William POV
“No!!! She’s been so sleep-deprived and beaten. We can’t send her back to the prison,” Waylon hissed as they stare at Doris lying on the ground of the courtroom.
William went to respond to his wolf, but Cara opened her mouth and cut through his thoughts.
“Take her back to the prison. We still don’t know if it was her that poisoned the soup. This was a waste of our time,” she spat, staring at Doris with disgust.
Jack took a step forward with a grin.
“Gladly,” Jack answered.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” William snapped. “She’s mine to deal with and I’ll say where she goes.”
“She tried to kill me,” Cara hissed.
“We don’t know that. That’s why I need to go to the North and find out who bought that manchineel,” William argued.
“He touches her, and I will kill him,” Waylon growled. “We need to get our mate out of here.”
William pushed the anger away and addressed the guard that brought her in here. He was standing at the far side of the courtroom, in the corner, watching the ordeal.
“Take her to the maid’s unit and to her old bedroom,” William demanded. “The maids will tell you where her room was.”
Cara gasped loudly.
“What?” She asked, astonished. But William ignored her.
The guard did as he was told and lifted Doris off the ground. William turned to Mr. Carson who was standing on the opposite side of the courtroom, towards the back with a handful of maids.
“Carson, go with them. I need you to make sure she gets there in one piece,” William ordered.
Mr. Carson tensed but bowed his head.
“Yes, your majesty.”
(Doris’ POV)
I woke up somewhere other than the courtroom; that was the last thing I remembered before passing out. I opened my groggy eyes and the sun, shining through the window, nearly blinded me. I turned my head to keep the sun out of my eyes, but my entire body screamed at me for the sudden movement.
“You’re awake!” Beth said as she entered the room.
“Beth?” I asked, I was overly joyed to see her and went to sit up, but another wave of pain surged through my body.
I winced in agony and my entire body trembled.
“Don’t try to move,” Beth said, frowning as she neared my bed. “You’ve taken quite the beating.”
I was in my old room; the one that I shared with Beth back when I resided in the maid’s unit. I was confused as to why they would bring me there.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse and raw as I spoke.
“Prince William ordered that you were sent here,” she explained.
She gently lifted my head and placed a cup of water on my lips for me to drink. The cold liquid entered my mouth and soothed the pain in my throat, I sighed in relief as I laid my head back down.
I was shocked that it was Prince William that ordered for me to be sent here. I thought they would have brought me back to the prison cell. Technically they didn’t prove that I didn’t poison the soup, they only proved that Peony was the one who put the flower in the soup.
“Peony?” I said as I remembered the ordeal of the courtroom.
Beth gazed down for a moment.
“They have her in custody,” she explained. “I never thought she would be capable of something like that. Nobody knew she was sleeping with William.”
A weird pain tugged at my heart and ached my chest at Beth’s words. I visibly grimaced and looked away from her so she wouldn’t see the pained expression on my face.
That must have been how Peony knew the latest gossip before anyone else because she was busy having sex with William. She must have gotten close enough to him that he would tell her things. Or close enough in general to overhear things.
She must have really liked him if she went out of her way to try and frame Melody. I couldn’t help but wonder if he liked her in return. He probably did at one point.
But what I didn’t understand was, if he was having sex with a maid before Melody became his lady and before he marked me, why wasn’t Peony the first maid he checked?
Maybe she was the first maid he checked, except in private.
“Are you okay?” Beth asked, eyeing my face carefully. I realized I hadn’t spoken in a minute.
“Yes,” I told her, clearing my throat. “Sorry. Why would William want me to come here and not the prison? Did they find out who poisoned the soup?” I asked.
She shook her head sadly.
“No, but I hear he’s going to the North to find out who bought it from the Black Market,” she answered. “I’m also not sure why he would want you to be brought here. Maybe because he wanted someone to take care of you. They gave me the next few days off from my duties to care for you.”
I was relieved to hear that; I missed her so much and I was glad I got to be here with her.
“Oh! Prince Daniel will probably be arriving soon,” Beth said excitedly.
I frowned and rose my eyebrows.
“He’s been coming by often to check on you. Almost every hour. Wondering if you’re awake yet and seeing how your condition is,” she chuckled; her cheeks reddening slightly. “He seems to care deeply for you.”
“He’s a really good guy,” I told her, eyeing her for a moment.
“He seems like a good friend,” she said, a small grin forming on her lips. “It’s good to have a friend on the inside like that.”
“We can’t be friends with princes, Beth,” I reminded her, trying to stifle my laugh.
“Sometimes rules are meant to be broken,” she shrugged.
I had never seen Beth like that before; she was always one to follow rules for fear of getting in trouble. I had to keep myself from laughing because I know the movement of laughter will be painful and my body can’t handle much more pain.
On cue, a small knocking sound startled us as the door opened slightly. Daniel’s head popped in and he glanced around the room for a moment before his eyes landed on me.
“Your majesty,” Beth said, curtsying as Daniel entered the room.
“I told you,” he said, staring at her. “No need to be so formal in private.”
“Right,” she chuckled. “Prince Daniel.”
He laughed and shook his head in disbelief as he came around the bed and closer to me.
“I’m so glad you’re awake,” he said softly, touching his fingers to my hand gently, afraid he was going to hurt me.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” Beth said as she hurried toward the door.
“Prince Daniel,” I breathed, smiling up at him. “Thank you for standing up for me. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“Actually, it was the easiest thing I’ve done in a while,” Daniel said, staring down at his hands. “I can’t let them think you had anything to do with this, Doris. I know you didn’t try to kill anybody.”
“I’m glad I have you on my side,” I said softly.
“Who beat you like this?” Daniel asked, staring around at my wounds and bruises. “Was it William?”
“No, it was Prince Jack,” I told him. “He wanted me to confess to something I didn’t do. He seems to think Prince William put me up to it.”
“William?” Daniel said, tilting his head to the side. “William would never order a maid to kill someone and then let her go punished for it.”
“I know,” I said gently. “I tried to tell him that. But he wouldn’t listen to reason.”
I heard a small growl forming in the back of Daniel’s throat and a flash of something deadly went through his eyes. It visibly made me shudder and I now understood why he was the fiercest warrior in the kingdom. He was scary when he wanted to be; he glanced at my face, and he realized he had frightened me a little.
The anger subsided on his face and exhaled as he met my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I hate that he did this to you…”
“I’m okay,” I told him with a faint smile. “I’ll be okay.”
Though I wasn’t sure if that was the truth or not; I wasn’t sure what my fate was going to be. I was still a prisoner, and they could still find me guilty.
“I don’t want you to worry too much about this,” Daniel said, reading the expression on my face. “I have faith that William is going to find out who poisoned the soup. He’s going to prove your innocence.”
A lot of people seemed to be putting their faith in William lately; that old man and the masked man I met in the prison said the same thing. That reminded me that I wanted to ask Daniel who that old man was and how they knew one another, but Daniel stood from my bedside.
“I should be going,” he said, sadly. “But I’m glad you’re awake and I’ll be back to see you. I promise.”
I smiled at him.
“Thank you, Prince Daniel,” I said to him, my cheeks blushing slightly as he walked toward the door.
He stopped for a moment and turned back to me.
“Doris?” He said, I looked up at him from across the room. “Just call me Daniel.”