Adonis held his chest and staggered to the physician’s chamber.

"Hector!" Adonis shouted. "Hector!"

The physician came out running, slightly startled. "What? What?" Then he saw Adonis gasping for breath and stumbling forward. His eyes widened. "My prince! What happened?"

"Poi... son," he whispered in a stutter.

"gods forgive us," he said and passed his arm under Adonis’s arm, through his back, and crossed his right hand over his neck. "Let’s get you inside."

"Master!" exclaimed one of his apprentices.

"Get to work!" Hector ordered, then gave instructions on the herbs to boil. He laid Adonis on one of the beds, brought a silver needle, and turned it on Adonis’s tongue.

"Poison..." He gasped and shook his head. They concocted various types of medicine and fed them to Adonis, but he still groaned and writhed in pain.

"Nothing is working, master," the apprentice said. "Whatever poison they fed him, it’s deadly."

Hector gnashed his teeth and held his forehead, and his heart beat fast in his chest. Who would do this? Whoever used this poison intended for the prince to suffer before he ultimately died. But that would not happen today. He would rather die than have the prince die in his chamber.

He entered into an inner room and got a few ingredients from a cabinet on the right. Then he came back and spoon-fed it to Adonis one by one.

After a few minutes, blood spluttered out of Adonis’s mouth. The apprentices murmured and held on to each other, watching the prince vomit so much blood, and his face became white. But Hector stayed still, too still; it became a little scary.

Adonis finally lay quiet on the bed. And one of the boys came to Adonis and put a hand over his nose. All the hair on his body stood, and he jerked slightly backwards, but he said nothing. Then he lifted his hand and felt his pulse.

The apprentice turned to Hector and shook his head. Adonie was dead.

"Move from there!" Hector hissed. "Give him space!"

The boy flinched and moved backwards, while the rest looked at Hector like he had gone mad.

Hector stood beside Adonis’s bed and looked down at him, "You better not give up on me, you imbecile," Hector whispered. "Stand up!"

"Master, it’s no use. He’s dead," one of the boys said.

"Leave me! All of you! Leave from here."

The boys filed out one by one, gloom on all their faces.

Immediately, they left. Hector’s feet buckled and collapsed to the floor. His heart broke into a thousand little pieces, and his eyes watered. He’d loved Adonis like his own son, and yet, when it mattered, he had failed his. He punched the floor over and over till his hand was bloodied and numb.

Adonis gasped loudly for breath and sat up immediately, coughing uncontrollably.

"My prince!" Hector said. "You’re alive!" He stood up and crushed into him in a hug.

"Hector... you’re... choking... me," Adonis stuttered.

"Right, right. I’m sorry," Hector replied and loosened his hold on him.

"What in the heavens happened?" Adonis’s vision was a little hazy as he looked around.

"You were poisoned. You were dead. You just came back to life," Hector explained curtly.

Adonis chuckled, "That’s one way to say it." The memories trickled back in. His father, the servant, the tea. "The poison wasn’t meant for me. It was for father."

Hector’s eyes widened. "What?!"

"The servant who served the tea, it was meant for father, not me. Now, I’m wondering if this is the first time an attempt has been made or not."

"This is serious, my prince. Poisoning, inside the palace?" In my many years as a physician, that has hardly happened. Save for when your father first entered into power."

"We need to find out who that servant is," Adonis said thoughtfully. "How has Father’s health been?"

Hector gave Adonis a weird look. "He has been relatively fine. Except for a few headaches, nothing extraordinary has happened.

A thought nagged at Adonis. "Have him tested for this poison. It might lead to absolutely nothing, but I need to be assured that there’s nothing wrong with him."

Hector sighed. "My prince," he said. "I know you’re scared and confused right now..."

"Do not dare call me that. My fears are not irrational. The king would not have survived this. I only ask that you look properly. Nothing more."

Hector pressed his lips against each other and folded his arms, his head bent as he contemplated Adonis’s words.

"Alright, your majesty," Hector said. "I will do as you’ve asked."

Adonis smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Hector returned the smile and shook his head. "Who do you think did this?"

"I have a hunch, but I would like to believe otherwise," Adonis said and lay back on the bed.

Hector furrowed his brows. "You know who?"

"I said I had a hunch, Hector. Don’t be so daft."

Hector scoffed. "Oh, so now, I’m daft? After I saved that wretched life of yours."

Adonis crossed his legs and rolled his eyes. "You weren’t exactly doing me a favour, Hector. You’re inside the palace, enjoying all the luxury money could buy. Experimenting on all these smelly things. And who made that happen? Meeeee."

Hector laughed, shook his head, and slapped one of his legs. "You’ve grown a lot of gall talking to me like that." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Adonis smiled, "I could say the same about you, Hector. I could say the same about you."

*********************************************

"I couldn’t complete the task," the servant said. "The prince was in the room with him."

Whack the cloaked figure slapped him across the face. "Then you are of no use to me."

"Please," the servant said, with his face plastered to the ground. "I’ll do better next time."

"There will be no next time." The figure said. "Is anyone there?"

Two muscular men approached.

"Take him away from here," the figure said. "Permanently."

"Please, sir!" the boy begged as he was dragged away violently. "Please!"