Chapter 125: I hate feeling like this
Sam flung the door open to the study with more strength then everyone else thought he had, his face filled with so much worry, it was almost as if his child had gotten injured, not his Master.
"My Lord!" Sam shouted, taking in the way Cass was slumped against Draken’s chest, his eyes fluttering, his breathing light, and he let out a noise that sounded like between a screech and a wail, moving towards Cass at a speed the others were surprised at.
Sam cupped Cass’ face tenderly, his other hand going to his throat, checking his pulse.
"Oh no. Oh no oh no. What was in what the Doctor gave us? I thought it was going to be okay! I checked it! Oh no." Sam was muttering to himself, worried to all hell, while Draken rumbled.
"Did you not watch them make it?" Draken demanded and Sam’s gaze slid up to meet the dragon’s. Sam nodded.
"I did, that’s why I thought everything was okay. I don’t think the Doctor did this intentionally. They were very firm about not wanting to hurt him, especially because he was a Lord. This is..." Sam dropped his head, his shoulder’s shaking. "This is my fault. I should have paid more attention. I should have-"
"Sam." Cass’ weak voice stopped Sam’s spiral and he turned towards his Lord, his eyes desperate. "Shut the fuck up." Cass croaked, and Sam’s face dropped, before Draken’s body behind Cass began to shake and Draken tried his best not to laugh. Sam looked shocked as Cass sucked in a breath, his body feeling weak and shaky.
He hadn’t felt like this in a while, if ever. Even when Lord Blackburn took back control of his body, it wasn’t like this. What the hell was wrong with him?
A nagging voice, a nagging feeling tugged at the back of his mind. Due to how blurry, and distant everything felt, it took him a while to realise what it was.
Lord Blackburn was screaming from the back, trying to get Cass to do something, anything. When he finally turned his head slightly, in real life and internally, he was able to hear what he was saying. When he understood it, he froze, and his face scrunched up.
"What? What’s wrong, my Lord? What did you just think of?" Sam asked, ready and willing to do anything for Cass. For Lord Blackburn.
Cass opened his mouth, before he closed it. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to ask, or get them involved. He really didn’t, but it was a different situation if even Lord Blackburn was reaching out to him, trying to get him help. That meant there was something seriously wrong, but Cass didn’t want-
He didn’t want to see his face.
He closed his eyes, his mouth turning down in a frown and Sam remained where he was, his hands exactly where they had been before.
"My Lord?" He asked carefully, and it was clear that Sam was worried every small action could lead to something serious. Fuck. Shit. Damn it.
"Ask...Vespertine for a bottle of wine. The same one we had in town." Cass murmured, opening his gaze and making a fucking choice that he had a feeling he was going to regret. Sam’s expression was shocked, and he felt Draken’s arms tighten around him.
"You went into town with Edgar?" He asked carefully, and Cass didn’t have the energy to talk about it right now.
"Later." He said simply, and Draken growled, but shut up. Sam nodded, getting up so quickly he seemed to get a little dizzy. Byron raced forward, ready to catch the smaller man, but Sam gathered himself and nodded again, spinning and heading for the door with a one mind focus.
"I will go find him even if he hates me for it, my Lord." Sam promised and Cass sighed.
"Don’t be hated, Sam." Cass whispered and Sam froze, and turned a gaze towards his Lord. It was filled with emotions Cass couldn’t see from where he was, but he could tell it was complicated. After a moment, he nodded again and headed out of the study. Byron sighed.
"My Lord." He began, as if he was about to chastise him in front of his partners. "You should have called for us right away if something felt off." Byron’s tone was a little harsh, and clearly Sam was rubbing off on him. Lady Fiona was shocked that he was speaking to him like that, but it was a privilege that only a few had.
Byron had only just earned it, but Cass let it slide. Especially when Byron came into view and he could see for himself the worry and fear in those fathomless black eyes.
"It snuck up on me. I didn’t know anything was wrong until it was really wrong." Cass whispered. He had no strength to speak any louder than that. Byron’s concerned frown deepened, and he glanced between Draken, who was holding him like a precious doll, and Lady Fiona, who had followed Sam when he’d raced over, and remained hovering near the loveseat she had been sitting in. She couldn’t bring herself to sit down again, and had one arm wrapped around her stomach, the other she was nibbling on her nails, nervous. Anxious.
Byron’s sigh held a nervousness to it.
"Would either of you like something to drink? I feel I need to do something while we wait." Byron muttered, dropping his gaze as he swallowed. Lady Fiona shook her head, her expression stark. Cass couldn’t see Draken because he was holding him, but he had a feeling that Draken wasn’t doing any better.
Cass could feel his heartbeat in his chest, and his breaths felt raspy. He knew something was happening inside of his body, but he had no idea what it was. The healing tonic wasn’t really fixing it, and Cass wondered why Lord Blackburn had been so insistent on Vespertine’s help.
He didn’t like feeling like there was so much he didn’t know. He felt like something big and powerful was looming above him that others had a clear picture of, but that he didn’t. He hated that feeling. It made him feel small, and stupid, and he was not stupid. He was a smart guy, but he wasn’t from here.
There were some things he just wasn’t going to be able to understand.
Byron moved around the room quietly, trying to distract himself from what was going on, and Lady Fiona nibbled at her fingernails as she waited. Cass tried his best to keep his eyes open, and his breathing steady.
Draken kept his hold on him, a rumble shaking Cass’ back every once in a while as the man did his best to control himself. Cass was just getting a grasp on himself, even as his chest rattled, when the door was flung open and Sam entered, a breathless Vespertine behind him with another man behind him carrying a box.
Vespertine’s gaze darted everywhere, his eyes wide, until they landed on Cass and it twisted. He covered his mouth, his blue eyes going wide.
"Oh my gods. Charles, quick! Open the box and get a bottle open!" Vespertine ordered and Charles, the man that Vespertine had brought with him crouched down on the floor and tore the box open, a corkscrew in his hand as he began to open a bottle he handed it to Vespertine but before he could take two steps towards Cass, Draken and Byron started growling.
"Why the fuck does that smell like blood?" Byron said, puffing up, defending his Lord. Draken was only a few steps behind him, and Vespertine’s eyes went wide.
"You are not feeding that to Cassian. Something like that isn’t touching his lips!" Draken roared while Lady Fiona seemed like she was getting whiplash. She looked as if she was learning a lot of things all at once, and she wasn’t exactly sure if she liked the outcome.
Cass reached up and weakly patted Draken’s hand, trying to get his attention. Draken froze, while Vespertine looked stunned he was being treated this way.
"H-He asked me to bring it!" Vespertine sputtered, confused and Cass nodded weakly.
"I did, so back down. Both of you." Cass whispered and Draken rumbled. He wasn’t pleased, but he’d back down. Byron was the same. He could hear him rumbling in the distance, and Cass would have smiled if it was any other situation. Instead, he brought his gaze towards the bottle. Charles was holding onto it, and Cass slid his gaze to Sam.
Sam was watching him, and he jerked, turning and running towards Charles. Charles and Vespertine were on high alert after the warnings from Draken and Byron, but Sam stopped before he could run into Charles, and held out his hands.
"May I?" He asked carefully, and Charles handed it over after sharing a look with Vespertine. Sam then spun, raced to Cass’ side and then crouched down. On his knees, he bent the bottle towards Cass’ lips, and Draken made sure that he was more upright before the bottle touched him. Sam was careful, gentle, and as the liquid entered his mouth, all Cass could think about was how completely different it was compared to the sewer water of a healing tonic he was forced to drink often.
Fuck, but was Cass thirsty.