The Bastard Princess

30.

-HER-

"Celeste, open the door," I pleaded. She was shocked and watched with wide eyes.

"You..." She trailed off, a hint of hurt and disbelief was there in her eyes. Her voice was laden with the same, tugging at my heart.

It's now when I realize that it's not only me who was starting to trust her but it was the other way around too. I seemed to have broken that.

"Celeste," I whispered, "Please, we'll be killed," As if to prove my words, more angry footsteps entered the prison. Celeste instantly unlocked the prison door and undid my shackles.

"Who are you?" She questioned as I picked up a sword from the dead men and examined it. Meanwhile, the sounds of footsteps got nearer and louder.

"Red," A smile climbed on my lips as I answered her. She nodded at me before we were greeted by armed men. Together, we took them down as we headed towards the entrance of the prison. After days I felt free and alive as I swung the sword, driving it through flesh and drawing out blood.

I knew they were here to kill me. Cleopatra had sent them to take me down. Though this time, she seemed to have sent a whole army. She must have learned from her past mistakes of sending only a handful of assassins after me.

Even though more in numbers, these didn't seem to be well trained.

"They're coming from there," I told the tall she-wolf as I pointed towards the abandoned portion of the palace. Instead of running away, she went in the direction they were coming from. Even though I could have used this as a perfect opportunity to run away, I fond myself fighting along with her.

I felt this unspoken promise to stay by her side and fight with her. It brought me pride- something, I was very unfamiliar with.

As we moved deeper into the abandoned part of the palace, we found more and more men, "There's a portal here. It seems to have been opened," Celeste told me.

Without thinking much, I followed her. The sight and smell of blood helped a smile climb on my lips. I remembered how it had been days since I had last killed. While Celeste was busy taking down some men, I headed towards the direction from where they seemed to be coming from.

"STOP!" It was the queen. Her blue eyes simmered with rage when I looked into them. I didn't waste a moment to run even though I knew that she was going to follow me. I needed to reach the portal. I could use it to run away.

The wheels in my mind were already spinning. As more of those men attacked me, I got busy fighting. I heard the crisp crackling sound of the whip behind me. I knew whom it belonged to. When I was done fighting the men, I proceeded to run.

It didn't take me time to find the portal. It was open and working. Only a small distance sat between me and my freedom.

Instead of moving forward, my body was being claimed by gravity before I hit the ground. I instantly felt the silver whip wrapped around my ankle, getting tighter every moment. I looked up to find the queen. She had caught up to me.

Her jaw was clenched as her eyes screamed of vengeance. I internally groaned, realizing that I'd have to take her down once again. I tried to rise but a strong tug brought me down to the ground again. She was unknowingly inviting her own demise.

I ground my teeth before I clutched her whip and used whatever power I could master to stop it from tightening further around my ankle. Meanwhile, she stepped closer to me with the hunger of revenge decorating her face.

I failed because I couldn't master enough power. I was already very tired and beaten down. She chose this moment to lunge at me and I dodged away. Though my long hair was being tugged painfully by her and this was exactly what triggered me.

I screamed with ire before lunging at her. In the next moment, we were struggling to pin each other down to the ground. She had had the upper hand because I was already very weak. I didn't stop struggling. The more she tightened her hold on me, the more I struggled.

Suddenly, some more men entered through the portal. This distracted her for a moment. I chose this moment to push her back and deliver a punch square on her face. My knuckles were painted with her blood as I found my sword and fought the men.

It took her a couple of moments to recover from my blow while I fought the men away from her.

"Step back!" I commanded her and drove my sword through the man's throat who tried to reach for her. Her eyes widened when she realized that she was able to understand what I had said.

In no time, she whipped three men, knocking them down on the ground before I sliced them in half. I left her to fight with other men while I ran out of the room. I needed to find some other way.

Too many people were there and the chances of them following me through the portal were high too. I didn't want anyone after me.

"She's running away!" I heard someone scream after me but I didn't care to look over my shoulder. I pumped my legs as fast as I could while I dashed through the empty hallways. A pair of angry footsteps followed me closely behind.

I tried to run faster but my body was slowly giving away. Soon, I was again being pinned down to the ground. With that, I was being pushed at the edge of unconsciousness. The last bits of energy drained out of my body the more I struggle.

The queen had me this time. Her hands were wrapped around my throat tightly, squeezing the air out of my body. I continued to struggle while black spots started to appear in my vision. The world around me was spinning downwards into darkness.

I heard more men come after us but there was someone fighting them away from us. My hands found the queen's face and with the last ounce of energy left in me, I clawed at her. She hissed and her hands loosened from my throat.

I instantly gasped for air and my vision cleared.

The first thing I saw was a man standing behind the queen with an arrow pointed at her back. My heart thumped in my chest as he shot the arrow.

I didn't think much before forcing the queen down.

Pain filled my chest as the arrow tore through my heart. The collapse to the ground squeezed all the air out of my lungs while the pain intensified. My lungs screamed for air but they were being filled with blood instead.

As the life drained out of me, my eyes remained open. I saw the king rush to the queen's side.

I had heard a huge deal about Arles being a tyrant king and had been subjected to his rage myself. But never had I thought that I'd see him find him so vulnerable as he attended to his mate.

His eyes softened as he gently took Nefret's face in his hands and looked at her injuries himself. Everything around them was in chaos but he didn't seem to care because she was with him.

His hand caressed her face as if she was the most precious thing in the world. My chest tightened when I realized that I had never been touched like that... so gently and caringly. All the men I ever had in my life only took from me, while they offered nothing but suffering and tears in return.

His fervent eyes screamed of the love he possessed for his mate... for his beautiful woman and I was set to rob her from him.

No wonder why I deserved to die alone in misery.

...

vote. comment. share. follow me

Read the next 4 chapters on Inkitt for FREE! The link to my Inkitt profile is in my bio. Inkitt is an ad-free reading platform where you can read all the stories for FREE! All you need to do is download the app.

Binge read up to Chapter 50 on Patron. Patreon charges you the day you sign up and then the first day of each month. It can be cancelled anytime. The link to my Patreon profile is in my bio. 

Also available on Patreon: Caught, the Trident's Legacy

The next update is on Tuesday. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

-Benita