room right after.”

Despite, that order making the girl incredibly nervous, she still could only respond with “Yes, sir.”

With that and the Lord’s orders, everyone left the room, leaving Islana alone with the older woman for the first time in ages.

The Lady’s room was large, it might have been the largest bedroom in the house. It held big picture windows which looked out on some of the gardens. One of those gardens had a reflecting pond and in the afternoons during the summer, the sun would reflect off the water, causing it giving the illusion of diamonds dancing on the surface. Out of all the rooms in the house, this was the Lady’s favorite.

There was a beautiful hand-carved wooden desk and chair, off to one side. A small table and a few chairs to another side. A few paintings hung on the wall of flowers or trees. A nightstand which now tended to hold cups of water and various herbs or elixirs. Next to the nightstand, held the large wooden bed with the feather mattress and pillows, and several blankets doing their part in warming the woman that lay under them.

“Islana, dear come closer, please.” The weakened voice requested.

Despite the redheaded girl being a slave, Elydis rarely ordered anything of her. Islana once asked her about it and all the woman would say was that the slave had enough put on her by the Lord of the house.

Islana moved to the side of the bed and took a seat on a small chair that had been left there. Lady Vasant looked thinner and paler than the last time the emerald eyes had laid upon her. A sense of death pervaded this room and the closer to the Lady, the nearer the darkness seemed.

The shaky hand placed itself on top of the young one. “I have something to tell you, but first I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything,” There wasn’t any hesitation in Islana’s response.

“Dear, you should never promise anything until you know what it is.” She gave the smaller hand a light pat before continuing. “I want you to promise to find a way out of here. Get away from my husband. When I die, he’ll have no reason to keep his word to me any longer.”

“Word? What word to you?” Islana was confused, she hadn’t heard anything about this.

“He promised, “ The coughing fit came quickly, and left just as quickly but took a few minutes for the older woman to catch her breath. “I made him promise me to not bed you. He said he would keep that promise until I greeted Zin, and that day is coming sooner rather than later.”

That’s why the man hadn’t taken her to his bed. A promise was made to his dying wife. Apparently, there were lines even Lord Vasant wouldn’t cross. That was more than a little surprising to Islana.

“However, that won’t last, I’m afraid.” Elydis continued. “I have something to help you. Information but you’ll need proof.”

The woman was practically whispering by this point and Islana had to lean in closely to hear her, then the older woman had the younger one lean in even closer and whispered something into her ear. The petite slave's eyes grew wide.

Islana was left speechless for a moment, then quietly spoke. “The meetings.” It wasn’t a question, more of a revelation. That’s what the group was plotting. She hadn’t guessed what had been revealed but was correct Duke Gett was in charge of the operation.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Islana believed what had been said but couldn’t understand how the Lady got her hands on such information.

“My husband thinks I’m a bit feeble in the head and unable to remember much. He confessed it to me, last night. This must be our secret though. Once you have the proof, you need to go and tell those who it affects.” The woman meant the King and Islana knew that. She also knew how important it was to keep this information to herself until it could be used for her freedom.

Proof… that seemed to be the trickiest part of it.