Chapter 143: Book 2 - Chapter 49
Chapter 49 – A Life for a Life
Serena
The door opened and like I expected it was the face of Dr. Rutherford which greeted me. She wore Ehnrelil’s silk robe and partnered it with a snobbish smile—totally the opposite of what I remembered her to be, a sincere woman.
“Dr. Rutherford?” My knees wobbled, and I fought the urge to stumble back because of the pain in my stomach. “Why? Why—are you doing—this?”
She cocked a brow and whipped her hand in the air. “Let’s have a chat downstairs, luna. As you are right now, you look just about to collapse,” she said, yet there was not a hint of concern in her voice. She didn’t even assist me down the two flights of stairs despite my condition. I did it all on my own while grimacing and moaning in pain.
Once I arrived in the living room, I claimed the nearest sectional sofa and huffed. She sat adjacent my seat and simply studied my situation as if she wasn’t a doctor who pledged to serve the ill.
A movement in my left made me look up and saw the person I suspected who kidnapped me, High Elder Hadon. He stood at the end of a corridor with his irritating beard and his excessively designed robe.
“Mistress, Viscount Daniel has arrived,” his gaze rested on the doctor and said while he bowed.
Bowed? I couldn’t understand his submissive action, but the fact that he said ‘mistress’ made me believe in that instant—she was the mastermind of this whole operation.
“And just in time, Hadon,” she answered with her gaze still trained on me. “Let him in so that he could also enjoy the queen’s presence.”
Hadon bowed again and left the room.
“The viscount...” I muttered, believing now that he was an accomplice.
“Are you surprised?” She chuckled. “My real name is Hilda Watercress, luna. I come from a long line of Earth representatives. We always lead this position until Marius dela Forte took it from us. We thought it was the end of our dynasty until fortunately, Viscount Daniel had the commonsense to know who leads who. He has accepted my offer to join my cause. I will rule over Terranis first, and then, I will bring down the realms one by one, starting with your precious Phanteon.”
I gritted my teeth harder. The pain around my waist was still present, but my attention was all directed to this woman.
“You are delu—sional like Geraden, Sofia—and Nevan—nir!”
“Oh, funny that you mention them,” she chuckled again—like a turkey, by the way. “They are the reasons I do this after all. Geraden is my lover. Sofia is my daughter. Does that ring a bell?”
It does. And I had the misfortune to learn it.
She stood up and neared me, stooping low then and whispering in my ear, “While Nevannir, well, he promised to make me the Queen of Ehnrelil ruling together with Geraden, and I believe that would have happened if not for you!”
Her fingers grabbed my jaw and squeezed it tight. It was painful with her sharp nails digging into my face, but instead of wincing, I tossed her a sharp look.
She responded by throwing my head back to the side, spat on me, and retreated to her chair. This exchange looked like a mother to a daughter—except that the mother was the evil one, bearing no sense of love or care for her daughter.
“You’re a hu—man. How? How did you me—et these vile men?”
“They are not vile men, luna.” She whipped her head back to me. “Geraden is my soulmate. He is the best lover I had, and Nevannir is the most intelligent, most cunning guardian I had ever met.”
Sheesh. Talk about her being delusional herself. Like mother like daughter, huh?
“The Watercress Family had long learned of the existence of the realms because my great grandmother was one of the slaves in the vampire auction. She escaped her master with Kerus’s help. Naturally, a payment was in order, so she gave him a short sex-based relationship,” she initially explained, and me? Well, I wasn’t surprised anymore. That vampire auction in Viacronis was a ticking bomb that Hale should seriously destroy.
“Kerus was so besotted with her, he opted not to erase her memories. Nevannir was one of their witnesses. He had been in contact with her ever since then until generations of Watercress representatives came. When Marius came to the picture, I had to intervene. It was supposed to be my time. Me, a representative! Me, finally seeing the realms! Finally, finally ridding myself of this wretched human world.”
She talked as if she was in denial of being a human. Huh. What a delusional woman indeed.
“Under an old promise, I asked Nevannir to take me to Ehnrelil. This was the time I met Geraden. I deemed him my soulmate instantly. He was a handsome fae back then. So handsome. I used my charms to get him in my bed and I was successful, but still the fact remains. He was in love with your mother.”
Ah, yes, of course, Geraden loved my mother. What a pity for this doctor then—note my sarcasm.
“When Cyrena rejected him, I was the one who consoled him. I gave him a daughter. When he wanted Sofia trained to become a priestess, I grabbed the opportunity. To have my daughter learn fae magic; to make her a fae princess—it was the highest wish a mother could ask for, for her daughter.”
Her dreamy state disappeared, and she tossed me a hateful look.
“But now, with the three of them gone, I want justice. I want your sons’ life as payment for theirs.”
“You will—not hurt my—babies!” I cried out that instant. I left my seat but then the pain, now radiating to my back, increased. My knees buckled, and I crouched on the floor as a result.
“Oh, but I already did,” Hilda’s words reverberated in my head. “You’ve been drinking the folic acid pills I gave you. Viscount Daniel swears by it.”
She pointed to the hallway and there he was, Viscount Daniel, just standing and leaning against the wall as if he was enjoying the drama show in front of him. He nodded once in reply to Hilda’s statement and curved a proud smile.
“By now, your sons are already deteriorating inside your womb,” she continued while I wheezed and sweated further. “What you are experiencing now are not labor pains. It is pain caused by your body’s rejection of your babies. Your body will treat them as foreign bodies. The delivery of oxygen to the placenta will stop. You will literally choke them to death.”
Then she laughed maniacally.
My babies...my sons..! I shouted in my head. Oh god, Aero! The memory of my husband cracked my calm facade. Just thinking about him and all the hardships in his life, my heart just broke. He had suffered so much. He doesn’t deserve to lose his children. He doesn’t deserve this kind of tragedy! My god, this can’t happen. I want to give him a family!
“No... no!” I grieved at the situation I was in. Who knew that the pills that were supposed to supplement my children could end up a threat. Who knew the obstetrician I trusted with them turned out to be a vengeful mother!
“That’s right. Weep luna. Loneliness and depression fit you,” she mockingly said as she rose and approached the viscount.
“Don’t do this to my babies, please. Just kill me. Spare them!” I tried to bargain.
“Too late, sweetheart,” she answered over her shoulder before wrapping her arms around the viscount and exchanging tongues with him.
I was too distressed to even care that they were smooching right in front of me, the same as the scene I saw when Sofia devoured Nevannir’s mouth. Ugh. Like mother like daughter indeed.
“The first time—we met in—the cruise ship, was—it your plan all along—then?” I asked, then turned to the viscount, “Viscount Daniel, did you—plan for us to—meet her?”
I was certain this was the case, but then Hilda replied with an unexpected answer.
“The cruise ship?” She withdrew from their embrace and cocked a brow. “Oh, no, luna. Our meeting there was simply serendipitous. This is exactly the reason I believe I am blessed by the Universe and guided by my daughter. Even in death, she helps me. She brought you to me.”
Serendipitous. I always believed in this word. It was what I called destiny too. But for the Universe and the dead to side with her? I couldn’t believe it.
I wanted to laugh at her words, but the pain in my belly hindered me so. It became too much to handle now.
Aero. Aero! Please help me! Please HELP me!
It was my last attempt at communicating with him and hoping that my alpha king, my husband, would come to my rescue just like what he always promised.