Kaya’s POV.
I’m awake, but my head hurts. My eyes remain closed for reasons best known by my body, and I am glad because I felt my own nerve pausing after a sudden wreckage when I heard the triplets’ mother’s voice.
Emilie is annoyed at someone as she speaks. “How could you have been so careless? You said what?” She speaks as though whatever discussion they are having is meant to be hidden, kept away from anyone else hearing them.
Her voice is tight, and I think she is pacing because I hear her heels tapping against the floor continuously.
“There’s no way I could have guessed. Well, perhaps we shouldn’t have underestimated the girl. She is maybe not as week as she looks.” He disagrees with her.
Who are they talking about?
While I eavesdrop, hoping that I still look un-alive to the naked eye, I wonder why my head hurts.
I can’t remember anything, and it hurts even when I try to recall it. It’s almost like my memory is a needle trying to pierce through a wall. Impossible to achieve is my recollection.
“What would you have done to her?” Asks the second voice. It is a male’s voice, and I swear, whenever I hear the man’s voice, there’s a fear that soars from within. It sends chills down my spine, but I don’t know why.
I’m not even sure why I can’t remember whose voice it is. My memory is at the tip of my finger, but I can’t reach it for some reasons.
“What can we do except have her take it to her grace? She has caught you talking to those wolves. We can’t have the triplets’ knowing who we really are, so we keep it hidden like we’ve done for years since their birth.” She pauses for a second, but she laughs. “Act like a man, Jared. A servant will not be the end of us. What do you think she has got to say to the triplets that would make them believe her words more than their mother’s and uncle’s? And it is especially not a witch’s voice that they’d believe.”
“You’re right, Emilie.” The tone of his voice has changed to a much more relaxed one.
From the way they are speaking, I start to put two and two together, and suddenly, something rings inside my head like an alarm, hammering with a clank.
The girl, the witch—who else could that be if not me?
I saw Jared! Fuck, I saw Jared! I saw him inside the woods. He was being all so suspicious with his actions, and from what I have eavesdropped, there’s a secret behind their actions that they probably don’t want anyone knowing of, and if Jared could even be scared of someone as low as me catching him in the act, it must really be a huge secret.
Now, I’m starting to accumulate curiosity about what it could be about.
Another thought lands inside my mind that shakes my being to the very core of my existence. Oh, no!
If I can still listen to them, that means...no! I’m... I never escaped! I never left. I never left this hellscape. He must have stopped me. Wait, I know my head hurts now! He hit me hard enough to make me lose my consciousness. That’s the only explanation why I can’t remember anything else from the woods.
My eyes snap open. Suddenly, I don’t care if I’m seen awake or not. When I look around, I notice that there’s an arc separating the sickbed that I’m on from where Emilie and Jared are having a conversation. I can still hear them talking, but I’m not in the situation to even listen enough to understand anymore.
My stomach is twisting, and my brain is battling for ideas. I must escape. I can’t stop here.
At this moment, I want to curse myself for being so unfortunate. Something always happens. Why do I have to see Jared? I don’t even care if he’s an enemy of the triplets’ kingdom or a friend. If every other person in the world cares, I’m definitely not included.
I hate them as much, too.
“And where do you think you’re off to?”
“Please, just let me go.” I want to scream at him at this point.
“You must think we are fool to escape us. Since the time you woke up, I have sensed your quivering, weakling heart. There’s turmoil in there.” Emilie’s here too. Yeah, there’s a lot of turmoil because of them. I have no peace because of them.
“I swear, I didn’t see anything.” I proceed to say, because perhaps that’s why they don’t want me to go.
“Why would you say beg for escape with that if really you didn’t?” She speaks, her eyes shifting to Jared for a second with a smile on her cheeks. She’s walking towards me, and when she’s in front of me, her fingers stroke my hair to the back of my ears. “Such being like you. What my sons have turned you to. It’s very unfortunate, isn’t it?” I want to nod my head in agreement so much, but trust me, I just want to get out of this situation.
“We aren’t scared of whatever you saw or heard. It’s of no concern. Your words are of no value, did you not know? No one would believe your words, but there’s much better information that has come to my attention.” She speaks with so much courtesy, or whatever they name it in the royal lane.
My neck is spined with many nerves, and my chest is stiff because I’ve held my breath without even realizing it. She shakes me really effectively.
“I just want to leave her, please. You and I both know I can’t even escape the wilderness. I’ve not got what it takes, but please, just release me.” I hope she can come to terms with me.
She laughs again, this time louder and more hysteric. “But you must know that there’s a chance you might escape. I’ve been watching you, Kaya. If you couldn’t have escaped, you’d have proceeded to kill yourself like you wanted to before that Aiden servant came along. This time around, you were sure.”
Why does she mention Aiden in the conversation in that manner? It leaves me to wonder what she knows about that day when Aiden comes to my rescue. Is there a secret to that as well?
“It’s unfortunate I can’t let you leave, but I can come to an arrangement.”
Quickly, I go on my knees and beg her. “I’ll do anything.”
“Take out that thing growing inside you.”
“What?” My brows cluster as my forehead wrinkles.
“You are with a child, fool. Take it out, and I may reconsider.”
As much as a witch cannot kill herself because of how sacred our body is, going as far as killing a child growing inside you by yourself or in an agreement with you is one of the greatest of all sins. Because of it, in the aftermath, I may never even gain my powers as a witch. The universe would turn it back on me. Then, what use would I be?
I shake my head as my head falls. “I can’t do that.”
There’s a sharp silence before Emilie bursts out laughing. “You really thought it was a bargain, did you not?” She pauses before she adds, “I shall invest my time in making your life a living hell until you take it out. And if you do not agree, then I shall make certain to plug that out myself.”
Now that we are having this conversation and I’m losing greatly, I come to acknowledge that I’m in the royal hospital.
There’s a sudden interruption from the physician. “Your highness, your sons are here.”
She turns to Jared with a quickened voice. “Where are the evidences?”
Jared hurries to the side of the room just as the triplets walk in. I don’t even bother to look toward them because I’ve given up in this state. Maybe I’m just not supposed to escape. With every obstacle, my fate isn’t in accordance with my plan.
“What happened, mother?”
“It’s the witch you’re harbouring. Did I not warn you? She wanted to escape last night, having stolen this key from your chest, but fortunately, your uncle caught her.”
Such a smooth lie.
I can feel Kade’s, Kieran’s, and Kyle’s eyes burning at my back, with their eyes unbelievably watching my move. It was supposed to be a smart one, but now that I’m caught, it’s useless.
“You must have her whipped to the very brink of death. She must see death without actually tasting it.” Their uncle, Jared, is the one who made the suggestion.
I am on the floor, my hands on my thighs, and my face is staring at the tiles. It’s finally over. It’s finally.
“Take her and do just as my uncle said.” Kade instructs, and as I close my eyes, easy tears fall, and I know this is my endgame. I’m stuck here.
Is it strange that it doesn’t hurt as much as I thought? Maybe because I’ve come to understand my fate now? There’s no escape. This is the life I’m created for. I’m supposed to be sad until the end of my days.
As they dragged me away, I couldn’t even bring myself to clean up my tears. It’s continuously flowing, and in my mind, I know what Emilie and Jared had planned with their lies.
I am to be whipped that much in the hopes that I lose my pregnancy.