39. Fallen from Grace.

Niya entered a room along with Samael and locked it so that no one could hear a word. Samael looked at her, raising his eyebrows, and sighed.

"Have you gone mad? Archie would have suspected—"

"It's about my dad. I don't give a damn about what Archie would’ve done. Shut the hell up and help me," she said, grabbing his collar in anger, piercing his soul through that sharp gaze of her brownish golden eyes. The authority in her voice gave him the slightest chill down his spine.

"Easy, love! I'm not your slave, sweetheart. You can't just order me to help you," he said in his deep husky voice and scoffed at her boldness, grabbing her hand softly to free himself from her grip.

"I'm next to God. I don't have to explain what power I hold. Either you are going to help me or you are going to rot in hell with your brother Lucifer for the rest of your life," she said, looking into his dark purple eyes. Niya was literally ready to take any kind of risk because her dad was the only family she had and she didn't want to lose him.

"I can't help you, Niya." He sighed. "This is out of my control. This territory doesn't belong to me and I do not know much about the royal dungeons except that dungeon keys are with Archie, in his left pocket of the black overcoat he is wearing right now," he said, grabbing her shoulders softly. Niya looked at him once more and he looked back at her with the same intensity, moving his head back and forth, pleading with her to not do something stupid. Niya left the room, leaving Samael standing there helplessly.

Niya entered the hall where guests were already waiting for her. She gathered all of her courage to put a smile on her face even though she wanted to scream and let all of her frustration out of her mind. Archie smiled at her, walking towards her and giving her his arm to hold. She looked at him for a second before grabbing his arm. She greeted everyone and one by one they wished her a wonderful year ahead which was practically impossible seeing the current scenario. She met all of the people from the high society with fake aura’s around them, fake polite laughter was echoing in the hall, and every person present here was trying to flaunt his or her fake personality just to get into Niya's good books as she was nothing less than a Goddess for them, The Creator Queen. But Niya's mind was focused on only one thing, the key to the dungeons. She was thinking about every possible way to get those keys.

"Would you give me the honor to have your first dance of this beautiful evening?" Someone asked and dragged Niya back to reality. She looked at the person and faked a smile looking at those shiny green eyes. She gave her hand to him and went to the dance floor.

"You are looking enormously divine, Niyanica," Archie said, looking at her, putting his hand around her waist, moving along with the music playing in the background. Everything was going according to his plan and he was happy about it but as soon as he looked into her golden brownish eyes, he knew something was off. That sparkle, that selfless love, was missing. He wasn't feeling the same warmth from her soft touches. He frowned for a second before speaking.

"Are you okay?" he asked, moving along with her on the dance floor.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely fine." She faked a grin to look less suspicious. "It's just... I'm a bit tired."

"I see." He smiled and shrugged all the negative thoughts out of his mind.

They were dancing when someone bumped into them and red wine poured on Archie's blue coat. He looked at the stain with anger and moved his eyes in the direction of the person to see their face.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I'm really sorry." He bowed to apologize.

"Darius?" Niya looked at him with a wide smile on her face. He bowed. Archie went away to clean his coat.

"Happy birthday, Your Majesty," he said, looking at her with a gentle smile. He was wearing a beautiful wine-colored tuxedo, his hair was slicked back perfectly, looking like a viscount.

"Thanks." She smiled, admiring his extremely handsome face.

"May I?" He offered his hand to dance. She looked at him with a smile and nodded in agreement. They danced for some minutes.

"Niya, go to Archie's room and take the dungeon’s keys. Samael asked me to pour that wine on him. Go," he said while moving his body along the peaceful calm music. Niya opened her mouth a bit with shock. She looked at Samael, who was standing near the bar area, drinking his drink, looking at her. He nodded.

"How do you know him? Why are you helping him?" she whispered in his ears while dancing.

"I'm his friend. Now go. I'll explain everything but now you need to go," he said, looking at her. She looked at him for a second and rushed back to Archie's room.

She was walking towards his room, passing through a huge corridor and leaving the party behind. She looked at the rooms, the golden ceiling with huge chandeliers and she was passing by each one with teary eyes.

*Please let it be fake news. Please,* she thought, gulping her emotions down her throat and controlling her tears with great difficulty. Finally, after walking for some minutes, she was standing right in front of Archie's room. She looked at the door, exhaled deeply to control her tears, and spread a fake wide grin on her face before opening the door.

"Archie? What took you so long?" she asked, looking at the empty room. Archie was in the washroom, cleaning the stain of his coat.

"This is not working. I think I should change it," he said, coming out of his washroom with a tissue paper in his hand. Niya took the tissue and began to clean the stain but it didn't go away.

"Ah! You’re right, you should change. Let me pick a good one for you," Niya said, looking at the clothes in his wardrobe. After looking at some coats, she finally selected a shiny maroon-colored coat for him.

"Thanks." He looked at the coat and smiled. Niya made him wear that coat and while placing his other coat in the laundry clothes, she stole the keys safely. They both went back to the party. The rest of the party went well, as everybody enjoyed it a lot except Niya. Her mind was full of negative thoughts. She wanted to know the truth but somewhere deep in her heart, she was afraid to face the reality. She didn't want to let her beautiful world, full of happiness, collapse into ashes. She didn't want to ruin this at any cost.

"Niya! Take some rest, I think you’re tired," Archie suggested, looking at her dull and pale face. She nodded and went back to her room, collapsing on her bed, exhaling deeply to keep her mind sane. After some minutes, she gathered all the courage to get out of her bed and took a hot shower to make herself feel a bit better.

*I need to check as soon as possible, she thought,* looking at her reflection in the mirror while drying her wet hair with the help of a towel. *This thing won't let me sleep, I need to check the dungeons right now.

She took the key and went to the dungeons directly. It was the first time she was standing here in front of the huge old wooden gate of dungeons. The guards standing in front of the dungeon gates bowed.

"Do you need something, Your Majesty?" One of the guards asked, keeping his head down, and looking at the floor.

"Nope. I just lost my way I think," she said, looking at the guards. She couldn't trust the guards so she made an excuse and decided to come back later with a plan. She waited for a minute behind a pillar to come up with a proper plan.

*Ha! When would I use my powers? This is the right time to use them,* she thought and smirked. She moved her hands and with her powers, she put the guards into a deep sleep. She smiled, looking at them, and opened the gates, without using the keys.

*I didn't even need keys, I could open it with my powers too, she thought,* frowning at her dumbness. It was pitch dark inside as she moved forward slowly, trying not to collide with something.