The Eternal Queen

Chapter 43: Ardele

After some arguments, we settle on staying here. Most businesses are still closed, and honestly, I would rather stay at the castle at the moment. But I will have to one drink with him. Just one.

Daniel leads us to the sunroom, and I plop down on a chair. He sits across from me, and I realize that there are no guards positioned outside. Where is everyone? Now that I think about it, I have not seen Nikolai all day.

There is a wine cabinet pushed to the left corner of the room, and Daniel sets two glasses on the table. I thank him when he pours red wine in my cup, and he pours bourbon in his. Picking up the glass, I slowly sip while Daniel starts chattering away.

"Are you worried?"

I scrunch my eyebrows. "Worried of what?"

"Of the imposter?"

My body stills and I tilt my head questioningly. "Who do you think it is?"

He cleanly finishes his glass and pours himself another. "Are you gossiping, Lady Ardele?"

"Me? Never. We are exploring ideas here."

"Are you worried?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Of what, Daniel?"

"That the imposter is going to target you next?"

Tapping my fingers on the table, I shrug. "I do not know. I would rather have they target me rather than another."

"Why is that?"

I swirl the wine in my glass. "I would rather be in danger instead of another. Simple as that."

Drinking the rest of the wine, I set the glass on the table. Lifting my gaze from the glass, I am met with a Cheshire grin. My eyes go big, but it is too late. He's got me pushed up on the glass walls, my throat being strangled.

"How noble of you, Ardele," he whispers in my ear.

Thrashing against him, he ruffles through my skirts. My screams are locked in my throat, and tears leak from my eyes from the exertion. His free hand pulls out my dagger, and he pulls back triumphantly. His hand on my throat loosens, but he brings the blade to my neck.

"Don't scream. You'll die if you do."

I nod slowly, fuming. It was Daniel?! Daniel? He was the assassin? Is he working for Clairemont? If so, how long? The timeframes do not match up.

The blade leaves the vicinity of my throat, and I gasp for a deep breath.

"Why don't you just kill me, Daniel?"

"Not yet, sweets."

I glare at him to elaborate.

"As if I would never pass up the chance of seeing Fallon turn murderous."

I lean in, brushing my lips to his ear. "You never will."

Before he can comprehend what I said, I whip my elbow up, slamming it into his jaw. He stumbles back, and I grab the closest chair next to me, hurling it at him. The chair breaks when it comes into contact with his body. Daniel regains his balance, and he manically grins, making me involuntarily shiver.

"I didn't want to kill you, Ardele. But now it would be the nice cerise on top."

He charges with the dagger, and I dodge it. I place a barrier spell over myself, and the blade cracks when it touches the barrier. I do not have enough magic energy to take control over any of his vital organs, but a simple barrier spell will do. My mana is draining fast. I need to find a way to knock him out now.

"Stop! Why are you doing this?"

"I don't answer to you, darling."

And my mana is gone. The barrier loses effect, and he nicks my shoulder. I grab a wooden leg of the broken chair, and I block the blade to my throat with the chunk of wood. Dodging another swing of the sharp dagger, I duck under, running towards the door.

He harshly yanks me back by the arm, and I topple over. Flipping myself over, the blade is hurled towards my body again, and dodge. My body is moving sluggishly, and nearly take a hit to the heart.

The dagger has to go somewhere. And I do not have enough physical strength to wrestle it out of his hands. The blade comes at me again, and I let it penetrate through my skin. Crying out, he twists it in. I barely am able to reach the booze bottle from behind him, slamming it down on his skull. Glass shatters on his head and on my hand, and he falls to the floor.

My brain is pounding, and I want to keel over. My hands are shaking so bad, and I wipe the sweat from my face. Daniel thankfully underestimated me, which was a huge mistake in his plan.

Thank goodness, he had never seen me fight and was not there when I was in the library of Illea. If he had been, he would have figured out there was something wrong with my chain. That would have been my downfall if he knew. I do not know who he is working for, but I cannot kill him quite yet. We need to get answers out of him.

He is limp on the ground, groaning, and I kick him in the stomach again. I scream when I pull out the dagger out of my stomach, blood pouring out. Heaving, I slam the blade into his gut for good measure. Don't touch me, you traitorous scumbag.

My dress is soaked with my blood and his, and I stumble into the hallway to call for help.

"Help! I need help!"

Where is everyone? Gasping for air, my vision starts to blur. I need to get outside. There has to be someone outside for goodness sake. I almost tumble down the stairs, and I grimace at the thought. I do not think I would have survived the long flight in my state.

Shoving the closest ground door open, I fall on the pavement outside. My eyes have fully given up on me, the world turning black.

"Call for the prince! Call... for... hi-"

And I succumb the lulling call of the darkness.