Rebirth (A Remington Leith AU)

Chapter 31

I was placed in another room with barely any light, after I refused to give Felix an answer to his proposal. As punishment for me refusing him, he put me in here while I was still trapped in this cage. I've never met anyone filled with so much hatred and resentment that they turn into this monster with no soul or sense of pity. I wanted to have hope that he could be different and not be so cruel, but looking at his eyes, they looked so empty and cold. If he was always like this even back when he knew Remington, I can only believe Remington was just trying to do the right thing and never meant to cause any harm. He called him weak and ambitious, but that's not how I see him. Remington has always been so kind and generous, no one ever seems to say a bad word about him and never once did I believe Remington could be a bad person, not after he managed to make me feel safe and loved around him. Now I'm afraid we'll never see each other again.

Thinking about him, I crumbled to the floor and curled up like a ball, wishing more than anything that I could see him again and this never happened in the first place. I cried silently and softly as his sweet smile and beautiful eyes were all that plagued my mind and I'd give anything to see them in front of me again. If I survive this and Remington is still alive as well, I'd swear on my life to never take advantage of him and live everyday with him like it's our last day together. I've now realized that someone like him cannot be found so easily and it was a blessing we ended up falling in love so deeply and so passionately, despite the inconvenient circumstances that existed before our marriage but now all that matters is that I treasure him as he has treasured me since the first day he saw me. I cried until I was exhausted and fell asleep. I had a different kind of dream then, one where I was back in the castle, and to my surprise, I was holding a baby in my arms. It looked so precious and sweet as it was fast asleep. I leaned down to kiss it's head so softly as to not wake it, and a minute later, Remington walked into the room and smiled at me and the baby. He planted a small kiss on my lips and whispered something I couldn't make out.

I awoke to find it was nighttime and the room was much too dark, no trace of light except for some moonlight shining through the small window. I was uncomfortable with this lack of light and I felt scared. Then the door opened and Felix emerged to stand over me and stare down as I backed myself as far from him as I could inside the cage. He flashed an evil grin as he muttered, "You seem to be afraid of the dark, Your Highness. I could help fix that for you if you let me..." I turned my head away, refusing to give him any attention. He kept speaking, "Don't be like that, Princess. I'm a man of my word, so when I say if you do something for me, I swear no harm will come to Remington. Let's just see how far you'll go to insure he lives." The way he said that send chills throughout my body, but if he was true on his word that he'll keep his promise to not lay a hand on Remington, I wanted to make sure he does just that. It was a high price to pay, but nothing else mattered and I was too scared for Remington to get hurt trying to keep me safe.

With a heavy heart, I hung my head as I caved, "Okay, I'll take your deal if you swear on your life you won't hurt Remington." He let out a sinister chuckle as he said to me, "I swear it, Your Highness. Nothing is ever free in this world without doing something for it." I swallowed in fear as Felix unlocked the gate and held his hand out for me to take. Hesitantly, I took it and he pulled me out of it before pushing me down on the floor. I looked away and closed my eyes, wanting to believe this wasn't happening but there was nothing else I could do. With hunger in his eyes, Felix ran his fingers on the collar of my dress and was about to pull it down, until various voices started shouting downstairs and one of the men knocked on the other side of the door, loudly claiming that an intruder was standing outside of the shelter. Frustrated, Felix grabbed my arm and shoved me back inside the cage before locking it and stepping out of the room. I thanked God I was spared from what was about to happen, but then grew curious about the so-called intruder outside.

I could hear people bickering outside and then Felix's voice called out sternly, "Who are you and what business do you have around here?" The intruder responded and declared, "I am a loyal knight who comes from the castle of Prince Remington to deliver a message as a response to your threat." I gasped in shock, one of the soldiers must have arrived to try to confront Felix on behalf of Remington. Felix laughed at him and asked, "Is that so? What's this little message?" The soldier spoke clearly and confidently, "Prince Remington is willing to give up his throne and his kingdom to you in exchange for letting go of the princess and making sure she's unharmed. Hes expecting a response as soon as possible with some indication that Princess Lillian has not been hurt." I was in disbelief of what I heard. Remington was willing to give up everything he has for my safety, and it made me wish more to see him again. It was silent for longer than it should have been, which was scaring me, then Felix spoke once again, "You know what? I've got a better proposal for your prince."

Before the soldier could ask, I heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed and horrific sounds from the soldier's voice. I listened in horror as Felix concluded with, "Tell your prince that if I don't see him tomorrow night with what I've asked of him, I'll make him watch the light leave his wife's eyes as I slit her throat and make her suffer for his incompetence." After that, I heard Felix command to his men, "Place him on the horse and have him sent back to the castle. If he survives, Remington will end up losing hope either way." I was in utter horror of what I just heard. And even though I didn't see what was happening, it wouldn't have made it better as I realized Felix was much worse than I thought. He's gonna kill me and Remington, and it wouldn't have mattered if I let him take me because he was just empty inside and there was no hope that he would change. I prayed over and over that whatever happens, Felix will get what he deserves for being so awful and sinister.