Chapter 41

41 Chapter 41 : Lies

Ella closed her door and locked it before walking to her dressing table, she opened the book and pulled out the small piece of paper her brother had stashed away within the pages.

She took a deep breath before unfolding the paper and reading the contents within;

‘Ella I know this will catch you a bit of guard and there is a possibility that you may not believe me, but I right this letter because I do not want you tying yourself down to a man who hides things from you. Ella I have proof that Nathan has been lying to you and fooling you in order to get you be his wife, I can’t explain all the details right now but I will tell you everything I know in person. When you’re ready, meet me at home in our garden where we used to catch butterflies, I will tell you everything I know there. I love you my little sister, please take care of yourself there.’

Ella was visibly trembling as she looked down at the letter in her hand, Nathan had been lying to her? Lying about what exactly? Was he lying about loving her? Or about who he was? Could she even trust him anymore? Did she even know the man she had spent the last five years courting, the man she was marrying in a few days, the man she had allowed to-

Ella’s thoughts trailed off when she felt a sharp pain in her head.

“Mmh!”

She bit down on her lip and clasped her head in her hands, the pain was agonizing. Ella suddenly felt very cold, she wrapped her arms around her body and shivered violently. The girl got up so she could grab a coat from her wardrobe but was startled by the image she saw in the mirror.

Ella’s skin was so pale it was almost white, her beautiful blue eyes looked like they were being engulfed by blood because they looked as red as a beet, and her canines had become sharper and longer.

The redhead stumbled backwards when the image on the mirror began to fade away, she frantically looked down at her hands and touched them, scared that she too might be fading from existence.

.....

Her eyes looked towards the mirror again but this time she could not see her reflection staring back at her. She slowly moved towards it and waved her hand in front of it but still couldn’t see anything.

“Gods!” Ella yelled, “am I dying?!”

*

“My lady, we’ve arrived in the capital!”

Julia Boleyn peeped out of the carriage window and inspected the new surroundings, so this is where that witch lived? The green eyed woman clenched her fists tightly, anger filling her heart, so that little red haired witch thought she could just use a spell and steal Adam away from her? No, clearly she didn’t know who she was up against, Julia would make her pay.

“Please find a small secluded inn where we can lodge without being recognized,” Julia instructed the carriage men.

They would hide out in a small inn while Julia proceeded with her plan of infiltrating the palace as a maid, she would scout the castle in and out, know it’s exits and every corner. Julia would know where the guards were stationed and all the loop holes and blind spots, and then after she had all the information she needed, she would lure the witch out and kill her.

The carriage stopped at a small inn near an alley way, the coach man opened the carriage door and helped Julia out.

“This is the least populated part of town my lady,” the man spoke, “no one will ever suspect our being here.”

“Good,” Julia gave a signal to the two knights in disguise who had accompanied her, “stay here, I’ll go and speak to the inn keeper.”

Julia walked to the entrance of the inn but she found the door tightly shut.

“That’s odd,” Julia mattered to herself, “why would an inn be closed at this time of the night?”

Julia peeped through the glass door of the inn and searched the interior, and to her surprise the place looked abandoned. She pulled away and looked around, spotting another inn on the other side of the road.

“I guess I’ll just try that one.”

Beric peeped from behind the wall and watched Julia walk away, he sighed in relief and started making his way to prince Adam’s room. He had to tell his grace that Julia Boleyn was in the capital, most likely to look for Adam.

*

Julia walked into the room she had been given in the little inn, it wasn’t her usual standard but she wasn’t here for comfort and luxury, she was here to save prince Adam.

She looked at the soft bed in front of her and instantly felt tired, it had been a long trip and she had been battling with a headache half the time, a good night’s rest was what she needed.

The woman walked to the bed and sat down, she looked to the floor and furrowed her brows, her legs were dangling off the bed. For a small inn this place had some really big beds. It was either that or she had grown shorter somehow, which of course was not possible, was it?

She lay down on the bed and creased her brows once again when she saw how far her feet were from the edge of the bed she creased her brows. True that Julia had always been a tad shorter than most women, but she felt a whole lot smaller in this moment. She brushed it off and pulled the blanket over her body, she was probably just tired and imagining things, all she needed to do was rest.

*

The next morning, Ella peeped from her blanket when he noticed her room being lit up by the rays of the rising sun. The redhead had not seen not even a minute of sleep the previous night, after she saw her reflection disappearing with her own eyes, she was afraid if she fell asleep she wouldn’t wake up the next morning.

She uncovered her blanket and slowly got off the bed, hesitantly walking towards her mirror. What would Ella do if she still looked the way she did last last night, she would never be able to leave her room ever again, she might even be labeled a witch.

She closed her eyes as she stepped in front of the mirror and took a deep breath, hesitantly, she opened her eyes one at a time and to her relief, her blue eyes had regained her color and the warm tone of her skin was back.

“Oh thank the gods!” Ella sighed in relief.

As the woman inspected herself on the mirror, a knock at the door echoed throughout the room.

“Lady Ella! May I come in?”

“Umm of course.”

Maria walked into the room and curtsied kindly, “good morning my lady, I’m here to help you prepare.”

“Prepare?”

“Yes my lady,” Maria continued as she gestured the servants who were carrying buckets of water to fill Ella’s tub to come in.

“I was instructed by his grace prince Nathaniel to help you prepare to go into the town,” the woman grabbed a towel and walked over to Ella, “he said you have to go select a new betrothal necklace.”

“Oh yes, I forgot about that.”

With everything that had happened last night, the betrothal necklace arrangement had completely slipped her mind. But Ella was somewhat grateful, she really needed some time away from the palace to clear her head. And she could also use the time to meet up with her brother and hear what he had to say about Nathan, she needed to know what he had discovered before the wedding.

Ella took the towel from Maria and headed to the bathroom where the servants had just finished filling and warming her bath. When she stripped her clothes off she felt a wave of anger course through her veins, if truly Nathan had tricked her into being with him, it meant she had given her body to a lair.

She balled up her fists and cursed under her breath, she prayed that that William was wrong, because Ella didn’t know what she would do if she found out that Nathan was lying to her all this time.

*

“Julia? Beric are you sure about this?!”

The young knight nodded, “I’m sure your grace it was her, I suspect she has been sent to find you.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” Adam spoke, he was now pacing around the room deep in thought, “if indeed they sent someone to find me why would they send Julia? It’s doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe they thought she could pursuade you to go back somehow,” Beric explained, “besides, if they sent a group of knights here it would raise suspicions. I think they’re trying to get you to go home without the attention of the Merian king.”

Adam pursed his lips, “you may be right. But if that’s the case then we need to move fast.” Adam ran his fingers through his hair, “we will go into the town today and try to find out how tight the security at the palace is, gather all the information necessary to rescue Guinevere from that lying prince.”

“Of course your grace,” Beric responded with a bow, “I will inform the others.”