Salazar's Caged Love

53

Salazar

I woke up with a bolt, and the first thing I saw was Xavier sitting on the chair beside the bed.

He genuinely looked elated and relieved when he saw me awake.

"How do you feel, His Grace?" He asked, rising from the chair.

"I'm fine," I lied. My head was pounding, and I never felt this weak.

"Fortunately, you didn't consume the verillium directly, and mixing it with wine diluted its strong effect. King Arthur would have been delighted to see you awake. He left a few minutes before," the moment he said, I immediately asked, "Where is Alexandra?"

My fear came true when Xavier went silent and looked petrified.

"Where is she?" I growled at him.

"She was sentenced to the Beast pit," I jerked up from the bed on hearing his reply, and without a second thought, I rushed towards the bit.

The pit was confinement for the werewolves, a notorious and stimulated creature of our world. Because of their volatile nature, they had often gone on a killing spree and were later confined to the pit, where they couldn't escape and cause any more loss. For them, a vampire or human was the same, a mode to first satisfy their libido and then their untamed fury. It was in their nature to devour their victim first and, if they are still alive, then rip them apart.

If I was delayed even for a second, the beast would have taken her mercilessly. And I would have burned them alive if they had touched even a strand of her hair.

I already felt weak and was pushing my limit to save Alexandra. However, when I saw the beast that was going to attack her, an intense fury came over me, and even though weak, I ended up ripping its filthy head off its body. My vision turned blurry; still, my fury didn't seem to cease. I wanted to rip each one of them for even thinking of hurting my woman.

But one glance at terrified Alexandra, I controlled myself and had to focus on keeping her safe before I passed out again, and true to my assumption, I fell on the ground when we came out of the pit.

I knew I was going against King's direct order, but for Alexandra, I was ready to face any punishment, could go any length to make sure she was alright. I vowed to protect her. She was mine, and only I have any right over her. I had to make sure she would be safe by the time I woke up again and had to use my triumph card to keep the King away from her. I know he treated me as his son, and I would use the same weakness of him.

What I didn't expect was her tears falling continuously and guilt all over her face when I said, "No harm should be done to her, tell His Highness there were my last words."

The next time I woke up again, Xavier was the first to say, "Her Grace is in her room, unharmed."

He knew I would be anxious to know where Alexandra was the moment I would wake up and relieved me of the stress. I felt relaxed when he addressed her as Her Grace. It only meant King Arthur decided to honor my words.

Kingsley stood silently near the door. I could read his thoughts; he was furious. Betrayal in the vampire world means death, a painful one. No other crime was more sinful than betrayal. In my case, the betrayal was from a human, all the way more reason to hate her. I know his anger towards Alexandra was because of concern for me.

"She should be treated with dignity and respect," I said, looking at Kingsley, whose jaw clenched in a fury, yet he replied, "As you wish, His Grace."

During my recovery, Xavier always accompanied me, giving me different potions from time to time and checking my improvement. On the third day, I felt the same energy level in me, but Xavier insisted that I need to rest for a few more days for the aftereffect of verillium to extinguish completely. Whatever happened so far, Xavier earned my trust with his loyalty and turned out to be a great asset to me. He was the only wizard who turned out to be trustworthy and also had a great talent in potion-making.

King Arthur visited me once, and seeing me healthy, he seemed to be at ease. Neither he brought Alexandra's name, nor I chose to talk about the whole issue. I know he was waiting for me to recover completely and then talk about her.

Every day I would inquire about Alexandra to Kingsley, who only looked at her as an obligation, unlike earlier. He would report how maids were always with her, even during the nights, how her food had been taken with utmost care along with her daily dose of potions. All the time, Kingsley said, not once she resisted and obliged to everything she was told to do. He would always give me a vague report missing out, telling me how she was having a nightmare and would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. How she spends most of her time looking at the fall and at night avoids using the bed. This all was told to me by the maids.

I know she was remorseful, but I don't need her remorse or guilt. I need her love. I also know she was desperate to see me and would plead with Kingsley to let her see me only to be disappointed. Last two nights, I have been visiting her once she was asleep. It was getting difficult for me to stay away from her, but this was her punishment; she needed to be tamed before I would speak to her.