It took a lot of willpower to hold herself back. She wanted to reveal herself so badly, savor the look of shock on his face and slay him where he stood. But more importantly at present, what was he doing in her father’s room?

"General Leon, do you not know how to greet your King? Has house arrest made you senile?" Cedric taunted.

Leon clenched his jaw as Nettle helped him off the bed and to his feet. It was quite a struggle for the elderly man.

"My apologies, Your Majesty. I was not aware that you would be visiting tonight," he said humbly while bowing.

"Are you certain that’s how you greet your king? Do I need to teach you?" Cedric scoffed.

Leon clenched his jaw, just as Sierra clenched her fists from the secret room. Not wanting to cause any more trouble than necessary, with Nettle’s help, Leon bent the knee.

Only then, was Cedric satisfied.

As he struggled to stand back up, Cedric circled around the room.

"Rumor has it a certain knightess is making her way to the Capital. So I wondered if her first stop might be here. You wouldn’t have happened to see her here, would you?" He asked with a smirk as he pointed the tip of his blade at Leon’s neck.

The old seasoned general was well acquainted with such fear tactics. It was nothing he had never seen before. It didn’t bother him one bit. Leon Bancroft stood his ground. He never broke his gaze with Cedric.

"No Your Majesty. As far as I was aware, my daughter is happily married to King Alistair of Drakin. What would she be doing here?"

The smile Cedric had disappeared in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Leon by the collar of his shirt, causing Nettle to gasp in shock.

"Don’t you dare play games with me, Leon! I know she’s been here. Where are you hiding her?" He yelled.

Sierra gritted her teeth. She knew she had to remain calm. Even Opal tightened her coil around her wrist, in an effort to hold her back. The little snake had always been able to sense the chances in her emotions.

This time was no different.

Nettle knelt on the ground, begging Cedric to let go of Leon. But Cedric was having none of it. He kicked Nettle to the side, the poor woman was in tears. Leon struggled out of his grasp, falling to the ground with a thud.

The smirk on Cedric’s face was one that Sierra would never forget.

"I’ve once heard a rumor, that General Leon has a secret room somewhere in here. Perhaps today is the day we dispel those rumors," he said as he straightened his back.

He ordered the guards to find the secret room immediately.

Sierra tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. She had it all pictured in her mind. The moment they found her, she would draw her sword and slew all of them where they stood, including Cedric.

’Sierra.’

Cedric would have the slowest death of them all. She wanted him to suffer, for everything he had done. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

’Sierra!’

Opal’s voice rang in her mind. It took the little snake a few tries to get her attention.

’We cannot stay...’ she hissed, ’we must get out.’

’But...’ Sierra clenched her jaw.

She could hear the commotion outside. The room was being turned upside down. Nettle was holding on to Leon, while her father gave nothing away. He was risking everything for her safety and here she was, foolishly thinking of throwing her life away.

’Now is not the time,’ Opal reminded her, ’There’s a time and place for everything. We need to leave. Now.’

Sierra cursed beneath her breath as she turned around to face the room. She had never been in here before but she was certain that there was a button she had to press to reveal an escape route.

No secret room was complete without a matching escape route. That much she knew. Eventually, after some searching, she found a hidden button underneath the writing desk. Pressing it revealed a tunnel that lit up as it was being revealed.

"Your Majesty! We found something!"

Sierra clenched her jaw. They were hot on her heels. There was no time for goodbyes. No time to hesitate.

"I’ll come back for you, father," she whispered beneath her breath before sprinting into the tunnel.

As soon as she entered it, the secret entrance closed behind her, just as the secret room was about to be found. She did not look back, but Sierra had tears in her eyes. She vowed revenge beneath her breath. She was committed to it, now more than ever.

Sometime later, she made it out from the other end, pleasantly surprised to find herself no longer on castle grounds. The secret passageway led all the way out beyond the castle walls.

Looking back at the tall walls surrounding the castle, Sierra clenched her fists. Getting back in would not be an issue for her. All she needed was a little time and the right moment.

~

"You imbeciles!" Cedric roared as he threw the crystal wine glass in his hand across the room.

Upon impact with the marble flooring, the wine glass shattered into thousands of shards. The maids and servants around him flinched, but no one dared to make a sound. The courtesans he had hired to entertain him tried their best to quell his anger, offering him a new glass of wine.

"My King, drink. It’s not good for your health to be this agitated," one of the courtesans said to him in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Another quickly came up behind Cedric, to massage his shoulders while another massaged his legs. The guard who knelt before him was the leader of the royal guards. In fact, he was the third one to have been assigned the post in the last two weeks.

He was trembling in fear, wondering if he would suffer the same fate as his predecessors. Ironically, he had executed the previous leader of the royal guards with his own hands by the request of the King.

"Your... Your Majesty, we’re doing our best. Give us another day, I promise you, we will find her," the young man begged in a trembling voice.

He was no older than nineteen. No one else dared to take up the post. He was just the poor soul who was appointed.

"Another day? Another day?!" Cedric yelled.

He drew his sword from its sheath and walked down the steps of his throne. The young man began to cower in fear, moving backward as Cedric came at him. There was a look in his eyes, one that had caused everyone to fear him more.

"Please, Your Majesty! Mercy! Mercy! Mer-"

The young man did not live to see the sunlight.