PAUSED | The Red King's Wrathful Mate

Chapter 4: Vanessa's POV

"You should have left, Violet." I slumped into my bed. "That was the only way for me to keep you two safe. That's all I've ever wanted; to keep you and Grace safe."

I was on the verge of tears, but my sister didn't seem to understand how much trouble we were in.

If she and Grace had escaped, I would have had one less thing to worry about. I would have figured things out while Midus remained occupied with his child-bride.

"Grace and I came up with a plan." She said excitedly. "Actually it was Grace. We were about to cross the magical barrier protecting the kingdom, but then we realised we could never leave you, Vanessa. The three of us stick together. Always."

She was still smiling.

Maybe she really does have a plan.

"We'll use the envoy from the North to get out of here." She held my hand in hers. "You and Midus refused for the North to come here after you received Queen Merrida's letter. You said you don't believe that they really do want peace, but me and Grace think they can help us get out of here in one piece."

"How?" I asked her while rubbing the tears out of my eyes.

The Northern Inkling kingdom may be the strongest inkling kingdom, but it's also the cruelest. Those people abandoned magic in favour of vicious silver machines that have almost decimated us in the past. They look down on us so much so that when evil witches attacked this kingdom twenty years ago, they refused to give our people refuge.

They said they refuse to let cockroaches into their homes.

I was only eight years old, but I remember those days.

The previous King and Queen reached out to all three of the other Inkling kingdoms and not a single one of them offered us any help. Those of our people who were too afraid to stay, were forced to go live with the humans and suppress their magic so the witches couldn't find them.

Me, Violet and Grace were orphans. Violet was only six years old and Grace was four years old. We had no choice but to stay here and hope the witches wouldn't come back to finish us.

Of course the witches returned.

The day the King told us our own people refused to help us and called us cockroaches was the day I decided no matter what, I would build this kingdom with my own two hands. I hoped that one day I would come face to face with a northerner and kick them in the mouth for treating us like our lives don't even matter.

I would rather take my own life than ask anyone from the North for help. Those bastards will never see me beg.

"They said they just survived a terrible war, Vanessa!" Her eyes started pleading as if she could sense my thoughts. "They also said they have befriended the gryphons. Those creatures kill their offspring the moment they are born if they are considered to be weak. Convince the Queen from the North to come here herself and bring her mate. In her letter she said he's a gryphon. Make sure they come in time for the trial."

She kept talking, but my attention was no longer on her.

She doesn't know that Midus wants me to live and stay by his side. Just like me, she also thought Midus would want me dead and would thus make sure the Council also wants me dead. However, he wants me alive and has the audacity to want another child from me.

I sighed while she spoke. Their plan has too many variables and it seems to somewhat rely on Queen Merrida's supposed gryphon mate explaining their practices to the Council to justify what I did.

That part of the plan will definitely fail.

The Council may consist of elders and people with wisdom, but those people are never truly neutral. They always execute Midus' orders under the pretense of following the law. That's something I haven't been able to stop no matter how hard I've tried.They will never listen to an outsider; especially when it concerns the Queen.

"Queen Merrida would rather send her people here than come herself." An idea popped in my head. "She would never waste her time by coming all the way here." I muttered some more.

I stood up from my bed and started pacing up and down near the window.

I saw the omegas through the window. They seemed very busy today. They were moving furniture and all kinds of things into the palace, but I couldn't bother with them right now. What happens in this palace or kingdom is no longer my concern.

That thought made me clutch onto my chest.

It still hurts.

I'm leaving my home. I wanted so much for this kingdom, but now I have to leave.

I marched to the file that held all of the kingdom's external communication and flipped through it until I found Queen Merrida's letter. She could have emailed the damn thing, but she tried to be fancy and sent a letter in a red envelope with her silver seal in the form of two wings.

I opened the envelope again and scanned through the faded white paper with my fingers.

She even wrote the letter in cursive. Why is this woman being so extra?

There it it. The paragraph I was looking for.

"We even have one of your people who has been living in our kingdom for more than three years. Her name is Susan Heart and she is mated to one of my most trusted healers and advisor, Sebastian Heart."

That part of the letter is the most unbelievable.

She mentioned some sort of war that killed more than a third of her people and a Werewolf Queen bringing everyone back from the dead and how that whole war changed her and her people. However, it was the part about her allowing an Eastern Inkling to live in her kingdom that stood out as the biggest lie.

And yet it's that lie that my sisters and I will need to put all our faith in. I do not know of a Susan Heart, but I hope with all my heart that the woman truly exists because I'll need her to convince Merrida to do something she thinks is beneath her - come visit the Eastern Inkling kingdom and intervene in another kingdom's matters.

I ran to my computer and started typing my message as quickly as I could ... before I remembered that f*****g magical barrier is the reason why people can't send emails to us or even call us or text us. That thing blocks all communication with the outside world.

That's why Queen Merrida sent a letter instead of just sending an email.

Dammit.

"Hand me a pen and paper." I asked Violet.

She reached for a normal sheet of paper and a pen.

"The ink pen and the fancy paper, please." I stretched out my hand before she grabbed the normal pen and paper.

I started crafting a letter as soon as she gave me what I asked for. I wrote as neatly as I could and even wrote the letter in cursive so that one would think we're living in ancient times.

I poured all my hope into that letter. If there truly is a godess, then she will have mercy on me and my sisters and help us get out of here.

I put the letter in a red envelope and put my silver seal on the envelope.

"Take this to one of your secret messengers." I instructed Violet. "I think you and Grace are onto something. I'll convince Midus to let the Northerners come here, but you need to make sure this letter reaches the Northern Queen."

She nodded and quickly ran out of my room.

"Wait!" I followed her to the door.

"How's Grace?" I tried not to sound too upset that she's blocked all my attempts to mindlink her for the past three days. "You said she came up with the plan to reach out to the North. Does this mean she's forgiven me?"

She smiled stiffly and held my hand again.

"She's still shaken up, Vanessa. Grace isn't like us. She hates violence ... especially violence against children."

She let her words suffocate me and squeezed my hand tighter.

"She needs some time, but I'm sure she'll come around." She tried to convince both me and her.

I tried to smile so she wouldn't be too worried, but I just ended up filling up with more tears in my eyes as she ran out of my room.

Grace already had all her favourite books packed in the nursery. She said she was going to read to the baby every night and she would make sure he grew up to be the smartest king this kingdom has ever seen. Both she and Violet loved that baby as much as I did.

I may not regret what I did, but I regret doing it infront of them and I regret that I hurt them.

I regret hurting them most of all.

I tried to follow her outside, but once again the guards stationed right at the door stopped me from setting foot outside.

I am under house arrest, but according to Daniel, Midus' beta, I should be in the dungeons instead of my lofty suite and being attended to omegas.

I barely had a second to sit down before Daniel himself barged inside my room. He didn't knock, didn't announce himself, didn't care that I might have been getting dressed. He just barged inside.

He left the door open and again, I saw dozens of omegas moving furniture and luggage in the palace. What the hell are they doing?

"Queen Vanessa." He said in the most disrespectful tone. "I have news about your house arrest."

You could have mindlinked this to me. I thought to myself, but decided it wasn't worth mentioning.

His blonde hair looked frazzled and untidy and his brown eyes were red, as if the 6ft2 man with broad shoulders and strength that was second only to Midus', has spent hours crying.

Daniel and Midus are best friends so naturally protecting his king came first and protecting the kingdom and me, came second and third - in that order. He was never rude to me and he showed me the respect that came with my title, but when Midus started betraying me, I understood for the first time that his king truly did come first.

He came to visit me early in the morning that day and refused to leave no matter how much I politely told him I had work to do. It was only when I buckled from the pain of betrayal in the late afternoon and he caught me, that I understood why he refused to leave my side. Midus had sent him to make sure I was okay while I endured his betrayal.

I cried and cried and tried to run to Midus and stop him, but Daniel restrained me and held me as if I were his sister. He ran his large fingers through my hair and cooed in my ear that it would be over soon and told me to just hold on for a while longer because he and Midus know how strong I am.

That pain was enough to make me curl into his arms and seek his comfort even though I knew he was an accomplice.

It lasted for two hours.

He was mindlinking Midus the entire time, telling him that I was still okay and that he could go on enjoying himself with Jolene.

Needless to say, Daniel and I haven't gotten along since that day.

"King Midus has convinced the Council to end your house arrest." He gritted through his teeth. "I tried to explain to him that a woman who killed the royal heir should be whipped, starved and locked away in a dark hole, but ... that fool loves you and he's willing to do whatever it takes to protect you and your sisters."

I tilted my head while I watched him fight his beast for control. They both wanted to kill me right this very second.

I couldn't understand whether he wanted to kill me because he was grieving for my baby or because he was mourning with his friend. Whatever the reason, I felt nothing while I watched his eyes glisten and his eyes get redder.

His tears and Midus' tears mean nothing to me ... and neither does the death of that child.

I haven't even thought of that child for more than a few seconds after I killed it. Up until the second before I killed it, I held all the love in the world for that baby. I would have sacrificed my sanity and wellbeing to keep that child safe and happy. That's why I endured what Midus was doing and forgave him even after he went from sleeping with Jolene from twice a week to every day. I did it because I was trying to be a good mom.

But then when I felt those pains of betrayal again a few days ago, a switch turned on in my head. I no longer viewed my child as someone to protect, but someone I needed to protect myself and my sisters from.

And even now, I couldn't feel an ounce of remorse because that child would have been the death of me. He would have kept me trapped and tied to Midus for the rest of my life. When that realisation dawned on me, all the love I held for that baby vanished.

"That's good to hear." I replied lazily. "I can use the fresh air."

I headed for the door, but the man grabbed my arm with so much force that he almost yanked it out of my body.

"What happened to you?" He kept digging his nails into my arm. " You had what every woman in this kingdom dreams of and you threw it all away in a fit of rage. I thought you were better than that. You're the Queen. You're supposed to be better than that!"

My finger tips trailed his sharp jaw until I reached his long nose. He flinched, but didn't stop me.

The man is attractive, but he's no Midus. No one is as attractive as Midus.

"You try carrying someone's child while they f**k someone else every day and night." I smiled. "What you let Midus do to me is unforgivable, Daniel. You are his second in command. It was your duty to tell him to stop. To tell him he was hurting me and his child, but you failed and now both of you must live with the consequences."

He dropped my arm as if it disgusted him.

"You don't think I tried?" He trembled behind me. "When he was courting that girl ... you don't think I was the first one to remind him he already has a queen and that he would be hurting you and humiliating you by doing what he did?"

"And yet you're the one who has ensured that he could keep betraying me." I reminded him. "You're the one who stationed warriors near Jolene's house so they'd stop me when I tried to confront her. You're the one who kept bringing elderly women here to try and convince me that this is a burden I must bear as the Queen."

I turned around to find the man weeping on his knees.

"You played a part in all of this, Daniel." I said calmly. "You played a part in the death of the King's child."

I left him in my room. None of this matters now.

All that matters is my freedom - and the fact that I haven't felt the pains of betrayal even once since that baby died.

I stepped out of the door and still found the omegas with luggage and furniture scurrying around the palace.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked no one in particular.

"The King's second mate is moving in." A warrior bowed awkwardly.