Chapter 29 ~ Defiant
Arabella stood up to stretch her legs. She barely noticed her surroundings, it was better if she didn’t think about why she was here. She heard footsteps coming towards the dungeon and recoiled back in fear of who it was. She hadn’t been visited by anyone since Rowan and Eleanor had talked to her.
Rowan couldn’t possibly be trying to save her. It would take a lot of effort and he had made it clear that he wasn’t going to help her if she was caught. So it puzzled her when it seemed like he was serious about trying to free her. Even if it didn’t seem plausible she was still hopeful. She needed something to keep her spirits up or else she may just end her life to get it over quicker.
Rowan’s uncle entered the dungeon and she froze when she locked eyes with his cold ones. He smirked at her when she pressed her back to the wall in order to be as far away from him as possible.
“What’s that matter? Am I making you uncomfortable?” Walter asked casually as if he was clueless about what was happening. She stared at him not giving him an answer. “I’ll make you a deal,” he said enticingly giving up the small talk. “I’m sure you know other werewolves, if you tell me their names I’ll accidently leave the cell open and you’ll escape unscathed.”
“You’re crazy,” Arabella blurted out in shock. Walter narrowed his eyes as his anger took over him. She couldn’t give up other people just to save her life. She wasn’t a turncoat. Many lives for one life wasn’t equal even if she would actually consider taking up his offer. There was no guarantee that she would even get out and past the security. She would be caught for sure.
“I think you should reconsider,” Walter replied threateningly. She just shook her head. She would rather die than be responsible for the deaths of others. She would never be able to live with that guilt. “You’ll change your mind. I’ll visit again and Arabella?” She looked up at him wondering what he wanted. “It would be in your best interest to accept my offer sooner rather than later, I will make your life difficult until then.”
“My life is already difficult. I am going to be dead in three days’ time, nothing else can possibly be worse than that knowledge,” she retorted.
“Shows how naïve you are,” Walter stated. “In certain situations death can be a mercy. Make the right choice and you can live the rest of your life in peace, undisturbed and comfortably. Then in three days’ time you’ll be dead,” he said sadistically amused by reminding her about her scheduled date for execution.
“I won’t change my mind,” she whispered.
“We’ll see about that. Oh and if you tell anyone else about what we talked about I’ll kill you myself, and I’ll see to it that it is more painful than what you would otherwise experience when you are to be executed,” Walter told her.
She nodded and he left. He must be working by himself if he didn’t want anyone else to know what he was up to. That information could be useful, she decided and filed it away for later.
She sat back down on the thin mattress suddenly realizing how weak she was. She hadn’t eaten in a while. She closed her eyes and laid her head on the mattress. She began to drift off into sleep but she heard footsteps again and tiredly pried open her eyes. Was Walter coming back? She blinked in confusion as she saw that it wasn’t Walter but Alexander.
“What are you doing?” she asked before he could say anything. She didn’t really want to hear what he was going to say to her.
“How could you keep a secret like this from me?” Alexander asked instead of answering. His tone was distant and professional on the outside but Arabella knew him so well she could detect the hurt beneath.
“I wasn’t sure how you’d take it. It’s not something you just one day start a conversation about,” she sighed. “My kind never tells normal people their secret. It’s too dangerous, what’s happening to me is proof of that.”
“You don’t know that I would have reacted badly to finding out what you are,” Alexander protested.
“I didn’t know that you wouldn’t,” Arabella pointed out. Alexander rolled his eyes drawing attention to his pale skin and the bags underneath his eyes. His blond hair was a mess and his clothes were wrinkled, he hadn’t been spending much of his time on his personal needs. “Why are you here?”
“I’m one of the guards outside the dungeon,” he answered and her eyes sought out the key ring with many keys on it hanging on his belt. He caught her look and shook his head sadly. “I can’t let you out. The castle security has been increased and you would be caught. Then both of us would be sentenced to death. You would be executed for being a werewolf, me for committing treason.”
“I know, I just couldn’t help but consider the option,” she admitted.
“No one is supposed to see you but I don’t care.” He stepped up to the metal bars of the cell and wrapped his fingers on the bars. “I don’t care that you’re a werewolf, I’m just hurt that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me yourself.” Arabella opened her mouth to reply but he shook his head telling her not to talk. “I’ve forgiven you; all I can think about is that soon you’re going to die.”
“Why does everyone keep bringing that up,” Arabella exclaimed. “All I want to do is forget about it but that is proving impossible.” Alexander gave her a small smile. “If I’m not allowed visitors then you shouldn’t be here. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”
“I don’t want you to die,” Alexander said. “I’m trying to figure out what I can do but I come up with nothing.”
“That’s alright. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
“Well there are people who think they can. Eleanor keeps bringing up how she doesn’t think you should be sentenced to death and Rowan is gone,” Alexander replied piquing her interest.
“Rowan’s gone?” she repeated.
Alexander laughed bitterly. “Yeah, he is quite determined to be your hero. His family caught on to his plan to try and save you and locked him in his room.” Arabella looked down avoiding his eyes so that he didn’t see her disappointment. “That didn’t stop him; he just escaped his confinements somehow.”
“He did?”
Alexander nodded. “I’m just hoping he succeeds and finds a way to get you out of here. I hate that you are in this position.”
“With any luck I’ll be saved,” Arabella said even though she wasn’t completely convinced. She was just trying to make him feel better. “You should just get back to your post. I wouldn’t want you getting caught.”
Alexander sighed and stepped back from the cell. “Hang in there,” he encouraged. She forced herself to smile but as soon as he left the dungeon it slipped off her face. She sat back on the mattress but her sleepiness was gone since she had found out that Rowan was actually trying to save her. She rested her head on the wall and just waited as time ticked on.
A long time later a guard with short black hair and blue eyes that definitely wasn’t Alexander came in, and put down a bowl with food in it on the ground just outside the cell. She crawled over to it and stuck her hand through the bars wincing as her hand just barely squeezed through. She brought the bowl closer and inspected the food. There was some hard, stale bread with small spots of mold on it and a part of a bruised apple, most of which had turned brown from being exposed to the air. She glanced at the guard who was still standing there watching her.
“I have a message from the hunter that visited you today,” he began. Arabella nodded accepting that Walter just wouldn’t leave her alone. “He said that you’re only going to get food that otherwise would be thrown out until you agree to his offer. You will also only be get two meals a day; you’d better make that last until morning.” Arabella gaped at him as he turned around and left then turned her attention to the food. She felt sick at just the thought of eating the food she was given. She pushed away the bowl not desperate enough to eat it… yet. She backed away from the food and just sat on the floor her eyes never leaving the bowl. She just ignored her growling stomach.
In the end all thoughts of her hunger deserted her mind when she heard running and people screaming. She stared at the dungeon entrance wondering what was happening outside. The commotion sounded like it was near and then there was a cry and a thump as a body hit the ground. Her breath caught as she was met with the sight of the royal family and the hunters being escorted into the dungeon by werewolves in human form. The humans had a werewolf gripping their arm very tightly to make sure they don’t get away. She watched in confusion as they were forced into cells.
Two people were put into each cell, the pairings were, Rose and Gavin in the cell next to her, the King and Queen, Eleanor and a crying frightened Katherine, Prince Victor and Prince Ashton, Rowan’s parents, and then Walter was alone. The werewolves didn’t waste time in the dungeon. As soon as their prisoners were locked in the cells the werewolves left.
“What happened?” she asked. Most of the royal family gave her a dirty look and Arabella was taken aback. She didn’t understand why they would react to her question like that.
“The castle has been taken over,” Rose answered after seeing no one else was going to. She rubbed her arm and Arabella noticed the red marks were the werewolf had been gripping her. “Werewolves have control of the castle.” Arabella gasped and Rose nodded grimly. “Yeah, I thought you didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“She’s just faking her surprise,” Gavin muttered. “They’re her kind, how could she not know about the plan to usurp the royal family claim to the Kingdom. Rose glared at him but he didn’t seem bothered about that. “Inside she’s extremely glad this is happening because it means she doesn’t have to be executed. She never cared about the royal family; she always wanted them off the throne.”
“Gavin, this isn’t going to help the situation. It doesn’t matter if she did or did not know about the scheme, which for the record I don’t think she knew about it,” Rose argued. Gavin rolled his eyes still sceptical. Indeed almost everyone seemed sceptical, except for Eleanor and Rose.
“Do you know what they wanted?” Arabella inquired getting a sneaking suspicion that she knew who was behind this attack.
“Yeah to take control of the Kingdom,” Gavin replied sarcastically.
“I heard that they don’t want werewolves to have to be fearful of being hunted and killed. They want werewolves to be in power so they won’t have to be so secretive anymore,” Eleanor clarified. Yes, it completely sounded like what her mother was trying to achieve. The timing was further proof that it was her mother. So soon after Arabella was caught and sentenced to death the castle was attacked. That couldn’t be a coincidence. For some reason her mother cared that her daughter remained alive and pushed forward the date of her plan.
“What will happen to us?” Katherine whimpered causing Eleanor to pull the little girl into her arms. Katherine buried her face in Eleanor’s shoulder and wrapped her small arms around Eleanor’s neck before starting to cry.
“Shh,” Eleanor soothed. “Everything will be just fine. It’ll all be over soon.” She was lying of course; Arabella didn’t see any way they would get out of this soon. She didn’t even see a way out for them in the future. If her mother was really orchestrated this like she thought then her mother wouldn’t want the royal family alive in case the escaped and took back the throne. Two werewolves came back in the dungeon, one had his hair shaved off and the other had really short grey hair which was weird because he was in his early twenties walked towards her cell. They unlocked it and pulled her to her feet. She gave the rest of the prisoners an apologetic look and Gavin shot her an icy look.
“I knew you were working with them,” he accused. Arabella sighed but didn’t bother correcting him. No one’s opinion of her would change. They thought she was also responsible for what was happening to her. She just let herself be shepherded out of the dungeon. Outside her eyes fell on the body outside the dungeon and she took a sharp intake of breath.
Alexander was lying on the ground with a large wound on his forehead. She heard a barely there heartbeat and knew his condition wasn’t good. She prayed he would be alright as she was led away. Along the way she saw signs of the battle that had taken place. Discarded swords lay on the ground and there were pools of blood on the floor, and in certain spots there were bodies that haven’t yet been moved. She shivered in disgust and focused on not noticing anything gruesome, she failed horribly. Around every corner was a horrible sight for her to lay eyes on.
When they came to the throne room the two werewolves pushed open the doors and steeped aside to let her pass. She didn’t even give them another glance. Once she was in the throne room the doors slammed shut behind her. Her mother was regarding the throne room with a critical eye but when the doors slammed shut she turned to Arabella.
“Ah, you’re here,” she said coming closer to her when she saw that her daughter had stopped in her tracks unwilling to go closer. Arabella didn’t want to be any nearer to her mother then possible and she had to restrain herself from taking a step back as her mother closed the distance between them.
“What’s going on?” Arabella asked.
Her mother gave her a smug smile. “What’s happening is a revolution,” she stated. “Werewolves everywhere are rebelling against the royal family’s tyrannical rule.”
“Are all the werewolves rebelling?” Arabella inquired already knowing what her mother was leaving out. Her mother looked furious at Arabella bringing up that not all werewolves supported her mother’s mission.
“It doesn’t matter,” her mother snapped. “What matters is that werewolves no longer have to worry about being discovered. They can out their secret and not be sentenced to death. You came close to it, how did it feel?”
She ignored the reference to her time spent in the dungeon. “All the werewolves don’t support you because they know this is wrong,” Arabella replied in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter if you think this is for their own good. You’re just stooping to the same level the King was when he has werewolves killed. After all you are going to kill them. How is that any different than the King killing werewolves?
“It is different. I probably won’t kill anymore humans after killing the royal family and the hunters,” her mother stated half-heartedly.
“Probably?” Arabella pointed out, “that doesn’t seem very reassuring. How are you going to treat the humans after? Or make sure they don’t rise up against you? This doesn’t seem very well thought out.”
“It isn’t very well thought out because I had to take action when you got yourself thrown in the dungeon. I had to save you since you were so careless,” her mother yelled. “As for the humans I don’t really care about them. They will be too scared of the werewolves to do anything.”
“And that is different from a tyrannical dictatorship how exactly?” Arabella replied. Her mother glowered at her in response. She took a minute to get herself under control and Arabella waited patiently. Her mother didn’t get a chance to form a reply and say it as the throne room doors opened once more and in came a young boy around the age of eight. He had black hair that was all messed up and in need of a haircut. It was to the point where it fell into his turquoise eyes.
“Yes, what is it?” her mother asked the boy. He stepped closer looking at Arabella with wide eyes. When her mother sighed he forcefully took his eyes of Arabella.
“I found out the information you wanted,” he whispered, his eyes flickering to Arabella and then back to her mother.
“Good job Graham,” her mother praised. “Wait a minute while I talk to Arabella then when she’s gone you can tell me what you uncovered.” He nodded and took a step back looking at the ground. “Now I want you by my side with ruling the Kingdom.” Arabella flinched but her mother either didn’t notice or didn’t care and went on. “I won’t take no for an answer. Sooner or later you will join me in my quest to make the lives of werewolves better.”
“That will never happen,” Arabella vowed. Her mother’s eyes narrowed in displeasure. Arabella tensed up unsure of how her mother would respond.
“Fine, be that way. You’ll stay your room in the servants’ quarter until you change your mind.” Arabella rolled her eyes but turned to leave the throne room. The two werewolves from before fell into step with her and she took that to mean they were her guards for now. She got to her room and went in alone. She stared out the window wondering what she was going to do for a bit only stopping when the door to her room opened and the boy from earlier walked in.
“What does my mother want?” Arabella asked; he had to be here for her mother.
“She doesn’t know I’m here. I also tricked the guards into eating food poisoned with sleeping powder so they don’t know that I’m speaking to you either,” he whispered. “I don’t support what she’s doing.”
“Then why are you here?” he frowned and glanced around uncertain about confessing everything to her. “It’s alright, I won’t tell.”
“I don’t have any other choice,” he answered. Silence followed to the point that Arabella was about to prompt him to go on. “I’m her son.” Her eyes widened as what he said registered. “We’re related. I don’t know what to do. I just know what she’s doing is wrong.” He looked at her in awe. “How can you stand up to her?”
“I stand up for what is right, but I’m also older so therefore less scared of her. I’ve lived for so long without her in my life that she isn’t important anymore. If you don’t want to help her anymore then you should run.”
“I couldn’t, I’m only eight,” he objected. Arabella shrugged. “Come with me, we could get out since your guards are knocked out.” She shook her head sadly.
“That was how old I was. I can’t leave, not while the royal family are still captured,” she told him. He nodded and she could see that he was actually considering it. “You should get away from here; it’s for your own good.”
“You wouldn’t be able to free them. There are werewolves posted in the dungeon now,” he informed her. She shrugged and just sat down. “Okay, I’ll leave.”
Arabella smiled but then her thoughts went to Alexander. “Could you do something for me? My friend Alexander is a guard and he was hurt and unconscious near the dungeon, could you get him out of here?” he nodded and then left the room leaving Arabella to reflect on what she had just found out.