George returned to meet Felix with Evander and Simon. Simon was a noble who also sat with the king in the chamber of meetings.
Although he held no serious position like Evander or Felix, the king still held him up in high esteem. He was more or less considered the doctor of all the wolves and yet he never treated anyone else but the king and Felix, but only once in a while.
"Felix, I heard your urgent call. What happened?" Simon asked as soon as he entered the chamber. He found Felix seated in the head seat where the king usually sat. "Where is Calhoun?"
"Calhoun is ill," Felix answered. "And it's an illness I have never heard of or seen in my life."
"What?" Evander exclaimed. "What happened to him? What does it look like?"
"I was hoping Simon could shed some light on it," Felix said, gesturing to the king's bedroom. The other two men found their way into the room to see Calhoun sleeping peacefully in his bed. It was a rare sight that no one ever saw.
Calhoun slept with no expression but a calm and peaceful one. He usually carried a cruel expression on his face and he would scare and frighten everyone around him. What is going on now?
"Do you think you can identify it?" Felix asked. Simon sighed.
"George, please help get my briefcase from my car trunk." He said. George nodded and left.
He couldn't understand why everyone suddenly thought it wise to send him on errands just because the king was ill.
"I will take his blood sample and look at it," Simon said.
"How long is this going to take?" Felix inquired. "Cause I'm afraid we don't have much enough time.
Simon smiled. "It won't be that long, I have something I can use to check it here and now. Perhaps we can also use the king's old book to detect if we can find a cure for the illness but that would be after determining the illness too."
Felix shrugged. Just then, George walked into the room with Simons's briefcase in his arms. Simon collected the briefcase silently and set out to unlock it. He saw that the numbers that changed from the way he left them. He glanced at George from the corner of his eyes.
"Can everyone return to the sitting room while I do my work here?" He asked firmly. Felix nodded, gesturing for George and Evander to leave. The two men left and he nodded at Simon, following them out.
Simon sat on the king's bed and unlocked his briefcase.
"I warned you about your pride." He said silently. "When a man becomes too proud, he becomes too trusting and eventually he falls. Just like you have done."
"I didn't want them to know I have seen and heard of the illness you have now, and that's just because it's no ordinary illness."
"One does not recover fully from this until after a long time."
"Yes you will heal but it will have its effect on your wolf."
"That is not necessarily a good thing, my lord."
"Perhaps saying all these now is still irrelevant because you can't hear me. Or maybe you can, but just can't refuse."
"Either way, you need to learn."
He took a syringe and pierced it into Calhoun's thick skin and took out some blood samples, then he took the syringe out again. He dabbed a small piece of cloth against the skin and waited for it to heal but it did not. He sighed, of course, it wouldn't heal. The king must have been poisoned.
He took the blood sample under his microscopic lens and began to examine it. He was quickly able to find the traces of the poison. Once he was sure about it, he ended his search and disposed of all the materials he used, keeping the remaining sample of the king's blood that he had taken.
He went back out to meet them. They were all eager to hear what he had said.
"Just like I thought, he was poisoned," Simon said. "I have seen a case like this and honestly it's not easy to get it treated. The last of the medicines I had has expired and it's more deadly than the poison itself, so I threw it away."
"Well, what do we do now?" Evander asked. "The king needs to be treated at least."
"Yes, that is correct," Simon said. "However, the cure for this illness will take a long time to find; a journey of seven days."
Felix gasped. "Seven days?!"
"Affirmative."
"What's the guarantee that the king won't die before then?" Evander asked. George was quiet, listening to all their conversation.
"I will be by his side, administering the drugs that could stall the venomous poison from its deadly mission. Until then, someone else has to go for the antidote." Simon said. "The king has an illness that will affect even his wolf form, he cannot heal at all. Which means he cannot be left unguarded."
"All three of us cannot leave this place at all. Felix will be the one addressing the castle and the soldiers. Evander, you will address the people."
"What about George?" Felix asked. "What would he do? He is the king's chief guard after all."
George's eyes flared angrily, being called the king's guard.
"George? He will have to go find the cure." Simon said. "I will show you what it looks like and tell you where to find it."
"It will get very tough along the way, but I trust that years of serving Calhoun must have taught you a thing or two and made you tough."
"Well, now is the time to prove what you've learned. The journey usually takes two days and a half to get to the place. It takes two days to return because you should get used to what you see on the way."
"Assuming you did not get used to it, you can still spend about two and a half days on the journey back to Wisteria."
"Er, that should be about five days. Let's assume you have to sleep over on the third day of your arrival, after getting the antidote, you should leave by the first break of dawn."
"That way you should arrive here on the sixth day of your departure, and with the antidote."
"I understand," George said. "I will do as you have said."
"Very well. George leaves tomorrow morning by the fourth hour. If you want to get passed all these soldiers of the neighboring towns, you have to leave early." Simon explained.
"I will get the map with which I use, on every part of my journey. At some point, you will be required to use the train, or a cab, not your wolf.
It's as dangerous as a lone wolf out there."
George sighed. He had indeed planned to use his wolf to travel so that he could arrive and return very quickly before anything bad could happen to the king. He smiled a little and nodded. He was ready to even sacrifice his life for Calhoun.
"In that case, does everyone understand what they are expected to do?"
"Yes," Felix answered.
"I do," Evander said.
George simply nodded.
"Good," Simon exclaimed, smiling at them. "George will remain in the king's chamber while we go and prepare for this week. It shall be very hectic for us and I will advise us to relocate our families to the castle for the meantime."
"Why?" Felix asked. "The king would have never supported it."
"Well, now he can't support it either. He's lying there sick and I'm supposed to be here protecting him, am I also supposed to leave my family unprotected?" Simon inquired, offering Felix a smile that didn't seem to come from his heart.
Felix scowled. "I'm the beta and I -"
"With how quick you were and still are to assume your position, one could easily point you as a suspect to what the king is going through now," Simon said and then clicked his tongue twice. "Nevertheless, I won't point fingers because that would also mean three are pointing back at me and one at George or Evander."
Felix chuckled sarcastically. "I'm not going to banter words with you, Simon. When the king awakes, I will inform him of all the things that happened."
"Be sure to tell him you sat on his special seat when you summoned us here, sending George, his guard," Simon said, chuckling as well.
The two men glared hard at themselves. One was angered while the other one took it lightly.
"Do as I have said, Felix. Beta or not, you can as well see sense in what I have said."
Felix growled at Simon and stormed out of the king's chamber, slamming the door as he went.
George stared at the swinging door and then stared at Simon.
"Ignore him," Simon muttered. "Evander, do you also have something to say to refute me?"
"Not at all, I see some sense in what you have said," Evander said, smiling respectfully.
Evander was always mostly quiet and would rather not be involved in political matters in which the king was involved. If this wasn't a case of a life and death situation, he wouldn't also be here. He would have found a way to exit. But taking his hands off, or showing any I don't care attitude could also point fingers at him.
How come he was always the quiet one?
"George, I hear that there is a girl who serves the king personally... What was her name again?" Simon asked, trying hard to remember. "Was it Diana?"
"Diana," George said. "She was the one that used to serve him, she ran away after a while."
"Oh, it was Diana who ran away," Simon said. "Then who was it that still served him? I could have sworn they were related, they look so much alike."
"She's human," George responded. "Her name is Patricia."
"Yes ah, Tricia!" Simon exclaimed. "That is the one, I remember it now. Did she by any chance serve the king last night?"
"I don't think so. The king doesn't usually eat by hand, he has chefs who prepare his meal." George said. "Her only job was to serve him and do things in his chamber."
His words were so ambiguous and he felt he could plant a seed in Simon's heart. That way he could protect the woman he loved.
Simon nodded. "Well, where is this human slave? I would like to meet her."
"Beta Felix ordered for her to be put in the dungeon until the king awakes." He answered respectfully.
Simon's brows came up in surprise. "He sure is quick to attain this position." He murmured.
"Oh well, what can I say? He must have been so angry about the king's condition and probably didn't want her to leave."
George nodded. He was starting to sweat a little. He couldn't remember if he locked the bars or not. He hoped that she would remain if he hadn't locked it, perhaps she would not notice.
"Come, take me to her," Simon said. George panicked instantly.
"What about the king? You did say we should not leave him unguarded." George reminded. "Perhaps you should stay here while I go get her."
"Nonsense! Shall a prisoner step into the king's chamber?" Simon asked. "That will anger Calhoun to death! An early grave!" He exclaimed.
George exhaled softly, pleading with Patricia in his heart to remain in the prison.
He led Simon out of the king's chamber, all the way down, and out of the castle building. They went to the back and into the dungeon. It looked like a small building from the outside. On getting in, one could see that it had several floors which went down instead of up. George took Simon to the ward where he had locked Patricia.
"That's her prison." He said, willing his voice to stay steady.
"Go ahead and open it," Simon said, smiling sheepishly. George exhaled softly and reached out for the locks. He could feel they were open and he instantly had a brainwave.
"They're open!" He exclaimed. "I don't understand how-"
"Sir, here's the prisoner. We found her trying to escape from the castle and we caught her and brought her back." A guard suddenly said from behind them. Simon turned slowly to stare at Patricia and his smile was instantly wiped off his face. It just couldn't be!