Chapter Eleven
R aven
“What do you think of this one?” Anna held up the ruffled white dress, and I groaned.
“Does it really matter?”
Her face was taken aback and she frowned, but quickly replaced that with a bright smile. Anna was a woman in her mid thirties, with a blonde pixie cut and bright hazel eyes. She was Father’s right hand man so to speak, and even though she was nice, I didn’t trust her.
“Of course it matters. It’s your wedding day! It’s supposed to be the most joyous day of your entire life!”
Yeah, maybe to the right guy. But Zeke wasn’t him. He knew that and so did I. I was forced into this relationship with him. And I was supposed to marry him and be happy about it? Yeah, fucking right .
She continued to look at dresses and I continued to look at the schedule on my phone for today. We were supposed to be here until eleven, then head over to the jail to meet with more illegal immigrants. Father decided that I did such a good job last time that he would make this my official duty. Which, I didn’t mind because it gave me the escape of torturing someone.
Anna huffed and tapped her foot. “You know this takes the fun out of dress shopping when the bride isn't into it.”
I smirked. “Well, that’s what happens when the bride doesn’t get to choose her groom.”
Her mouth popped open. It was almost like she didn’t expect me to talk back to her, but she pissed me off. What else was I supposed to do?
“ Fine . We’ll do this another day. Guess we should be heading over to the jail, anyway.”
Thank God. It was pure torture to see all the beautiful dresses and not be invested in it. I always thought my wedding would be a joyous occasion. I never knew when it would happen, but I always knew who my groom would be. Now that I didn’t have a choice, I didn’t seem to care about any of the details.
I gathered my purse and walked outside, while Anna thanked the store owner for letting us come take a look. Once I reached the car, Lewis smiled and opened the door.
“Any luck?” he asked, with a hint of hope in his voice. Though, he knew exactly what my thoughts were.
“Nope.” I made sure to pop the p for effect.
He shook his head and grinned. He closed the door and walked around to the other side to let Anna in. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed to our next location on the agenda.
She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “You are rather difficult, you know that?”
My lips tilted and my gaze moved to the passing buildings. Of course I knew it.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into a parking spot in front of a tan brick building. It was on the smaller side because this wasn’t one of our many prisons, but it did the job. The building was cut in half, sectioned off by a bridge. On one side was where the courtrooms resided, and across the bridge was where the detainees were held. The tan brick was withering away from weather damage and old age. It was about time there was a new jail built, but Father wasn’t keen on spending the money if we didn’t have to.
Anna and I arrived at the front doors where there were two guards standing by. Both looked to be in their mid-twenties, and the bulk in their arms told me they worked out heavily.
“The Queen is here to speak with the illegal detainees.”
One of the guards nodded, and the other lowered his sunglasses and looked me up and down. Not on your life, buddy.
I smoothed my skirt as he opened the door and took a deep breath. Here goes...
“CAN YOU TELL ME WHY you illegally crossed our borders?”
The woman with short silver hair and wrinkles swallowed. Her face scrunched up as if she were in physical pain. She was weak and could barely hold her head up.
I frowned. When was the last time she had water?
“Anna?”
She looked up from her notes. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Are our detainees being well taken care of?”
She leaned forward, but her face was morphed into confusion. “Huh?”
I turned my gaze to the older woman and back to her. “Are our detainees being well taken care of? Are they getting water, food, and a blanket?”
Her lips dipped. “I...assume so?”
I nodded over to the woman, who looked like she could pass out at any minute. Anna’s eyes grew in surprise. She quickly jumped up and asked for a guard.
I was not going to be interrogating anyone who wasn’t well. There’s no point. I knew this was a jail, but it wasn’t a prison, for gods’ sake. Hell, they get treated better in prison than they did here.
I stood from my chair and walked over to the lady. Father had said repeatedly not to get too close, because anything could happen, but I was surrounded by guards and in all honesty, the woman wasn’t in great shape. I don’t think she’ll hurt me.
I took another step until I was right in front of her. I hovered over and placed my hand on her forehead. I pursed my lips. She was warm. Too warm.
I turned to walk away but gasped when something sharp pierced my abdomen. I turned my head over my shoulder and saw her standing with a huge grin on her face.
“Gotcha.” She smirked as she removed the knife from my skin and I crumbled to the floor.
Suddenly, sirens went off and a million guards flooded the room. A man in a pair of scrubs knelt down beside me and lifted my shirt to check the wound. He reached into his medical kit and started cleaning it up. His green gaze collided with mine.
“How’s your pain level?” he asked, but my body was frozen to the ground, unable to move even if I wanted to. I was alert, so I guess that was a good thing, but the pain was steadily increasing. I didn’t have the energy to tell him that, though.
I was more humiliated than anything. I made a mistake and now I would have to pay for it. This wound was the least of my worries. The woman looked unwell, and I honestly thought...I thought she would be needing medical attention. Of course, I was wrong . She was playing me like a fool the whole damn time. God, I hated the fact that Father was right.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to have to get this patched up, and after that you will need to take it easy, my Queen.”
His words were rambling as my eyes were steadily lulling to a close. I just wanted to disappear and get the fuck out of here.
As my eyes opened once more, I noticed him speaking into his walkie. I assumed they were going to try and take me to the hospital, but Father wouldn’t have that. Instead, he would demand I be brought back home and to get stitched up there.
Anna rushed to my side. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
I gritted my teeth, but didn’t speak. Did I look okay?
“Let’s get you home... I’ll cancel the rest of your appointments for the day. You need to get in bed.”
My head started to hurt after she started hounding me with words. The paramedic piped in. “Ma’am, she needs to go to the hospital. We need to get this taken care of now.”
“Actually, the King wants her home immediately. He has a doctor there who can get her stitched up.” There was Anna’s snark; I knew she had it in her.
Leave it to Father to keep anything happening to me under wraps. God forbid the kingdom find out what was actually going on behind closed doors. After the pain became increasingly dreadful, my body completely shut down. Father’s going to kill me.