Chapter 70

“Report.”

The royal guard bows respectfully, “Your highness, Lady Livia has fled the Valentine Estate.”

King Grail calmly shifts through the scrolls on his desk, rolling one open as he read it over carefully. The small spectacles on his large nose slide down and he raises a thick finger to push it up again as his blue eyes scan the coded words written before him.

Kneeling before his desk, the royal guard looks up warily.

“Your highness,” The guard calls out after a minute goes by without a response.

“Oh, right,” King Grail leans forward, peering down over his desk at the guard, staring as if he just noticed, “Sorry, lad. Please, do stand.”

The guard bows shallowly and does as he is told, standing at attention.

King Grail waves the posture away, “Relax, my boy. There is nothing to stand guard over in here.”

“Of course, your highness,” The royal guard says, still standing stiffly.

“So many things are happening at once,” King Grail mutters to himself, squinting down at the scroll as he nears it ends. He carefully goes over the last words, brings the parchment up close to make sure the signatures at the bottom were accurate as well as the seal before he nods to himself and grins, obviously pleased.

“Well, that settles that,” he says and sets down the scroll.

Then he picks up another, slowly unrolling it as he brings it up close, adjusting his small spectacles as he once again begins to read. He hums to himself as one of his hands begins to blindly grope for an ink pen. When his hands don’t envelope the slim handle, he lowers the scroll to stare at his desk in confusion.

“Hm, that’s strange. I could have sworn I placed it here,” King Grail sets the scrolls down and begins to lift up parchments and books, re-arranging his desk as he searched for his ink pen, “Did I drop it?” He asks himself, before he scoots back and ducks down under his desk.

The royal guard in front of him stares incredulously at the empty chair, glances around him as if waiting for someone to jump out, and says ‘surprise’ before he straightens up when his king reappears with a triumph, ‘ah-ha!’.

“I knew it couldn’t have gone far. Blasted thing. Must have rolled away when I wasn’t looking,” King Grail mutters and then he reaches for the parchment he had discarded earlier. His hand touches empty air. King Grail stares at the side of his desk, then to the front, at the mess he had made searching for the ink pen.

He puts on a jolly smile and glances up at the royal guard, “I don’t suppose you remember which one I had been reading, do you?” He asks, gesturing vaguely to the thirty or so scrolls intertwined with each other.

“Pardon?” The royal guards look to his king with wide eyes then back down at his desk.

“It’s okay, no worries, young lad. I am sure I’ll find it soon.” The king reassures his subject as he sets the ink pen down. It immediately disappears from sight as large hands pull at a parchment, causing a few to topple onto the floor and roll, becoming more tangled.

“Oh, my,” King Grail says, blinking at the avalanche of papers that has now begun to fall all at once.

After the last of it rolls over the royal guard's shiny boots, King Grail peeks over his desk and his eyes light up, “Oh, I do believe it was that one!” He points to a random scroll out of the many, “Good sir, if you wouldn’t mind-”

“Enough!” The scroll is kicked none too gently into the air and soars like a streamer back over the desk. It comes to a stop only when it bounced off the king's broad chest, before rolling back onto the desk and right back off it.

“Oh, there it goes again,” King Grail says vapidly as he watches it fall. He doesn’t lift a single finger to stop its descent.

“You stupid old man! How long do you intend to make me wait!?” A shrill, feminine voice says from the soldier's scowling mouth. He stomps forward and slams his hands down to loom over the peacefully smiling king, “Did you not hear me at all, you fool!? The girl is gone! She slipped right out from under her father’s nose!”

“I suppose you wouldn’t happen to know the time in which that took place, do you?” King Grail asks as he folds his hands in front of himself, giving up on his work for now.

“My guess is early morning, before the servants woke,” the royal guard's huff as he cocks a hip and rolls his eyes.

“Most unfortunate, that,” King Grail says. Then he just sits there, grinning airily.

The royal guard's eye twitches, “Your highness, it is more than just unfortunate. With the girl gone, I no longer have anything to go off of,” The guard massages his temples, “Then again, I wasn’t given much time to even get close to her in the first place! If only you had allowed me to accompany the princes to the Valentine Estate like I had asked.”

“Timing is important,” King Grail says nodding, “So much so, that because you had been late, you weren’t able to accompany my sons to the Valentine Estate for the Fall Courtship.”

“I was not late!” The guard's voice rises an octave once again, “This stupid country is just too large!”

“Did she give birth to the bastard?” King Grail pulls a parchment condensed with elegant words to himself, inspects it over, then starts folding the edges delicately.

“She had. Some of the guards who had been with her heard the child's cry out in the hall when it had been still dark out. From the mutterings of the midwife passing by, it has been confirmed to be a boy,” The guard reports, regaining some professionalism back.

“Well, I suppose congratulations are in order,” King Grail hums, his eyes sharpening, “If Duke Valentine is smart, he will have the bastard raised properly. This land is not entirely unkind to such tainted blood. The boy could be used as a spare.”

“Wouldn’t that be foolish?” The royal guards inspect his blunt nails, frowning in disgust, “The father is unknown. Who knows what type of blood has soiled the noble line of Valentine. It would be better to keep it away. The bastard should just be happy that it had been left to live.”

“Is that how your people handle such matters?” King Grail lifts up the parchment, now folded into a rose, and twirls the stems in between his thick fingers.

The royal guards' eyes narrow dangerously, “Careful, your highness. It is best you do not forget that the only reason I am even here is out of the graciousness of my own heart. Only I offered to help you even after you had come to us on your knees, begging so desperately be rid of a certain curse,” He mocks in a voice entirely female as he sashays forward.

The parchment rose disappears from King Grail's hand in a spark of gold.

The guard throws his hands up, narrowly stopping the pointed end from stabbing him in the eyes without a hint of color dancing between his fingers. The royal guard smirks cruelly, plucking the rose hovering in the air seemingly on its own, and admires it.

“Such a strange talent to have. So, utterly useless,” The rose catches fires. The royal guard drops it to the floor and steps on it, snuffing it out with the heel of his pristine boots.

“Now,” The guard's male face flickers for a moment before it evaporates, revealing a beautiful woman with long golden locks of curls cascading down her shoulders and her ample breast. Her rose-pink eyes flash meanly.

“I think it is about time we get down to real business. Don’t you?” She asks, smiling in a flaccidly sweet manner, “The sooner we take care of the blood curse entangling your family, the sooner I get to go home, to mine.”

“I can’t believe it is already over,” Amelia says as she stares at the rapidly fading visage of the Valentine Estate.

“Strange how the things we desire most, past us by the fastest,” Prince Orin tells her sagely, sitting right next to her in the rattling gilded carriage.

Amelia turns away from the window to smile tentatively at him, “Yeah, it does seem to be that way,” She pouts faintly, “If only it had lasted longer. It was so much fun.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he says and subtly places his hands over hers. Amelia blushes, lowering her gaze to their hands then back up at his face, before doing it again.

“How wondrous. Please, do inform the whole cabin of just how pleased you both are. It is not like you are sharing it with others besides the two of you,” Princess Adanna grips nastily as she musters a weak glare before she groans and clutches her head, all but collapsing back onto her seat.

“Your highness, are you alright?” Amelia says in concern, leaning forward. Her eyes dart upward, pausing on the stained green creeping down shimmering gold hair before she hastily cast her eyes away before she is caught.

“Do you need anything? I have some medicine in my-”

“To close,” Princess Adanna snaps, sprouting up to shove Amelia back into her seat weakly before she collapses again, “How dare you try to touch me with your filthy hands!” She says hoarsely, “This is all your fault! Everything is your fault! And you dared-” The princess cuts off, clutching at her middle with a wince.

“Now, now, sister, Amelia is just trying to help,” Prince Orin placates, tugging Amelia close to his side as he glares coldly over her head.

“Why are you in my carriage?” Princess Adanna grouses, “I had specifically stated that I wished to be alone.” Her eyes open into narrow blue sits, she hazily stares in the direction of Prince Orin's location with a mean smile, “Did his highness not wish to be stained with the company of his once beloved brother? Well, I suppose even Rodale can only take so much treachery.”

“Isn’t it better to rest in silence, older sister? Better to reserve your energy and until we can make it back to the academy,” Prince Orin practically grounds out. When Amelia startles at his tone and looks up at him with wide eyes, his face is as friendly and open as ever. He smiles gently.

“It’s alright. Princess Adanna is still recovering from her turbulent night at the Ending Ball,” Then his eyes glance up and to the right, at the other figure in the carriage, “Isn’t that right, little brother?”

Prince Kolton only deigns to stare at his brother for a split second before he returns his somber gaze outside, remaining silent.

“Kol?” Amelia calls out to him, leaning away from Prince Orin to reach out to her friend, “Is everything alright? You seem...sad.”

Her words go completely ignored.

Prince Orin scowls, “Did you not hear Amelia addressing you, little brother?”

“It’s alright, Orin. I’m sure Kol just got a lot on his mind right now-”

“For goddess's sake! Can you two just shut up,” Princess Adanna growls, glaring blearily, “Some of us are more than happy to sit in silence! Now, be quiet before I throw both of you out!!”

Amelia shrinks back, wide-eyed, while Prince Orin just levels a look but remains silent.

Kolton glances over at his oldest sister, a hint of worry breaching his eyes, “Are you alright? Did you eat something weird?”

Princess Adanna just shifts angrily and tries to get more comfortable in her seat, “I’m fine! Just tired is all,” She insists, even though the soreness going through her body and her weighted limbs felts more than just that. She felt like she had been running laps around the Valentine Estate all days yesterday, and her stomach felt weird and so did...She scowls and turns away, her face burning red as she ignores everyone else in the cabin.

It was fine. The moment they returned to the academy she would have Professor Fin heal her. Stupid half-elf. How dare he leave before everyone else! Princess Adanna would be sure to file a complaint against him to her father!

She grumbles and somehow manages to settle down as the walls of the gilded carriage continue to rattle and clang all around her.

“Any news, daughter?”

Lynette nearly jumps out of her skin before she turns around to see her mother, Countess Giselle, walking up from behind her in the empty hallway in the middle of the night.

“I didn’t realize that you were still here, mother,” she says, clutching her beating heart, “I had thought you had left with the rest of the students and guests.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Countess Giselle glided around her daughter, “You had been very busy as of late, searching for Livia.”

“Yes, I have,” Lynette's shoulders slump, a strained look on her face.

“And have you and your husband made any progress? It has already been three days. It is quickly approaching four.”

“We, I mean, his men have been searching the nearby areas and towns. From what we can tell, she hasn’t left the Valentine territory. It will be a matter of days-”

“Days?” The countess echoes the words like a hollow.

Lynette's hands clench at her side, her eyes drifting away from her mother's as she grimaces.

“How is it,” Countess Giselle steps closer, “That a woman who just given birth along with her infant child could just disappear right under the noses of the very people who is supposed to be looking after them the most.”

“She had help, mother. Livia was not alone. That man, Sen, had taken my daughter against her will and-” Lynette bites her lips, dropping her gaze as her mother gently face turned into cutting ice.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better. With the help of King Grail, it will only be a matter of time before she is returned to us,” The duchess promises in a whimpering stutter. She doesn’t dare lift her head, fearful of what she might see. Instead, she bows further down, staring at her mother's feet.

“I want my granddaughter and her bastard returned to me by the end of this week,” Countess Giselle intones gravely, “And I want that man, Sen,” Lynette flinches as the names fly's out of mother's mouth like a curse, “To be hanged for daring to lay a hand on a woman that is well above his station!”

Lynette bows lowly, once, twice, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice, “Yes, mother, of course. I’ll be sure to have it done. He will not get away with this. He will be tortured and hanged for his transgressions.”

“Wonderful.”

A weight lifts off of Lynette's shoulders. The shadow retreated right from under her feet as if it was never there. Tentatively, she peeks up.

Countess Giselle stares down at her daughter like she was a dead carcass that has fallen in her path. Like she was a wretched sight that needed to be removed aptly.

Lynette trembles, tears spring to her eyes as she slowly shakes her head, “N-no, mother, p-please. I am trying my best. I-I wish for Livia to be safe and back h-home as well,” She slowly begins to back away, her gaze on her feet, “Please, just give me one more chance mother, I promise I-I won’t fail you again.”

“Of course, you won’t, my sweet girl,” Countess Giselle steps forward soundlessly, her hands, deceptively warm, reach down to tilt her daughter's head up to meet her gaze.

Lynette whimpers again, “Mother, please. Please, j-just...please.”

“I have been kind to you all this time, have I not?” Pale eyes crinkle, a mouth stretches out causing creases to form around it as pearly white teeth gleam in the dark, “Time, after time, I gave you many chances, sweet girl. Now, there is none left to give.”

Lynette looked frantically around, not daring to move away from her mother, searching for anybody. Silently, she begs for someone to come down the hall. Her mother would stop. If only someone would just come.

But the Valentine Estate was quiet.

And no one answers her silent pleas.

“This way,” Her mother was saying, lifting up her other hand, “You will not disappoint me again,” They start to glow sickly yellow, coiling around small, stout fingers like a snake ready to attack.

Even though she knew better, Lynette still recoils back violently, flashes of memory bubbling up as pain flares along her skull. Then her head is yanked back, fingers press into her forehead and she knew nothing more.

“Any news, husband?”

Luvien spins around to see Lynette standing right behind him, unsmiling. He scowls on instinct, his heart nearly in his throat as he glanced around, wondering how she managed to sneak up on him without making a single sound.

“How goes the search for our daughter?” His wife continues to question.

“Nothing has changed since the last time you asked,” Luvien scoffs and turns around to resume his walk towards his office. Lynette, irritatingly enough, falls in step alongside him.

“How many men has his highness sent to use for the search?” His wife asks, her eyes trained to the side of his face.

“Nearly two-hundred.”

Lynette’s face cracks into a strange smile, “That is good to hear. At this rate, our daughter will be returned to us by the end of this week,” Her head turns, “Right, husband?”

“It’s certainly a possibility,” Luvien grunts lowly, turning a sharp corning, deciding to head for the courtyard instead to brief the men arriving, knowing his wife hated how plain and plebian it looked.

“It should be a certainty,” Lynette states.

Luvien stops dead.

Lynette turns to him at the same time he does, a smile still hanging on her face.

“How long do you think it will take before word gets out to the public?” His wife asks before he can say anything, “Do you realize just how damaging this could be for not only Livia but ourselves as well?” She continues, stepping closer, “This will be the second time that our daughter has been wrenched away from her home and taken hostage by a man.”

“I don’t know what your intention is for our daughter, but I do know this,” Lynette promises, “If words get out that she had been taken by a man that has already been suspected to be the father of her child, no matter what you intend to do, our daughter will be ruined beyond repair. She will not be of use to anyone.”

“You must make haste,” Lynette urges, “Or else, there will be nothing left for us to salvage.”

She steps further, presses a hand to his chest, and gazes up at him through her feather eyelashes, “A small suggestion, husband. If the men are incapable. Then rely on the people. A compelling story would do wonders. I suggest a tale of a young, helpless girl and her child, stolen by a fiend.”

Then she smiles again, Luvien didn’t even realize when she had stopped, and then she leaves.

He watches her go, a cold tingle dancing at the base of his spine.

At times, his wife seemed like a different person entirely.

“He did what?” Liliana hisses furiously.

Amaya shushes her and pushes her further into the room, closing the door behind them.

“Why would father,” Liliana shakes her head frantically, her eye swollen and her face looks overly pale as she starts to pace, “What on, why, no, just-I don’t understand. Why would he lie like that!? The baby isn’t gone! We saw him! There is no way he is gone!” She shouts.

“Liliana, calm down,” Amaya says, rushing to her side, “Of course it isn’t true. You know this, remember the message they sent us?”

“But, but-” Liliana look like she was on the verge of tears.

Amaya sighs and directs her to her bed, sitting the younger girl down. She wraps her up in a hug and rocks her, “It’s alright, everything is going to be alright. Sen, Livia, and the baby are just fine. They have managed to evade all those guards searching for them for days now without trouble. And soon, Beth will join them as well.”

“But why would father spread false rumors that the baby is dead!?” Liliana wails as she lifts up her blotchy face from Amaya's chest, clinging to her, “Why would he say that Sen took her!? Why does he keep saying that Sen is a brute! None of it is true! Father keeps lying and lying! I don’t understand any of this! Why is doing this to Livia and Sen? Why can’t he just leave them alone?”

Suddenly, her watery eyes clear as she stares up at Amaya, “Do you know anything? Have they told you anything?”

Amaya brushes white hair back, “No, but I can take a wild guess as to why.”

“Why, why, why,” Liliana says in a rush instantly, “Tell me.”

“Liliana.”

“Tell me,” Liliana stresses.

“This is only my guess, but I think your father not only wishes to take the baby from Livia, but he also wishes to make it disappear. A noblewoman who has been soiled but lost her baby is much more sympathetic and...reusable than a woman who has a bastard child attached to her hip,” Amaya explains bleakly. Then she bites into her lip at the expression on the young girl's face and wonders if she should have bothered to lie.

She would do anything to remove the image if such a bright young woman looked so utterly devastated.

“My father,” Tears swim up in ruby's eyes, dulling them as Liliana sniffs. Her bottom lips tremble as she tries to hold back her sobs, but soon she has to cover her mouth as she bends over, crying. Liliana tries to muffle herself with her knees, but she can help but utter out wetly.

“H-he is a horrible man, isn’t he?”

Amaya's heartbreaks and she quickly covers Liliana’s body with her own, “I’m sorry,” She says softly, her own voice beginning to tremble, “I’m so sorry.”

The young girl shakes her head and cries harder.

“Isn’t this cheating?”

Roy Grym leans back in his seat, alone in his new dorm room. Standing before him was a small magical mirror and in its reflection was the impassive face of the 15th Emperor of the Eastern Empire, Saer. Though the man wore a long-sleeve army jacket, it was still obvious that the place where his right arm should be was vacant.

He adjusts his glasses and smirks arrogantly as he balances on two legs of his chair, “I thought you had a none negotiable no magic rule,” He says to the mirror, “Are you that eager to know what I have learned?”

“Speak your piece, Grym,” Saer orders tonelessly.

“Alright, alright, no need to be so rowdy,” Roy snarks. He leans forward, his playful expression evaporating, “As I reported previously, the Fall Courtship is over and I have officially enrolled into Aster Academy. Recently, there have been rumors about that girl,” Roy smirks, “Your girl. The one with the feline eyes, pretty lips, and very big stomach.”

Saer expression remains unchanged to an untrained eye, seemingly uncaring about hearing the word of the woman he had chased nearly halfway across the world for months on end. But Roy easily picks up the sudden stillness, how his silver eyes sharpen minutely.

“What new have you of Livia?” Saer states, his brow creaks down only by a millisecond, belaying his impatience.

“Well, it seems she has finally sprouted back up after running away from her home,” Roy drawls, “Word around the school is that she did, in fact, give birth to her bastard the night I first laid eyes on her.”

The emperors' eyes narrow dangerously, “And what of those who whisper about its death? Have you confirmed this to be true?”

“Ah, and that brings us to the recent news,” The spy says, smiling slyly, “From my midnight jaunts into the surrounding towns, I finally picked up a trail that leads to the nearest city, one that was awfully close to the Valentine Estate. It seems I was either too late or too earlier, for the city had been swarming with men from the Silvan House and the Valentine House, all asking about a woman and a man.”

Roy leans forward, slamming the other two legs of the chair down, “However, strangely enough, there was no mention of a child. The soldiers only cared about finding the twice kidnapped daughter of the Valentine household and the perpetrator.”

“That means nothing,” Saer intones, his interests draining.

“No, I thought so as well,” Roy says, grinning sharply, “That was until I took a moment to actually think about it. Wasn’t it strange? Everyone, by this point, knew that Lady Livia had gone into labor the night of the Ending Ball. It was a scene that not many who had witnessed it could forget. So, imagine everyone's surprise when there was no word of the bastard she had likely birthed. The obvious conclusion is that it had perished either before or after it was born.”

“Certainly, it would be convenient if it had,” Silver hair falls loose behind an ear as the spy tilts his head, seemingly pondering, “A noblewoman, even one who has lost her virginity, still has a minuscule amount of value. Even more so if that woman had been repeatedly painted as a victim. How tragic it is to think she had been brave enough to bring her bastard child into the world only for her to lose it. Suddenly, this soiled thing value raises just a bit more. Especially with no bastard stuck suckling at her breast.”

Roy's glasses slid down his nose as he levels his emerald gaze on the emotionless emperor, “No doubt, the one behind such a narrative is Valentine Household. Rather it is actually true or not, however, still remains to be seen.”

“Then you have nothing of interest to offer other than wasting my time with half-baked theories,” The 15th Emperors does not seem all that impressed.

Roy knocks his knuckles against his head, his tongue sticking out, “Oops. I guess not then-”

The mirror goes dark.

Roy just chuckles and gets up to stretch. Glancing out the window, he realized he had completely skipped his second period. He thinks about going to the third and instead just shrugs and dives into his bed.

"Poor thing. It must suck to be bedridden for days on end.”

King Grail jumps out of his seat from the bedside of his daughter, turning in a swift motion despite his size. He stares in shock as Livia Katrina Valentine walks from a corner of his daughter's room as if she had always been there.

Ignoring him, the young woman saunters all the way to the bed, peering down at the occupant with a faux sympathetic look, “How is she doing?” She says to the king as if she had every right to ask such a thing, “Sore body? Sore chest? Fatigue? Has none of her symptoms let up at all?” She shakes her head, “She must be so confused. After all, she had been perfectly fine just days ago, and now, she can barely make it out of the bed without help.”

Livia looks up at the king as her hands rest in the middle of her back, her stance casual, “Has she seen a healer or a doctor yet? Personally, I would recommend Professor Fin. He is surprisingly competent.”

“You!” King Grail points with a thick, trembling finger. Right before her eyes, Livia watches passively as veins bulge from his temples and his face turned red.

Then she turns her attention back to Adanna’s pale drawn face. The older woman was completely oblivious to the world around her, sunken down in a deep sleep that did nothing to replenish her.

“To be honest, even I am surprised at her state,” Livia shuffles closer to the bed, leaning down, “Who would have thought that she, out of all the siblings, was capable of feeling so much guilt?”

“You were the cause of this all along,” King Grail stalks forward, his voice booming around the room like a clap of thunder.

“Are you that eager to feel the ties of the curse compel you once more?” Livia asks curiously, not looking up, “If so, I am more than willing to test its limits.”

The king falters, the memories of their previous encounter sprout up like poisonous flowers. Still, he recalls the limits of the blood curse and opens the palms of his hand, ready to strike the girl down where she stood.

Livia finally looks over at him.

King Grail keeps his outward expression stern, but inwardly, drips of dread begin to pour into his belly like heavy boulders, cementing him in place.

“Her hair is green,” Livia tells him, her lips quirking up, “Somehow, that was also unexpected. I had thought for sure it would remain a pretty royal blue befitting the esteemed House of Silvan,” She shrugs one shoulder casually, “That’s too bad.”

“You will not get away with your schemes,” King Grail growly lowly in warning, “I will have you trialed and hanged for treason against the royal family.”

“Where is Beth?” Livia asks, practically right on top of his menacing threat. She sits down on the bed and crosses her ankles delicately. Almost without thought, her hands go to her stomach, but it finds the small mound clinging to the front of it and she hastily moves it to the bed.

“The criminal?” King Grail intones, raising his chin arrogantly, “She is where she should have been all along.”

“She wasn’t in any of the prisons in the surrounding areas, not even the smaller, more obscure ones,” Livia tilts her head, eyeing him up with a blank look, “Did you really send her back to Zinnia?”

“She had been exiled.” King Grail states.

“Oh, is that so?” Livia's eyes have trailed back to Adanna.

The king tenses.

“How strange,” She mutters, “I could have sworn the trail had led to the White Castle,” She reaches out, her hands finding the end of glinted gold. She twirls a lock in her fingers, admiring the silken texture.

“Get your hands off her,” King grail snarls fiercely and closes the distance between them, his hands falling to his sword.

Livia leans down towards the princess and whispers, “Wake up.”

Adanna's blue eyes snap open as her body jolts up in bed as if she had been electrocuted.

King Grail stills, his enraged expression collapsing right off his face as his daughter stares at him in confusion before she notices Livia sitting by her bedside and nearly jumps right out of her skin. Her mouth falls open to let out a shrill scream.

“Quiet.”

Her mouth shuts close with a click, cutting off her own scream. She tries to open it, multiple times in a matter of a few seconds as her anger gives way to confusion once more before it changes into full-blown panic as her hands come up to pat her sealed mouth.

“Where is Beth?” Livia asks again, turning calmly to face King Grail.

On the bed, Adanna's chest was heaving up and down in an unhealthy rhythm as she scratched along her mouth frantically with bulging eyes.

“Release her this instant!” The king commands instead of answering.

Livia turns around again. She reaches out, easily capturing Adanna’s hands in her own, and pulls it away from the girl's mouth, “Stop that. It will do you no good,” She scolds airily, “Focus on your breathing,” She instructs, “In through your nose, and out through your nose. Come on. Breath with me. Do you really wish to faint in my company? Yeah, didn’t think so. Out through your nose, in through your nose, yup. Just like that.”

“See? Isn’t that better,” she says, dropping the princess's hands, “Now, hands to your throat.”

Wow. What an expression. It was really ugly. She hadn’t even ordered the girl to choke herself yet. At this rate, she would do it all on her own.

Adanna was right back to panicking again. Livia gives up. Fainting from a short time of oxygen deprivation wasn’t going to permanently damage her after all.

“Where is Beth?” She asks the king once more, her expression placid as the princess begins to move like a fish out of water on the bed, her chest rising in falling in rapid succession as she falls back to her bed.

“Release my daughter and I will tell you,” The king tries to keep a high ground.

Livia pulls out a knife and stabs herself in the thigh without blinking. Adanna recoils violently back on the bed, rolling and twitching as bloodstains her sheet, oozing from the wound on her thigh.

“Stop! Stop this right now!” King Grail charges at her with a roar.

“Sit.”

His ass slams into the gleaming floor mid-swing, sending his sword flying.

“Where is Beth?” Livia asks, lowering her gaze to level it onto the kings. She removes the knife and places it back in its holster as the wound on her thigh begins to close up.

On the bed, Adanna lets out a muffled sobbing scream before she gasps desperately for breath, “What going on!? Daddy! Daddy, are you alright! What are you doing! Argh, it hurts! It hurts so much! Daddy, save me! Guards! Guards!” Her voice is shrill and hoarse.

Two minutes.

That was how long she was under.

“Quiet,” Livia repeats.

Adanna falls silent once more.

“You will pay for this. All of this!” King Grail has started to rant, “You will not just be hanged! I will have you tortured for days on end! Your family will be ruined! Everyone you love and care for will suffer and it will all be your faul-”

“Where is Beth?”

“She is being held in the west tower.”

Livia stands up and walks right up to the king, before he could take a swing at her with his log of an arm, she says, “keep absolutely still.” The king freezes. She grasps the sides of his head, looking him dead in his eyes.

“Don’t worry. Neither of you will remember any of this,” she promises and is pleased to note it does absolutely nothing in reassuring him.

They all decided to meet up in the Crocus Forest.

“What the hell did they do to you?” Amaya asks upon catching sight of them first. Beside her, Liliana carefully turns around with a squirming bundle in her arms. Sen was leaning against a tree a short distance away.

The warm glow of the sunset lit them all up in its golden light.

Livia hadn’t meant to take so much time. She tightens her arms around Beth's shoulders and guides her forward slowly.

“What happened?” Liliana asks immediately with a worried gaze, “Beth, are you alright?” She almost moves forward to help but aborts the motion when Sen places an arm on her shoulder, looking pointedly down at Darek who stares back up at them in his cocoon of blankets.

In her place, he moves to the midwife's other side.

“It’s fine. I’m alright,” Beth reassures them as she is guided to sit down, “I promise you it looks much worse than it actually is-” She breaks off in a hiss.

“Your ribs are bruised,” Sen, Livia, and Amaya all note at the same time.

Liliana stares between the three of them with wide eyes. In her arms, Darek lets out a plaintive noise. She hastily starts to rock and shush him, clumsily singing out a lullaby at the drop of a hat.

“She will need to be healed before we can start to move again,” Sen notes, inclining his head in the direction of the small carriage hidden further in the forest.

“I’m shit at healing,” Amaya says even as she expertly begins to access Beth's injuries.

“So am I,” Sen admits readily, removing wrapping and salve from his bag.

“It really isn’t that bad,” Beth tries to reassure them again. Amaya pokes at a bruise on her knee causing her to flinch and smack the younger woman's hands away with a frown.

“Definitely needs to be healed,” Amaya agrees.

“I’ll do it,” Livia says as she tucks the covers tighter around her son next to Liliana, scanning over him briefly and mentally nodding to herself, concluding that he was still okay for now, “We will camp out in the forest for tonight and then head for the next town in the morning to give Beth some time to recuperate,” She looks around the small group, “Is that okay?”

Amaya shrugs and Sen says nothing as he begins to apply salve over the shallow cuts on Beth's arms, while the older woman sniffs at it, “Oh, is that melange root and pumpkin flowers I smell?” She asks him, smiling as Noctis peers curiously down at her from Sen's shoulders.

“We are going to camp outside?” Liliana asks her excitedly, “With the stars above us?”

Livia turns to her little sister with a fond smile, “Yeah, we are.”

Tblew

With this chapter, volume 2 of TEVR has come to an end! Thank you so much for all of your support and I will see you again next year!! For any future updates or delays, I will post them on my profile page on SH. Thank you once again and please leave a comment below to tell me what you think!