You dedicate yourself to Sorrel

While King Aster waits for a response from the Fae, you dedicate yourself to his son. The poor fawn is completely helpless. You suspect that, if the poison didn't kill him soon, his killer might have gotten impatient and done it themselves. It wouldn't have been hard. The boy had no energy to speak, much less fight off an attacker.

You are suspicious of nearly all of the staff. Despite the fact that the original staff were under investigation, you never leave Sorrel alone with any of the new ones. Any of the food they have prepared is inspected by you before it is given to the prince. Your paranoia even has you checking the clothes and blankets they bring, terrified that it had been dosed in poison. The only time you step away from the child is when his father takes over and even then you sleep in a nearby corner. If anything changes, you want to be right there.

Slowly, Sorrel begins to improve. Without fresh elixir in his system, his body was able to fight off what had built up in his system. After a few weeks, he was breathing a bit easier and was able to move a little bit. For the most part, all he did was cling weakly to yours or his father's hands, but it was an improvement.

Shortly after that, the King of the Sunny Meadows arrived with three of his most competent healers. They take over a majority of Sorrel's medical care, but you still remain. You learn from them how to prepare and administer the cure. While Sorrel sleeps, you take every chance to learn more from them. All of them are kind to you and were surprised to hear that you wanted to learn at first. They teach you their own spells and you do the same. They even invite you to the Meadows to learn from their teachers.

You know that you won't be able to take them up on that offer for a little while. While Sorrel improves, he begins to latch on you more and more. He cries when he can't see you, which absolutely breaks your heart. When he finds his voice again, he asks you questions. He insists to his father that both of you stay with him. It leads to you losing even more sleep, but it's worth it. You didn't think it would happen, but you begin to love the little fawn like your own. It makes you nervous, as you have no idea how Aster would respond. If he has any reservations though, he keeps them to himself.

Eventually, the culprit is caught when he sneaks into the boy's room one night. Unknown to his attacker, Sorrel had been moved to his father's room for the night. The poor thing had a nightmare and insisted on it. You had stayed behind, taking the chance to tidy up the space. It had been a matter of luck that you hadn't been stabbed, since your back had been to the attacker, but you quickly dealt with him with your plant magic.

When the guards arrive, one of the servants is tangled in a large group of vines. You had taken the chance to rip into the traitor, screaming about how he was a coward to attack a child while tightening the vines. The only reason you don't kill him is because you know King Aster wants to. You won't take that away from him.

It's how you end up in the library with Sorrel the next day. While the King handles the situation, you are keeping the prince calm. The two of you are reading fairy tales while a group of guards hide amongst the bookshelves. It's here that Sorrel says something that truly surprises you.

He says he wishes that you were his mommy.

It freezes you in your tracks. The prince's birth father had died during birth. You hadn't heard much about it, but you remember how it had been the talk of the woods for months afterwards. There had been a rumor that whatever killed the consort had been behind the king's odd appearance. Poor Sorrel had never met him. It had never been your intention to replace him.

You fear what the King would say. There would be no way he wouldn't hear about it, not with his guards clearly hearing their prince. You shake it off, give the boy a smile and a kiss to his head, and continue reading. There isn't anything you can do about it now. All you can do is wait.

You don't have to wait long though. Two days later, you are called into a meeting with Aster. You don't know what to expect, but you know that he won't put you to ****. Not after all you did to help his son. But what could he want? What will he do to you?