Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Camilla's POV

I couldn't fathom that the queen held a grudge against me for not obeying her last order when we were in the dungeon. It had been so long ago, how many days? And all I did then was to talk with the alpha and try to quarry some fear for getting him back to his senses. But she was very angry with me as it happened.

All of a sudden, I was called from my room where I was doing some yoga practice by a guard who said that I was needed by an authority. I didn't know if it was the Alpha or the Luna because of how he phrased it, so I decided that it was simply best for me to go and see for myself. I didn't know why he was being so cryptic either way, so I did.

She was in a courtyard in the seven quarters. What on earth the queen was doing here, I couldn't really tell, but she had a stern look in her eyes as she waited for me to approach. "What is this about?" I asked her when I finally got up to her, frowning and trying to figure out what was going on.

She had a hard look in her eyes. "I'm here to talk with you and to teach you how you treat a queen," she said, frowning.

"Nora, don't be ridiculous," I told her. "We both know you are not really a queen."

She looked at me, her eyebrows shooting up. "Let me be a little more precise in my words," she said slowly. "I'm here to punish you for how you betrayed me the last time when we were all in the dungeon."

I laughed a little, hardly able to believe that she was suddenly acting so high and mighty. What had suddenly gotten into her for her to be acting so lofty? She really seemed to be going through a lot of things right now, and she seemed to have forgotten her place. She seemed to not understand that at this moment, we were closer to the alpha than she was, and that if we really wanted it, she would be the one to suffer a lot more.

All we needed to do was to tell him some things. If I simply wanted, I'd have one passionate night with him as long as he was still interested in me, and that would be the end of whatever was giving her confidence. He would be completely against her, and with that alone, I could already foresee how difficult things would be for her.

"If you don't know, I'll tell you—I can make your life a living hell," I told her, my voice cold as I took a step forward. "You better stop messing with me and stop treating me like I'm your kind of servant or something."

"Isn't that exactly what you are?" she questioned, a smug look on her face. "A servant, isn't it?"

I shook my head at her. She would keep talking like that, and she was going to be so surprised when things turned around, that I would be the one laughing at her and how she couldn't ever see it coming. I turned around to leave. I couldn't be bothered to stay here talking with her. It was not a productive conversation at all, and she was simply ranting. Her words were annoying me already, and it was best I left all by myself. That would at least be showing her how much power she had right here.

Someone needed to put her back in her place. She was getting proud; she needed to be taken down a peg or two, and if there was no one else, then I would be the person.

"Come back here," she said. "Don't disrespect me, if not I would lose my patience."

I laughed a little, turning around. I could not believe that she was talking like this as if she was the ruler of this place. "What suddenly got into you?" I questioned, managing to continue simply talking in a low tone. She was really getting on my nerves now. It wasn't as if I wasn't doing anything before I came. If only I knew that it was her calling me, I wouldn't have ever come here.

"What did you say?" she asked me, her expression livid now. "It wasn't as if I wasn't going to punish you either way," she continued, letting out a breath and a sigh also. "However, now you've just brought it upon yourself a lot more than it should have been," she said. "Guards!" she called.

I expected nothing to happen. But much to my surprise, someone showed up at the moment. And he seemed to be loyal enough to do whatever she wanted. Not just one guard but three of them were here at her command. I didn't see how they could appear so quickly when she called them except unless they had actually been waiting on standby.

I frowned, wondering what she intended to do with their help. I was not up for any of her nonsense, but right now I didn't see how I could run away even if I wanted to, so I stood my ground, maintaining my dignity and holding my head up. Run away? No, I would never do that. She couldn't harm me even if she really intended to, and I would at least have confidence in that.

The guards knew me, all of them here. Everyone was in fear of me because of what I could do to each and every single one of them if I wanted to. They would be fools to act contrary to what I wanted, they would be big fools to go against me the way they seemed to be intending to.

"Take her and give her a whipping," she said, her command and her voice cold and calculating.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at them. How wonderful it would be when she saw that nothing happened and her commands were refuted immediately. Then she would understand her place here and also know that she couldn't really throw her weight around even if she really wanted to because of how things were and the hierarchy.

However, much to my surprise, after taking a glance at each other, they made their move, coming towards me. "Hey, stop that!" I said. "Is this some kind of a joke?" I continued, lashing out at them, my voice loud and my tone threatening. "Have you guys forgotten who I am?" I continued. "Do you know what I can do to you? That you can lose your jobs if I simply speak one word to the alpha?" I continued, looking at them intently.

They frowned a little, thinking about it. Yes, that was how it went. This was all about politics—everyone was out looking after themselves, and nobody was simply here trying to do what was right. It all depended on consequences. Right now, they were trying to judge who had more influence—the queen or me. And if it was me, well, I was pretty sure that they weren't going to do anything that she wanted in any way at all.

I smiled to myself, simply thinking about it as I watched them conflicted, debating within themselves what to do. I waited for them to turn around simply and decide to disobey the queen blatantly, but to my great surprise, they moved towards me again. I saw the look of triumph on her face, a look that I couldn't mistake and that I found to be very terrifying now as they held my arms by my side so tightly with vice-like grips—grips that I couldn't move even if I wanted to.

She laughed a little, this sound sounding terrifying. "Whip her right here before me," she said. "I want you to give her 30 lashes," she said.

My eyes widened. Thirty? Even God wouldn't be whipped up to that! Was she just being plain wicked? They exchanged glances before holding my hands to the side, and before I could say anything or try to sway them with words, I felt a terrible pain on my back.

She gave them orders, directing them as to how to humiliate me. They didn't take off my clothes or anything like that, neither did they whip me bare, but it was humiliating all the same as people walked by and saw. Since we were in the seven quarters, I knew how this would degrade my reputation after this. I knew just how much I wouldn't be able to lift my head high and continue acting commanding after what they were doing right now.

I screamed and shouted, wishing I could take the pain dignified as I wanted to, but I was unable because of how painful it actually was in reality. I didn't know how many they gave me in the end, but I was in tears as the Queen walked right up to me, lifted my chin up to look into my eyes, and gave me one brutal slap—a slap I would remember for decades.

"You are just a servant," she said. "And you keep going against authority, you keep acting against me and doing things to make my life difficult. I hope this serves as a valuable lesson for you and it's for your own good. Take this as your last chance. If not, next time I can't guarantee your safety any longer. Next time you might probably lose your life as a result of your disobedience and insubordination."

Her words sounded queenly, and as she towered over me, I couldn't help but feel small, insignificant, and very weak and unable to do anything or say anything at all. I bowed my head in silence but just for a second before looking at her once again, fire in my eyes.

She raised an eyebrow. "No lesson yet?" she questioned, a threat in her words. I knew that she could continue right now and that if I didn't submit, I would be the one to suffer later. I would come back, but now I had to admit defeat. She was going to regret this, I would make sure, but currently, I would simply let her win this once.

I bowed my head humbly, still unable to move since the guards were holding me. I could almost see her lifting her chin in pride at her victory, and me promising in my mind that I was going to make sure she ended up in the grave. As she turned and I heard her footsteps depart on the ground, the moment she was gone and I was free, picking myself up and feeling the pain coursing through my veins, tears filled my eyes when I saw the way people around looked at me in derision. Some of them were even laughing right now.

I couldn't bear it any longer. I turned around and ran as quickly as possible to meet with my only friend, Stella. She would comfort me.