Chapter 37
Hollie’s P.O.V
I sighed in frustration as I threw my head back against the cold, damp walls of the dungeon. At least the guards had been nice enough to keep Brooke with me. I glanced across at the pretty brunette, sitting across in front of me who was shivering slightly in the damp, chilly air. I looked around at our surroundings and sighed sadly. Gone was our plush bedrooms with fancy belongings, soft fur rugs and throws and comfy four-poster beds. Instead, our new lodgings consisted of damp straw lining cold, hard stone floors while damp concrete bricks, covered in green slime encased us deep underneath the Palace. Iron chains clamped around our hands and feet clanged noisily at every moment we made while wrought iron bars offered our only glimpse into the outside world which was merely a dark, dingy stone corridor, leading to more damp, dingy cells. The cold iron against my skin sent shivers through my body, while my breath came out in quick foggy rasps, hanging delicately in the air before fading into nothing. Breakfast had been our last meal and now sitting here, I could feel the familiar rumble of hunger starting to grow in my belly. I wasn’t sure when we would be next fed. Not that it would be anything to look forward to being down here. I had heard that the prisoners only merely got scraps and even they weren’t fit enough for a dog. My limbs ached and throbbed, a painful reminder of how roughly Brooke and I were dragged back up to the Palace and mercilessly thrown into the cells. How I longed for the comforts of the Palace but I wasn’t even sure myself how we were going to get out of this one. I looked over at Brooke in concern as she groaned loudly in pain.
“Are, are you okay, Brooke?” I stammered, feeling my teeth chatter from the cold. “I’m sorry I can’t reach you. These chains are too short.”
“I’ll be okay, I think,” Brooke whispered as she looked at me pitifully. “I think I’ve hurt my leg when they dragged me back up that bloody mountain and threw me in here. The cold isn’t helping. Can’t they give us a blanket at least?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’ll ask when a guard comes. They have to come soon surely? We need to eat too!”
“That’s if they even feed their prisoners here!” scoffed Brooke. “Haven’t you heard that most of their prisoners die down here due to the conditions? I thought Kieran was turning out to be alright! Turns out he is exactly like Carlton!”
“What do you mean by that?” I spluttered in shock. “Surely Kieran wouldn’t let us die down here? Elena wouldn’t allow it!”
“We don’t know if Elena is dead or alive,” Brooke continued slowly. “We don’t even know where she has gone or who has taken here. We did promise to keep her safe. We should have taken some of the golden guards like we said.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if we had taken the guards or not,” I objected sharply. “You heard what Hattie said. That purple fog was caused by a sleeping potion. Everybody in that room would have been knocked out. Those guards wouldn’t have been able to do shit!”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Brooke shrugged feebly. “Who do you think has her?”
“It has to be a witch of some sort, if they were able to make a potion like that,” I murmured thoughtfully. “Or maybe someone from the Palace ordered someone to do it. Maybe they know about the baby?”
“How do you work that one out?” Brooke retorted haughtily. “Elena hasn’t told anyone except Hattie, as far as I know!”
“Why else would someone want to kidnap Elena,” I continued. “It seems odd that Elena falls pregnant, goes down to the city and boom, she goes missing!”
“Or maybe someone is jealous of her attracting the Prince,” Brooke interrupted. “I don’t think anyone apart from us, Kieran, Hattie and the doctor know about the baby. The rumours are obviously true around here after what has happened today!”
“Rumours? What rumours?” I asked, confused. “I’ve not heard about any rumours?”
“Funnily enough, that is the whole point of a rumour. That they don’t get heard by the people that it is intended for,” smirked Brooke before curling herself up tighter. “Before I came here, I heard that the Palace was like a snake pit! Now I’m amongst the Palace, it really is true!”
“Are you saying I’m a fucking snake!” I hissed angrily, glaring at Brooke furiously. “What do you mean by that!”
“No, I’m not saying you are a snake. Calm yourself,” Brooke whispered gently. “Haven’t you noticed? What I’m saying is that everyone who lives in the Palace has a motive. All the girls are just secretly scheming behind one another’s backs. The same is said for Carlton. He hates his brother. You really can’t trust many in this Palace. I bet someone in the Palace was behind the attack!”
“I see what you’re saying,” I nodded in agreement. “Now you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Carlton’s doing!”
“Hmm, see?” Brooke nodded before looking at me seriously. “Do you think Kieran really will have us killed?”
Before I could answer, the sound of marching feet coming towards interrupted our conversation and I looked up as a single guard unlocked the gate and came marching in. without saying a word, he placed a large try consisting of two large bowls containing a grey sludge and two large lumps of brown bread. Beside the bowls was a pitcher, most probably filled with water.
“What is it?” I asked sullenly, wrinkling my nose up in disgust. “It looks putrid!”
“Cauliflower and cabbage soup with a lump of bread each,” the guard smirked. “And don’t think it’s wine in that jug. It’s only water. That’s what you get when you are down here. Count yourself lucky that you’re being fed at all!”
“How considerate of you,” I smirked sarcastically. “Please give our many thanks to the kitchen staff.”
“Where’s the Prince?” interrupted Brooke loudly. “When are we getting out of here?”
“Oh, sweetheart, you won’t be getting out of here anytime soon,” the guard laughed loudly, before crouching down beside Brooke and stroking her neck. “Haven’t you been told? Your heads are coming off! They will be on stakes by sunset. Such a shame as you have such a pretty neck. Such a waste of such a pretty whore!
“Fuck you!” Brooke spat, spitting at the guard in anger. “I am not a whore! You can go to hell!”
Angrily, the guard stood up and furiously wiped off the spittle from his cheek. Growling loudly, he raised his hand above his shoulder and bought it back down heavily against Brookes’s face, filling the cell with an agonising crack. I watched in shock as the guard began to unbutton his trousers, mumbling about teaching ‘that little whore a lesson’. Just as the guard had moved Brooke’s tear-stained face towards his now exposed and fully erected member, another guard ran into the cell, panting.
“Rhodes, you need to come quick!” the guard panted loudly, not seeming surprised as to what Rhodes was doing to Brooke. “We need your help to build a makeshift execution platform!”
Grumbling, Rhodes roughly shoved Brooke’s face away from him as he roughly buttoned himself up and turned to face the second guard who was smiling sadistically.
“Why does a platform have to be built?” Rhodes snapped sullenly. “What is going on? You just interrupted my fun!”
“I’ve just found out from the Commander General and Reginald, that the Royal Executioner has been summoned!” the guard breathed excitably. “And he is on his way as we speak!”