Chapter 133: Do You Understand Now?
Alana;
I open my eyes, and my heart skips a beat when I see King Wilhelm walk in after Igma.
I try to sit up, but he holds up a hand to me. I quickly lie back down, and he sits beside me.
"Good morning, Your Majesty." I struggle to greet, and he nods as he smacks his mouth like this is another boring activity he has to do.
He leans closer to me, and I freeze as he gently presses about the sides of my neck with his fingers.
"Hmm... broken is quite too dramatic a word, don’t you think?" He says as he looks back at Igma, and she steps forward with confusion on her face.
"That’s... what the doctor told me..." she replies, and King Wilhelm turns back to me.
"Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m no doctor." He replies, and I blink at him, wondering what in lights’ name he’s up to now.
"Leave us." He orders, and my heart skips a beat.
My eyes immediately find Igma, and she is staring at her uncle with curiously confused eyes.
"Leave... you?" She questions, and he turns back to her.
"I like to work in peace and privacy, and I’d like to talk to one of my workers alone, if you don’t mind." He replies, and my heart starts pounding.
What could he possibly want to talk to me about??
"Except you know how to fix a broken neck." He adds as a subtle threat, and Igma takes a deep breath.
She bows, and fear erupts in my veins.
"I’ll be right outside." She says more like she’s talking to me than the king, and he smiles.
There’s silence as she leaves, and as soon as she shuts the door behind her, the king stands.
"How did you get your job as an aide?" He questions, and I pause.
"Al...Alpha Koda chose me?" I reply, and he turns his back on me as he walks over to a stool with a fruit bowl on it.
I watch as he picks up the knife in the bowl and starts examining its blade.
"Before that, what were you?" He asks, and I swallow.
"A palace maid. One of the ones responsible for cleaning." I reply, and he nods as he turns back around with the knife still in his hands.
"Do you enjoy your job as Elián’s aide?" He asks, and I stare at him in silence, wondering what all these questions are for.
His blue eyes look up at me, and as he holds my gaze in place, I take a deep, shaky breath.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I do." I reply, and he smiles like my reply pleases him.
I watch in horror as he closes his palm around the blade of the knife, and I gasp as he pulls the hilt of the knife with a sharp motion.
Blood starts dripping from his fisted palm, and I stare with wide eyes.
He walks over to the bed and sits beside me.
"Open." He says as he gently tilts my chin, and I stare wide-eyed at him.
What is he doing???
He tilts his head as he stares at me, and fear defeats reason in my head. I quickly open my mouth, and I feel drops of his blood coat my tongue.
Disgust claws at my spine, but I do not dare show it.
"Swallow." He orders, and I obey.
As his blood makes its way down my throat, I feel tingling in my neck.
He starts muttering something I can not hear, and I freeze when I see white, tiger-like patterns start glowing faintly under his skin.
His hair slowly seems to increase in length, and even though his eyelids are shut, I can see that his eyes are glowing.
I groan when mild pain spreads in my neck and the back of my head.
The pain is a dull discomfort, and suddenly, I begin to hear small snaps in my neck.
I stay frozen in alarm as I listen, and just as suddenly as they began, they stop.
He stops muttering, and I watch the patterns under his skin vanish, and I just stare at him.
What the... what the hell was that!?
What... how...
I’ve always known this man was scary, and no one knows what he truly is. But now that I actually saw it...
What being has powers like that??
He opens his eyes, and I quickly look away in fear, and he chuckles.
"Now, we’re going to act like you didn’t just see that?" He asks, and I look back up at him.
"I always knew you were smart." He adds as he stares at his palm, and before my eyes, I watch his wound, which he just inflicted on himself, close up.
"Sit up." He orders, and I pause.
My neck is broken. How does he expect me to...?
Wait... I can’t feel the pain anymore.
My... my neck feels okay.
I take my hand to my neck in disbelief, and King Wilhelm watches me in silence as I slowly sit up.
"What you just saw must never make it to another person. Understand?" He warns, and I freeze.
That’s not just a warning. Coming from him, it’s a threat. One I must not take with levity.
"Ahhh. Back to the new addition to my family. You said you enjoy your job. Why? What about working for that... temperamental, naive, chaotic ball of energy do you like?" He questions, and I can not tell if this is a test or if he’s honestly intrigued.
However, whatever it is, I will give my truth. Because it is nothing to be ashamed of.
"I love my job because... in a world filled with filth, and schemes and wickedness... I’ve been given the chance to look after something beautiful. Something pure. When he’s happy, it’s not because he’s scheming or trying to put up a front. He’s the purest, most genuine person I’ve ever met." I speak honestly, and King Wilhelm’s blue eyes study me in silence.
"Yes. I’ll admit, when I first started caring for him, I wanted to quit. I thought he was trouble and... had no brains." I add, refusing to filter my words as I look away from King Wilhelm.
My eyes rest on my fingers, which I lace in front of me as I keep speaking.
"It took a little while of studying him to realise that... that wasn’t the issue. Master Elián is... just too innocent. Almost like a child. He... he has no evil in his heart and that affects the way he sees the world." I continue before looking up at him, and I find his cheek resting on his fist as he listens to me like he’s learning something.
"Master Elián thinks that just like him... the rest of the world can’t be that bad. That’s exactly why he needs to be shielded. He’s a little dove who doesn’t realise the dangerous storm he’s flying in. Sometimes I fear his wings might break, and I will do anything in my power to protect him." I conclude as I feel determination burn in my heart, King Wilhelm nods.
"Is that why you set Bram up?" He questions, and my heart skips a beat.
"What!? Your Majesty, I never tried to set Bram up! I would never...!!" I begin, but he stands up.
"But you did. You saw him as competition, and you decided to get rid of him. Even though it was wrong." He begins, and my jaw drops as he turns his back on me once again.
"You asked Igma to help you get evidence against him, and you took the first thing she offered you without properly investigating if it was true or not. Your desire to protect your master clouded your judgment." He continues, and my heart starts pounding as my throat runs dry.
"You feel indebted to Elián because he helped you get a better position in the palace, and better pay. So you saw Bram’s closeness to Rhydian as a threat to both you and your Master." He adds, and he turns back to me, and fear consumes every part of me as I stare at King Wilhelm with my mouth agape.
"Your Majesty, that’s not true..." I try to reason with him, but he cuts me off.
"Yet, that is exactly what you will say to Rhydian." He replies, and I pause.
"That is what you will say to Bram when you apologise to him, and ask him to forgive you." He adds, and my jaw drops.
"It is what you will say to me, in front of an audience, before I punish you for setting an innocent young man up." He continues, and I start sweating.
"I don’t... I don’t understand." I confess, but he ignores me.
"Afraid of your punishment, you will write a letter to Eliàn to save you. But he won’t reply. He’s too busy living the life in Gravemaw to help you. You get angry after serving this punishment and now, as revenge, you form an alliance with Bram to take Elián down. After all, you did all this, and suffered for him." He continues as he walks over to one of the windows, and my jaw drops as the wheels of my mind start churning.
"Do you understand now?" He asks, staring at me with the face of a schemer, and a smirk forms on my face as I stare back at the scary man we call King.
"Yes, your majesty."