Chapter 26: Chapter 26

An alarm went up in the castle and people were sent out. Warriors that were heavily armed that made the maids to talk amomg themselves wondering what was going on and within some minutes everybody knew what had happened because Jared was brought back to the castle with the princess crying and running after the warrior who were taking her husband to the ward which the physicians used.

"Your highness. Please remian here..." one of the physician tried to stop her but Alexa slaps the arm which he used to stop her out of the way.

"Get out of my way or lose your head." She stated and would have pushed her way into the place where they had taken Jared but her father voice stopped her.

"Alexa." The king called, he came as soon as he heard the ruckus and on his way down to see what had happened, a guard who was sent to him told him. Jared and Alexa were attacked on their way to the docks where they wanted to spend some time together and the king changed direction to the physician's ward when he heard that Jared as being brought to the castle.and he came in time to see his daughter threaten to kill a physician, a threat he knew she would have no problem fulfilling if anybody tried to stop her from getting to her husband.

"Father." Alexa ran to her father before hugging him, crying and trying to explain at the same time. the king directed his daughter to a chair nearby and knelt down by it as he tried wiping her face but more tears just kept coming and the king sighed knowing that it was a lost cause.

"They should treat him father, instead he was outside trying to prevent me from going into the room. I need to see Jared and be with him. He protected me." Alexa cried.

His daughter was not making sense but he nodded. "You know the reason why they cannot let you in Alexa. You will not be able to be there and not do anything while they try and remove the arrow."

"It was so close to his chest." Alexa stated as she rubbed her face with her hands.

"What is this?" The king asked when he noticed that one of her hands was bruised.

Alexa glaced dismissively at her injury. "He pushed me out of the way when the arrow was released, I fell on a guard so all is alright with me. He took the arrow for me."

The king nodded before he wrapped his arms around her as she cried. "Jared will be good as new in no time. This is Jared we are referring to Alexa. He cannot stay a while without getting on your nerves, you know him." The king reminded his daughter in a bid to cheer her but she did not pay mind to his words and just when her tears reduced. They heard a deep groan of pain coming from Jared room.

The king had to go after his daughter who was already halfway to the door, bypassing him with a speed that he would have marveled at if the situation was not serious.

"They are just removing the arrow." The king stated as he caught his daughter and embraced her. When Jared made another deep sound again. Alexa cried out as she struggled in her father hold but the king kept his hold on her as he sank to the ground with Alexa crying.

The king rocked his daughter back and forth even when Jared screamed while they took care of his wound. The king watched as his daughter heart bled and went through everything that her husband was going through with him. As his shouts increased, Alexa cried reached a crescendo and when Jared shouts turned to weak groans of pain, Alexa cries were silent once more.

The head physician who gave them the false news about her mother some time ago came out of the room, closing the door before Alexa could peek inside not like she was still ignore of the horror that went on there, not when the physician clothing were saturated in Jared blood.

"The good news is that he would survive..." The man started but Alexa cuts in.

"That is the only option." Alexa replied. There was no way they would tell her that her husband would die from an arrow wound in his shoulder, if anything that should not happen to Jared happen, she would kill every last one of them because she knew of people who have survived worse than Jared's situation.

"The bad news is that" the man continued like he was not interrupted although he rolled his eyes at Alexa direction. "He lost a lot of blood in the process of removed the arrow from his shoulders. And so he slipped into unconsciousness. He would regain himself soon enough." The physician said as turned to leave while Alexa felt a whistle in her ear.

"Alexa calm down. Your husband is fine." The king said as he shook his daughter when she went limped in his arms. He looked at her eyes as saw that they were not focused on him but rather focused on the man who just delivered the news and was laughing with another physician while shaking his hand.

Alexa remembered the words of Jared about her mother. If her mother remained under these people care, she will not get better and now Alexa knew the same was for Jared. He would not get better if he remained with these people.

Alexa stood up from her father's hold. She needed to send for those physicians from Kythia, this time she would send the letter to Jasmine because she needed urgent respond. She would not let her husband die because he told her not to do anything.

"Is everything okay Alexa?" The king asked.

"Not even close." She replied her father as she started to leave. "I have something I need to do and then I will be back here and keep watch on her husband, they will not treat him without me being in the room and not even you father will be able to stop me." Alexa said.

The king stated at his daughter and what he saw in her eyes made he realized that it was only a fool that would prevent Alexa from.being close to her husband now. He was not ready to be a fool. The king nodded and Alexa walked away and moved to Jared study. She needed to find his seal and use it along side with hers because she believed that was the only way in which Kythia would take her seriously since he needed privacy to write whatever he had sent earlier.

Alexa found the seal just as she was about to start tearing the room apart and it was in a place she never would have expected. Behind her painting which he kept close to the wine collection and so she sat down and began to draft a letter to Jasmine, telling her what happened with her mother and what happened to her brother, what she suspected that her brother must have written before and what she was thought herself. The she begged as the princess of Asteria for the life of her husband.

After she sealed the letter with Jared seal and hers, she sent it with a messenger from the king's courier and then she went to talk to the captian of the guards, laying explicit orders that she should be informed if any of those who attacked them was captured alive before he retired to where Jared was kept.

It was her first time seeing Jared since they prevented her from seeing him and she could not help her tears that flowed at the sight of Jared, his shoulder were heavily bandaged and his face was so pale like he did not have enough blood to circulate there. She laid close to Jared and when his brow wrinkled as he fidgeted, she reached out and straighten it while muttering softly, hoping her voice would calm him down and when he was calmer, she started to sing. The song which her mother taught her whole she was young, she did not know some of the words and those parts she hummed over and by the time she was done, she was already crying again.

The king stood just on the other side of the door and listened to his daughter tears unable to do anything, except vow that the person who was responsible for this was going to die. Slowly at that when he got his hands on him or her.

*******

Betty heart beat loudly in her chest as she moved quickly under the dead of the night to where John slept. She was worried and heartbroken already at the thought that John had used ber but still she ignored her instincts which told her that she should tell the guards and decided to confront John herself.

If he said he did sell the information, they would have to escape to Corthin because Kythia will not be an option, because when they hear what happened to one to their own, they will be ready to join Asteria in looking for the culprits and maybe from Corthin, they would sail out of the hemisphere and into another one where they can start their lives again. John would agree to this because she knew that he was not a dangerous man. He just made a mistake, one which he did not deserve to be condemned for and she will not allow them to condemn him or her.

"Betty, what is going on?" John asked as he opened his door for her to enter. Betty moved him and froze when she saw the man standing in John small living space.

"I should be asking you that, John." Betty wetted her lips, still staring at the man.

"Come back in thirty minutes." John used q deep voice which she had never heard from him. The man in lined his head and walked out fo the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Betty." John moved to kiss her but she pushed him back.

"Why would you sell the information that I gave you unwittingly. You almost got the prince killed." Betty demanded.

John froze, his mannerisms were strange that evening but Betty was far to angry to pay attention to it. "He did not die."

"No, he didn't." Betty responded. "He almost did just to protect my mistress."

John shrugged. "The physicians would take care of it."

"You are not even remorseful. I do not understand." Betty frowned.

Flynn shook his head. He did not blame her, all Betty did was to see love in a place which should have never been an option.

"I did not sell the information Betty, I used it." Flynn answered as he drank from the cup that had good quality wine in it. Gosh, he had missed that taste since he always had to share the low quality ones with Betty but that time has elapsed just like her life soon will be too.

"Why would you used that information, how can you even use... You are an assassin." Betty gasped.

Flynn sighed. Really that was all she could come up with, if he was an assassin he certainly would not be a bad one who was unable to get the job done.

"Who sent you?" Betty demanded. "Arianna, prince Flynn. Who?"

"I am not an assassin. I am prince Flynn." Flynn responded as he picked up the dagger that was beside his cup and when Betty gasped and tried to run, he spun on his heel and sank the blade into her chest. He held her as he watched the light died from her eyes with a smile, relishing the moment because he had imagined it for a while.

When she was dead, he let go of her body and allowed it to fall on the floor, taking his dagger away from the body and then he waited.

The thirty minutes was up and the man who could not complete the assignment Flynn sent him along with information came back in.

"Took you long enough." Flynn rolled his eyes.

"I came back exactly thirty minutes..." That man looked at Betty body. "I can have it buried in the forest under an hour." He offered but Flynn shook his head.

"Dispose her body in the docks, do not bother with the grave. That was the original plan I had for her anyways." Flynn stated as he stepped over the body of Betty, the maid who betrayed her kingdom unknowingly all because of love.