Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 252: The worst they can do.

Kael.

The atmosphere was tense when we stepped into the throne room, and as soon as I entered and found Micah standing at the head of the table where he leaned forward, watching us like a predator, my anger soared.

And now, I know that a lot of you may wonder why just seeing him standing there was enough to rile me up, so I’ll explain;

This was a challenge.

An open one.

This felt as though he was openly telling us about his ambition to get the throne. He was brazenly pushing us to the wall to see how angry we could get. How deep he could get under our skins...

And goddess, he was indeed getting under my skin! In fact, he was so deep inside my bone marrow, I could literally feel my disgust tickling somewhere deep within my soul.

I bared my teeth at him when he tried to sit in the chair meant for me, but instead of scooting away like any sane person would, he cocked his eyebrows at me and snapped;

"What is the matter now, your majesty?"

And bloody hades, it wasn’t his words that irritated me. It was his tone. It was the way the elders around coughed sarcastically... and the way his father... the accursed man smirked like the entire world was now at his feet.

All of these were what finally pushed me to take a step forward and another... and another until I was standing right in front of him with my chest pressed against his.

I was a few inches taller than him so this made him tilt his head backward slightly to meet his gaze. But I didn’t frown. I didn’t yell. I simply smiled.

He faltered.

"That seat does not belong to you. You have no place close to it." I drawled in the softest calmest tone I could muster.

And maybe it was the tone of my voice that put him on edge but it made him tremble slightly. He even took a shaky step back, gulping when his eyes met mine.

"That’s open for debate." He finally said after a moment,

"What do you mean?" I asked coldly even though I knew exactly what he meant. Goddess, I even knew that this was the perfect opportunity he’s been waiting for for ages.

He shook slightly, forced himself to gather his composure and then he whispered; "I mean that you no longer have a wife. Your marriage to Ms Blackthorne has been annulled, and—"

"You of all people have no right to question us." I snapped, interrupting him.

His eyes widened slightly just as his nostrils flared. He hissed; "Why?"

"Why not?" I snorted irritatedly, "I and my brothers may be unmarried and might’ve just had our marriage annulled but we are not battling insanity accusations. So Micah, if you think that we’re not fit to keep the throne, then you also are not... especially after your display at the party some days ago."

—

Chalice.

"What is the worst the triplets can do?" I used to wonder at first when I was thrown into the dungeon. But as the days went by, I began to see the worst they could actually do!

First, they started by cutting off any means of interaction with anyone, most especially those that I used to talk to before this chaotic event.

Then they cut off meals, sparing me just a plate of porridge every two days.

And now, as I sat in my iron chair with my hands clasped behind my sizzling back, I knew them and there that this was just the beginning of my suffering.

My body ached in places that I had been whipped and even though it was a lot of hours ago since I was beaten almost to my death, my body still hurt like it had been rubbed with fresh peppers. The feeling of exposed flesh lingered, stinging with every sudden movement I made.

A sudden thought crossed my mind and in that instant, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was exactly the same way Leilani felt then— those times that she had been whipped because I’d simply spun lies against her.

I however shook these thoughts off my mind when another dreary feeling settled on my mind; But it wasn’t these whip marks that I thought about. It wasn’t even the fact that I knew I was filthy.

It was that strange man with his strange words that tugged at my mind.

It was the way he had threatened me to speak of Jennifer’s death, and goddess, that was the last thing I wanted to do.

I mean, look at the way I am already being treated for all the crimes I have committed. So imagine what would happen to me when it is known that I had also almost cost them the throne...?

That I’d almost ruined their lives?

That I was the reason they all hated Leilani in the first place...?

A shudder ran down my spine at the thought. And what scared me more than Kael’s wrath was the way Zevran would react.

Would he hate me more than he already does?

Would he kill me?

I was snapped out of these thoughts when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone clearing their throat not so far from me. But I didn’t pay them any attention.

Why?

Because I knew that it was the girl from the other cell. The girl who had been locked up for murdering her step mother and brother in cold blood.

Despite deciding that I wanted to ignore her, she didn’t feel the same way about me as she suddenly spat; "You are a Blackthorne?"

But I didn’t know how to respond.

I didn’t know if in these cells, that name would be a blessing or a curse. I shrugged but upon realizing that she probably would never see me due to how dark it was, she continued;

"And you’re the wench who married the Alphas?"

Wench?

The insult made me flinch slightly but I soon snapped out of it and turned to glare in her direction— even though I knew that she couldn’t see me.

I hissed; "Mind your business!"

"Ahh, I said it! I knew it was you, Chalice Blackthorne!" She seethed under her breath, her voice sounding as unpleasant as rubbing stones against metal. When I still wouldn’t respond, she dropped her voice now and whispered; 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"I know a way out of these cells."

I froze. "If you really do then you’ll not be here."

"Oh trust me! I can leave when I want to. I just do not have the resources to pull it off, or the right connections..." As her voice trailed off, I immediately began to get a whiff of what she was on about. It wasn’t a good idea but it wasn’t terrible all together.

My heart raced as my ears perked up, and then I asked; "What is it that you’re thinking about?"

"I say, we start a fire."