The Duke Should Divorce Me, So Why Is He Stalling My Death? novel · Chapter 5 of 32

Chapter 5: Fever

Greta woke her at two in the morning with a candle shaking in her hand.

"Your Grace, it's the Duke. It's the scar again."

Lysandra was out of bed and into a robe before she was properly awake.

"Where is the Saintess?"

"Her door is locked, and her maid says she's asleep and won't be woken for anyone." Greta's mouth twisted. "She never locks it when it's the Duke's turn."

That was interesting.

She filed it away beside the stair.

"Where is he?"

"The library. He goes there when it's bad, Your Grace. He lies on the stone."

Lysandra took the candle.

"Bring snow," she said. "Clean snow, in a bowl, with a cloth. Quickly."

The library was a long cold room lined with shelves, and the tall windows at the far end stood wide open to the night.

Snow was drifting in over the sill.

Alaric lay on the floor beneath the windows with his shirt torn open and his cheek against the flagstones.

His breath came in short hard pulls.

His skin was flushed and shining with sweat, and the black scar down his side had gone almost purple, crawling out toward his stomach.

"Go away," he said, without lifting his head.

"No," she said.

"Duchess."

"I'm not leaving you on the floor."

Greta came in at a run with the bowl, set it down beside Lysandra and fled.

Lysandra knelt.

She packed snow into the cloth with fingers that had stopped being nervous, and pressed it flat against the black line on his ribs.

He made a sound she'd never heard from a man, low and cracked.

Then his whole body eased against the stones.

"That's it," she said. "Breathe."

"The cold," he said into the floor. "It's the only thing."

"Then you'll have it. Turn your head. Look at me."

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