Nova’s POV
A sudden splash of cold water jolted me out of my stupor, and I let out a gasp of surprise. The water dripped down my chin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. I was dazed, my brain struggling to process what had just happened. Where had the water come from? And who had thrown it at me?
“Hmph,” I grunted as the icy cold water splashed against my face for the second time. I was confused and disoriented, unsure of where the water had come from.
I dragged my eyes open but I couldn’t see a thing, it was so dark in the room that I couldn’t catch a glimpse of where I was.
“Shayna?” I tried calling out to my maid, but I couldn’t hear a reply from a soul, other than my voice that echoed through the dark room.
“Oh,” I gasped in surprise when I felt my butt sting and I tried getting up from whatever I was sitting on, but I couldn’t stand up to my feet because it seemed like I had been tied to the seat.
“What is the meaning of this?” I cried out, struggling to break free from the chair, “Who the hell tried to mess with me? Hello, is anyone there?”
My voice travelled through the dark room and came back yelling at me. I felt a sharp pain surging through my wrist as I tried to free my hands from the shackles.
I heard the door crack open and I let out a sigh of relief. “Whoever tried messing with me with definitely get an earful once I get out.” I gritted my teeth as I thought to myself.
“I can see you’re awake.” a familiar voice chuckled as he entered the room. I moved my face around, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but I couldn’t see anything.
Why was it so dark in there? I couldn’t even see the face of the person that had entered the room.
“Were you the one who tied me to this filthy chair? Or did the King send you?” I groaned, feeling a little out of the silly prank they were trying to play on me.
“Huh?” the person smirked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he tapped his feet on the floor. “I can see you’re one hell of a lousy bitch!” he added, I could hear a stool, hauling on the floor with someone plunging into it.
I guess that must be the guy. Why was he sitting down when he should be taking me out of that damn room?
“What the hell are you doing? Sitting down when I’m still tied to a fucking chair?” I scoffed and tried pulling my hands from behind, but the more I struggled to free my hands, the more pain I felt in my wrists.
“Argh!” I hissed, gritting my teeth against the pain. I clenched my fists, trying to ride out the worst of it. After a moment, I released a long breath and forced myself to relax. I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on my breathing as I tried to ease the pain I was feeling.
“You’re quite stupid for a Queen, not sorry.” the person sighed, tapping his feet on the ground.
“W-What do you mean?” I gulped down nothing, it didn’t seem like the person was there to help me, and I feared what he was there for if it was not to take me out of the dark room.
“You’re too relaxed for a person that is being held captive by rogues, aren’t you afraid of me?” he let out a weird laugh as I tried moving away from my seat.
Rogue? Captive? Me? How?
“W-What do you mean I am being held captive? Isn’t this the banquet…” my voice trailed off as the person who claimed to be rogue erupted into a pit of laughter?
“Banquet hall?” he asked, his voice suddenly became hoarse and I held my breath, nodding my head to his question.
If we weren’t at the banquet hall, then where the hell were we? The last place I was was at the banquet hall, no?
“Someone walking out of the banquet hall, and something hard hit her from behind. She fell and everything became…”
“Wait!” I panted heavily, his blabbing was making sense to me since it seemed as though he was referring to me in the third person. “I think that person was… Me?”
“Exactly! I thought you might have forgotten since you injured your head.” he snickered, his laugh sounding cruel and mocking. The familiarity of his voice was like a knife in my gut, and I could feel my breath catching in my throat. The air felt thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t find my voice.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I begged, my voice trembling. The chair he was sitting on scraped across the floor, the harsh sound grating on my nerves. My heart was pounding so hard that I could feel it in my throat, and I was struggling to breathe. I could feel panic rising inside me, threatening to overwhelm me.
“Who am I?” he taunted, his hot breath washing over my face. I turned my head away, my stomach churning with disgust. I could feel the moisture on my skin from his breath, and it made me want to barf.
“I am the very enemy your husband, the king has been hunting,” he whispered, his voice low and menacing. He caressed my cheek, his rough hand making my skin crawl. I wanted to rip his hand from my face, to strike him down where he sat. But I was frozen, unable to move since I had been tied down to my seat.
“I never wanted to meet you, I never wanted to be the lucky one to meet you like this,” I sobbed, my body shaking as he gripped my hair, pulling my head back. “Let me go, please, please!” I begged, tears streaming down my face. I felt helpless, my body frozen in terror. I was trapped, unable to escape, and my mind was racing with fear.
It was as if my head was to rip off my body as he forced my head backwards. He forcefully grabbed my neck, wrapping his rough fingers around my neck, choking the life out of me.
“Aargh!” I wanted to scream for him to let go of me, but my yell came out as a groan. I coughed heavily, drool dripping out of my mouth before he pushed my head, pulling away from me.
“I should just kill you, but you see, if you die now, I may not be able to achieve what I want.” he chuckled, I was still gasping for breath I couldn’t find what he had just said, I couldn’t find it funny.
“You… You bastard…”
“I’ve already sent a message to your husband,” he whispered, his voice smug and self-satisfied. “You must be wondering what I told him.” He leaned closer, his hot breath was fanning my cheek due to how close he was.
“Shall I tell you?”
The way he taunted me, enjoying my fear and confusion, made my skin crawl. I could feel my heart racing, my breath coming in short, shallow gasps. I didn’t want to know what he had told His Majesty, but I was powerless to stop him from telling me.
“I told him to send his head to me if he wants me to send you back home, safety and sound.” I felt my heart stop beating the moment he let out the maniac message he sent to Prescott.
“W-What… What do you mean by that?” tears rolled down my cheeks as I cried out to him.
Why would he say that to His Majesty? Why would he be asking for the king’s head just to save me?
“You young people are so naive when it comes to love,” he sneered. “It would be a great pleasure to have the Almighty Prescott’s head hang on my wall, and I would savour every moment of it. But it’s too bad you won’t get to see it since you’re as blind as a bat.” He let out a cackling laugh, and I felt a surge of rage and despair.
He was taunting me, taking pleasure in my suffering.
“You… you can’t be serious, are you?” I gulped, struggling to break free from the seat that was holding me down.
“Never knew I had been cracking a joke since you found it surreal.” he chuckled, pulling away from me.
I gulped down the sudden lump that was forming in my throat, “since I’m already here, can you please turn the light on? Let me at least see my captor’s face.”
“Light?” he asked, confusion in his voice. “Oh, I see what you’re saying – the darkness is all you’ve been seeing since you’re as blind as a bat, so you don’t know the difference between light and dark.” He laughed, his words dripping with mockery. “How sad for you to lose your sight before waking up.”
He reached out and grabbed my leg, and I recoiled in disgust. His touch was like a physical violation, and I wanted to break free of his grasp. But I was frozen in place, unable to move, as he continued to pull my leg.
I struggled to free my leg from his grasp, but his grip was like iron. “What do you mean, who’s blind?” I screamed, my voice echoing off the walls. “Are you calling me blind? What did you do to my eyes?”
The anger and fear were fighting for control of my body, and I could feel my muscles trembling as I tried to break free. I wanted to scream, to fight back, but I was stuck in place, frozen by his words.
“Your blindness has nothing to do with your eyes,” he uttered, a cruel laughter finding its way out of his mouth. “You’ve been poisoned with silver, and unless you take the antidote in the next five days, the blindness will be permanent.”
My jaw dropped, and my mind reeling. I couldn’t believe what he was saying – that my eyesight could be gone forever. I felt the panic rising in my chest, threatening to dominate me.
“Now if you’ll let me take out a toe, I need to send your husband another message. You see, I’m not a man with a lot of free time.” he chuckled, grabbing my leg and I felt a cold blade against my skin.
“Aargh!” A scream tore from my throat as I felt the blade slice into my flesh, cutting through skin and muscle, down to the bone. My leg twitched and spasmed, my muscles contracting as the pain intensified. I could feel the hot blood running down my leg, soaking my toes. I wanted to pass out, to escape the agony, but I couldn’t. I was trapped, trapped in the hands of that vicious rogue.