Chapter 67

Chapter 67 He saved her twice
CA SSANDRA
That voice… deep, co arse, and gravelly. It was the kind of voice with a texture, one that was impossible to forget. It had been lingering in my mind for the past five years, playing in a loop in my nightmares.
For a moment, I tried to convince myself that I was making it up, because there was no way it was possible to hear that same voice in the present day, here in my
chamber.
What was going on here?
I’d always had a sneaking suspicion that it’d been Margaret who’d wanted me to die in the inferno. She had always disliked me and sought out any reason to keep me away from the royal family.
And yet, there were some factors that didn’t make that possible. Margaret didn’t have the right to instruct soldiers. No one could, in fact, aside from their leader, the Alpha King. Not only that but soldiers who had served in the empire’s military couldn’t be recruited as guards for the royal family. Even though soldiers had the capability, they had seen too much bloodshed and troubled places to be around the family.
So who were the men that had arrived at Rosepetal? And if this man was one of them, what was he doing here now? Had Margaret hired him to go there and force the poison down my throat? And after that, had he a*sumed life here as a guard despite the strict rules and restrictions that made it impossible?
As my mind considered the possibilities, I took a long deep breath and studied Margaret. I didn’t want to give in to this, not even for a moment, but I didn’t see any other option.
“I’ll go with you,” I said slowly, but then I glanced beyond me. “But only if you promise to leave my son and Erika out of it. They aren’t a part of this.”
“Of course,” Margaret replied with a cold stare and then she turned to the guard and gestured toward him.
As he approached, Finnick burst into tears.
“Mommy!” he called out, and he started running toward me, but Erika stopped him before he could reach us. The maid then looked at me with a saddened
expression.
“Ca ssandra-” she pleaded, but I shook my head and smiled at her.
“I’ll be okay,” I a*sured them gently. While this was a dangerous situation, I didn’t think Margaret was actually going to deliver physical punishment for what I had done to Adalyn. There was something more at play, I was certain. Per the usual, I just needed to keep my wits about me and stay strong for Finnick’s sake.
The guard pushed me to move forward and a small gasp escaped me. I took a deep breath, and just as I took a step, I heard someone clear their throat.
“Well, isn’t this quite a scene?”
Kaleb stepped out of the shadows and entered the room. The king of Yurene glanced between Margaret and me and then frowned at the guard who’d laid his hands on me.
“I’m always surprised by the way affairs are handled here in the palace,” he remarked as his eyebrows knitted together. He raised his hand and flicked his fingers. Moments later, his guards rushed in and swarmed around us.
My heart pounded in my chest. What was happening?
Margaret’s guards stiffened and began to protest, but Kaleb’s guards didn’t let up. The foreigners were far bigger and stronger than the ones that were trying to take me, and for a moment, my l*ps curled into a smile at the display.
“Release her,” Kaleb ordered quietly, and when no one moved, he repeated himself. “Take your hands off of her.”
“Who are you to come in here and interfere?” Margaret demanded shrilly, and as her eyes narrowed, it became clear that she didn’t know who Kaleb was.
But Kaleb recognized Margaret immediately. He grinned his smug grin at her and then tilted his head to the side.
“I believe no one should attempt to execute an arrest without the King’s acknowledgment,” he said with a glint in his navy blue eyes. “I don’t know if that’s some kind of awful tradition in this country, but in Yurene, no one is allowed to treat a lady in this kind of manner, no matter what she’s done. It’s a shame that Wegalla is
so archaic.”
Suddenly, Margaret’s face paled and her l*p trembled.
“Y-your Majesty,” she quivered, and then she straightened her posture. “I’m
here on behalf of my son, you see a
he is very busy with palace business. This
filthy healer needs dealing with, seeing as she hurt his wife-”
“I didn’t know the King of Wegalla needed his mother to carry out his decisions,” Kaleb interrupted her boldly, and he crossed his arms against his chest. “Shall we invite him down here to discuss this further? I’m awfully curious to see what he would say.”
Margaret fell silent. Her nostrils flared and irritation painted her features. It was clear she was fighting a useless battle. She stood there, motionless for a moment, and I tried to guess how this was going to play out.
Asher’s stepmother wasn’t one who folded easily, but there was no way she was winning this argument. Aside from being a member of the royal family and at member of the Crescent Pack, the wicked woman had no legal jurisdiction or power to carry out justice.
She glanced at me for a moment and then sighed before turning on her heels. Her guards wasted no time and followed her out the door. Once they were gone, Kaleb turned to his own men.
“Leave us,” he ordered in a voice that was stern yet still kind. “I must speak with. the healer and get to the bottom of this ordeal. Wait outside of the chamber for me
and make sure that the vile woman and her guards don’t return. No further harm will come to Ca ssandra Keller. is that clear?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the men said in unison, and without a moment’s hesitation, the enormous foreigners bowed in respect and left the chamber. As they filed out of the room, relief bloomed from within me. I hadn’t expected to make it out of this ordeal without getting hurt. If it hadn’t been for the king of Yurene, there was no telling what Margaret would have done.
Once the door was closed behind them, I turned to Kaleb and offered him a
kind smile.
“Thank you,” I said gratefully as my eyes started to well with tears. “Seriously. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”
“She’s a wicked person,” Kaleb noted. “I could tell as much from her eyes. There’s something wrong there.”
“You can say that again,” I murmured as I ran a hand through my hair and smoothed down the front of my nightgown.
“You know, this is the second time I’ve rescued you,” Kaleb remarked with a grin. “There’s a myth in Yurene… a girl in trouble must marry a man if he’s saved her more than twice, otherwise ill fate will descend upon her.”