Chapter 241 - Fear the Dark

"ARREST THE WITCH!" 

The finger pointed at Alexa made her shrug immediately. Looking at the door, he saw the guard entering.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Agnello came to Alexa's side, questioning the Duke. The Florentine Father was sweaty and pale as wax, his spiritual struggle had visibly drained him.

"We have more than enough evidence to accuse this woman of witchcraft, Father Agnello. GUARDS!" Kurt spat, wasting no time listing what the evidence was. 

Alexa's feet turned to the window, and she saw Blue Eyes open his arms to pull them away, placing himself in front of her as a human shield.

"NO ONE WILL DO THIS! YOU CANNOT! IT'S WRONG!"

"The Church will judge her so-called innocence, Father! Did you lose your faith in the Church? Will you stand by the witch, priest?! Its corruption has no limits. I will not allow you to become the Bishop of Holstein!"

The guards hesitated for a brief moment, but Captain Gunnar ordered fiercely,

"OBEY THE DUKE!"

The impasse was over. The servants by the windows flinched, fearing the violence that would inevitably follow. Alexa froze. Her biggest nightmare was about to happen. 

She would be delivered to the Church as a Witch.

How did it get to that point?

The soldiers moved forward, and the priest tried to defend her, even resorting to violence. Blue Eyes used his cane, while fiercely facing the guards. But Alexa and her tutor were easily cornered in a corner of the room. 

Alexa escaped and ran towards the window, but before she got there, she was grabbed by the Duke himself, by the neck.

Tears of pain streamed from her eyes when he threw it back at the soldiers, and her hand instinctively went to the injured area. 

She fell at the feet of Father Agnello, who was shocked to see the brutality with which the Princess was treated. He was so upset that he was almost unrecognizable. 

A powerful punch threw the Florentine priest to the floor beside her, and Alexa heard a dry thud, when his head hit the ground. The priest's incredibly blue eyes rolled into his sockets, and he erased

"AHHHHHHHH! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" She screamed, in fury and despair, grabbing her tutor by the shoulders, to check if he still lived.

"TAKE THEM OUT OF HERE!" Kurt shouted his command.

While they were being dragged brutally out of the room, Alexa caught a glimpse of Princess Consort in the hall. They exchanged a look, and Cordelia looked away, entering the room shortly after.

°°°

One day Alexa had already come to this place. The castle dungeons. 

This time, she was the prisoner, and the witch.

Father Agnello was unconscious at her feet, lying in the sawdust. The soldiers had thrown them into a large, empty cell, perhaps the same cell where the witches had been before. They tied the priest by the ankle cuff to a thick chain, attached to the wall. 

Alexa was cuffed by the neck, however. The chain passed through a hole outside the cell, possibly allowing its regulation. Should the prisoner become dangerous, he would be pulled to the wall by the neck.

Her first concern was with Blue Eyes. Pulling the heavy chain with bloody and sore hands, so as not to hurt her already injured neck, she sat next to him on the floor, checking if he breathed and how his heart beat.

The haughty priest had taken a good beating! And that, in addition to his injuries from which he had barely recovered,the exorcism that drained his energies, left his fragile body in danger of life!

The Princess tapped the Father's face lightly with the back of her hands. "Come on, come on Blue Eyes… Wake up! I need you!"

The twist in his destiny was still reverberating in his mind. As soon as Prince Gutard left the world of the living, his brother ordered her to be arrested for witchcraft. And Father Agnelo on some similar charge, perhaps? For allying with the witch?

She didn't know. She just knew that the accusation of the bishop's death was something that would easily put her in the fire. Perhaps she had been stupid to let Kurt know she was in Alexander's body… Agnelo and Kurt had no sympathy for each other, which only got worse when they both became the Prince Regent's advisers and ministers.

Alexa at least hoped that her brother would hear about this soon, and could help her ... but, what if he too was captured?

Narses always suspected that it was Kurt who brought the Inquisition to the city.

Blue Eyes opened his eyes and blinked, taking his hand through his hair, with a painful "Ouch". His face was swollen on one side, his mouth cut and bruised, his eyes barely opened.

Alexa had not been able to do anything for him because there was not even water in the cell, and the jailers moved away. Except for the occasional sound of m.o.a.ning and coughing, or the shaking of chains, silence had fallen over the dungeon.

"Are you okay, Alexa? Are you in any pain? " the priest murmured, genuinely concerned.

Aside from a slight bruise on his neck, there was no other injury worth noting, so she reassured him.

"I'm fine, Father. Just try to rest. Thank you for trying to defend me. I couldn't get away, after all."

"I thought the Duke was a smart political snake, but I see that besides that, he is an obsessed madman." The priest sat down slowly, and when he moved he ended up vomiting. He put his hand over his kidney, with an expression of intense suffering.

After a few moments he nodded that he was fine, which Alexa knew was not true. To distract him, she asked.

"Will he try to take the throne for himself?"

"If he really believes that Magnus is not his son? Without a doubt, yes. If he gets a deal with Hansa, he might even be able to calm the conflict in the east… And if Alexander comes back…"

" Alexander will come back. Magnus will be back. "

"Calm down. We have many allies in the castle, and outside it. "

Alexa knew that Balbo left with Alexander, so she imagined that the priest spoke of people she did not know. The Borghesi, probably.

"I am worried about my brother. If they caught him ... "She knew there would be no forgiveness for Narses, who had been infiltrated in the Holy Office and under Prior Reuben's nose.

Father Agnelo sighed, probably thinking the same thing.

The hours passed, leaving Alexa consumed by anxiety and worry. She dozed off unintentionally a few times, waking up with bumps and emerging from nightmares where she was being taken to a torture table.

The Princess was sure that if there was no way out of there, she would be questioned and they would not be kinder to her than they were to her brother. However, the same trick would not work twice with all Dallassenos ...

When she heard muffled footsteps coming down the stairs, she hugged herself expectantly.

The priest motioned for her to stay in the corner, but she took his arm,

"No, Father, you are very hurt!"

"Shhh!" he pushed her back severely and without patience. Alexa almost fell sitting down, but managed to balance herself, remembering how bad it would be because of the chain around her neck.

The torch lights came to that corner. The Moor accompanied Prior Reuben, Brother Bernard and others.

Prior's face was a mask of restrained anger, and Alexa's eyes were fixed mainly on him. But Prior Reuben did not speak directly to her first, but to Father Agnelo.

"Did your arrogance make you believe that having pacts with such creatures would bring you to power, Agnelo di Borghesi? You forgot that the Church is vigilant. And heretics will not survive! "

"You think you're very smart, but you're just being used, Prior. Don't you see that a power coup is underway? " Blue Eyes replied.

"I just see a witch and her allies. My concerns are not earthly, "scoffed the Prior. "Alexa… if this is your name. You left the castle and went to look for Bishop Hildebrand. You killed him using your nefarious powers ... And you've been using your nefarious arts since you came to this region! Confess now, and repent! "

"How can I repent if I did not kill the Bishop or use any nefarious powers? I have no nefarious powers!" Alexa exclaimed.

Well ... The princess will have to confess her sins, which she doesn't want to remember! Gentlemen, I need to speak to the Duke. If she says something, let me know..."

"What about the priest " Asked Bernard.

"The priest also needs to explain what kind of pact he has with this creature."

"You cowardly hypocrite!" Alexa shouted, disgusted.

The Moor had his cell key, and smiled sarcastically when he turned the key in the lock. Alexa could have sworn he was happy with what he would do next, whatever it was.

The torches flickered hard, and in the next moment, they began to go out. A crazy cry, from one of the prisoners, startled everyone, and Alexa heard the group of religious men mutter among themselves the strangeness of the event. She felt her hairs stand on end, and she couldn't wait for a good thing.

The princess grabbed the priest's arm, attentive to the sounds and quite frightened,

"What is that?!"

"Witch…!" she heard the Moor's voice ask, restless, "What are you doing?"

In the darkness of the dungeon, a terrifying growl was heard.

And another.

And yet another.