38. Chapter 33
Chapter 3 3
Asher
I drift slowly back to consciousness, my mind fogged with confusion. As awareness returns, so does the deep ache throbbing through my body. I blink open bleary eyes and find myself staring up at the familiar carved wood canopy of my bedchamber. How have I gotten here? The last thing I remember is...
The battle. Lexir's dagger plunging toward me. Searing pain as the blade pierces my gut.
My breath quickens as fragmented memories flash through my mind. The clash of steel, the sting of Lexir's fire magic, the crimson soak of blood on the forest leaves. Surely a wound so grave should have killed me. Am I in the afterlife then?
With a soft groan, I try to rise, only for the ache in my stomach to flare sharply at the movement. No, not dead then, unless the heavens are far more painful than promised.
Gingerly, I lift my head just enough to examine my torso under the blankets. Beneath my nightshirt, thick bandages are wrapped tightly around my abdomen. The blood has been cleaned away, the mortal gash now only a traumatic memory.
I collapse back against the pillows, exhausted even from that small effort, but my mind still churns in bewilderment. However I have survived, surely more than just medicine has healed me. Magic has been at work here.
"Lillith," I croak out hoarsely.
She had been there, fighting alongside me. The last image in my mind is of her stricken face over me as darkness took me. Did she somehow bring me back from death's door with her power? Where is she now?
Hurried footsteps approach from the hallway outside. The bedchamber door bursts open to reveal Mrs. Umbernuckle, my head maid, her face creased with concern.
"Your Highness!" she cries, rushing to my bedside. "Thank the stars you've awakened at last!"
"How... How long?" I rasp out through parched lips.
My maid quickly fetches a goblet of water from my bedside table and helps prop me up just enough to sip at it.
"Nearly two days since that wicked woman dropped you off here half dead," Mrs. Umbernuckle says, wringing her hands. "We all feared the worst when she carried you in covered in blood, pale as a ghost!"
My thoughts snap back into focus at the mention of a mysterious woman. "It was Lillith, wasn't it?" I demand hoarsely. "The one who brought me here. Did she say where she went?"
Mrs. Umbernuckle's face creases further with disapproval. "Indeed, the dark enchantress herself," she confirms with a cluck of her tongue. "Slunk off before the guards could seize her after leaving you at death's door. You're fortunate to have escaped her clutches alive."
I shake my head impatiently before the motion makes my temples pound. "You don't understand what happened. She’s not who you think she is. She saved me. Brought me back from death's gate.”
My insistence only deepens my maid's frown. "Your loyalty is admirable, sire, but is misplaced. That woman has bewitched far stronger minds than yours before." She smooths the bedcovers needlessly, avoiding my gaze. "I hope, when you are well, you will see reason and let her go."
Frustration simmers in my chest. I hoped Mrs. Umbernuckle would look beyond her prejudices at last and see Lillith's true heart, but if even near death in her arms does not convince the woman, nothing will.
"The mistake was mine for bringing her in the first place," I say grimly. "I must find her, ensure she wasn't harmed escaping."
I make again to rise, only to fall back with a choked gasp as the ache in my body flares anew.
Clucking reprovingly, Mrs. Umbernuckle gently presses me back against the pillows. "You must rest now, my lord. Regain your strength before chasing after phantoms." Her voice drops, almost to a plea. "I beg you, for the sake of your people who need you, let this obsession with the woman fade. She will only bring you more suffering."
My jaw tightens obstinately. "I will rest," I acquiesce. The truth is I can do little else in my weakened state. "But I will find her again once I am able. She did not abandon me freely. I know it."
Perhaps seeing the resolve in my eyes, Mrs. Umbernuckle sighs but says no more, smoothing the covers over me. My mind drifts as she quietly tends to me, lulling me back to much-needed sleep.
Before slumber claims me fully, I swear a silent oath. As soon as I am able, I will seek out Lillith once more. The depth of my care for her frightens the old maid, I know. She fears what vulnerability it brings me, but Lillith has proven herself true in the end. She deserves my trust. The shadows of her past cannot change who she is now—a woman capable of profound light when she so chooses .
Whatever her reasons for fleeing, I am certain she has not abandoned me completely. Lillith would not simply leave me to die, not after striving so hard to save me from death's grasp. No, some other force must have driven her away after that battle.
I have to ensure she is safe and help protect her from the shadows that no doubt hunt her still for the choice she made. Until I can hold her again, I will put my faith in the goodness she has shown and the love we share. She has saved my life. Now, I must do the same for her.
***
The bedchamber doors suddenly crash open. I jolt awake, disoriented, as rough hands grab me and start dragging me out of bed.
"What's happening?" I cry out.
I struggle to resist as my foggy mind tries to make sense of it, but I am still weak as a kitten from my injuries. I can't break their grip as they haul me to my feet.
They are royal guards, their faces like stone as they flank me on both sides. Without a word, they start marching me toward the doors.
"Unhand me!" I shout, digging in my heels.
They are unmoved, their pace unrelenting. As they force me stumbling through the manor halls, shock slowly turns to dread. The staff peers out of their rooms, faces drained of color at the sight of my being manhandled like a criminal.
"Someone tell me what this is about!" I demand, craning my head around.
The guards stare straight ahead in silence.
“Sir?” Mrs. Umbernuckle asks as she begins to follow the procession.
“Stay here!” I yell back as they drag me down the steps. “No one is to do anything. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I will make sure myself.”
It isn't until they drag me outside into the crisp night air that I see our destination. A royal prison carriage waits, torchlight flickering ominously off its black iron bars.
"You can't do this! I'm a prince!" I yell hoarsely as they bring me to the carriage door.
One guard finally meets my eyes, his gaze cold as winter. "You lost that right when you betrayed your duty and harbored the kingdom's enemies."
Their words wound me almost as much as my being flung into the barred compartment. The door clangs shut with a note of chilling finality, sealing my fate. I am ruined.
This is about the villains I secretly spared instead of killing as ordered, the ones I tried to rehabilitate to lives of good. My deception has been discovered somehow.
Fury and fear war within me as my prison begins to roll .
The carriage rolls swiftly through the night, carrying me farther from my home with each turn of the wheels. I sit slumped on the narrow bench watching the moonlit countryside pass by through the small barred window.
My initial shock and outrage have faded, leaving me hollow inside. I know with grim certainty where this midnight journey ends—the royal palace dungeons. Once behind those sunless stone walls, I will likely never again see the sun.
I should have expected this reckoning eventually. I knew the risk I took by concealing the villains I'd shown mercy. It was a risk I accepted gladly, believing that saving lives mattered more than blind obedience.
Perhaps that belief has been my downfall. I always trusted that redemption is possible for even the worst souls, if given the chance. My heart saw the humanity haunting their eyes, and I could not end them when it would be snuffed out forever.
Yet, despite my good intentions, here I sit in chains. I ruined myself and likely condemned the very souls I tried to save. Perhaps I had been naive to think I could deceive the crown and succeed where generations of "heroes" had failed.
My thoughts turn to Lillith. Our time together had been fleeting, yet she sparked a change in me and showed me the world is not as clear as I thought. In her eyes, I glimpsed the woman she might become.
Yet even now, staring into the darkness of my own future, I cannot make myself regret the choice I've made. Better to fall knowing I stayed true to my conscience than rise upon so many unjust deaths.
The carriage wheels echo beneath me as we cross a bridge into the city. I gaze out at the torch-lit streets I once patrolled proudly as a champion of the realm. It cuts deeply to now pass through them as a condemned prisoner.
At last, the gilded spires of the palace come into view. My pulse quickens despite my efforts to steady it. I will not cower or beg before my accusers no matter what awaits me within those walls. I will speak the truth and accept my fate with dignity.
The carriage descends through a stone archway into the palace undercroft then lurches to a halt. The door is flung open, and guards grab me roughly, their torchlight blinding after the darkness. I wince as my half-healed wounds protest the rough handling.
Wordlessly, they march me through a maze of damp corridors, each step taking me farther from light and life. The fetid chill of the place seeps into my bones. So this will be my tomb.
We reach the deepest dungeons, reserved for the worst offenders. With callous indifference, the guards hurl me into a lightless cell barely large enough for me to lie down in. I stumble but catch myself against the cold stone wall as the door clangs shut behind me.
For a moment, I can only stand here, breaths coming raggedly as I stare at the rust-barred door that seals my fate. The guards' footsteps echo away, leaving me in absolute darkness. I am utterly alone now, with only my thoughts for company.
Slowly, I sink down onto the pile of filthy straw that is to be my bed. I bury my head in my hands, the full weight of despair threatening to crush me. Is this to be the unjust end of my quest to show mercy over malice?
I grind my fists into my eyes until colors burst across the darkness. No. I cannot—will not—regret the choice I made though it brings me here. I walked the honest path, followed the whisperings of my heart. That knowledge must sustain me now.
I believed redemption was possible for anyone and was willing to risk all to grant that chance. Whatever comes next, they can imprison my body but not my unconquered spirit.
I will face my accusers with courage and accept my fate with head held high.
Let them cast me as a criminal, a cautionary tale. I know the truth in my heart. I chose the just path, though it was harder. Perhaps someday, actions of goodness will speak louder than any lies told against me. Justice will prevail .
Until that day, I will not waver in my beliefs. My chance will come to finish my mission, to reveal the deceptions told against me and those I tried to save. I only pray the price will not be more innocent lives.
This is my burden to bear, and I will not falter.