Vaelen didn't waste a single second once he reached his father's bedside because the sight alone was enough to rip the breath straight out of his lungs.
He leaned forward with trembling hands braced on the bed as he looked at the king's convulsing body and then snapped sharply toward the royal healer standing closest to him, his voice filled with anger as he demanded, "What happened? Tell me exactly what happened!"
The healer, an older man who had served the palace for years, flinched visibly at the prince's tone, his hands shaking as he held a cloth pressed against the king's chin to catch the white fog that kept spilling from his mouth like a slow-burning smoke.
He swallowed hard before speaking, "Your Highness… We don't know… We don't know what poison it is. I have never seen anything like this before… The poison is attacking his lungs and his nerves at the same time, and if we don't find the antidote soon… the king… he will not survive much longer."
