Chapter 16

“What on earth is going on?” Marchelle demanded to know when the guards marched past her with a protesting princess.
“She tried to kill the king and she might have been successful,” one of the guards responded but did not stop.
“I did not!” Iris argued, kicking and screaming.
Marchelle ran to her brother’s room, hiding her joy at the thought of him being dead as that would mean she gets to choose her own husband that will help rule the kingdoms her brother conquered.
“Brother!” Marchelle stormed to his side where King Evander was bent over, vomiting.
“He will survive,” the healer said, packing up his things.
Two servant girls were already cleaning up and whipping down the king.
“Give me that,” Marchelle scolded, grabbing the cloth from one of the servants that were wiping down King Evander’s face.
“Come, let me help you to your bed,” Marchelle insisted even though she knew she could never support his giant frame.
One of the guards stepped up and gave his support to the king, helping him to his bed.
‘Why can he not just die, I swear he is immortal,’ Marchelle thought to herself, pressing the damp cloth to the king's forehead.
“Don’t look so morbid, I still have a long life ahead of me and I am not going anywhere until a sired ten children,” King Evander snorted, knowing Machelle is only pretending and that she would nothing more than to see him meet an early grave.
“Brother! I am sad because I thought I am going to lose you!” Marchelle defended, lying.
“You are sure that you did not have a hand in this because I am not marrying one princess but two other princesses that are not you?” King Evander laughed.
“Don’t make such silly jokes, save your energy,” Marchelle said.
“I want ten guards outside the bedroom door and four on the balcony,” Marchelle barked orders as if she really cared.
“The princess said that my healer was not the one that put the paste on her face, put all the guards on high alert, and find this healer or wicker,” King Evander added.
Marchelle left to see to the king's orders and made her way down to the dungeons.
“Put her in her own cell, her own block, away from all the other prisoners. Take her to the tower on the far side of the castle,” Marchelle demanded, seeing it as the perfect opportunity to help the princess escape and be rid of her for good as she doubted that the princess had anything to do with the attempt on the king's life and knew that her bother will find any excuse to pardon her because of his love for the princess.

Prince Remington Spencer sneaked over to Princess Cerena Valentine’s bedroom during the night and was still planning on how he was going to get the guards away from her bedroom when he noticed that there were no guards outside her bedroom.
Prince Remington dashed over and sneaked inside the room, and whispered, “Princess Cerena?”
After getting no answer he sneaked out of her room and sneaked over to the king’s room assuming that, the king would have taken her parents' room.
‘Why do many guards?’ Prince Remington wondered when he noticed the hallway that led to the king's room had one too many guards.
“I hope we get a turn with the princess before the king has her head chopped off,” Prince Remington heard one of the guards tell another, all of them chuckling in agreement.
‘She must be in the dungeons,’ Prince Remington thought and made his way over to the dungeons, wondering what excuse he will give for wanting to enter the dungeons, ‘perhaps I can pay the guards?’

Marchelle and her favrote bed partner hurried over to the tower on the far side.
“Wait outside, let me go talk to her alone,” Marchelle said, taking the water flask that has already been placed with a sleeping mixture.

“Princess?” Marchelle whispered after the guards that were guarding the tower got distracted by Marchelle’s guard.
Michelle’s guard offered them each his flask of wine that had the same sleeping mixture as that being offered to the Princess.
“Princess Marchelle?” Iris asked, wondering what she is doing there.
“I brought you some water,” Marchelle said, passing the flask through the bars.
“Thank you,” Iris said, drinking eagerly without hesitation.
“My brother died and his last words was him sending you to death,” Marchelle lied.
“What?! I promise I had nothing to do with it!” Iris cried.
“I will stall the executioner until I am married and sworn in as queen,” Marchelle kept the conversation going.
“Go on, drink all of it, I have to get going before they think I had something to do with it,” Marchelle encouraged her to drink all the water.
Iris gulped down the water before falling to the ground.
“It is done,” Marchelle called out to the guard.
The guard retrieved the bunch of keys from one of the guards that were sleeping on the ground before running over to Marchelle.
“We need to hurry if we want to catch the slavers,” the guard said, unlocking the gate to the cell.
“We could just put the paste that is on her face into her own mouth and let her die,” the guard suggested.
“No, I want her to suffer for the rest of her life for stealing my brother's heart,” Marchelle said before scraping some paste off the princess's face and shoving it into both guards' mouths, making sure she gets it right up to their throats.
“Why do they have to die?” the guard protested.
“Who will they say gave them their last drink?” Marchelle asked.
“You have a point,” the guard said, with the princes over his shoulder.

Prince Remington never did find the princess that night and wondered where she was being held but overheard none of the guards talking about it. All they kept on talking about is how they are going to enjoy her.

Early the next morning King Evander woke up before the servants woke him and put on his bedroom gown before leaving his room.
The guards greeted him as he walked past them, on his way to the dungeons.
“Your majesty, the Princess is being held at the far tower,” the guard jumped away from the wall to a straight form.
King Evander mumbled under his breath as he now had to walk all the way to the far tower.
“Your majesty,” voices came from bended knees and bowed heads as King Evander walked over to the far tower.
From the castle, one had to leave and walk over a short plain to get to the far tower.
“Your majesty we had drizzle this morning, the earth is slightly wet,” a guard informed the king making King Evander think twice about stepping outside wearing his bedroom slippers.
“Bring Princess Cerena Valentine to the throne room, and where are the two guards that violated the servant woman? Send for the servant woman and her husband. I think they all were working together towards me meeting my maker,” King Evander mumbled his orders, realizing that he might have gotten out of bed too early.
“Bring my breakfast to the throne room,” King Evander continued to bark as he entered his throne room.
King Evander was about to sit on his throne when he remembered he is not dressed yet, “send my clothes here.”
“Shut the doors, no one enters but my Esquires and send a servant with a piss pot!” King Evander yelled, sitting down, “and my crown!”

King Evander was leaning on his hand, his elbow resting on the arm of his throne chair and just as he was about to nod off he got startled by the doors opening, his Esquires, and a servant with a bathroom pot hurrying in.
All of them were rudely pulled from their beds as the king has never been up this early. With yawns, they started to get the king ready.
“Get off me, I need to empty my bladder,” King Evander bellowed, highly irritated.
His Esquires steps aside and the servant with the bathroom pot stood ready.
“Don’t just stand there, continue to dress me,” the king barked again.

“You can't just barge in, it does not matter who you say you are!” a guard called after Prince Remington after Prince Remington masterfully freed them from their swords.
“Cousin?” Prince Remington is shocked to see that this so-called King was his cousin.
“Remington, your grace,” King Evander greeted, surprised to see him as well, “came to congratulate me?”
“You killed Princess Cerena’s parents?” Prince Remington asked shocked.
“How do you even know that? I guess news travels fast from this kingdom,” King Evander snorted.
“Princes Cerena told me she is marrying King U-waan-dar, I did not realize she meant you, Ee-van-derr!” Prince Remington objected.
“I told you I will conquer her and her kingdom,” King Evander laughed, sending his Esquires out.
“Not like this, you didn’t. Where is she? I heard you had her locked up in the dungeons but she is not there,” Prince Remington walked up to his cousin.
A guard ran into the throne room, “Princess Cerena Valentine escaped and she killed two guards!”
“What?!” both men turned to face the guard that was trying to catch his breath.