Recap: Ellis becomes king. Tristan poisoned the former king.
"Hey Tristan," (Y/n) yelled running up to the red-haired boy. Tristan turned his head and gave her a lazy smile. But all (Y/n) could focus on his disheveled appearance. He looked awful.
"Man, you look like you haven't slept in days. Are you alright?" (Y/n) asked.
Tristan laughed. "What can I say, I haven't had time to sleep being the most attractive man in at the castle," he joked.
(Y/n) chuckled. "Okay, okay." Her face dropped. "Hey, I need to talk to you privately."
Tristan nodded. "I know a place."
He began walking away. (Y/n) followed. They made their way to an empty hallway.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"I need you to help me leave the castle."
Tristan's eyes widened. "Damn. Soon?"
"Yeah, It's urgent."
Tristan scratched his neck. "I mean I guess. What happened though--if you don't mind telling me."
(Y/n) nodded and leaned in a bit. "Well, I think that someone framed my friend Myrrine for killing the king."
Tristan's breath stopped.
"killing the king?"
(Y/n) failed to notice his discomfort. "Yeah, do you think you can help us?"
"Yeah... do you want me to talk to Liam?"
"We don't have time. We need to leave as soon as possible."
Tristan nodded his head in understanding. "How about we meet back here tomorrow at midnight. I'll figure something out."
(Y/n) sighed in relief. "That's perfect. Thank you so much!"
"No problem."
"I'll see you then," she waved. Tristan watched the (h/c) haired girl disappear around the corner. As soon as she was gone, he ran a hand through his hair. He would be okay. She didn't know what he'd done.
After composing himself, he decided to head back to his station. He walked out of the empty hallway, unaware that it was, in fact, not empty at all.
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Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as Tristan guarded the entrance to the castle. That was, until two guard grabbed him.
"Hey! What's going on?" he yelled. He struggled in their hold, which only caused their grips to tighten.
Tristan kicked one of the guards in the stomach, causing him to let go. He ripped his other arm from the other guard's grip and took off running. He turned the corner, but felt himself ripped backwards. His body collided with the ground. A loud 'thump' was heard as his head hit the floor. His vision spun, and he felt himself being moved. Then, he was out.
Tristan's eyes fluttered open. He groaned from the pain in his head. His hand went to feel his forehead, but something held it back. Tristan's eyes widened as he saw the shackles around his wrists.
"What the hell?" he said aloud.
A voice cleared their throat. Tristan looked up.
"Prince Roman?" he asked in confusion.
Roman walked towards the male. He raised his arm, and backhanded Tristan. The former guard's body lurched rattling the chains around his wrists.
Roman finally spoke up, his words laced with malice. "How dare you try to take her away from me. You're not worthy of (Y/n)," he spit. "not a wretched person like you."
Tristan was visibly confused by the prince's words. "What? I don't want (Y/n)."
Roman's eyes narrowed.
"I mean she's cool and all but totally not my type, so chill out bro," he rushed out.
Roman gave him a condescending smile. "Liar! You want to take her out of the castle and have her all for yourself."
Tristan froze, realizing the man's words. So he had heard their conversation. Still, he didn't understand why Roman thought that he wanted (Y/n). (Y/n) was a friend, nothing more. He had simply wanted to help her. And now, seeing Prince Roman's actions, he could understand why she wanted to leave so badly.
"Listen there is a misundersta--"
"Shut the fuck up," Roman cut him off. "I don't want to hear your excuses."
"Then what do you want?"
Roman's clenched his fist at his side. "I want you to tell me about your conversation. Who is Liam?"
Tristan looked away. He was silent. He couldn't sacrifice his friend like that.
"So you're not going to talk huh?"
Roman swung his arm.
"Ugh," Tristan groaned as a fist connected with his stomach. The male closed his eyes in pain.
Roman, meanwhile, reached into his pocket, pulling out a small knife.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Tristan spit on the ground.
Roman gave him a wicked smirk. "Alright, I like the hard way better anyway."
The knife slashed through Tristan's shirt. The fabric hung by his sides. Roman rested the knife over the male's bare chest.
Tristan grit his teeth.
The knife pierced his skin, and a small stream of blood dripped from the wound. He struck again. And again. Until Tristan's chest was littered with shallow cuts.
Roman looked over the male with satisfaction. His anger lessened. "Guards," he called out.
Two guards appeared. One held a glass bottle. Both avoided Tristan's eyes. Roman took the glass bottle from the guard, noticing Tristan's wary expression.
"What? Don't want those cuts to get infected, do you?"
Tristan jerked his body, but the pain and the chains held him back. Roman took the cork out of the bottle. The smell of strong ale spread throughout the cell, masking the smell of blood.
Roman held the bottle over Tristan's chest. Then he poured it.
Tristan screamed. His wounds sizzled.
"Stop," he cried out. "I'll tell you what you want."
Roman took the bottle away and handed it to the guard.
"Then talk."
"(Y/n) lives with Liam. They were both orphans, and grew up with each other."
Roman nodded. Liam. He didn't like the guy one bit. He was jealous that (Y/n) was so close to another male. She was too good for Liam. He would make sure that he wasn't an obstacle anymore.
But first, he had to do one more thing. He turned to walk away, then faced the guards.
"Make sure he doesn't die," Roman said gesturing to Tristan. He said nothing else, and left. His feet brought him to a wooden door. He needed answers, and he knew who could help him.
He knocked on the door.
"Come in," a voice said.
Roman walked into the office. Ellis looked up from the paper on his desk.
"Is there something you need?" Ellis asked.
"(Y/n) was planning on running away."
Ellis replayed the words in his head, making sure he had heard them right.
Roman continued. "I heard her talking to someone, and apparently she wanted help excaping from someone named Liam."
Ellis narrowed his eyes. That name, it sounded familiar. He tried to remember where he had heard it before. Then it hit him. Kion had asked him to find someone named Liam. It all made sense now.
"I'll find him." Ellis said with confidence. Roman gave him a short nod and left. The office seemed to get darker.
"Liam," Ellis whispered, "I won't let you get away."
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(Y/n) waited patently in the dark hallway.
Where is he? she wondered.
Tristan was hours late. She couldn't help but think that maybe he had forgotten. But surely he wouldn't forget something so important.
Either way, (Y/n) was growing more restless. She decided to wait a little bit longer. Maybe he was just late.
Another hour passed before (Y/n) finally left. She was dejected and tired when she made it back to the maid quarters. Her eyes drifted to Myrrine's sleeping form.
She would get them out of here. She had to.
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(Y/n) was the first of the maids to wake up. She walked along the hallways, hoping to spot a familiar red-head. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find him. She hadn't even found any clues as to where he would be.
(Y/n) sighed and decided to the kitchen and get something to eat. She dragged her feet down the hall passing a dark haired guard. Her feet stopped. She turned around. For some reason he looked familiar.
Wait, she thought, isn't he that guard I saw with Tristan?
(Y/n) broke into a sprint trying to catch up with the man.
"Hey, wait!" she yelled.
She stopped right in front of the man. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Escuse me," he said trying to walk around her.
(Y/n) blocked his way. "I'm sorry to bother you but you know Tristan right?"
The man's back stiffened. "Yes," he said after a few seconds.
"Have you seen him? I really need to find him."
The man looked away in guilt. He did know where Tristan was, but he didn't know if he could say.
"Please," (Y/n) pleaded. "This is a life or death situation. I need to find him."
The guard looked back at (Y/n). "He is in the dungeons," he said reluctantly.
"What?! What happened?"
"I don't really know, but something about trying to help someone escape."
(Y/n) sucked in a deep breath. This was bad, really bad. She had to find Myrrine.
"Thank you," (Y/n) said running off.
Her heart stammered in her chest with fear. They weren't safe. Because if someone had Tristan, then they knew. (Y/n) ran to the library, where she knew Myrrine would be. She hesitated but slammed the door open.
Leo looked up with a smile at the girl, but she ran past him. She grabbed Myrrine and wordlessly left the room.
"Hey, slow down (Y/n)," Myrrine said. "What's going on?"
Once (Y/n) could be sure they were alone, she looked at Myrrine in horror.
"They know Myrrine. We have to leave tonight."
1543 words
Hey guys hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know a lot of you guys miss the updates twice a week, so I'll release an extra this week. I was thinking when this book hit 50k reads bc we are really close. Anyway sorry this was later than usual but I kept getting distracted lol.
Next Update: 50k reads + Sat/Sun