Chapter 216

Carol’s POV

“You can’t be serious,” I said, astonished.

Aiden let out a deep growl as he stood protectively in front of me.

“You aren’t taking my wife anywhere,” Aiden growled.

“Step aside, Alpha. Unless you want to join her in the dungeon,” King Bennet growled in return.

I put my on the back of Aiden’s shoulder, trying to draw his attention to me. When I felt him relax slightly, I whispered, “I need you out of the dungeon so you can prove my innocence.”

He finally turned to look at me and he could see the seriousness in my eyes. He sighed and then gave me a curt nod before turning to the King.

“No harm better come to her. Remember, she’s pregnant with your grand pup,” Aiden said through his teeth.

The King’s softened slightly but returned to its angry state when Jenna started to cry even louder.

“It’s hurt!” She whaled, covering her face and allowing her body to crumble on the floor.

“Take her to the infirmary so Candance can heal her,” The King ordered one of his guards. He nodded and scooped a crying Jenna into his arms. Over his shoulder, I could see her eyes watching me and a smirk playing on her lips. It took everything I had not to lunge at her and show her what real pain feels like. But I knew no good would come from that so I stayed rooted on my spot.

Once she was gone, King Bennet turned his scrutiny to me and let out a throaty growl.

“Daughter or not, it gives you no right to treat her like that!” The King growled. “Take her to the dungeon until I can decide her punishment.”

His guards nodded and soon, cold metal cuffs were being closed around my wrists. They pulled me away from Aiden who let out another growl and stepped towards me protectively. I turned to look at him, shaking my head.

“Prove my innocence,” I mouthed to him.

He looked worried with a crease between his brows, but he stayed back and gave me another small nod as he watched me get dragged away by the King’s guards. Despite being pregnant, they were anything but gentle. They practically threw me down the steep dark stairs that led to the basement and into the door that led into the dungeon. It was dark, only it by candlelight like in those old movies, and it smelled mildew and old blood.

I didn’t bother looking through the windows of any of the cells; I didn’t want to see who else the King was keeping down here. A knot formed in my stomach at the very thought. Were there some others who were innocent as well?

When we reached the cell, they were planning on keeping me in, one of the guards unlocked the wooden door while the other shoved me into the small space. I almost fell to the ground but managed to catch myself.

I was surprised that one of them uncuffed me.

“Why would you uncuff me?” I asked, turning ot face him.

“King’s orders,” he murmured.

I bit my lip and nodded as I stepped further into the room.

“If you think about using magic, you can forget about it,” another guard murmured as he stepped out of the cell. “The dungeon is designed to halt all magic and shifting.”

They laughed while I cringed and then I winced at the sound of the door slamming and the lock latching.

This was just great. I couldn’t use magic, and I was being framed for something I didn’t do. I sat on the small cot on the far side of the room and buried my face in my hands, letting out a distressed cry.

“Don’t show them weakness…” I heard a soft and yet raspy female voice through the walls.

I paused and lifted my head, staring in the direction the voice came from.

“Um… hello?”

“Weakness will get you killed, regardless of who you are…”

“And who do you think I am?” I asked, hesitantly.

“The lost princess, obviously,” she murmured.

“And how do you know that?”

“Heard the guards talking about it,” she told me. I let out a breath; she was just a prisoner just like me. But why was she giving me advice on staying alive? I wasn’t anything to this woman other than a stranger in the next cell.

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“Does it matter?” She asked; she let out a throaty cough that sounded like it was painful, and I couldn’t help but wince at the sound.

“It does to me,” I told her. “I’d like to know who I’m talking to.”

She laughed, but it was dry and humorless.

“The name’s Raelyn,” she muttered.

“I’m Carol…”

“I know,” she replied almost instantly. “The guards are really loud, plus, so is the queen.”

That caught my attention.

“The queen?” I asked, my breathing caught in my throat. What did the queen have to do with any of this?

She laughed again.

“You’re in her domain,” she answered. “The King rarely sends anyone down here and he never sees for himself who is here. This is the Queen's dungeon, and she does whatever she wants to us.”

My heart fell deep into my stomach at the sound of that. If the queen was in charge of the dungeon, there was no hope in hell that I would ever get out.

“Word of advice… don’t eat the food they bring you. I’m lucky enough because they want to keep me alive for whatever fucking reason. But you… I have a feeling they’d be happier if you weren’t around.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“I was poisoned once,” I said softly.

“Exactly,” she murmured, heaping a heavy sigh. “You aren’t safe here.”

“And why do you care?” I asked her.

She was quiet for a moment and then she sighed again.

“I guess I’m just bored,” she murmured.

“Bored?”

“I’ve been here for a long time and there’s not much for me anymore,” she explained. “I almost wished they’d come and put me out of my misery. Anything would be better than this hell whole.”

I bit my lower lip and stared at the ground; I wasn’t sure if I wanted the answer to this next question, but I needed to know.

“What did you do to get yourself locked up?” I asked.

She laughed her humorless and dry laugh; it was like nails on a chalkboard and made me wonder if she’d ever truly laughed a day in her life. It reminded me of someone who had no idea how to laugh and she was only guessing. I wrapped my arms around my body to provide myself with some kind of comfort. I needed to get out of here for the sake of my baby; if the queen was in charge, I wasn’t going to make it long, that much was obvious. I just had to hope that the King cared enough to keep an eye on me and make sure no actual harm came to me.

I also had to hope that pray to the Moon Goddess or whatever God or Goddess the werewolves prayed to, that Aiden would find out the truth and prove my innocence.

“I was born,” she murmured after a long pause. It was so long, I almost forgot what I had asked her.

“What?” I asked, my voice coming out barely a whisper.

“You asked what I had done to get locked up here,” she reminded me. “I was born.”

“You were here since the day you were born?” I asked her, my breath caught in my throat.

“Yes,” she answered.

“How old are you?” I asked her, again, not sure if I truly wanted to know the answer.

“25.”

My heart fell into my stomach. She was my age. She had been locked up since the day she was born, which meant she spent 25 years in the dungeon. I felt sick to my stomach at the very thought.

“That’s not fair,” I whispered. “A baby couldn’t have done anything wrong. How could the King allow this to happen?” I asked, jumping to my feet.

“I doubt the King even knows I’m here,” he muttered. “Or else I wouldn’t be living like a prisoner. At least I hope I wouldn’t be.”

“The queen did this to you…” it wasn’t a question, but she answered it anyway.

“Bingo,” she muttered. “You’re catching on quick.”

“We have to get out of here,” I told her quickly.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” She asked. “Our magic won’t work here and even so; our magic wouldn’t work on the queen.”

I frowned.

“What do you mean it won’t work on the queen?” I asked her.

“She blocks all magic with some potion,” she muttered. “No magic works on her besides her own.”

“If a potion can block our magic, can another potion unblock it as well?” I asked, thoughts whirling around my mind.

She was quiet for a moment as she thought about an answer to that question.

“A potion to counter the Queen's potion would have to be incredibly strong,” she finally answered. “Stronger than hers, which I doubt is possible.”

“It’s worth a try though; when I get out of here, I can start planning a potion that could counter him, and then I’ll use my magic to make her admit to the King all her wrongdoings!”

Raelyn laughed again, which ended in another coughing fit.

“And how do you plan on getting out of here?” She asked.

“My husband will prove my innocence, and the King will let me out!”

“Good luck with that. I’ve been here for 25 years. There’s no hope of ever getting out. Especially now that you’re in the Queen's domain.”

“You seem certain I’ll never escape,” I muttered. “Why is that?”

“Because if I can’t escape, neither can you.”

Her tone darkened and I a chill ran up my spine.

“What does that mean?”

“It means we have the same powers; the only difference is that mine are a little darker and not trained by a professional. I was raised to be the queen's weapon. She and the guards raised me; I was beaten and tortured until I could do exactly what they wanted. The darkness in me was fed for 25 years.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at the wall with furrowed brows.

“I don’t understand why she’d raise you to be dark…” I said softly. “Who are you exactly?”

There was a long stretch of silence, to the point where I didn’t think she would answer, but then I heard her voice, and her words left me paralyzed.

“I’m your sister…. The priestess of destruction.”