The Prince's Mate

Sweat trickled down her nose as she shook, trying whatever she could to free herself, her grey eyes scanned the dark room and her Auburn hair stuck to her face and forehead... “Where am I, and why am I in chains?!” Cecelia called out, as she tried even more pitifully to escape, she was bound by her wrists and ankles in a dim room where only a torch on the wall was giving her light, and she was screaming at a man behind a metal door, his green eyes were the only thing she could see, she knew she was in a car accident a moment before, and she knew for a fact her son should have been there with her, but she couldn’t find him, and she didn’t know what was going on. She had been awake for a few hours already, and the person at the iron door never left and simply stared at her, by the height of the vent in the door she could guess it was a very tall man, and the amount of time she spent staring at those eyes as she asked for help made sure she’d never forget them as long as she lived. “Please, where is my son?” She asked again for the hundredth time but received no kind of answer and was instead stared on. She dragged on the chains although they hurt, and her makeup was already running from her hours of crying, she didn’t understand what was happening but she didn’t want to stay like that, eventually though she sat back on the stone bed behind her and fell asleep when the hours had spent all her energy. The next time she opened her eyes she was still in chains, but there was someone standing on the inside of what she was assuming was an old-fashioned and well-kept prison cell of some sort, this time it was a woman dressed in a maid’s outfit; with pale skin, narrow blue eyes, and short brown hair. In her hand was a notepad where she seemed to be writing something. “What the hell is this, who are you people and why are you keeping me here... And where is my son!?” Cecelia screamed out at the woman, only to be given a somewhat cold and sympathetic glare as the maid sighed and leaned back on the door as if she’d been hiding from her duties. “What is your name?” The maid finally asked, and Cecelia sighed as if a weight had been lifted off her. “Who sent you?” The maid asked another question. “I have no obligation to say anything to you, you chained me up so I should be the one asking questions here!” She shot back but the woman only sighed again before writing something more on her notepad and then turning and knocking on the door. “Wait!” Cecelia cried out, to the maid, and she stopped as the door cracked open. “What happened to my son, is he safe?” She asked desperately, not even thinking of anything else. “If you answer all my questions, you will see the child again, you needn’t worry too much either, he is safe... for now” The maid turned to face her while holding on to the door, and after Cecelia took a moment she nodded, she didn’t know what was going on, but this didn’t seem like a joke, it wasn’t some kind of prank, especially after she’d realized that there was actual blood on the walls around her, it was mostly washed away but there was definitely blood there. “What is your name, where are you from, and who sent you?” “I am Cecelia.” She responded honestly. "Your full name, Cecelia,” The maid gave her a wary look. “Just so you know, we have many painful ways of getting you to talk, and we should already be on our way to knowing quite a bit about you, so unless you want to end up on the wrong side of a hatchet I would advise full honesty, I am extending you an olive branch, so do not trample on my mercy.” She warned, and immediately Cecelia’s mind raced to her son, Dylan. “I have duties to attend to.” “My name is Cecelia Holland,” She started, and the maid quickly looked back at her notes and began writing as she urged her with the pen to continue. “I’m from Red Cross Cambridge, and I have no idea what you mean by ‘who sent me’ I don’t even know what’s going on or where I am right now.” She calmly responded even as her heart was racing at a mile a second, she didn’t know if these people were gonna kill her, sell her, or even eat her, she was scared out of her mind, but to that point, she could only think of Dylan and how scared he must have been. “Interesting.” The maid held her chin and then looked at Cecelia. “Cambridge again.” She tapped her foot then turned her back. “So not only did you teach the child to lie, but you also taught him the exact same lie as yourself to make your story as believable as possible, I can only assume that whatever we ask either of you it will be the same.” Hearing this Cecelia felt herself start to shake as she thought about whether Dylan was actually safe or not “What- no, I’m telling the truth.” Cecelia shook her head and tried getting up, but found herself being pulled back by the chains that came through the wall. “There exists no place on this continent or any other with the name Cambridge, what is Cambridge a secret society, a clan, who is it that sent you after the prince?” The maid was about to close the door again when a hand came and grabbed it, and then a tall man dressed in plain clothing stepped through, and Cecelia’s eyes went wide with shock as she realized it was the same person that had peeked from earlier, those unmistakable green eyes caused her to gasp as she thought that this man was some kind of high ranking executioner, he had a well-built body with trimmed muscles that slightly bulged beneath his clothes, and there was an air of mystery around his figure, even in her situation she found herself almost gawking at this mystery with his raven hair covering his left eye. “Are you going to kill me?” Cecelia asked the man before her as he reached down to the shackles around her arms and pulled a pair of smaller wrist cuffs from a pouch on his side. “Adel, the elders have found truth in the boy's words, he truly is innocent.” He looked down at her as well as Cecelia and then turned his back. “I am personally escorting her to the chamber.” He said to Adel, and though her eyes protested, she stepped aside immediately and lowered her head without a word. “Why personally though?” She asked him with her head still lowered as he freed Cecelia’s hands and changed the shackles and then turned to her feet. “They appeared in the middle of the hall, surpassing all our defences and destroying a part of the throne room, naturally I am very interested in this woman and her child, and as the head of father’s guard it is my job to figure out how she did it, and what kind of magic they used to accomplish such a grand feat, not just I but the mages as well have shown interest in her, however, their minds are warped, and they might subject the two of them to deadly tests or dissect the boy if they gain access to him, and as I told you before the child is innocent, so there lays a chance that this woman will also be. “You believe me?” Cecelia looked at his head as he placed his hands on the shackles on her ankles and the chains fell off, she didn’t see what he did but she thought it was some kind of trick until she recalled him just saying the word magic as if it was the most common thing in the world. “What happened to my son?” She asked but instead of a response he stood again and pulled her to her feet and began dragging her away. “Hey!” “Watch your tone when you address his Majesty.” Adel hissed at Cecelia, but Cecelia turned and hissed back as she was being dragged by the apparent royal dressed in rags. “I don’t care if he’s the king of all land and sea, I don’t give a damn, I’m not kissing anyone’s ass.” She Deadpanned before she turned and raised her knee to the side of his ass causing Adel to choke as he stopped to turn to her with a raised eyebrow. “Please, where is my son?” She asked again. “Where is Dylan?” “You should worry more about yourself woman.” An armoured man approached them from around a corner and took the chains holding her from the other. “Prince Lucas, I strongly disagree with you meeting this woman so informally, what if she was actually an assassin?” He asked the now named prince. “Just go, until I can confirm that she was in fact sent here after my brother I see nothing harmful about her other than her lack of discipline and not knowing her place.” Lucas scoffed as he walked ahead of them with Adel quickly following as the guard dragged Cecelia. “Young lady, if you truly are innocent, I feel all the more sorry for you.” The guard looked at her as they reached a large door that two other guards pushed open to reveal a spiral staircase that led upward. “I don’t need your sympathy,” Cecelia scoffed as she was dragged again. “I only care about my child.” “Good,” Lucas looked back as he started going upward. “At the end of this staircase, you will find two of three things; your son and death, death after torture, or your son and torture, whatever the result it will be most painful, something no woman deserves to be put through.” He looked back at her again with unsympathetic eyes. “Feel free to pray to whatever god brought you here, and for your son as well.” He narrowed his eyes as he saw her begin to resist as she was pulled up the spiral staircase. “May the divine be with you.”