Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 446: Wrath or Mercy

Chapter 446: Wrath or Mercy

Zephyr lingered outside the doorway of the infirmary, biting his lip.

"Aren’t you going to see her? She’s been asking for you. The kelpie already visited," Cordelia said softly, raising an eyebrow.

She had visited Daphne earlier after Healer Sirona had told her the sobering truth; Daphne had no memory of her pregnancy due to the trauma she experienced, and King Atticus had all but implemented a gag order on everyone.

No one was to speak of Daphne’s pregnancy unless they wanted to die a slow and painful death.

Never mind that this was technically her uncle’s palace and King Atticus had no right to order Xahan’s own citizens, let alone herself, Cordelia thought bitterly. King Atticus had waltzed inside Xahan and made decisions for everyone. Of course, her uncle and aunt could technically fight him, but they didn’t want to die on this hill, not when they had three young children to look after.

With Zephyr’s lost wing as a reminder, no one needed additional prompting to keep their mouths shut. If King Atticus could deal this much damage on a whim to a near-mythical creature, he could rend a mortal from limb to limb without blinking. Titles and statuses would not save a man from his wrath.

"She shouldn’t want to see me anymore," Zephyr said morosely, staring at his feet, his shoulders slumped with exhaustion and regret.

Without his wings behind him, he cut a small sad figure. Gone was the imposing, cocksure griffin of before who laughed easily, instead, he was replaced by this hesitant, terrified creature that jumped at every passing shadow who barely picked at his food. He had gotten so scrawny in mere days.

Cordelia watched him with pity in her eyes. It was simply depressing to see him become a shadow of his past self.

Zephyr’s eyes began to well up with tears. "I... I killed her child. If I go to see her, she’ll... she’ll remember I killed her child... and then she’ll hate me!"

"Didn’t you hear what I said? She wants to see you," Cordelia argued.

Daphne had been severely weakened, and so Cordelia decided she would spare no expense to make her best friend happy while keeping an eye on her mad husband. With the lapse in her memories, Cordelia didn’t trust Atticus not to take advantage of Daphne’s compromised state to get his way.

After all, Daphne couldn’t remain angry at him if she didn’t remember what he did wrong.

"She doesn’t, Princess Cordelia, she can’t," Zephyr said miserably, continuing to shake his head.

Daphne might hate him forever, or she might forgive him. Zephyr did not know which option would make him feel worse. Her wrath or her mercy.

Cordelia suddenly realized that no one had told Zephyr about the gag order. She wasn’t sure if this was another one of Atticus’s schemes to punish the poor griffin for the death of his unborn child, but enough was enough. There was no need to torture him more than necessary; the loss of his wing was enough punishment. Zephyr didn’t need to stew in his guilt.

"Zephyr, Daphne is not going to hate you. She does not remember being pregnant. How can you cause a miscarriage for a baby she doesn’t remember exists?"

Zephyr’s eyes widened in shock as Cordelia’s words sank in. "How..."

"The trauma," Cordelia said simply, and Zephyr’s face fell further. "You lost your wings, not your spine. You’d better go meet Daphne, or I’ll drag you inside myself. She needs people loyal to her now more than ever. Remember where your loyalties lie."

Zephyr paused before he finally gave a quick, jerky nod. He took a deep breath and opened the infirmary door, ready to face the music.

"Daphne?" He called out hesitantly, "Am I disturbing you?"

The cowardly part of him wanted Daphne to be asleep so that he could simply stare at her face in secret before fleeing, but since Zephyr’s life had taken a tailspin for the worse, of course, Daphne was wide awake and well, her face an abject expression of relief the moment she caught sight of Zephyr at the doorway.

Then her relief turned to worry, as she took a closer look at him. Zephyr practically looked malnourished― and his wings were missing!

Meanwhile, Zephyr felt like the worst sort of scum as he walked towards her. His body had never been lighter, but it was taking a herculean effort for him to reach Daphne’s bedside. But he vowed not to break down in tears in front of Daphne, because that would definitely cause her to figure out that something was amiss, and then King Atticus would find out and rip off his other wing as punishment.

Zephyr couldn’t even remember when he last cried in front of Daphne, so he hastily wiped his eyes, pretending that he was sneezing.

Daphne grabbed his arm, causing him to flinch in surprise. "Zephyr, where are your wings?"

"Oh, I retracted them," Zephyr said, injecting as much cheer as he could in his voice, hoping that Daphne didn’t expect him to extend them again. "The kids keep pulling on my feathers, so I thought what the hell, let me just put them back. That’ll show them."

Daphne laughed, but then a sudden ache bloomed in her head. She winced. Kids. Kids. There was something about that word that kept on ringing in her head, begging her to listen, but Daphne could not figure out what.

Meanwhile, Zephyr immediately began to panic. Oh god, Daphne’s head was going to explode, and it was all his fault! His face paled when he realized that he mentioned ’kids’. Oh, he was going to die. He should have just said that he wanted to try blending in as a human!

"Daphne, are you alright? Should I call for Sirona? Sirona―"

"No need, I’m fine," Daphne shook her head and shushed Zephyr. She gazed up at him worriedly, taking in his pallid complexion and waxy skin. His outfits, normally tight on his figure, seemed to be oversized.

Something was clearly amiss.

"I’m more worried about you, Zephyr. What aren’t you telling me? Did Jean Nott do something to you?"

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