Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 153: Dropping the Bomb

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Three: Dropping the Bomb

When Ella woke up, she was disoriented.

She couldn't remember when it was that she had fallen asleep, or when she'd possibly fainted, but when she was finally able to open her eyes, she knew immediately that she was back at the inn. The woody smells and soft bed were a familiar giveaway.

She sat up slowly, acknowledging the distinct lack of clothing on her body, but quickly noticed that sound was muffled and looked to see that her chest, arm, and hand were all bandaged.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said, relief unlike Ella had ever heard filling his voice. "How do you feel?"

Looking to her right, she saw that everyone was asleep and lying in their own beds aside from Vordt, who was sitting beside her with a dimly flickering candle resting on the nightstand.

"Am I really awake?" Ella whispered, dazedly looking around at everything inside the room. She couldn't get past the feeling that she was still asleep, that she was seeing something that she had no control over. "What happened?"

"You were attacked," Vordt said curtly, trying to show as little emotion as he could. "Amelia and Xaphile found you unconscious in a puddle of blood. Your gown had been shredded and you were wounded. The cuts were shallow, but your artery was nicked."

It took Ella a moment to respond.

"That would explain why I felt so weak so quickly," she said absently, remembering with a flash what had happened before she'd lost consciousness. "Vordt... is everyone all right?"

"Yes," he said, nodding once. "Xaphile personally asked me to watch over you while everyone slept since I myself am not tired in the slightest."

Ella didn't know what to say.

She narrowed her eyes, then looked him straight on.

"Did Xaphile tell you what I told him before I blacked out?" she inquired. "About our change of plans? About what happened?"

"No," Vordt deadpanned, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Tell me, who is it that attacked you."

Ella couldn't respond.

She thought back to the first attacker, how familiar he'd been even though she couldn't place why, and then... she remembered the Terrace. His reaction, and those eyes - the eyes of Lord Olagrell, the irises that literally mirrored Xaphile's.

The eyes of the man who had sired the one she loved.

He was alive.

How long had he been held captive? Why had he let her go? Was he bound by magic? She had a bad feeling that Amelia's father might have been taken prisoner as well. When she considered the facts, it made sense, but what was the King planning?

Or rather, was the King's son behind everything?

She didn't know.

But, she was finished trying to figure it out from the shadows.

It was time for her, as the fourth Ruler of Aerika, to call for a council between all four rulers. She would be prepared if the Terrace came back to her. If necessary, she would even capture him and hold him prisoner herself until she could find out what had been done to him.

It was time to start making plans.

"There are two assassins out for my life," Ella said blankly. "The first is an unknown enemy. He seems familiar somehow, but I can't place why, and he's very dangerous."