The King’s Prisoner

Chapter 19

Jasper

    “Mother!” I yelled as I barged into her room. “What the hell is going on?” She was standing staring out of her window. There was an opened bottle of scotch on her table.

“She’s ruining everything,” she murmured, talking about Tori. “I exposed her secret and Adrian still wants to hear her side.” She took a sip and I walked to the table and welcome myself to a glass.

“Well, you promised me the throne and now there’s a chance that she may be pregnant. If she is, then I that changes everything.” She turned towards me.

“My son, let me handle that. You’ll get your spot on that throne,” she smiled. I don’t know what she had in mind and it didn’t matter as long as I get what should’ve been mine. My patience is getting thin as this is taking longer than I expected. I downed the drink and slammed the glass on her.

“I’ve been letting you handling it and where has it gotten me? Here I am once again, looking like a fool. I want my crown and you better figure out a way to make it happen or the whole kingdom will find out exactly the type of woman you really are.”

Her secret has been safe with me since I overheard her conversation with the guards. I will make good on my threat if she doesn’t help me get what I want. Her forehead wrinkles as she frowns at my threat.

“Don’t forget that I am your mother and I will not be disrespected. I already told you to trust me. My plan will began to go in motion tomorrow. Neither one of them will see it coming,” she laughed.

I walked up to her. “And it better work out or both of will go down.” I stormed out of her room and into the kitchen. “Emily!” I yelled. The beautiful maid appeared. “Yes, my prince,” she answered.

“Where is Sir Henry?” I asked.

“I believe he may be in bed for the night, your Highness. I can leave a note for him.”

“Please tell him to come see me as soon as he wakes up.”

    I headed upstairs to my room. I need to have a back up plan in case my mother decides to double cross me. I also need to figure exactly what Tori was doing. Whatever little game she thinks she’s playing is going to come to an end because there is no way that she could be pregnant. She didn’t even know how to get to the dungeon. Unless, she had help. Damn, so it’s really possible that what she said could be true. She could be carrying his baby.

“f**k,” I shouted. I need to figure out something fast. This is starting to become extremely frustrating. First Adrian, may get his crown back which would defeat my chances. Then there is the possibility of an heir. They would be automatically next in line, which would only push me back. I paced around my room trying to figure out ways to make my plan work. I need it to work.

Tori

Flashback...

     Blood, unmoving, no chest rising or falling. I watched my world lying lifeless in front of my face. “Livie, baby open your eyes,” I begged. “Please open them for mommy.” I don’t know how many times I shook her, tapped her, and called out for her, but it didn’t matter because my little girl was gone. I couldn’t move. I just held her in my arms. I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to be a nightmare.

“Olivia, please wake up.” Alex called for help. I can hear his voice but I was in shock. My heart dropped in my chest as I finally reached my breaking point with him.

“This is all of your fault,” I said with no emotion. I was as if I disconnected my feelings from my body. He tried to come near her and I pulled her close to me. “Don’t you dare touch her! I hate you! You ruined everything that you touch. You ruined me, our marriage, and now your daughter’s life.”

“Tor-“ he began.

“Shut the f**k up!” I cut in. “All I wanted was for Livie to be safe,” I sniffed. “We were actually going to come back home. Not for you, but for her. Her happiness mattered to me. I was going to let you to continue to ruin me for her. But you couldn’t even let me do that. You always have to be the powerful one, Alex. You just have to show everyone who’s boss. Now look at where that has gotten us. Look at her,” I rambled. He turned his head in the opposite direction.

“Look at her, Alex! I want this seared into your brain, you sick bastard. You did this.”

“Don’t you think I feel guilty?” He finally spoke. I glanced at him. “If you didn’t run away-“

“No, no. You will not put this on me. Where is the police!” I looked around. My baby skin was getting colder and colder.

“Oh, God!” I cried again. “She’s so cold.” I began to rock her trying to warm her skin. “My sweet Olivia. My baby girl, I’m going to miss you so much,” I cried.

“Why didn’t you just stay?” He growled. “You just had to run away. You are the cause of this, Tori.”

“You are sick! How dare you blame me! I loved her,” I yelled.

“So did I,” he matched my tone. The sirens were going off and I knew in matter of time that help would arrive. We were in a cabin on a mountain so it would taken a while to get up here. “Give her to me.” He goes to snatch her away and I pushed him back. His face contorts into a furious expression. I tried to get up with Livie, but her dead weight made more challenging. Alex grabbed me by my hair causing me to fall with my daughter. He grabbed Livie from me and laid her on the sofa.

He walked towards me with his fists balled.

“Really even with our daughter dead, you’re still only focused on hurting me. Did you even stop and think about what you are doing?”

“I have nothing to think about. I have nothing else to lose,” he said.

“Alex, please don’t do this. You need help.”

He was standing over me and I was afraid of the unknown. “All you had to do was stay, Tori. But you couldn’t even do that.” My face was greeted with a punch. I coughed as i tried to scoot away from him. I can taste the blood pooling in my mouth. He grabbed me by hair and ignored my pleads. He dragged as if I was trash in a bag towards the kitchen where a knife that I used to cook with was still out. I quickly grabbed him and jabbed it into his side. Blood spilled everywhere as he fell and I was free from his grip. I watched as he panted trying to catch his breath. I watched as he took his last breath and the police arrived to the bloody scene. Just then I dropped the knife as reality hit me harder than he did. I just killed my husband.

Present time...

    I bolted up out of my sleep. My face was soaking wet from my tears. These flashback were more vivid. It was as if I at two places at me time. I could see myself holding my daughter, while feeling the pain Alex has inflicted upon me. I looked around the room to see Adrian sound asleep next to me. My daughter’s birthday is getting closer and closer and maybe that’s why these flashbacks are so intense. Knowing that I would be able to sleep the rest of the night, I climbed out of bed and went down to the kitchen for a glass of water. I down the drink and headed towards the garden. I needed to clear my head. I’m under so much stress.

    Between dealing with Catherine and Jasper, my marriage to Adrian, and running a kingdom, I’m overwhelmed. It was a beautiful night. Being surrounded by beautiful flowers and an ethereal night sky made me feel peaceful. I inhaled and the fresh smell of the flowers tickled my nose. The bright moon stood out surrounded by small twinkling stars that mischievously greeted me.

“Why are you outside?” His deep voice broke my thoughts.

    I turned towards my husband and observed him. He was definitely one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen. He stood shirtless, exposing his athletic body. His arms were folded making his biceps flex. Like a king, he had a powerful demeanor and my body was willingly to obey. My eyes traveled down to his pants where his bulge was standing at. I felt myself get hot as I remembered exactly how he felt inside of me. How he became my weakness. His mesmerizing gaze has me lost in them he waited for my answer. I had to clear my throat to break myself out of his trances.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“I dreamed about her, my daughter. Or maybe they’re flashbacks. I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Why are you awake?”

“Because you weren’t in bed,” he said as if it was the most natural thing.

“Would you like to join to me?” I asked as I gestured my hand. He walked over and sat next to me. The silence followed as we sat there just enjoying the beauty of the night. “When I have these dreams, I would go outside on my old patio and let the night consume me.”

“Was this when you were with your husband?” He asked. I nodded my head. “Yeah. After one of our fights. He would sleep as if nothing happened. As if he beating me was part of his daily routine. I wanted to leave, to run away, but I couldn’t leave my daughter. Gosh, I was so stupid. I let him tear me into pieces and when Livie died, I couldn’t take it anymore.” I turned to face him. “I dreamed of her death and his murder. It was so clear. I can see everything happening right in front of me. I just couldn’t do anything about it.” Tears fell down my face.

“You’re not stupid, Victoria. You were trying to make the best of bad situation. You were thinking of your daughter.” He grabbed my hand and connected with his. It was a sense of comfort that washed over me. I love that about him. He kissed my hand and I found myself smiling. “You loved your daughter and if I had the power, I would’ve made sure you both were together.”

I couldn’t say anything. No one ever ever said anything like that.

“Thank you, Adrian.”

“I care about you and I’m sorry for what my mother said. I should’ve defended you.”

“You were in shock. Don’t beat yourself up. I know how to defend myself.”

He laughed. “That’s my girl.”

We stayed a while longer and chatted about our favorite things. He was really a different man from the guy I met when I first came here.

“Olivia’s birthday is coming up soon. I usually go and put flowers on gravestone and I would just go talk to her. I would tell her about my patients, about my day or when I made her favorite meal.”

“When is it?” He asked.

“Christmas Eve. Holidays were not the same. My mom would try her best to cheer me up but they understood how I felt and they respected me by giving me my space that day.”

    Being able to open up to him about my past made me feel better. It also made my feelings grow more for him tonight. I questioned if it love or simply lust. I didn’t really know, but I do know that something is there. This feeling different with him than it was when I was with Alex. We met in the most awkward way and now look at us. Sitting out in the middle of the night talking as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Eventually, we headed inside and went back to bed. This time, I slept peacefully in the arms of my husband.