Chapter 64: Peril in the East Castle







The morning sun had already shown itself completely showering me with its comfortable warmth when I finally made myself out of the woods. I could already see the East Castle in the distance, standing proudly and firmly, and waiting for me. And like a child who had been away from home for a long time, I hurried towards it, urging the horse to run faster. The men guarding the gates immediately noticed my arrival and alerted the East Castle soldiers. When I got nearer and they realized who I was, they opened the gates.



They watched dumbfounded as I rushed through them to the entrance of the East Castle. Tarnus was giving orders to his men when my arrival caught his attention. His eyes lighted up when he saw me and without second thoughts, he left what he was doing and ran to my direction. I, on the other hand, dismounted the horse hastily to meet him. My feet didn't even touch the ground as Tarnus caught me in his arms, spinning me in a tight embrace. And at that time, I cried for my heart knew that I was home.



"Did they hurt you?" he asked.



I frowned. "They didn't hurt me. It was Threy who stole me on my wedding day, Tarnus. It was also him who rescued me from my assassins in the Eastern woods. He came back and saved me. He would never hurt me."



But Tarnus still looked unconvinced. He stared at me skeptically, searching for any signs of injury. "Maybe, he's just using you; playing with your emotions knowing that you feel something for him. He could just be controlling you."



I didn't want to consider such possibility because it hurt to imagine that he would do that to me. It would definitely break me.



"No," I protested. "He'd never do that to me. He loves me."



Shock registered on Tarnus' face upon hearing those words from me. He wasn't able to speak right away. He just stared at me and the changes I had during the times that I was away from the East Castle. He saw the marks Threy left on my neck, the one Lord Chester despised at the Lake of Dreams, and his expression darkened. He let go of me and took a step back as if the woman he was just holding in his arms suddenly turned into a complete stranger.



"But you were the little sun of the East Land. I protected you like you were the only hope we had."



I winced as he said those things like they were all in the past – as if the days when I was their little sun were over. He felt too disappointed and betrayed.



"Tarnus –"



I tried to explain the misunderstanding that was breaking us apart but I knew that it was too much for him to understand at the moment. There was another important person I had to meet and giving him time to think about what I just did might help us.



"My mother, where is she?" I asked calmly.



He shook his head disapprovingly and answered, "In her room. She'd been sick and waiting for you while you're happily in the arms of your lover."



I wanted to argue with him about what he had just said. The bitterness in his tone made me feel like I was an evil daughter. But I knew that seeing my mother was more significant than defending myself from his subtle accusation. Without saying anything, I turned and hurried to the castle. I glanced at him before entering but he was already walking away from me. I had hurt him and I understood why he was acting like this. I would talk with him again once I made sure that my mother was safe.



I didn't run across anyone while I was on my way to my mother's room. The servants must be busy from their morning chores. I braced myself before opening the door to her chamber and I froze from where I stood when I saw her on the bed lying weakly and pale while a servant was helping her with medicine. They both turned to me and I saw surprise on their faces when they recognized who the lady was standing by the doorway.



"My Primrose," she gasped.



She immediately ordered the servant to leave as I ran towards her and enveloped her fragile body in my arms.



"I'm so sorry for making you sick, mother," I sobbed.



She pulled back from me and shook her head. She cupped my face in her hands and said, "Don't worry about that. I'm going to be alright now that you're here."



But it didn't lessen my worry. Somehow, I felt guilty for I knew that I was the reason why her health condition deteriorated.



"You aren't hurt, are you?" she asked as her eyes wandered through my body.



Tears started to roll down my face as I shook my head. "I'm not hurt," I answered.



She wrapped me in her arms again. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you here. You're safe now," she promised.



I wanted to believe her. I remembered when I was still a child and was being anxious or scared of something, she would assure me that I was safe with her – and I always believed in that. But since then, a lot had changed. And at that moment, there was no way that I would feel safe. I wanted to tell her that but my eyes were getting heavy as my night adventure started to take a toll in me.



"You look like you need a lot of rest. I've ordered to keep your room clean because I know you'll always come back," she said when she noticed my exhaustion and anxiety.



I still wanted to talk with her and convinced her about my plans but I knew that I wouldn't be that effective if I was barely holding myself. And so I nodded and promised to come back and check up on her once I had gotten the strength I needed.



The servants who saw me while I was walking on the hallway to my room gasped and looked at each other knowingly. I thought about what kind of story they would be having in the rumour mill now. A lady who was stolen by a pirate on her wedding day – that would definitely be an interesting subject in a conversation. But I didn't care about that. It even surprised me now that my reputation was no matter for me at the moment.



I settled on my bed when I reached my room. I sighed in relief and closed my eyes in the familiarity of my surrounding. The gentle breeze coming through my window was like a lullaby cradling me to sleep. And I succumbed to it, hoping that things would be better after this hibernation. It was already late at night when I woke up and it took me time before I realized that I wasn't still dreaming – that I was in my room in the East Castle. At first, I was relieved but that was gone when events of what happened the other night played in my head like a sick warning that I wasn't safe yet.



I immediately left the bed and fixed myself. My clothes were still folded neatly in my closet and the stuff I used were placed tidily in my dresser the way I remembered it; like I never left the East Castle at all.



The hallway was quiet; the servants were probably resting on their quarters while some of them might be somewhere in the castle doing their night chores. Now that I had gained enough strength, there were a few things I needed to deal with. First, I had to check on my mother again and see if my presence had somehow help in improving her condition. Second, I could not let my relationship with Tarnus stay that way. Our friendship was deep; he was almost my brother. We couldn't just throw it away. And most importantly, I was hungry. No one woke me up for dinner. Or maybe, they weren't able to wake me up and thought that I needed that much of rest. I decided to head first to the kitchen. The servants stared at me astonished when I greeted them and snatched a large muffin from the basket.



"And here I thought you all would be happy to see me," I told them, wondering if I should drop the muffin for I feel like a thief in their presence.



"Oh, ofcourse! We're glad to have you back, my lady. Do you want some milk with your muffin?" The head cook, who'd been serving my family since I was a child, asked and immediately walked towards me. She enveloped me in her arms and I happily returned it for she smelled like freshly baked bread.



"You've always been so kind to me, Yelena," I muttered when she finally let go of me and examined my face.



She smiled at me genuinely. "I'm just grateful that you aren't hurt – that you're still alive."



I frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"



She glanced warily at the servants watching around us before pulling me closer. "Someone's spreading rumours about you being dead in the castle. It said that you had followed your father to his grave. Lady Adeline and Tarnus refused to believe it. We didn't want to believe it."



My heart hammered loudly by what she had said. Whoever the person behind it definitely knew something about Dorothy and the planned assassination? Rage started to boil inside me. The culprit behind my father's death must have made its way to the castle.



"Who started this rumor?" I clenched my fist and looked at them sternly.



Yelena was surprised to see the fury in my eyes. She knew that I was different from the naïve, young lady she was serving before and thus, she took confidence on my bravery.



She lowered her voice and said, "I don't know who started it. But once I'm certain, I promise to let you know, my lady."



"I am not dead," I addressed them loudly with the intention of waking up those who were sleeping and reaching the ears of those who should be listening. "Obviously, someone wants me to be. That person failed once and now failed again in taking my life. I'm not going to let this person win. I'm going to show this sick bastard that it is not easy taking the light out a sun. I'm not going to die today."



If the old Primrose was watching and listening to what I've said at that time, she would probably be astonished; shocked but astonished. After all, I've always wanted to be brave and take my stand – even though it seemed like I was calling out my own slayer.



I thought they would see me as a little kitten trying to scratch with her tiny paws. But instead, Yelena and the servants bowed their heads silently. They weren't doing it out of fear; they were doing it because they found that I was worthy of their loyalty and respect. I nodded at them in appreciation, and with the stolen muffin in my hand, I walked out of the kitchen and headed to my mother's bedroom.



The first thing I saw through the gap between the door and the floor was the bright light that was going through it. She was supposed to be sleeping; the time was already late for a sick woman like her. Frowning, I deliberately knocked on the door. A stern female's voice asked me to wait probably expecting that I was one of the servants. But I wasn't and so I pushed the door open without asking her permission and walked in like a brewing storm threatening to turn into chaos. The woman, young, attractive, and dressed in white, gasped at my presence and almost dropped the bottle in her hand.



I stared at it in scrutiny and then looked at her questioningly. She was giving it to my mother who was trembling and weak while leaning on the headboard.



"Who are you? And what are you giving her?" I asked suspiciously. I could almost hear the warning inside my head.



"I'm her n-nurse and it's time for her to take the medicine for her illness," she stammered.



"And what's her illness?" I asked again.



"When she came back from the West Land, she couldn't sleep at night and had a fever. We're able to cure it but ever since we received suspicious news of your death, her health deteriorated fast. She had stomach aches and vomits sometimes. She also complained about her terrible headache and couldn't sleep at night because of it. This medicine calms her and eases her pain. Our doctors recommend it."



She sounded convincing and I wouldn't have doubted it: my mother was sick, she needed her medicine, and the castle hired someone to take care of her. But the symptoms were familiar and I've read lots of similar cases in the books of the Borgian Castle. Aside from that, I noticed the way she would avert her eyes just to avoid mine. She couldn't fool me that way.



"Well, if it's that good, how about you have a taste of it," I challenged.



Her eyes widened in shock. She never expected that I would ask her of that. But I knew that this woman was hiding something from me and I would do anything just to know what it was.



"M-My Lady –" She was almost pleading and I knew by then that I had just trapped her.



"Drink it," I demanded again threateningly.



When she realized that she had been caught, she tried to run pass me. However, my reflexes had quite improved – thanks to all the deaths I had escaped on land and even at the sea, and so I deliberately stuck my foot on her way and tripped her. I swiftly grabbed her right arm and twisted it towards her back while pushing her harder on the floor. It seemed that the she-monster captain in the Borgian castle was far more difficult to restrain than this one. I couldn't help but feel a little proud of myself for totally incapacitating her.



"Give me that bottle," I instructed firmly.



She let go of it and started crying for her life. "Forgive me, my lady. Please don't hurt me," she pleaded.



I don't hurt people – well, not intentionally. And I didn't really plan on changing that. But it was clear that she had the purpose of hurting my mother and whether it was the old Primrose or the present one, I wasn't going to let go of that easily.



"If I'm going to break this arm, would it make it easier for me to break the other one? Will you still be able to fight me if I'm going to break your legs as well?"



"No, please, my lady! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just please, don't hurt me."



I looked at her skeptically. She looked completely terrified. Would that be enough to trust her? For someone who had an evil intention, she surely was a weak one. "And how would I know that you're telling the truth?" I asked.



"I don't want you to hurt me. Please, my lady. Let me go. I'm going to accept any punishment that you'll give me. But not now, please!" she cried.



"And why is that?"



She became silent for a moment. She gasped when I put pressure on her neck. "I'm carrying a child in my womb, my lady. Please, just spare this little one's life!" She burst out crying.



And just like that, I loosened my grasp on her and finally let her go. I was speechless as I watched her pull herself up and sat on the floor. She put a gentle hand on her blossoming belly. I didn't notice it before – probably because I was instantly blinded with suspicion and rage.



When I finally recovered, I laughed humorlessly and then glared at her. "You're trying to take someone's life while having one inside you? How can you be so shameless?"



She looked down on the floor regretfully. "I had no other choice. If I didn't do it, they would kill me and my unborn child." She began crying again. Somehow, I felt pity towards her. I sighed and walked towards my mother. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale. She seemed to age older than the last time I saw her in the West Castle.



"What have you done to her?" I asked, calmly. I decided to not use violence against her this time. I didn't want to be like the monster who demanded this woman to commit this sin.



"She's p-poisoned. She's dying slowly everyday and I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything about it anymore."



I clenched my fist on my side. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to grab her hair and smash her head on the floor until she's drowning in her own pool of blood. But instead, I turned and asked, "What kind of poison?"



She, too, was surprised at how composed I was handling things. "Hemlock. We added something to it so it would only seem that her health was deteriorating instead of being poisoned."



I held my mother's fragile hand into my warm ones. "There must be a medicine that can help her. Bring me the best doctor in the East Land –"



"There's no cure, my lady! It's too late. She vomited blood when I came here and that was the sign that we've reached the last stage of the plan."



It seemed that I was holding my breath for too long for when I let out a loud gasp, a tear fell from my eyes. My mother looked so tired in her sleep. She was struggling everyday. I wanted to wake her up and talked with her. I wanted to tell her that we didn't have enough time so we must make the best of what was left to us. She was the only one I had that time, and she was also leaving me.



But she needed her rest, and despite of her condition being hopeless, I still need to find the one behind all of this. I must stop that person from torturing my family. Sighing deeply and getting all my strength, I turned to the one who was watching us in guilt and sadness.



"Who are you working for?" I asked lowly.



Her voice was trembling and there was fear in her eyes when she answered, "It was the same fire that burns you. It was the darker and more sinister one that destroys you."



She whispered a name and it felt like the East Castle trembled, finally seeing the dark fire that was threatening to burn it down to the ground.







AUTHOR'S NOTE:



Hello! Thank you for waiting! This story is getting closer to its ending! (Uh, yes! After five long years! Haha!) If you've been patiently reading this since I started posting its updates (2014?), then you're the real MVP! Haha! I hope you stay with me 'til Saudade's end!



- Siel Alstreim