Royal Secret

Part 6

Her hiccup gave her away.

It was mere seconds until royal guards captured Elissa. She struggled to free herself but was useless.

"You can't get away with this! This is treason! You monsters!" she yelled as the guards were dragging her.

"You are the treasonous infiltrator!" Markus yelled after her.

People were beginning to gather to see what all the noise was about. Erik was one of those who appeared at the height of the commotion. He looked at Elissa hurt and betrayed at the mention of treasonous infiltrator. Maybe she did use him too.

Elissa desperately began calling for him. "Erik! Erik! He's a liar! You know me! I'm innocent! The truth will come out!"

"Silence! Guards, hurry take her!" Phillips' voice trembled.

Elissa was dragged to a prison cell where she banged the door and yelled for hours for someone to let her out. That she was innocent. But it was useless. It wasn't until an hour later that Phillips came to visit Elissa in her prison cell.

"You!" She growled.

Phillips held up a hand.

"I can cut you a deal since I'm not that bad of a guy. Once I become king, I will make you my queen if you're quiet about what you heard or you can die at sunrise."

The nerve of this guy.

"You can rot in hell," spat Elissa.

"Ungrateful peasant. And to think I had started to like you. What a shame to let a girl with your beauty and talents go to waste. Very well, you decided your destiny. Death it is," he sentenced her before turning on his heels and leaving her alone once again.

This time, Elissa fell down the cell wall and cried until she could not cry any more.

In her silence, Elissa began hearing things. Was that a whisper?

"Pst, Elissa."

She sat up quickly looking for the source. Erik appeared at her cell gate. Elissa ran to the bars desperately, "Erik please, you have to believe me! I can never hurt anyone. I heard them plotting against your father!"

He wrapped his hands around hers, "Don't worry, I believe you. I'm sorry for doubting you for a second. Markus always seemed sketchy, but Phillips... I didn't want to believe it. It wasn't until I overheard him bargaining with you earlier that things cleared up. I'm going to get you out of this, I promise."

Elissa shook her head.

"Please don't worry about me, go save the king! They're going to put poison in his drink during the ball. You need to warn him!"

"I won't leave you Elissa. Not again. I— I think I love you."

She knew without a doubt that she was beginning to love him to. A tear dripped down her face knowing she might not see him again. "Go hurry, there's no time."

A sound of someone clapping echoed around them.

"Well isn't this cute?" said Markus. "Two traitors plotting together. It would be such a shame to behead the prince right after the country has lost it's king. Pity. Love is so tragic. Guards."

Guards surround Erik. He put up a fight, but was vastly outnumbered. Upon capturing him, they threw him into the cell with Elissa.

Elissa ran to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Erik stroked her hair soothingly. "Shh... It's not your fault. If I'm going to die, I wouldn't want anything more then to spend it with you."