33.

"What if he catches us?" Madeleine whispered as she followed Meoni with a little bit of difficulty through the large and empty hallway, their delicate footsteps barely audible over the marble-like and smooth-textured floor.



"We will lie," Meoni simply answered.



*Well, duh.*



"And tell him what?" Madeleine whisper-yelled back whilst staring at the back of her head.



"I don't know, you're the human, not me!" She hissed, throwing a fleeting glance over her shoulder.



"What is that supposed to mean?" Madeleine's brows furrowed, feeling rather offended as she glowered after Meoni again.



"You're good at these things, feelings, words and whatnot," The princess casually answered whilst keeping her gaze trained ahead, navigating through the palace's walls she indubitably knew by heart.



Madeleine's heart however kept pounding faster and faster as she quietly followed for the rest of the journey, becoming so restless and impatient as well as that ominous fear of getting caught by Elias kept dangling over her head like a dark cloud, the prospect of losing this chance to see Emerick again making her feel rather desperate.



"Can we move a little faster?" She approached Meoni whilst struggling to hold onto her annoying dress as well, receiving an odd side-glance from the princess.



"But you're-"



"I'm fine," She quickly dismissed her apparent concern, her hands balling into tighter fists as she bunched up the pieces of her flowing dress even higher and took in a vigorous breath of air, summoning every ounce of strength left into her body.



Meoni gave her one last glance, refraining herself from spewing any other unnecesary comments and granted her wish instead, picking up her pace just a tad bit more.



They passed through an incredibly long and wide corridor, Madeleine's gaze averting from time to time to peer at the outside world laying just behind the endless row of tall and thick columns flanking their left side, casually looking at the vast and imposing conglomeration of buildings spreaded over several kilometers, their difference in size and architecture barely distinguishable as they all held that same luscious white and marble-like color, highlighted by the soft pink foundation of the daylight sky itself.



She could not even tell anymore how much time had passed since her arrival here on Laxian as her humane routine became practically non-existent.



Now it was all just senseless chaos.



All she could feel was basically starvation, tiredness and confusion most of the time, thanks to that monster of an Alpha.



"Are you feeling well?"



She abruptly blinked away those thoughts, raising her sight to peer at Meoni.



"I can hear your heavy breathing, and your skin has as an odd yellowish color," She pointed to her tightly-fisted hands, her head tilting to the side as she gave Madeleine a curious look.



Her lips parted open, sucking in a breath of air as she was about to lie again and tell her that she was just fine when something collosal standing several steps away past Meoni's shoulder suddenly drew her attention instead, making her close her mouth and walk straight towards it.



Her widened gaze closely trailed all over the sculptured figure as she approached, unconsciously recognizing its strong feminine silhouette, the long flowing hair and its warrior-like attire as her mind carried her back to a long lost and deeply buried memory, faintly hearing that sweet and mellow voice describing the very being now standing right in front of her into the form of a huge statue.



"Amazon..." Her lips whispered before her mind could even register, lost into a trance-like state as she continued to admire it.



"What?" Meoni's gentle yet audibly confused voice disturbed her, making Madeleine turn around to give her a wide grin.



"Amazons. That's what they're called on Earth," She turned back to look up at the beautifully-sculptured statue again.



"Mythical creatures from fairytales," She smiled as her long-forgotten memories gradually resurfaced, reminiscing all those wonderful bedtime stories her mom used to tell her back when she was little.



She could not believe it. How could they have such thing and into a palace nonetheless? They knew about those stories too? But if they did, why would they bother to such extent and create a five-meter statue? It didn't make any sense. Those creatures weren't even real to begin with. They were just random fairytales.



"That is a warrior princess from Lyra. Her name was Venus," Meoni's words almost did not reach Madeleine, her gaze unintentionally lowering to the tip of the amazon's stone-carved sword as she blinked a few times in utter bewilderment, not entirely sure if she heard right or not.



"What? So this...this is an illyrian? Illyrians are actually Amazons?" She turned around to face the princess, an entirely puzzled expression taking over her features as Meoni quietly regarded her whilst visibly failing to understand her point.



She had never heard of such term. Amazon. What did it mean?



"S-so...They were real? They were actually freaking real?" Madeleine continued to rant as she eventually started to pace, only pausing to give Meoni an odd look.



"S-so that means...Yo-you're an Amazon descent or whatever?"



"Fuck! Does crazy fucker think that I actually have Amazon blood in me?" She unintentionally rose her voice, making Meoni's dark eyes widen with alarm as she quickly stepped closer and took a firm hold of her arm, forcing her to start moving and rapidly walk by her side.



"Quiet, I beg of you! Have you lost your wits? Do you actually wish for the Alpha to catch us?" Meoni hissed whilst practically dragging Madeleine away with her down a narrow and much darker corridor.



"He may favor you but do not think that he will hesitate to punish the both of us!"



Madeleine's foot accidentally stepped over the front part of her dress, stumbling a few steps forward before regaining control and taking ahold of both the front and the back of the silky fabric, not hesitating to also throw the princess a glower.



"Oh don't act like you didn't actually enjoy it," She spewed out with an eye-roll, immediately regretting it as she noticed the visibly saddened look quickly marring Meoni's doll-like face.



"I did but... I wish I didn't..."



"Not like this anyway," She continued as she approached Madeleine again, unintentionally coaxing her to start walking by her side.



"He may have touched me the way I've been so ardently wishing to, but in turn I did lose everything," Her gaze fell to her quietly moving feet as she spoke, delicately holding the sides of her silken dress.



Madeleine gazed at her, any other thought completely forgotten as she gifted Meoni her absolute and undivided attention.



"He did not touch me with gentleness or...passion like he does with you," Meoni softly said, entirely failing to notice that saddened and guilt-ridden expression creasing Madeleine's features, regardless of her actual innocence.



"He stripped me of my title, mocked my sanctity. I was a symbol of sacredness and he destroyed all that with a simple action, converting me into a humble servant," Her pained words echoed like a sorrowful whisper into the darkened hallway, Madeleine's heart constricting with sadness and compassion for the princess.



“I’m sorry…” Madeleine quietly told her, receiving but a light smile from Meoni.



Her brows however contorted into a frown as she watched Meoni approach until they were standing face to face, their noses almost touching as she peered into those dark brown eyes with evident confusion, intending to ask her what was going on when Meoni’s delicate hand reached out straight past her head, immediately hearing that small and short beep sounding from right next to her ear.



"Looks like he may have taken my title, but he did not take away my unlimited access," Meoni said with a rather cheeky smile as Madeleine regarded her with utter astonishment for a second, hesitantly turning to notice another hallway that definitely hadn’t been there before.



“What…hah…”



“After you, earthling,” She ushered Madeleine forward with another smile as the girl was evidently too stunned to react properly.



Madeleine lightly shook her head after another look at Meoni, lastly stepping into the wider yet rather more dingy-looking corridor, its dim lighting making her feel kind of unsecure.



What was this place? Was this the way to his containment room?



She wondered as she could not really remember since Elias had moved so insanely fast that one time when he had taken her to see Emerick, her memory resuming to a chaotic blur and not much else.



“It should be here,” She casually heard Meoni say when the air suddenly shifted, making her quickly turn around and reassure herself with the princess’ presence as she was actually starting to feel scared.



However, as soon as her eyes met Meoni’s, she watched how they suddenly widened as she stared somewhere past her shoulder, scaring her shitless and even giving her a strong impulse to just scream in fright when a hand swiftly wrapped over her mouth, feeling that unmistakable sensation of hot skin against her bare back as she watched that gloved hand point a gun straight at Meoni's head.



"Emerick..."