Chapter 23
Sabrina’s POV:
I heard a loud clang and jolted awake.
I had fallen asleep, my back slid down the wall as I fell down to the floor. The pain stung, but I barely felt it. My body had gone numb, and the darkness figured had doubled in number. They touched my hair and laughed, telling me how grimy it was. They laughed, and danced and their voices got louder and louder.
“Sabrina!” A loud voice yelled my name, and I heard an even louder clang. Was that the steel bars? It sounded like it.
A bright light filled the cell. So bright I was forced to squint. I closed my eyes, a low groan deep in my throat. Why is it so bright all of a sudden? Did Blair come back with multiple candles to taunt me?
The darkness figures screeched and ran to the corner, hiding away from the light.
The next thing I felt was someone grabbing my body. I winced as their hand brushed my back and the whip marks there stung a lot. Whoever this person was, they were bathed in pure light.
“Br–bright” gasped.
“Stay with me, okay?” They said. I knew that voice…it was Caldan,
I tried to see him, beyond the light and the blur in my vision, “Dirty,” I said and pushed weakly at his chest. I’m so dirty, I tried to say but the words were too heavy for my weak tongue.
I’m too dirty. I’ll ruin his bright clothes. Why can’t he see that?! Can’t he smell it?t
“…down.”
I’ll get you out of here. He held onto me, his hand under my knees and the other at the back of my head. He held me close to his body, and I felt him carry me right through the steel bars
Oh, that sounds I had heard was him ripping off the steel bars.
The darkness figures screamed and screamed, but couldn’t get any closer. At the back of my mind, I wished I could yank one of them and take it with me, watch it suffer in the bright light.
I couldn’t stay awake for much longer. I heard Caldan say something, but my cars couldn’t decipher what he said. I was knocked out cold before he had taken ten steps out of the cell.
Someone was screaming
The sound of it was agonizing, full of pure terror and pain. My heart lurched and I felt sorry for whoever was screaming so much. What happened to hurt them like that?
1 realized I was the one screaming.
My face was buried in soft mattresses. My back was alight with pain. Voices swam all around me, panicked voices. I struggled to do something! Touch my back, or maybe stop the pain.
My hands were punned firmly.
Tr’ll be over soon,” A soft voice whispered to me, sounding so pamed. I’m sorry, Rina I’m terribly sorry.”
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Chapter 23
What is happening to me right now?!
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I must have passed out, because the next time I opened my eyes, I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. My back hurt a lot less, I guess so because I was able to lie on my back.”
I felt clean, like I had been scrubbed clean of the filth and grime of the cell. I had fragmented memories of the place, and 1 think it was best I didn’t remember it.
Everywhere hurt. My entire body felt sore, like I had been hammered all over with a mallet. It wasn’t a sharp pain, but like the pain that came from healing.
The room I was in didn’t look like a room of the harem. I would know, because the harem rooms all had a white theme about them. White walls, white furniture, sometimes splashes of pastel colors.
This room had bold gold and green colors. I sat up in bed, wincing as I put strain on my wrists. I leaned against the headboard and stared down at my wrists, they had been bandaged tightly, and I could only dread what they looked like under the pristine bandages. The bed I was in was massive, deep green sheets encrusted with gold embroidery was thrown over my body. I touched the blanket, and it felt like soft cotton under my palms.
I looked around the room and gasped,
It was stunning.
There was a high arched window to the side that was open, I could see the moon from here in all her glory. The curtains billowed as soft breeze filtered into the room. The lights were turned on, warm golden and low. The furniture in the room looked tastefully expensive, even the rug,
Where am I?
On the nightstand was a tray with a crystal jug of water. I poured myself a glass, gritting my teeth hard as my wrists cried. out. But 1 still poured the water, even though I had spilled a good amount of it. I took the glass, my hand trembling and held the water up to my lips. The water was chill and felt like magic on my parched throat. I gulped it down and poured another glass. It wasn’t enough. Soon I was chugging down the entire jug Only when the entire water was gone did the burning thirs in my throat abate.
“Here,” Someone grabbed the jug and gently pried it out of my hands. I heard a deep chuckle. “You must have really needed.
that,”
I blinked, and came face to face with Caldan. Probably while I was drinking the water, he had come in. He put the jug on the tray and turned back to me.
“Hello, Rina” He said, a soft smile on his lips.
Tears instantly pricked my eyes. I felt relief wash over me like a wave. He looked so different, he wasn’t wearing his princely robes. Instead he wore a deep purple robe that dipped low to reveal a black shirt under. His hair was tousled, like he had ran his fingers through it a couple of times. He smiled at me, and I realized how much I had missed him.
“You’re alive,” I said, my lips wobbling.
He laughed. “Honestly, Rina, I should be saying that to you. Het on the bed, a safe distance between us. “How are you feeling?”
“Not so good, I said with a half sinile.
“You’ve been in and out for a couple of days now, I’m really happy to see you fully awake.”
My heart fell. A couple of days? Was I that far gone?
*Kina, what happened when I was gone?” He asked
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Chapter 23
I stared into his bright blue eyes, and all I could think about were the long days I spent counting down to when he would return. Telling myself over and over again that I didn’t miss him.
And he’s right in front of me now. And all I want to do is reach out, touch him, and know that he’s really here with me and I wasn’t hallucinating anything.
“It’s not important. I said with a shake of my head.
“Rina, I need to know. I have to…
“I’m glad you’re here. I said. He paused, and his eyes widened. That’s all that matters.”
“Rina…”
Tm okay now. You don’t have to worry. I’m okay.”
A chill descended over me. Caldan felt it too, his smile vanished and he turned sharply.
Standing in the doorway, was the alpha of alphas.
Caldan rose to his feet and rushed to my side. Your majesty. He said with a bow of his head. I bowed too, scared to speak a word
He walked into the room, carrying with him a dark and oppressive aura. He looked at Caldan briefly then turned to me.
1 ser you’re still alive.” He said, his voice sending shivers down my spine. “Nifra was worried for nothing. As he said those words, he looked right at Caldan.
I could feel the tension between the brothers. It made me uncomfortable.
What had happened when I was out of it?!
“Praise the goddess, Caldan spat darkly.
The king turned to me. His dark red eyes scanned my body from my hair to the part of me hidden under the blanket. I felt naked, and all I wanted to do was hide from his eyes, he looked at my face and I avoided his eyes.
“You return to your duties in four days. He said. Cold. Unfeeling Like I hadn’t been on the brink of death a few days ago. “And that is an order.”
“Brother… Caldan gasped.
My heart turned to ice, and along with it my blood.
An–order.
A direct order from the king.
There’s no way I could bypass that! The consequences of disobeying his order was massive!
I looked at Caldan. His eyes were wide with horror. The king didn’t care, his expression didn’t change one bit.
“I wish you a speedy recovery” He said to me and with that he turned to leave carrying the heavy aura with him.
Tl talk to him, Caldan said. He sat in front of me and gently took my hands in his. “I’ll convince you give you more time to
Тем
What’s the point?” I laughed bitterly. “He hates me. If you try to convince him otherwise, you’ll make him angrier and he’ll
increase my seilence-
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Chapter 23
“That’s not true. He doesn’t hate you, he just…
“It is.” I said and pulled my hands back.
I’m beginning to wish I had died in that cell.
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I looked up at Caldan. He looked devastated. But I won’t let the King’s verdict take away from the joy I feel right now. The joy of seeing him again
“I missed you.” I said softly. “Why did you take so long to return
“I ran into some trouble.” He said, “I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long. 1…I didn’t want that to happen.”
My eyes drifted to his lips, and I felt a tremor run through me. lifted my eyes to his. “Hug me,”
He blinked.
“Could you.” I added. “I want y
you to hug me,”
He moved closer to me and pulled me into his arms. his body was warm, and he smelled really good too. “You don’t have to ask, Rina,” He said, his voice vibrating in his chest. “I missed you. Very much. Everyday, you were all I thought about.”
I gripped the sleeves of his robe, holding him as close to me as possible. I moved even closer to him, and it hit me just how touch starved I was. This was the first human touch I’d felt since I came here. I wanted to melt into him, completely melt. I buried my face in his chest so he wouldn’t see my tears, or the fact that my cheeks were red. I exhaled till my lungs were empty, and inhaled a lungful of his scent
He patted back of my head, his chin rested on the crown of my head. It dawned on me that anyone could see us, and I wouldn’t be able to know,
But right then, I didn’t care.
3rd person POV:
Lady Nifra felt a strange tightness in her heart. On one hand, the girl had been released. Caldan had taken her out of that cell and taken her to his private wings where he had care provided for her. It had been a week, and the girl hadn’t been able to utter a legible sentence.
The healer had said it was very bad. She was almost dead, and any extra day spent in that cell would have killed her. Her wounds had gotten infected, and she was half mad with delirium. She had begun to hallucinate, talking to things that didn’t exist as if they were present with her.
Nifra had felt her heart split. No one deserved that kind of pain. Not even the slave.
She walked to the room where the girl was being taken care off, basket of fresh fruit in her hands. She needed nutrition, ast much as she could get.
The door was open, and that was the t
first alarını bell in lady Nifra’s head.
She paused and looked into the room. There she saw Caldan hobling the girl close. Nifra’s heart skipped a beat once she saw the position they were in. It looked too tender, too intimate. As if he sensed her, Caldan opened his eyes and looked right at
her.
Then he smirked.
That scum filled bastard actually smirked. As if to say what will you do now? His eyes were pools of nialevolence, Nifra didn’t miss how his hold on the girl tightened,
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Chapter 23
Nifra gripped the handle of the basket so hard that splinters of the raffia dug into her palm.
Caldan looked away from her, never for one did he stop petting the girl’s hair. Lady Nifra turned on her heel, the offering fruits forgotten and headed straight to the kings chambers.
“You brought a gift?” The king asked when he saw her.
She looked down at the basket and shook her head. “Your majesty, she said tensely.
His eyes narrowed a fraction. “Is this about the slave again?”
“Your…Caldan is with her, your majesty. They’re…
“I don’t care.” He cut her off, his tone full of annoyance.
“Your majesty…I don’t have a good feeling about this. Please. You know how Caldan can be, her life could be in…”
“If he does intend to kill her, that’s none of my business. The king said, annoyance rising to his surface.
Nifra paled. And that was saying a lot because she was a naturally pale woman.
Why do you even care about this girl?”
g of
She couldn’t answer that question. All she knew was that she wanted Caldan away from Rina as soon as possible. He would ruin her, Nifra was sure of it
One order. Just one order from the king and all of it would be over.
