Chapter 234
Sophie Perez
The Lake
After Nico left, I got dressed and went to the lake.
I found Casper standing on the foreshore, watching the black undulating waters of the lake. This had been one of the first places he had brought me to after I was turned. This was before I knew he was King, and I had known about the dead girls in the forest. Casper had taken me out in a boat to the middle of the lake to watch the stars. It had felt like a lifetime ago.
As I approached him, he heard my footsteps and glanced over his shoulder. "Have you come to yell at me?" He asked bitterly.
I noticed the five o'clock shadow around his jawline and the slightly dishevelled state of his clothes.
I folded my arms across my chest and replied, "That depends on whether you will help me get Christie back."
He let out a humourlessly laugh and turned back towards the lake. "It's too late. Rudolph has taken her back to Port Cressida, and Owen has left too. So, it's just you and me, babe."
I furrowed my eyebrows and inhaled the night air. I could smell the pines and snow, but I could also smell alcohol. I took another step closer to Casper and breathed in.
"You've been drinking," I replied.
"I cracked open a bottle of silver scotch and drank the whole bottle after Owen left. I felt it was necessary to commemorate the worst night of my life with mind-numbing liquor," he said, picking up a stone and throwing it into the lake. "I guess you disapprove of me drinking, my beautiful wife, the ever-righteous Saint Sophie."
I rolled my eyes at his childish remark. "Don't put this on me. You could have put Rudolph in his place. You didn't need to cave into his ridiculous demands and threats," I snapped.
Casper raked a hand threw his hair and then turned to face me. It was then I noticed his eyes were red and bleary from exhaustion. It was clear he hadn't slept all night. He had probably taken his scotch and downed it by the lake during the sunlight hours.
"I was protecting you," he mumbled to himself.
"I don't need your protection, Casper. However, Christie needs your protection. Those people living on the Spit, who exist like dogs, need your protection," I yelled.
"You really think I don't care about those people? Well, I do. But, I can do nothing for them yet while my crown hangs on by a thread."
"I never imagined you would be a coward," I said, fed up with his excuses.
"It's easy to say that when you don't know what's it like to be woken up in the middle of the day and dragged out of your room by soldiers at gunpoint," he yelled. "I have seen what happens when the court turns against a man. When the court turned against me, I spent years rotting on the dungeon floor, wondering if my older brother and his court would have the balls to execute me. Even now, I feel the executioner's sword hanging over my head, waiting to drop the moment I make a single mistake."
I flinched at his words, remembering his past. He had been accused of murder and chained to the dungeon floor. He had been beaten, starved and tortured by the guards - the same guards who, ironically, are sworn to protect him now.
"Rudolph is the greatest threat to my crown and my life. If the court decides he would be the better King, then soldiers would be sent for us. They would take you from me, and I don't know whether I could protect you," he said, falling to his knees. "I have lost so much. I can't lose you, Sophie. My parents are dead, Louis is dead, Jac has lost his mind, and Owen has abandoned me. I never wanted to be King, Sophie. I never wanted this."
I watched his hands tremble and shake in fear, and it reminded me of veterans I had seen with PTSD at the community centre. Guilt washed over me as I realised now why Casper had been so fearful of Rudolph. He was terrified that Rudolph could stage a coup that would de-throne him and send him back to the dungeon floor.
I knelt down next to Casper and gently bumped my shoulder against his. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out the piece of newspaper Nico had given me earlier. I handed the newspaper to Casper, who unfolded it and started to read the article about my secret visit to St. Lucretia's market.
A smile crept across his face, and he read aloud, "The people of the Spit have given this mysterious young woman the nickname of the 'Queen of Hearts'," he paused for a moment as he re-read the article again. "How did they know it was you?"
"Nico told them, or rather he allowed his guards to let it slip that it was me," I explained.
Casper stared at the newspaper piece and murmured, "Sophie, Queen of Hearts and slayer of demons."
I slipped my hand into his and squeezed his fingers. "See, not everyone hates us."
His body relaxes into mine, and we sit watching the lake's dark waters for a short while until the snow starts to fall. Then, I get up, offer Casper my hand, and say, "Let's go home and sort out this mess together. We should also consider getting you a coffee to help clear some of the alcohol and silver out of your system."
He stands up next to me, his eyes filled with hope, and whispers, "Thank you."
I smile back at him and lean up on my tiptoes to press a kiss against his lips. He captures my mouth with his, kissing me hard in the falling snow. My knees go weak, and I wrap my arms around his neck to stop myself from melting into a puddle on the floor. He senses my weakness and slips his hands around my waist, pressing his hips against mine.
For a brief second, everything is perfect until I hear footsteps coming towards us. I open my eyes and see Rayne standing behind us with a smirk across his face.
I push at Casper's shoulders, but he is so in the moment he doesn't notice Rayne behind him.
Rayne waves his hand, and hundreds of silver chains suddenly burst from the ground, wrapping themselves around Casper.
Panic and confusion punch me hard in the gut. I run at Rayne and grab his arm. "What are you doing?"
Casper fights the chains, but in his drunken/silver-poisoned state, he can't break free of their hold. With a lazy flick of his wrist, Rayne lifts me into the air and throws me backwards into the freezing cold lake.
I barely have time to react as ice-cold water washes over my head. Suddenly, I'm sinking fast into the black water. The shocking cold drives the air from my lungs, and I force myself to kick my way back to the surface.
I'm fifty feet from the foreshore when I break through the surface. I can see Rayne waving his hands as he binds chains around Casper's body.
I cry out and start front crawling through the water to Casper, but a wave pushes me back underwater. Seconds later when I resurface, I find the foreshore completely empty.
"Sophie," Rayne's dark voice purrs next to me. I see him standing next to me, or rather, standing on the water in his black suit and tie. "I've just overheard a fascinating conversation between Nico and his guards. He is on his way here to tell you he knows the location of Kala's prison. And with that information, I'm calling upon you to repay your first debt to me."
He crouches down next to me and leans in close, "Now listen closely because if you fail to repay your debt, I will feed your husband limb by limb to my army. Do you understand?"
"I'm going to kill you if you hurt Casper," I scream at him.
"I admire your fighting words, but save that anger for the actual fight. Now, all I want you to do is slay the demon guarding Kala's soul and free her. You have until sunrise to complete your task."
"Why are you doing this? You could have asked, you don't need to take him from me," I reply.
"Consider it an incentive to help complete your mission. You'll get Casper and Kala back if you succeed in your task. The court will herald you a hero, and you will be immortalised forever as the Queen that defeated the very forces of Hell," he said, reaching down and painfully grabbing a fistful of my hair. "However, if you do not succeed, then you are just like Jac, another disappointing failed experiment."
He let go of my hair, and I sunk back into the water. Rayne and Casper are gone when I resurface, and Nico is on the foreshore, running towards me.
I swim towards him and meet him halfway. He grabs me and pulls me out of the water and onto the pebbled foreshore.
"Rayne has taken Casper," I pant.
"I overheard what he said," Nico said grimly. "We know who the Lady in Green is. It's Rudolph's mother."