Pampered by the Villainous Tyrant King

Chapter 25

A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!

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Annabeth let the palace maid lead her through a side hallway in Marigold Palace. She could tell that while Marigold Palace had been meticulously taken care of, the palace was not as large or tastefully decorated as Gardenia or Dahlia Palace. To Annabeth, the overly gaudy decorations gave the appearance of wanting to portray power and wealth. The dowager queen's pride must have been stung to have to live in a side palace meant for concubines and see her enemy live in the central seat of power.

When the maid curtsied and showed her into a lounge to change her clothing, Annabeth didn't go in straight away, seeing that the maid had taken care not to enter the room. If Annabeth didn't know better, she might have thought that the maid was merely being polite, holding the door open to let the queen in.

Annabeth listened carefully for any sounds inside the lounge or from in the hallway. The king had guaranteed her safety by promising that shadow guards would be behind her always. But Annabeth couldn't tell whether they were there or not.

Annabeth's mind whirled. She had a sudden feeling that whatever waited behind her reeked of danger. She had been warned before not to enter any rooms without someone she trusted.

The maid bit her lip nervously as the queen paused, wondering why the queen was not entering.

"Your Majesty?" The maid asked.

Annabeth detected a hint of fear or anxiety in the maid's eye before the maid moved.

"Eeek!"

Before the maid could move to push the queen in, the maid shrieked as Annabeth suddenly grabbed the maid and shoved her past the door and into the lounge.

The maid stumbled into the room, crashing into a strange male who had been waiting secretly just behind the door. The man had not expected another woman but had been clearly waiting for the queen. The strange man stumbled as the body of the maid fell against him.

Annabeth pulled out a small bottle of perfume she had placed into a hidden pocket of her blue dress. Before either the man or maid could react, Annabeth had sprayed a blast of perfume onto their faces. But this was no ordinary perfume. Annabeth guessed the chemical was something akin to having the same effects of chloroform. She kept spraying the perfume, careful not to get too close to the perfume.

The male and maid coughed and gagged, but within seconds, they had passed out. Nice, Annabeth thought. She didn't even have to pull out her dagger hidden in the second pocket of her dress.

Now that Annabeth could assess the situation, she noted a cloying scent of musk in the air coming from the burning fire in the fireplace. Annabeth pulled out her handkerchief to create a makeshift mask for her nose and mouth. It was probably better to get out as soon as possible. Who knew what layers of trickery the dowager queen had implemented?

Annabeth opened the door to the lounge and peeked. No one was around. Perhaps the maid was supposed to lock the door from the outside and have no one else nearby to hear the sounds of a woman screaming.

"Your Majesty!" A whisper came around the corner. Sir Nico was there. "I apologize for not coming sooner."

Sir Nico's sword was out of its sheath and stained dark in the dim light.

Annabeth caught sight of a few other people being dragged off behind Sir Nico. Dressed in dark clothing, those unconscious men might have been the people the dowager queen had secretly used to follow her to make sure that no one interfered with her plans. Had the dowager queen's plans worked, the dowager queen's men would have stood guard to ensure that the lounge door was locked while whatever nefarious deed she had planned was being done.