Chapter 8

***Serafina's POV***

I heard their whispers. They were murmuring while watching me being dragged towards the dungeon.

"Cressida was almost killed because of that woman. She's ruthless. Will King Calixto marry her?"

"Poor Cressida, she's too kind to be the servant of this cruel woman,"

"I hope King Calixto changed his mind. This woman does not deserve to be our Queen,"

I saw Maximus holding his sword, ready to wield it to the servants gossiping about me, so I tapped his hand and shook my head.

"I am fine. Just ignore them, Maximus," I gently uttered.

He was eager to punish the servants but chose to respect my decision. He took a deep breath and continued guiding me towards the dungeon, ignoring the whispers of the servant, just like what I wanted.

After a while, we reached the dark and narrow hallway. The only thing that lights the whole place is the torches that are hung on the wall.

"This is where the rouge that we had been caught are imprisoned. Are you sure you can spend a night here, Lady Serafina? I can talk to King Calixto again. Maybe he will change his mind,"

I could feel Maximus worry, so I gave him an assuring smile as I shook my head. "I will be fine, Maximus. Stop worrying about me. Don't tell me you perceive your future Queen as weak?" I jokingly asked, trying to light up the situation, but it did not even manage to lessen the worry written on Maximus' face.

"It's not like that, Lady Serafina. It's just that I felt bad that I couldn't do anything for you. I can't even defend you,"

I gently tapped his shoulder. "You did more than enough, so stop thinking that way. Let's do what King Calixto wanted, and everything will be fine. I promise next time I will be more careful of my actions so I won't be punished again,"

Maximus stared at my face, worry still evident in his eyes. We were enveloped by silence. After a while, he nodded.

"I will try to sneak in some food and water-"

I immediately shook my head. I don't want to put his life in danger. King Calixto had already warned him. "Don't you ever do that, Maximus. Just came back after three days. Don't you ever think of disobeying King Calixto, do you understand?"

I could see on his face that he disagreed, but he had no choice but to nod, listening to what I wanted, which made me smile.

I tapped his shoulder before I stepped inside the cell that would serve as my room for three days. I watched Maximus as he locked the prison cell, and when he successfully did it, he looked at me, worry still evident on his face.

"I will be fine. You should go," I uttered, urging him to leave, but he stood before me for a few seconds before he finally decided to walk away.

I watched him leave, and when he was finally gone, the fear I had suppressed came out. I immediately hid myself on the corner while listening to the silence. It was too quiet to the point that the only sound I could hear was the whisper of the wind.

I thought I was alone, not until I heard a loud growl followed by an aggressive howl.

I hid in the corner even more when I saw a blazing eye across my cell, watching me intently.

Tears fell from my eyes as I watched the blazing eyes look at me intently. He was strong. I can feel it.

"Don't hurt me, please. I am begging you," I weakly uttered while tears cascaded down my cheeks.

My fear grew intensely when I saw a big brown wolf stepping out of his cell. My claws came out as if they could protect me from this huge rouge.

"Don't come any closer,"

My body was shaking as I squeezed myself on the corner even more. I was begging with tears falling from my eyes, but instead of listening to my pleas, he started banging my cell, creating a loud sound.

He is strong, and I know he is capable of breaking the door.

"Someone help me, please! Please let me out!" I started shouting at the top of my lungs while praying so hard that this rouge wouldn't enter my prison cell but praying never worked for me because, after a minute of banging my cell, he successfully broke the door.

My chest tightened as I watched him walk towards me.

"Please don't hurt me," I continued pleading, but this rouge was out of his mind.

He chose to ignore my pleas. The moment he got closer, he picked me up from the ground and threw me cruelly on the wall.

My weak body ended up breaking the wall because of the strong impact. The moment I fell on the cold floor, I started coughing blood, and I thought that it would end there, but I was wrong because he started walking towards me once again and his sharp claws started digging into my neck, but before he successfully slit my throat, he flew on the other side.

My vision is blurry, but I can recognize who saved me. The man who put me here saved my life. The man who was eager to get me killed saved me from this cruel rogue.

I can feel him picking me up from the cold ground. His hands lightly tapped my cheeks to wake me up. "I'm sorry. Serafina, stay with me. Don't close your eyes, Serafina. I'm sorry, please wake up,"

I felt a warm liquid fall on my face. Is he crying? King Calixto is crying for me?