Chapter 80 Chapter Eighty

Chapter 80 Chapter Eighty
Weirdly, Briar was given the princess's room to occupy in the castle. When Briar had first moved in, the place was in a state of disarray, clothes scattered everywhere, like she had left in a rush. How she had managed to escape, Briar was determined to find out. Amara, obviously took the former King and Queen's quarters. Briar didn't bother knocking, just pushed open the door where two guards stood with more force than necessary. 

Amara was lounging on one of the chairs in the room. 

“If it isn't my second favourite assassin.”

“Who's your favourite?”

“Doesn't matter. You're well on your way to becoming first place though.”

“All I ever wanted.”

Amara smirked. “I see you still have that mouth on you. I'll let that slide. It's been very…silent from Alaric ever since I took you. I actually expected a horde of vampires to be at my doorstep.”

The thought nagged at Briar too. She could feel his ever present agony through the bond everyday and night so she was sure he wasn't just content to leave her here. So why wasn't he coming?

“How would I know Alaric's mind when I'm locked here in this castle?”

“If there's anything you need to tell me, Briar, I advise you to do so. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your lover, would you?”

Her eye twitched. 

“I won't hesitate to end them all if I detect even a sliver of opposition from them. I'll start by stripping them of that daylight tolerance you all cherish so much.”

“I don't know anything, Amara."She kept her tone as even as she could even though all she wanted to do was rip this witches' heart from her chest. 

Briar tried to feel for Amara's threads again, her hands making the movements behind her back. Nothing. It was as if Amara wasn't even living. There was no heartbeat. No rush of blood. No thread to snap. But she looked normal. Her cheeks even reddened when she smiled. 

“Will that be all?” Briar asked.

“I'll be having a visitor this evening. I plan to introduce you to him. Look nice.”

Briar couldn't continue living like this. Alaric better come for her quick. She got back to the princess's room and noticed something was wrong instantly. 

Another set of heartbeat different from hers. 

Briar looked around. The room looked empty to her vampire eyes although it looked considerably darker. 

Vampire then.

She curled her hand into a fist and she heard a choking sound. She squeezed harder. 

Out of the shadows to the left of the room, where the closet was, a man fell on his knees.  His hands clawed at his throat, desperate for the air Briar was depriving him from. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

She released his throat just enough that he could talk.

“No one. I came for a raid.”

“In the princess's bedroom? What happened to the Royal vaults?”

“The princess has some nice jewels too.”

“I'll kill you if you lie to me. Try again.”

That gave him pause. “I have a question of my own. What are you doing in the princess's bedroom?”

“I live here now. Perks of killing the King and Queen.”

Realization seeped into his eyes. “So you're the assassin.”

“Against my will but yes.”

His gaze lingered on the collar on her neck. Briar had to resist the urge to touch it. 

“Well? What exactly did you come here for?”

“I can't tell you.”

Briar raised a brow. “Your life is literally in my hands.”

The man shrugged. “I'm not afraid to die. Already happened once before.”

Interesting. Briar released her hold on him. He got up slowly. He didn't look like a regular thief. Well dressed and groomed, handsome in the ways all male vampires  were. There was something clutched in his hands. A small locket that Briar knew had no real monetary value. 

His eyes followed her gaze. 

“You can stop the pretense,” she said. “I'm not the bad guy here.”

A beat of silence.

“Fine. I'm Severin. You're my replacement.”

“I’m Briar.” Her brows shot up. “Wait…you're the favourite assassin?”

“No way she said that.”

“She did. A few minutes ago actually.”

A dark expression passed over his face. “Well, that's all in the past. I don't work for her anymore.”

“Why?”

“I was the one tasked with killing the Royal family. But I got…carried away.”

“With the princess.” 

“Yes.”

Huh. 

“Amara let you get away with that?”

“Perks of being the favourite.”

“I'm jealous.” Briar said dryly. 

“Where's the princess now?”she asked. 

“I can't tell you that but she's safe.”

Briar agreed that it was safe she didn't know. That way, Amara couldn't torture it out of her. 

“Okay. Let it stay that way. I don't know what's going to happen to me but I won't do anything that'll bring harm to the princess, I promise.”

“I can…try to help you. Escape that is.”

Briar gave a small smile. “You seem to be doing that a lot.”

He shrugged. “I know what it is to be a slave to that witch.”

Briar was suddenly curious about him. 
“If you can help me, Severin, I would be eternally grateful. There's been no word from my friends. I know they're coming but I don't know if they can succeed.”

“There's no defeating Amara. Focus on running instead of fighting.”

“No. I'm going to kill her. I don't know how but I'm going to.”

“Don't say I didn't warn you.” He muttered. “ I came here to get some things for Ivy. Hope you don't mind.”

So they were on first name basis. Interesting. 

“Nope. Do your thing.”

She watched as he rummaged around the room,  getting some clothes and jewelry and stuffing them into a bag. 

Severin finished, strapping the bag to his bag. “Don't do anything too rash, Briar.”he said, pausing at the back door to the princess's room. 

“Don’t worry about me. Just make sure the princess is safe. And don't come back here.”

He gave a salute and disappeared into the shadows again. That little trick reminded her painfully of Alaric. He could do that too. Her heart squeezed in her chest. All the doubts came resurfacing back. Maybe he realized that saving her wasn't worth pissing off Amara and putting the whole vampire species in danger. 

Briar decided she wasn't going to wait. If she was going to get out of this, she would do it herself.