Chapter 83

Hannah’s POV

I haven’t been inside the dungeon since I almost died; it brought back painful memories, and I paused before entering any further. It was just as dark as I remembered it. I had flashes of Jack beating me and torturing me invading my mind. I remembered his face before I blacked out; his vicious and cruel face showed no remorse. He wanted me dead because he wanted to get to Sebastian.

I shuddered at the painful memory.

The guard was behind me quickly; I could feel his nervousness without even looking at him.

“Please, your majesty. You shouldn’t be here,” he pleaded, keeping his tone low.

“I will only be a few minutes. Stay with me if you must,” I told him as I entered the dungeon.

I felt nearly weak-kneed as I walked past the cells; I stared at the cell toward the back of the dungeon, remembering that was the cell they locked me inside. That was the cell I almost lost my life in because I was wrongly accused of stealing the moonstone scepter.

It was Naomi and Amy that stole the scepter per orders of Emily. I felt fury rising through me as I thought about those three. They would do anything to ruin me, and it almost worked. I clenched my fists, trying to keep myself calm.

Magnolia wasn’t much better; in fact, she was a lot worse. She would just kill in cold blood.

I stopped in front of a cell and turned my body to face the shadow region of the cell. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was there. She was tucked away in the corner and kept herself out of view. She might be able to hide her body, but she can’t hide her dark aura that circled her figure. She couldn’t hide from my senses.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you…” her voice came through the darkness; she sounded raspy and unrecognizable. “What honor do I have for this visit?”

“You know exactly why I’m here, Magnolia,” I said through my tightened jaw.

I heard her laughing; her laughter sent a wave of chills through my body. Even the guard that stood near me looked uncomfortable.

“You want to know why I killed your little handmaiden,” she said; it wasn’t a question. I stayed silent, staring into the darkness, and trying to keep my wolf calm before we lost control. “Because I knew it would piss you off.”

“Why?” I found myself asking; I was glad that my voice came out firm and not weak. “Why would you want to piss me off. What did I do to you? Sebastian already proved I’m not a thief. So, what do you have against me?!”

“It isn’t personal,” she said; she sounded disinterested and bored, which was making me even madder. “But getting to you means I get to Sebastian.”

“Why do you want to get to Sebastian?” I asked. “Is it because you want the throne? Is that your reason?”

“He doesn’t deserve the throne,” Magnolia spat. “My son deserves the throne. Jack is more king than Sebastian will ever be.”

“His father chose him; he was crowned because the throne has been promised to him since birth,” I shot back. “Jack came into the picture later in life. Why would he deserve the throne over Sebastian?”

“Sebastian is a monstrous beast that everyone fears. He’s respected because he’s feared. You can’t rule a kingdom out of fear,” Magnolia said in return. “My point has been proven even more when I found out he had possession of the moonstone scepter.”

“The scepter?” I asked, stepping closer to the cell bars.

“Your majesty,” the guard urged. “We really should be going before the king returns.”

“Give me a second,” I said back to him, a bit harsher than I intended. I turned back to Magnolia. “What about the scepter?” I asked.

“My late husband loved my son like his own. He had promised Jack the throne at an early age, knowing Sebastian was too unstable to handle such power. The plan was always to have Jack take on the throne. But somehow that didn’t happen. Before he died, he crowned Sebastian instead.”

“So, he changed his mind. Or he lied to you…”

“No,” she said, cutting off my words. “Sebastian used the moonstone scepter to get the throne.”

“He would never do that…” I said, but even I wasn’t trusting my words at that point.

“He did and he’s used that scepter to get everything he’s wanted since then,” Magnolia hissed. “How do you think he got me into this godforsaken dungeon without a fight?”

“No…” I breathed; I wasn’t sure what else to say.

I took an unsteady step backward; the guard was watching me carefully. I could see the worry in his eyes.

“He shouldn’t have that scepter. It’s dangerous in his hands,” Magnolia continued. “I tried to get it from him and ended up here. I threatened his servants, and he still refused me, so I killed that little maid to prove a point. He still refused me.”

“What?” I breathed, hardly audible. This couldn’t be true; could it?

“I couldn’t get the scepter. But perhaps you can,” Magnolia said. “You can get the scepter from him. Break him of his powers.”

“I can’t…” I told her; I could hear the quiver in my words, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I fell apart. “I need to get out of here.”

I turned away and hurriedly made my way through the dungeon and toward the door with the guard trailing closely behind me; I could feel his relief that we were leaving.

“You need to get that scepter, Hannah!” Magnolia shouted from behind me. “It’s dangerous in his hands. You know this already!!”

I said nothing as I ran through the doors.

…

Sebastian’s POV

Sebastian kept the moonstone scepter hidden away in his desk. He stared at it for a long while before closing the drawer. He looked back at his computer where he spent the last few hours doing extensive research on the scepter. For as long as he’s had it, it’s only ever weakened his strength and it made it hard for him to do actual damage. He had never experienced such power like it before.

But as he commanded and took control of Magnolia, getting information out of her against her will and having her lock herself in the dungeon, he felt frightened for the first time in a long time. As Eric gained his control back, they felt lost and confused. They lost bits and pieces of time and a wave of dizziness hit him.

Nobody has ever had possession of the moonstone scepter before; at least no known wolf, or being, has ever had possession of it other than the moon goddess herself. So, the research that’s already been done on the scepter was only stories. Nothing from experience and Sebastian needed to know things based on experience.

He tried to think about how he got the scepter in the first place, but his memory remained foggy. Most of the war was foggy and when he returned, the scepter was in his possession. He thought it was fake at first, but as he held it, the powers that conquered it was not fake. It was too strong for even him to handle and he was the strongest wolf in the kingdom. Maybe even the strongest wolf on the planet.

His eyes were burning from staring at his computer all day, so he decided to switch it off and put the scepter back into his desk. He looked over at the time; it was almost 6 pm, which meant he was running late for the funeral. Hannah was already upset with him for keeping Caroline’s death from her, he didn’t want her to be upset about being late to her funeral as well.

He stood from his desk and grabbed his phone, realizing he had a text message from Hannah.

We need to talk about the moonstone scepter.