The First Betrayal

Chapter 10

The days that followed were filled to the brim with paperwork that had stacked up in just the two weeks I had been gone. It was absurd that a king took such little care of his duties. The few servants who still liked me would drop off food to my little secret room. I trusted them to keep it a secret, never once worrying that they would run to the king. My favorite worker was Elizabeth. She was younger, maybe her middle twenties, with very soft features. When we first met, she did not speak at all, I thought she was mute. But, as I stayed in the palace more and tried to get to know all of the staff, she really opened up to me.

She was always by my side and would sit and listen to me ramble about how much I had to do in such little time. Even if I complained about Noah, I did not fear that she would go to him. Come to learn later on that she only worked here because her entire bloodline had served the palace since it was first established. She confided in me one day saying that this was not the life she wanted. That she felt she was destined for so much more. Her and I shared that. I believe it is why we got along so well over the years. I considered her my best friend.

It was noon by this point, although I had not seen sunlight in days. I heard a soft knock at my door before Elizabeth pushed the button and came on in with my lunch. I paused what I was doing to thank her for lunch. Because the past few days have been nothing short of chaotic, I haven't gotten the chance to catch up with her yet. Even though it had been a short time since I had last seen her, we never ran out of things to talk about. Today was going to be no different, I had no time. Until I noticed the bruises running down her arms and legs. Her eyes were empty, but she tried to smile even though she saw my eyes roaming her body.

She set my lunch down and waved it off, "It's really nothing to worry about. I just took a tumble." She said softly.

I would have believed her, she was a clumsy person, but her voice sounded like it had when we had first started to get to know each other. Like she was afraid.

I motioned for her to sit on my bed. She looked around hesitantly before slowly making her way towards the bed. It took her a second to sit down and relax but once she did, I enveloped her into a hug and didn't let go. She started to tremble in my arms before I heard her full out sob. I let her cry it all out before asking what was wrong.

"I'm so sorry Blair. He told me that if I didn't tell him where you were that he would kill me."

I pulled away from her slowly. Just enough to know I wasn't angry at her, "Elizabeth, I need you to listen to me very carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Does he know where this spot is?"

She shook her head and her cries started to slow down, "Not fully. He knows about the regular room. He doesn't know about this secret room. But since he knows about the regular room, you'll have to be more cautious about when you leave. Go through the bathroom instead of the normal way in."

I pulled her back in, and she melted into me, "Thank you for telling me. I know you're the one person I can count on in this place."

"I thought you were going to hate me." She shook in my arms.

"There is nothing in this world that could make me hate you. I think you should go now. Just in case he comes in here and wonders why you are in the room, but I am not."

She nods and without another word slips out through the bathroom exist and leaves. I let out a massive breath I had been holding. He knows about where I am staying so how long will it take for him to find this secret spot of mine. He will be furious when he finds out.

I can already guarantee that he is livid that I am staying in here and not 'our' bedroom. There is no part of me that wants to stay in the same room as him let alone sleep in the same bed. He has also been trying to get me to come to dinner since I've been back, but I've refused every time. Elizabeth just sneaks me my dinner later on in the evening.

He knows the paperwork has been getting done and his kingdom is back on the right track to being functional again. With that knowledge in mind, I truly don't think he will act on his anger again. It goes without saying though that I do not want to find out if he will be physically abusive towards me. He won't go as far as to kill me again but there are far worse punishments than that. 

The next few weeks went by agonizingly slow. Several times I considered bashing my head into the stone wall just to feel something, but I advised against it. The only times that made me feel alive is when Jonas came to visit me. He would always sit and listen to me rant on and on about how awful being back here was. Not once would he complain about how much I was complaining.

I also got to hear about his time during training. He described it as hell on Earth. He said the only perk to training as hard as they had been was, he was started to get a lot of muscle now. I had noticed that before he had even said anything, but I did not say these thoughts aloud. There were always little bits he left out about how his time was during training. I knew it was because he didn't want me to feel guilty about what happened.

Even if he doesn't say anything I still feel guilty.

On a random Thursday when my daily paperwork came in, I had done what I always did. Mindlessly did the paperwork like an overworked queen does. That was, until I noticed an out of place letter.

Your time has run out. We held up our end of the bargain and you failed to uphold yours. I told you what the consequences were. There's nowhere to run now, Noah.

Goosebumps ran up my arms as I read this. At the bottom of the letter there was blood smeared all over. I didn't want to see Noah again but after reading this it was clear I had no choice.

I practically ran throughout the palace straight up to Noah's office. It was not surprising to find him playing chess with the Duke of Northhaden. He was surprised to see me and tried to remain as calm as possible in front of his guest. I saw right through it.

"Blair, darling it's so good to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure." He walked towards me and threw his arms around me, I pretended to enjoy the hug. "Where the hell have you been and why are you here right now." He whispered low in my ear.

"There is a letter that was much concerning to read, and we need to discuss it." I whispered angrily back."

"Whatever is it can we not discuss it later?"

"No, we can't. Unless you want your little friend to know that someone's trying to kill you then I suggest we talk now."

His body tensed and he turned towards his friend, "Apologies my friend but my wife has some things she would like me to attend to. You know how it is."

The duke laughed, "Oh do I. No worries, Noah we will finish our game another time." He walked past me and bowed to me before leaving.

When the door shuts Noah whips around and stomps back over to me. I take a couple steps back to combat how close he is.

"What the hell do you mean someone's trying to kill me?" He snarls at me.

I shove the letter into his hands. He reads it over quickly and his eyes grow wide.

"Did it have a sender name on it?"

"Why in the hell would a potential murderer put their name on the letter. Oh, look at me I'm threatening to murder the king let me put my name in bold onto the letter before sending it off." I slap myself on the forehead.

He scoffs, "You don't have to have such an attitude about this."

I glared at him, "Oh, I don't? No, no you're right. I've just been doing your job for the past several weeks with no complaint whatsoever while you're here playing chess. Sorry, your highness let me not have an attitude."

"Whatever."

It took my entire being not to roll my eyes at him, but we had more pressing matters at hand then arguing with each other. "I'm going to ask you this only once, Noah. Who is trying to kill you?"

He hesitated a very long time before letting out a puff of air and rubbing his hands over his face. "It's my brother, Caiden."