A CROWN OF DIAMONDS AND DEATH

7. The Call to the King's Castle

Rebel felt incredibly tired but couldn't sleep.

She won the match, but she beat unlike she had ever been before. For starters, she was sore all over from the fight's physicality. Mentally, she was exhausted from the thrill and being so close to death and killing Emmett, but it was already 3 am, and she hadn't even gotten a wink of sleep.

After exiting the arena, she was rushed to the infirmary, where trained physicians checked her vitals and wounds from the battle. She had a few minor scrapes and cuts, which they cleaned and patched up. After giving her ibuprofen, they sent her off with a bag of ice. Another check-up was scheduled for tomorrow. If she had any other concerns during the night, she should alert the guard near her cell, and they'd bring her back to the infirmary. Other than that, she was clear to go.

Then, Sweet T showed up with cupcakes to celebrate her victory. They chatted over the dessert. He told her how all the money she won from the fights was in a bank account. Waiting for her as soon as she was released from prison.

Sweet T also tried to keep the morale up. Unlike her pessimistic and sarcastic nature, he was unusually optimistic. Rebel adored it, but she felt her release day would never come. She'd be foolish to count on it.

Especially considering how she ended up in Sangrea's maximum-security prison. For abandoning her guild and becoming a rogue assassin. For supposedly turning her back on Rahim. Her adopted father. So, he screwed her over in the worst way possible and landed her a spot in jail.

Rebel sucked in a deep breath. The situation was much more complicated than that. She didn't feel like stewing over it. For tonight—the night she should be celebrating—she wouldn't think about the day she was arrested, and her life took another one-eighty.

After cupcakes, Sweet T said his farewell for the day. Again, he thanked her for the ten-percent cut of her winnings that he would be getting as her promoter. He said that Martha sent her best wishes to her and that the both of them couldn't thank her enough for her generosity.

Rebel smiled softly at the couple's comments. It eased her thoughts whenever she did acts of kindness. Acts of goodness. Even though she couldn't do much now because of her present scenario, she wanted to be better.

After that, she showered and prepared for bed. She curled up with Anna Karenina. A timeless classic. One she read time and time ever since she first got her hands on the book at age ten as a gift from Michael. She had wanted to re-read it for old times' sake.

She got halfway through the book before setting it aside, filled with restless thoughts.

She brushed her teeth again and decided to try working on her poetry book. Yet, she stared at what she had so far for ten minutes. Those were the longest ten minutes of her life. And like every time before she came up with—nothing.

After releasing a muffled scream into her pillow, she stared out her cell window. There was only so much she could do in such a limited space. The four walls of her cell felt suffocating most days.

She ended up getting her other notebook. This one was designated for her drawings, and she started working on two new sketches. One of the Elmhurst Woods. She drew it as she remembered it. The trees and even a couple of the animals that roamed the forest. This helped take her mind off of things.

It helped that she was pretty decent a drawing too. She wouldn't consider herself an artist, not by any means, as she has always been better at using her words. However, the boys and girls she had befriended when she was younger always complimented her on her artistic skills. Her adopted mother adored her artwork, clapping when she showed her a new piece. She must've shown Rahim because he was impressed by her skills then too. He appreciated them.