69

69

Celine's POV.

I still had my mind on the matters of the war and how we're going to survive it, but somehow I managed to pass the remaining few days in a level of internal peace. Maverick was going to come out victorious; he just had to.

And that was enough reason for me to get up again once the rays of the sun hit my face. I got to my feet groggily and walked the length of my room, pacing around a little to clear my head.

I had barely put on my clothes and was preparing to head out when the door of the room opened a little. Stasha peeked inside.

"Your Highness," she greeted. At this point, I had already stopped trying to make her regard me in an informal way.

I just had to accept the fact that some things were never going to be that way. There was always going to be a source of mistress and servant relationship between us, even though at some point in time it might extend for a while into something more that looks like friendship.

I knew that she was here to get me down to the hall on time.

I opened the door, letting her in. "I'll be leaving now. I am ready. You can stay and clean up."

"We will do, miss," she said, giving me a nod.

I saw no more reason to remain there and instead walked out of the room, making my way down the corridor.

I've gotten used to the routine, and I could easily pick my way out even with my eyes closed. It was a few minutes' walk at most, maybe a couple of minutes, but then I finally saw the big walls and the doorway that indicated the dining area. There was no one there inside. Funny, I thought, and here I was thinking that I was already early and I would actually have some company. These days, Maverick never joined me for any of the meals. It was a bit sad when you thought about it, but I wasn't going to act like a whining little teenager. I understood the gravity of things and all that he had to sacrifice for our victory. I wasn't about to pretend that I didn't understand when I clearly did.

When everything was over, I was sure that he was going to settle down as well. After all, this was part of my fault too.

My mind was still occupied with a lot of thoughts even as I stepped into the dining area. The tiles here were different. Instead of the usual blue marble tiles, these ones were a shade of red.

I pulled out a seat for myself since no one was going to be there to do it for me, and then a thought hit me. Since I was literally the only one that seemed to be interested in food nowadays, then I might as well go out and eat wherever I want to, right? I was pretty sure that no one would dare question me. After all, I was the lunar Queen of this pack and only next to the lycan King himself.

The more I thought of it, the more it indeed made sense to me. And so when the servants came forward to serve my food, I signaled one to come closer. "Take it out to the garden instead. I'll eat there," I said. By now, it was sufficient to say that my favorite spot in the whole Palace was the garden. It directly overlooked the walls of the palace and the thick fence that was at the corner. Even if I didn't have any intention of running away this time, for some reason, I was always more at ease in the presence of those flowers and the place where the only sound seems to be the constant chirping of birds in the distance.

"But Your Majesty," the servant began and then fell silent immediately. It seemed to me that she was about to make some objections regarding my decision to eat in the garden instead of here in the dining room. I gave a frown, not liking that one bit. Everyone here should have known by now that no one was supposed to oppose me, not even in the slightest bit.

I raised an eyebrow at her when she began to defy me. "Yes?" I asked, my voice coming out rougher than I had already planned for.

"Nothing," she stuttered. Good, I thought. She seemed to have remembered her place, and not a moment too soon, too. "I will take the food to the garden now," she continued, bowing down and taking the tray again. "What part of the garden, miss?" she asked again.

I couldn't help but frown a little at that. Now I thought that she was being unnecessarily polite on purpose. While I didn't mind that much, it felt like she was trying to be a sycophant too.

But there was no scorn in her voice, which forced me to overlook it. Maybe it was completely unintentional. It wasn't like I was exactly interested in punishing her anyway.

She was minor and insignificant, especially when I decided to look at the whole damn picture in front of me. And what it came down to was that I didn't really care what the rest of the servers did or thought about me as far as they stayed out of my way and let me go about as I pleased. The only set of people that could begin to think of restraining me anyway were the guards themselves. And not just any guards; they had to be the very ones that Maverick put to guard me.

"Just take it there and I'll meet you," I said.

She gave a nod and instantly began to do what I said, carrying the tray of food out of the dining area.

I rose up to my feet and followed behind her. My eyes narrowed slightly. I turned to the side; I could swear I caught a movement in the shadows. Even if it was the slightest bit, it did seem like something was there. Looking at it now, I could only see the metal heads of the armors that lined the walls of the palace literally everywhere, at every corner.

I decided to brush the movement off as just a manifestation of my imagination. There was no way that anyone could be lurking in the corners of the palace anyway. There were guards all around, too, and if any intruder happened to be here, they were going to get caught in just a matter of seconds. They wouldn't last up to a day, really.

But still, taking into consideration all the things that have happened within the past few days, then it was only logical to think that I was a bit paranoid now. Feeling something that wasn't there, being unable to calm myself down against it, I simply followed the servant closely as we made our way to the garden area.

Another faint movement in the distance caught my attention. This time my brows creased into a frown.

"It's nothing. You're being awfully paranoid now," a voice in my head said. Now I was simply conjuring movement in the distance to freak myself out. How wonderful, I thought in sarcasm.

But what if it was serious? What if I wasn't even sarcastic at all? Literally anything could happen now, this moment, and it would be considered to be perfectly normal. After all, a lot was already happening that seemed impossible on a normal day, and all of us took it in as though it was completely normal.

"Your Majesty, we are here," the voice of the servant caught my attention and dragged me out of my daze. I looked around. Indeed, we were surrounded by the flowers and grasses. We were in the garden. The water fountain was just a few feet in front of me. Just watching the water as it rose and fell in a majestic pattern was enough to calm my nerves down.

It was morning, so I really couldn't observe the bioluminescent water. Otherwise, that would have been way more better to look at.

There's a bench nearby, so I sat the food there and waved the servant away, signaling that she could go if she wanted to.

She was on her heels immediately, making her way back in the direction of the main Palace. By now, my stomach was aching, so I decided to start eating.

I was about to start eating. In fact, I had already opened the tray to reveal the ham sandwich and lemonade when I saw someone moving towards me through the corner of my eyes. I stiffened instantly, on alert.

Now it was safe enough to say that that wasn't a figment of my imagination like the former times. Someone was actually here, and I was starting to get scared.

Just as I was about to stand up and go and check what the fuck it was about, a hand was clamped to my mouth. I felt the body of someone press into me. All my nerves were instantly on alert. Instinctively, I bit into the palm of the person holding me.

I heard a grunt, but the big hand clamped over my mouth didn't loosen in the slightest way.

If possible, it became even more tight. Part of the hand covered my nose too; that was how big it was. And somehow, I was finding it hard to breathe. What the actual hell, I thought, as my heart raced.

I attempted to bite again, but the hand was replaced with something heavier and stronger. A piece of leather bag or a gag, something of the sort. It tasted of dirt and grasses.

I thrashed and struggled against the person holding me. I pulled at him, trying to get away with all my might as I regretted coming to the garden in the first place. If I were still there at the dining room, then most of the servants would have noticed by now, and the guards would have come running, right?

None of it was starting to make sense now. I struggled and struggled, trying to get at least a glimpse of the person holding me.

"Stay still or it's going to be nasty," a rough voice cut through the silence that was in the garden. I stiffened immediately, sensing the cold tip of a muzzle pressed to my neck.

It took me a couple of seconds to register that it was a gun. Someone was starting to point a gun at me. I realized immediately that this was no joke.

"Who... who are you?" I stuttered.

Meanwhile, my mind was occupied with something entirely different. Where did all the guards go? I thought, panicking.

An intruder was right here in the palace. But that wasn't what scared me the most. Why hasn't anyone put up an alarm yet? I couldn't believe that whoever this was had been so skillful to dodge every last one of them. And why was I the target??

"Who the fuck are you?" I continued to ask as though it would change my current reality. Right now, I could only hope to stall the time a little until help came, at least.

"That's not important," he growled, his breath hot against my neck.

I gulped in fear, realizing that my tactic was probably not going to work in this situation.

He had a different scent around him. I was positive that he wasn't from this pack. But that could only mean one thing.

The son of a bitch, I thought, gritting my teeth in frustration. I had a feeling that I knew exactly who he was or at least how he got to be here. The unfamiliar or foreign scent around him told me that he was not of this pack, but I recognized his smell.

He was probably one of the members of the army from Ryder's Pack.

It was one thing for them to infiltrate our defenses, but one of their minions was right here in the very depths of the palace.

Right now, I could only believe that he was sent to kill me or maybe something worse. I felt the blood in my veins run cold at the thought.

"Now you come with me quietly," he continued to speak. "I'm sure you already have an idea on what is going to happen, don't you, girl? Or we can make this nasty for the both of us," he breathed.