The Belladonna

Chapter 39

Isabella's POV:

I stared down at Harry in shock, seeing his unmoving body lying on the ground, his eyes closed and his mouth parted slightly.

My eyes moved up, seeing Harry's father with his hand out, his eyes closed solemnly. He had struck the back of Harry's neck with his hand, knocking him clean out. His eyes slowly opened up and I gave him a look of confusion.

"Why? You explained everything to me, and to him. Why did you knock him out?!" I shout and he lets out a sigh. "Harry doesn't realize what's going on." he murmurs and I furrow my eyebrows. "What do you mean?" I ask and he gives me a sad look.

"I can't leave this cave alive." he says and my eyes widen in shock. "Huh?" I breathe out and he looks down, a sad smile on his face. "Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to go with you two. But as things stand now, I can't do that." he says and I stare at him confused.

"Why not?" I ask and he opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by a large explosion, the sound making me cover my ears. The force of the wind that blew through the cave made me grit my teeth before turning around, seeing smoke from outside.

"What's going on?" I ask but I don't receive an answer. A man stumbles into the cave, holding his side as blood poured out of a wound. I stare at him shocked as he looks up, a nasty grin on his face. "Everything is set, Captain. They're completely surrounded." he says in a victorious voice and my heart thumps loudly in my chest.

"Huh?" I whisper, looking over to Harry's father, who just nodded his head. "Don't attack unless you get my signal." he says and the man nods, stumbling back out of the cave. I swivel back around and give his father a confused look.

"What was he talking about?" I demand and he just sighs. "Your friends are surrounded. They have no chance of surviving unless you and Harry walk out of here alive." he says, pausing for a moment before looking me right in the eyes. 

"Only you and Harry." he murmurs and I swallow hard. "King Richard, you-" I start but he holds up a hand, making me stop. "Don't call me King anymore, Isabella. I'm not one." he says sadly and I frown. "Why? Why do you want to die so badly?" I ask and he chuckles. 

"It's not that I want to die. I want to be redeemed...and this bloodthirsty lot wants so much death and destruction...they were more than willing to strike a deal." he says and my blood runs cold. "You're going to kill my friends?" I ask horrified and he shakes his head.

"No. It all depends on who walks out alive from this cave." he says and my eyes widen slightly. "If you and Harry leave this cave alive, the attack will stop and your friends will be saved. If I walk out of here alive, everyone will be blown to pieces." he says and I freeze, staring at him shocked, not knowing what to think. 

"What?" I ask, seeing him smile softly. "There's only one solution to this, Isabella. I'm sure you can see that now." he says and my hands begin to tremble as I stare at him. "But...how...?" I trail off, not knowing what to think in this situation.

"You have to kill me." He says, a sad smile on his face and my eyes grow wide as I stare at him, my heart pounding in my chest as I stared at Harry's father.  

"What? No! No I'm not going to do that!! Why would I kill you?!" I scream, not knowing why he would even request such a ridiculous thing.

"Isabella...no, Bella...this is the only way Harry is going to live. If you don't kill me, your entire ship is going to be blown to pieces. Everyone will die." He says and I begin to shake, my eyes trembling as I stare at him in horror.

"How does this even work?" I ask shakily and he sighs. "If I survive this, those ships outside will believe that Harry is dead and therefore remove his entire crew without a doubt. They're my own armada, I know how they think. It's twisted and horrible, and they should listen to me better, but they won't. They do only what they think is best, and since Harry came in here with the intentions of killing me, if I walk out they'll think he's dead and finish off the whole crew without hesitation and without giving me time to explain. I said before that they were a bloodthirsty lot and I meant it. They just want to win." He says and I take a deep breath, my body no longer shaking as fear replaced the shock.