Chapter 80
CAMILLA’S PO.V
His eyes widened and I saw raw fear inside of them. I wish I could have said that I was joking but I wasn’t. If he wasn’t willing to give up the names then I was going to do whatever I needed to in order to ensure that Frederick had no more access to forbidden drugs.
After a second of silence, he turned on hi heels and walked around the front desk. He rummaged through his papers and brought out a plain piece of paper along with some charcoal. I watched in confusion as he began to scribble on the paper.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “All I need is a name.”
“I don’t have his name,” his response was gruff. “You don’t run an illegal business by asking names. He came in a little over a week ago and said he needed a small quantity of anathis in a short period of time. I don’t like to deal with the stuff because it is messy but he was offering twice of what anyone normally would and I’d be da mned if I wasn’t going to take it.”
As his scribbling began to take shape, I realized that he was drawing a sketch. I glanced over at Ryker who just shrugged. It took five minutes for him to be done and once he was, he all but shoved the sketch into my hands. I took one look at it and crunched my brows in confusion. I had never seen the person before but I was certain that he was in the palace somewhere.
“Are you going to arrest me now?” the gruff voice asked and I shook my head.
“You helped us out so you get a warning. Clean up your act. If you actually had a decent shop in town then maybe you would make a decent earning without having to dabble.”
He didn’t say a word but I could see that he was grateful. I turned on my heels and walked out with Ryker. I vaguely heard the two brothers whispering harshly between themselves and I knew that whatever trust between them, that had been broken today would not be so easily repaired.
I waited until I had gotten into the carriage with Ryker before I handed him the sketch. He took one look at it and his eyes darkened in anger. “Do you know who it is?”
“I definitely do.”
As soon as the carriage got to the palace, Ryker led me out and began walking with determination towards the back doors. I didn’t know where he was going but I trusted him and if he said he knew the man in the picture then he was the only one who could find him.
“How do you even know him?” I asked unable to keep the curiosity out of my voice. I was shocked that he knew more of the guards than I did.
His steps faltered and for a second, I thought he was going to ignore me but he finally spoke and his voice was soft. “I asked him to watch the girls while you were unconscious.”
It was at that moment that I realized there was a lot of guilt in his stance. He was uneasy and although I understood why, he had to understand that it was not his fault. He didn’t know that the man was a traitor then, none of us did. I reached out with the intention of placing a comforting hand on his shoulder but Ryker moved and I allowed my hand fall to the ground.
At the back of the palace, there were a few guards pacing and talking. It didn’t take long for me to sight the man we were looking for. He had curly hair and dark eyes and he was a dead ringer for the photo. As soon as all the guards saw us, they stood at attention and bowed. We ignored them and made our way towards the man we were searching for. I saw him shuffle awkwardly on both feet as if wondering whether or not he should flee.
“You,” it was Ryker who spoke. “Come with us.”
He started to move forward but at the last second, he turned on his heels and ran. I rolled my eyes in frustration because I was tired of everything. I saw the other guards preparing to chase him but I stopped them. Right ahead of him was a stream, it had been a while since I had used my powers but I reached deep into myself until I could– feel the water moving. I tugged at it and used the water as a rope to grab him and pull him down into the stream. He went down with a scream and I saw everyone staring at me with wide eyes.
“Go and get him,” my voice snapped them out of their daze and they all nodded and ran off to get him. He was gasping for air and trying to cough out water from his lungs.
When he saw that he was getting closer to us, he began to fight against the other guards but he was unable to get himself free. They brought him to his knees in front of us and he looked up at me with a sneer. I simply co cked my head to the side and analyzed him. If not for the sketch, I would have never thought to suspect him. He looked so innocent and unassuming; he was the kind of person to easily blend into a crowd of people.
“Why did
you run?” I asked but he stayed silent. “Is there something that you’re hiding?”
“F**k you,” he spat in my face and I had to take a step back to avoid his saliva hitting me. Ryker was furious because the next thing I knew, he had punched him so hard that we went unconscious.
“Take him to the dungeons,” Ryker ordered the other guards and his voice was so devoid of emotion that even I was concerned.
I noticed that the other guards were looking at him with a healthy dose of fear that wasn’t there before. They respected him for his position but now there was fear as if they had jut realized that not only was he a royal- he could defend himself too.
As soon as they had gone, Ryker turned to me. “Are you alright?” I nodded but he still spent his time doting over me and checking to make sure that I was alright. “Did he touch you?”
I shook my head. “Everything is fine, you don’t have to worry.”
He finally sighed in relief. “Good, you should go in and rest, I need to interrogate him.”
“No, I’m going with you,” his ‘no’ was so quick that I paused and crossed my arms over my chest. “Why not?”
“Camilla, please, he was responsible for you almost dying. I don’t want you anywhere around him and an interrogation room is not the right place for you. It is too blo ody.”
“I don’t care,” I shot back and he raised a brow. “I am going, Ryker, with or without your permission.”
He seemed to realize that there was not much he could do concerning it so he sighed. “Once it gets too much, I want you to leave, okay?”
I nodded, that was an easy promise to make.
I felt out of place in the dark dungeons. The walls had grime and blood splatters and the room smelled like a mix of p iss, fear and blood. There were not a lot of people in the dungeons because according to my mother, she hated having people down so she killed them as swiftly as possible. Only one other cell was occupied and I could t help but wonder what he had done.
Ryker walked ahead of me to the cell where the guard was being held. He was awake and sporting a black eye but that didn’t stop him from trying to look like he was not a second away from pi sing his pants. His fear was so tangible that I could feel it wrapping around the room and threatening to choke us all.
“I will give you one chance to make this easy,” Ryker began as he rolled up his sleeves. “Tell us where Frederick is and who the other people are. If you do this then I will make this as slow as possible.”
“I will never help you,” he spat then turned to me. “Frederick is the rightful king, the throne is no place for a spoiled little brat who needs her mate to protect her.”
His words were barely out of his mouth before Ryker had grabbed his chin in a bruising grip. “If you talk to or look at my mate again, I will cut out your tongue and shove it down your throat. The last time I checked, you didn’t need a tongue to write down names.”
That had him shutting up immediately. “I am not helping you.”
“I hoped you would say
that.”
Ryker took out a rag and shoved it into his mouth. I was so confused as to why he did that until he took a pair of pliers and pulled out the nail on his thumb. The scream was mu ffled through the rag and even I flinched. Ryker did not hesitate before pulling out another and it suddenly hit me why he didn’t want me here. He glanced over at me and I nodded to assure him that I was okay, I just hoped I would be.
It took me fifteen minutes to realize that I wanted to leave. I managed to stick through the pulling out of the nails but when Ryker started to strategically break ff his fingers, I realized I had enough and I quietly walked out of the room. I knew he noticed and I knew he was worried but I also knew that if I stayed any longer then I was going to throw up.
I passed by Christine on my way and she looked concerned. She reached out for me but I shook my head and briefly explained what happened. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and led me to my room because. my legs were shaking badly. She helped me run a bath and even helped me get in. She sat on a stool by the tub just keeping me company. No words were spoken between us but her presence was enough.
I didn’t know how long we stayed like that but the next thing I remembered was the door opening and Ryker walking in. There were blood splatters on his shirt and hands. Christine shot me a look as if asking if I were okay and it wasn’t until I nodded that she walked out.
