All I Need ✔️

Chapter 33

Third Person POV

Advisor Melli walked into the room, slowly, accompanied by two guards. "Why did you lock the door?" he asked once he was inside.

"Safania asked me to," Emalina replied. "At night she gets worried about people coming in, that someone might try to sneak past the guard. She's been more nervous since Prince Cassius has been away. In fact, you're probably scaring her right now. You know, having someone unfamiliar in her bedroom. So maybe we could talk outside?"

"Nonsense. Safania and I are certainly familiar with each other. Besides, I am going to search every room in this castle to find my wife, and that includes this one," Melli replied coolly, snapping his fingers. The guards began to look around the room, under the bed, in the closet.

"Is that the cake you were making earlier?" he asked Safania in Anguinese, walking towards the table.

"Yes, Advisor," Safania replied simply.

He looked at the large, chocolate cake, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Why are there three plates?"

Safania's heart skipped a beat. "For the three of us: me, Emalina, and Eli," she lied quickly, praying that for once her face wouldn't give her away.

Melli turned to Eli. "You had a piece of this cake?"

Eli looked at Safania, then turned to Advisor Melli. "Please don't tell the Prince. I'm not supposed to eat on the job, but the girls insisted. And it was fantastic. You should try a piece."

"I don't have time for cake," Melli snapped.

"She's clearly not here," he said, turning to the guards. "Let's try the next room. Good evening, Emalina, Safania."

The advisor left the room with his guards in tow. Eli also exited, quickly mouthing the words "you owe me" to Emalina and Safania. Emalina closed the door and relocked it, while Safania rushed to the window.

To her relief, Liasa was still there, clutching onto the side of the castle. Safania and Emalina hoisted her back inside. The small girl was shivering from the cold, nighttime air, so Safania wrapped her in a blanket from the bed and put her next to the fire.

"It's okay," she told Liasa. "You're safe now."

Liasa nodded, still shivering.

"When the Advisor and his guards leave, I thought of a place," Emalina told Safania. "She should be able to sleep there and stay there until we can come up with a plan."

The three waited in silence, near the window just in case they had to put Liasa out again. Finally, they heard the advisor again.

"She doesn't appear to be here. Thank you for your assistance Eli. We've never been in this part of the castle before. We may be back later, but we're going to search elsewhere for now."

They heard the guards and Advisor Melli walk away. After a few moments, Eli knocked at the door.

"I'm coming in. They're gone now."

Eli unlocked the door and entered, finding Safania, Liasa, and Emalina huddled together in the room.

"This is the wife?" Eli asked the trio. Emalina and Safania nodded.

"You were right when you told me earlier that I didn't want to know. What were you thinking, Safania?" Eli asked.

"We have to help her," Safania replied simply.

Eli sighed. "I know you're new to this whole palace lifestyle, but you can't just do whatever you want whenever you want."

"You think I don't know that?" Safania responded. "I know that this was stupid. But I'm not going to let this poor girl die because of hierarchy, palace codes, or whatever bullshit reason you want to use to give yourself an excuse to not do anything!"

Safania hadn't meant to raise her voice so much, but found herself yelling by the end of what she was saying. She clamped her eyes shut and looked away until she felt herself regain control of her emotions, hoping that her eyes weren't glowing.

Eli stood in silence for a moment. Then, finally, said "I did cover for you, did I not?"

"You did," Safania replied.

"I will help however I can. But don't lose sight of the fact that for every life you save here, you put ten more at risk."

"I understand," Safania said.

Eli shook his head. "I need a drink. And give me an actual piece of that damn cake."

Eli sat at the table eating a piece of cake Safania served him. "So what's the plan with her?" he asked in between bites, gesturing to Liasa.

"The laundry room." Emalina jumped in. "I'm the only one with the key. Well, the Prince has a master key of course, but I'm the only one here with a key. I think she could sleep in there for the night. And even if they broke in, we could cover her with linens so she just looks like a pile of dirty laundry."

Eli nodded.

"Okay, and then what?" he asked.

"We don't know," Safania said.

"Perfect," Eli said sarcastically.

"We're working on it," Safania replied defensively.

"Well, you've dragged me into it now, so whatever I can do to help, let me know." Eli took another bite. "I'll admit though, it's hard to be too mad while I'm eating this. Amazing."

"Let's all get some sleep," Safania said. "Emalina, the laundry room sounds like a good idea. Let's do that, and then first thing tomorrow, we'll start looking for ways to get her out."

Emalina nodded.

"Liasa," Safania said, switching to Iradian, "Emalina is going to take you somewhere to sleep for the night. You'll be safe there."

"Thank you," Liasa replied, following Emalina out of the room.

"I'm not leaving until I finish this cake," Eli said.

"Of course," Safania smiled.

Eli eventually finished his slice and left, leaving Safania alone. As she prepared for bed, she realized that she had completely skipped dinner. But all of the stress had left her without much of an appetite. After changing into a nightgown, she crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling.

Guess it's time to count sheep.

1, 2, 3...

***************

"Get off of me," I yelled, kicking at my master.

"You're going to pay for that girl," he said maliciously, grabbing me and pinning me against the wall of his study.

I struggled to stretch my arm to reach for a letter opener sitting on the desk, but he saw me and laughed.

"You Eir women really don't know when to quit."

He smacked my head against the wall and I crumpled to the floor, dazed.

"Now are you going to be a good girl?" he asked, picking me up. But this time, it wasn't my master's face in front of me. It was Orphasius.

"Dear, dear Safania. What ever am I going to do with you?"

Safania woke up in a cold sweat. It was still dark outside, but the very first hints of sunshine had just begun to paint the sky. Once she was fully awake, she realized an argument was happening in the hallway.

"I assure you, I'm here with the King's permission," she heard Advisor Melli say. He must have come back to look again, she realized, though she wasn't that surprised - he probably picked up on her and Emalina acting suspiciously.

"And I assure you that the King's permission certainly did not involve skulking around my wing of the castle in the middle of the night while I was away," a stern voice replied.

She recognized the voice immediately - Cassius had finally returned.