The Rightful Queen

Forty-eight: Zain

My whole body was in pain. I had been awake for a while but I was chained and there was a black sack covering my head, preventing me from seeing what was around me. I tried to move, but I only groaned in pain as my strained muscles sang with pain.

Nuriya wasn't who she was. She had played with my heart. she had me wrapped around her fingers and I fell for her game. She was Sedra Orman, the lost princess, the girl I often found myself thinking about.

I didn't know for how long I had been sitting like that, but as long as I was chained to that dreadful chair, I tried to push myself to hate her, to wish that I had never met her, but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to hate her smile, to not long for her kisses.

Was everything a lie to her? But... she saved me twice. She put herself in danger for my sake. She almost died because of that arrow. Was she that good of an actress? No matter how much I tried to convince myself that she was a great liar, a part of me knew that she wasn't entirely lying.

My mind was a mess. Where was she? Was she here? Was she with me? What if she was hurt?

No...

He wouldn't hurt her. She was his niece.

Nuriya wasn't hurt. I meant Sedra wasn't hurt.

"Nuriya..." I called out the name I was accustomed to. I just wanted to hear her voice. I wanted her to talk to me, then I would get back to being angry at her.

Disappointment filled me when I didn't receive any reply from her. She had to be okay. Hood wouldn't hurt his niece.

I didn't know how long I was stuck in the dark, but when I heard the door open, I silently prayed that I would see Nuriya in front of me. I needed to see her. I needed to make sure that she was okay. Even if she hurt me, there was no need to deny that she had that power over me that could make me turn the world upside down just to see her smile.

The black cover was yanked off my head and my eyes got blinded by the lights.

"Apologies, your Majesty. This place isn't up to your liking," Hood spoke and I gathered all the patience I had in me to keep calm.

"Where's Nuriya?" I asked about her.

"Nuriya? Did we hit you that hard, Zain? Her name is Sedra. Sedra Orman. She's not who you think she is," Hood chuckled.

"Where. Is. Nuriya?" I asked slowly.

"She's alive." He shrugged. Alive and okay? Alive and hurt? "Here's the thing. I don't want to torture you before killing you, so you better make it easy. Where are the papers that stipulate handing the throne to her in case of your death before your marriage?"

"Did she tell you?" Disappointment filled me as I was hit with another incident of betrayal.

"As much as I would have loved to hear such news from her, but Sedra doesn't know that I know," he said, making relief take over me. Nuriya didn't betray me.

"How did you know?"

"What makes you think that there are no traitors in the royal palace?" As he said that, one of my personal guards walked inside the room. Adnan. Not once had I ever had doubts about him. He was so loyal.

"Your father killed mine in the massacre. He was merely a cook in the palace and I decided to come back to avenge him."

The massacre. The beast that kept following me around no matter how many times I tried to right the wrongs I didn't commit.

"Let your dog tell you where the papers are," I spat at Hood, not caring that I was in no position to provoke him.

"It looks like you have just chosen the hard way," Hood said. I was aware that my choices weren't smart. "Feel free to beat the hell out of him, but make sure to leave him alive," he instructed Adnan.

This was going to be a long night. 

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I originally wanted to wait for a while before posting this chapter, but my fragile heart had another opinion😅
I didn't kill anybody, people. Yet😏
Published on September 8th, 2022
Sara