Chapter 167 - Locked with the Enemy

Alexa would like to look up at Magnus and face him with serenity.

But before she could repent, the First Prince gulped down the entire contents of the cup, looking thirsty.

"More," he asked, handing over the cup.

Alexa held her breath, shocked, and at the same time, irritated by him treating her like a maid or a page.

'How can he be so annoying…!'

"You want more?" she asked doubtfully. She stared at him, searching for some hint of suspicious, but only found the familiar expression of sarcasm lodged in his eyes.

He went to the jar himself and drank directly from it, much to the Princess's amazement.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! What are you doing?!"

"I asked for water because I was thirsty. And I found out that I shouldn't spend my kindness on you. You are just as dangerous as I suspected the first time I saw you."

"...!" Alexa would have no words to describe her surprise at his words. She had heard similar things from Prince Magnus von Wuttenfal before, but there was a new meaning to them. The Princess swallowed,

"I didn't want to…"

"Alexa. Tell me, why should I trust you? How could I?"

'What is he talking about? Does he know?! Does he get it?! Oh gods, I shouldn't have done that. I'm going to tell him now and make him throw up! He's going to hate me forever, but I can't…'

Magnus threw himself noisily on the chair, and Alexa's heart skipped.

Was the sleeping drug working already?

"Are you alright?"

"Hm," he mumbled, giving a sigh that seemed to only disguise a yawn.

"Magnus, forgive me! Please! I was reckless and selfish. I have spent a lot of time feeling the entire world against me and I…" she ran a hand through her hair, nervously.

"You have already made your opinion about the von Wuttenfal clear recently. In a way, you're right," he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "But all I can see is that my father was very wrong in marrying you to Alexander. He may need you, it's true. But you are too dangerous for my brother."

Alexa lowered her head, still a little confused as to what to do next,

"I'll fix this. I promise!"

Magnus nodded, narrowing his eyes,

"Just stop putting yourself above von Wuttenfal like you've been doing, Alexa. You also have your secrets and your goals, and they differ little from ours."

"There are so many 'von Wuttenfal secrets'!" she whimpered, sitting on the bed. When she was about to reveal Magnus about the sleeping drug, that rancorous conversation put her on high alert again. 

"Just like yourself, uhn? What do we know about you that was spontaneously told us? Magnus answered him. "You are a lovely annoying liar. But still, a cheating liar."

They looked at each other and Alexa looked down.

"Now tell me, was your plan to poison me all along so I couldn't stop you from meeting your beloved John Blackrose?"

"...! But… you drank it! You drank it all!"

"Let's say I no longer trust women who serve me drinks!" he dismissed her shock as a minor thing.

The princess cringed in shame and guilt.

"What will happen to me?" the prince demanded to know.

"Y-you must sleep for a few hours ..." she admitted, wishing to draw some tears from the bottom of her well of tears to try to at least show her sincere regret, but failing miserably.

"Well… you beat me on that one," the Prince went to the door and locked it with the key, tossing it inside his collar, and then dragged his chair over to the window, sitting right under it, "I have no doubt about that you must be desperate to say something very important to this Blackrose. In order to leave, you will have to pass by me… I think it will be easy when I am sleepy," he again crossed his arms and spread his legs to make himself more comfortable.

"Magnus, I ... Forgive me!" Alexa bit her thumb, distressed, and shuffled feet not knowing how to act. 'He locked us in and shove the key inside his shirt! He's so mean…!'

"Your little cautionary tale about how you were stabbed by the person you least expected, and underestimated, was a balm for me ... Except that, I expected to be stabbed by you, eventually."

Alexa had no answers for that, and she knew that anything she said wasn't enough to justify the act of betrayal that she, inconsequentially, had committed.

Her eyes strayed to the shards of the vase on the floor, and the writhed flower that had been in her hair earlier.

The hours passed, slowly, while both remained in their places, almost immobile, and completely silent. In the moments when Alexa dared to glance at the Prince's face, he faced her, defiant and sarcastic. 

And looking the least bit affected by Cymric's medicine.

As time went by and the silence became unbearable, Alexa assimilated that not all destinations justified the actions to reach them. With the faint sunlight changing places on the floor and the wall, the maiden knew that her meeting with John Blackrose at church would not happen that day, and most likely, no other day. She didn't doubt the only reason for the English knight's presence in that small port was embarking for England. He would leave at any time, and due to her inability to deal with the situation, Alexa would miss the opportunity to speak to him.

"Magnus ... I'm honestly sorry ... Let's just leave this matter behind ..."

"If you think you're going to convince me to open the door using whining words or crying, don't waste your time."

"...!" she swallowed the next words. The words of the First Prince brought to mind every time she was imprisoned. This time her 'jailer' was not someone who deserved her hatred, but she couldn't keep the memories from surfacing.

°°°

The maiden was locked in General Doukas' room, and a guard gazed impassively at the decorated ceiling of the room, ignoring her agitated state and how she paced in despair across the luxurious chamber.

Her father had reluctantly handed her over to that man, Alexa knew, but there was no other choice! The emperor had linked the Dallassenos' fate to that 'wedding night'.

The marriage would appease the exalted spirits on both sides, and undoubtedly benefited the emperor's own plans.

Even if Alexa had considered killing herself with one of the various weapons exposed in the rich chamber, the guard would stop her. Taking off part of her ostentatious robes that were suffocating her, Alexa tried to calm down and convince her heart that she could take it, for the sake of her family. 

The emperor would force the marriage, and she as Douka's wife would undoubtedly soon be banished to a countryside home, so that Doukas could continue living his wanton life as usual. Her family would be safe from the whims of that madman at least long enough to correct all the injustice done to them.

Alexa never imagined that she would have a common life, but in the last months, when she stopped being Alexios, the maiden started to desire the calm life that she imagined that women had. She knew little about how to be a woman, and sometimes had anxious nightmares about her wedding day.

In her dreams, her groom was disappointed to lift her veil and find nothing more than an idiot boy who didn't want to be n.a.k.e.d and not willing to consummate their marriage. Most of her dreams ended with Lex breaking a vase on the poor fiance's head and running away in shame. 

Unlike her dreams, however, sleeping with Doukas had another kind of disgust. And the maiden wondered if she could avoid breaking a vase on the head of her brother's killer, laughing like a madwoman when he came to take her.

The thought the disgusting general rather wished Lex was a boy, rather than a girl, and that perhaps he would keep him as a 'wife' while secretly enjoying a boy, scared her. If that were true, Lex imagined all kinds of suffering as Doukas' 'husband'. At least, as a woman, he would leave her alone.

If the rumors were true, of course.

Unfortunately, the night came faster than Alexa wished. The slaves came to light lamps and prepare the room, and Alexa knew that it was no use talking to them, as there would be no help. They also didn't speak to her, perhaps fearing the same thing. A tray of food and wine was served, but Alexa ignored it.

She knew before the door opened that Doukas was coming. She felt herself trembling from head to toe, and sat well away from the bed, and next to a good-sized vase.

When the bastard entered, he went straight to the water basin to wash his face, hands, and arms, and only after the slave helped him to dry off, did the general look back at Alexa.

He gave her a sadistic smile.

"No, I hadn't forgotten about you, Alexios ..."

Alexa's blood roared inside her body at the same time that the thoughts seemed to run over each other in her mind. The general was coming towards him loosening his belt carelessly, and Alexa's hand instinctively went to the vase.

"It will be an even greater pleasure to fight you ... If you fight like you ride a horse ... I will be happy to tame you ..." The general folded the belt in half, and Alexa's fingers gripped the vase tightly.

The belt snapped, and Alexa felt the sting and heard the Persian glass shattering before she could reason, withdrawing her hand and protecting it inside the dress sleeve. The vase was in pieces, and the back of her hand now had a white mark with bloody red edges. When the pain came, Lex bit her trembling lips and held back her tears.

Doukas laughed at her expression,

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this night, Alexios ..."