Chapter 58 Where is my Bracelet!!!
Amarien's POV
I checked my hands and saw the bracelet was gone. I was going to summon Theron, only he can save me from the trouble I'm in.
How?!
How did I lose the bracelet? I could barely pull it off without feeling it about to snap. Who pulled it off my hand!
The door of my cell slammed open revealling Malrick.
"It's time for your trial." He announced and pulled me up by my feet, dragging me out of my cell.
As I was dragged through the courts, people, servants, slaves, concubines, and courtiers swore at me.
"Kill her!"
"Take her to the gallos."
"She's a wrench!"
They pelt rotten fruits, stones, and mud at me. Malrick did little to shield me from their attack; he only dragged me up the court, which the Emperor was presiding over.
Flashes of thought about how he chopped off Basgrid's head flash through my mind. Basgrid had been his former head of guards before he threw his advance at me and tried to rape me.
The Emperor would have killed us both, save for Daevir's saving my life. But now that we both had been caught redhanded he will never be allowed in the courts. It would just be me face-to-face with the Emperor as he looks at me with that maddened rage that makes me think he is a demon.
He will revel as he watches my blood splash on his face when he chops it off. He might even dance over my grave, he might order my body not to be buried and hung on a pole so the vultures feast on it, and I will be a lesson for his concubine to come never to mess with him.
I will take all these faults of mine. But my baby! My child doesn't deserve this. I clenched my stomach and bit my lips, tears streaming down my face.
There has to be another way out. I've got to find it. I looked around at the crowd, maddened with rage and bloodlust.
I can't die like this. I can't.
As we arrived at the courts, the councilmen sat on their thrones, dignified and with a look of contempt in their eyes.
The Emperor wasn't in the room.
"He claims he can't stomach your execution," Malrick said to me as we were ushered to the waiting room. The room where I will stay as I watch the councilmen deliberate on my matters and deliver my judgment.
It's a little cell light outside the council room. I could see through their decisions, but they couldn't see me.
"I had no idea he was unconscious," I said, my voice giving in to despondency.
If the Emperor were here, perhaps a look at me would make him change his mind. He loved me so much that it sometimes drove him to madness.
That's why he didn't come. Because he didn't want to be swayed by me, he was so hurt that he wanted me dead and done with. He won't even give me the dignity of looking into my eyes as these men of his council peel off every dignity and have and throw me off to be killed.
He loved me, truly. And I tossed it back to his face.
My heart ached.
"He awoke the night before, calling for you," Malrick said, his face still stone-cold. "You were all he wanted, Amarien. The thought of you brought him back to live. You could have heard everything you wanted. You could have been Queen, yet you threw it all away because of your lust for the prince…"
"I love him…" I spat, refusing to give in to despair.
"And look where that got you," Harold spat, eyeing me maliciously as he walked out. I watched him leave, slamming the door behind me.
Even Daevir won't be able to save me. I shut my eyes.
The bracelet. Where did it go? It must have fallen into my dress as the guards dragged me out.
If I summon Theron now, no one will see him. It will just be him and me in the cell. He might help me out, give me another day to leave so I can save my child's life.
But where is it? I looked around my body, and my hands were firmly clasped on my back. I used my fingers to search my wrist again. I couldn't feel the charming jewels of the bracelet.
Where could it…
"Looking for this?" A voice in the room made my skin crawl. My gaze whipped around, and I saw Princess Catherine at the door, the bracelet…the bracelet was right in her hand!
“You…your highness…” I muttered.
Princess Catherine chuckled and stepped right into the room.
"The bracelet was unhooked in her hand, dangling like a little snake stretched out in the darkness. How did she do it? How did she get it out of me without summoning Theron?
"You must be impressed by my abilities, Amarien." She said, a malicious glee glinting in her eyes. "You need not worry, your dear Theron won't be coming anytime soon. In fact, he won't be coming at all."
"How did you get the bracelet?!" I spat.
"You really underestimate me, Amarien." Catherine's lips curled into a smirk. "They call me the daughter of the witch of the West, where I come from. I know magic that you and your generations will never know for eternity.
I squirmed through the chains in my hands. "Please, give me back my bracelet."
"Why?" Catherine teased mockingly, "So you can call your beloved Theron."
How did she know?!
How did she know my bracelet would summon Theron?
"It won't be a good look for you, Amarien, considering everyone in the palace already hates you."
I smiled at her, unwilling to be defeated by her taunting. "Daevir loves me. He loves me more than he will ever love you. No amount of punishment you mount on me will take that away from him."
Cathrine threw her head back and laughed hard and loud. "A man always has his weakness, they say. But no one talks about a man having his limits."
No, she didn't. Tears well up in my eyes. No, she didn't tell Daevir about the bracelet. I trembled.
Catherine's eyes matched mine with an intensity that could crush one's soul.
"I know, Amarien. And I told him everything. I know Daevir is a werewolf. I saw him that night at the tower. I saw the beast he became." Her eyes lit up with glee. "And I told him where you got your little gift from."
I stumbled to my knees.