Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Ivy POV
“Quick, sit down while I try to take care of your hand,” Dustin said, dragging a cut in half wine barrel over. He flipped it, so I could sit on it. The other guard growled at him before gripping his shoulder.
“We were told to bring here, that is all,” he snapped at Dustin. I looked at the man who stared at me like I was the scum over the earth, and I quickly averted my gaze.
“Remove your hand, Trey, or f*****g lose it,” Dustin snapped at him.
“I’m following orders, the King said to bring her here, and that was it,”
“F**k the king,” Dustin snapped, and the man went to take a step toward him when Gannon walked in. “Yes, f**k the King, remember where your loyalties lie, Trey,”
“They lie with my King,”
“And she is your Queen,” Gannon snarled at him, and the man whimpered before his eyes went to me.
“You haven’t been here as long as the rest of us, but the King swore us all to choose his Queen over him,”
“If so, why is she down here, then?” The man demanded.
“Because the King is an idiot. Move Dustin. I will wrap her hand. Go fix up the old King’s quarters for me,” Gannon said, crouching down in front of me.
“Yes, Sir,” Dustin says while Trey growled and Gannon glanced over his shoulder at him.
“You’re off guard, get out of my face,” Gannon ordered him, and I felt his aura rush out and Trey doubled over before rushing out.
Gannon set to work cleaning my hand and wrapping it. “It will heal once you shift. Do you think you can hold off a couple of hours?”
“Can’t you heal it?” I asked. My hand was throbbing to its own beat, my fingers were black and purple, and fragmented bones pushed beneath my skin like splinters.
“I would if I could, but only the King can heal you. My saliva or blood won’t work on you since you aren’t mine,” Gannon says, cupping my face with his hand. He pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Once the moon is at its highest peak, I will take you outside, so you can shift, my Queen,” Gannon says.
“Please don’t call me that,” I murmur, looking away from him.
“I need to ask you something,” Gannon says, unlocking his phone and scrolling through the pictures. He stops before turning his phone to me.
“Do you know this woman?” he asks, and I take the phone from him. A sob escapes from my lips when I realize it is my mother. I nod, tears trekking down my face.
“She’s my mum,” I smile sadly, brushing my thumb over the picture of her. What I would give to hear her voice again. She looked a little younger than I remembered in this picture, but I knew it was her. Gannon hangs his head and shakes it, and he sighs heavily before looking up at me.
“He will come around, Ivy. You just need to give him space.” Gannon tells me.
“What do you mean? I don’t get it. What did I do?” I ask. Gannon frowns when I see his eyes glaze over, and i could tell he was mind-linking. I waited for him to finish, and his eyes flickered before falling on me.
“You did nothing. It’s what your mother did. She k****d the King and Queen; she also k****d the King’s sister.” I blink, astonished, unable to believe what I was hearing. That would be impossible. She couldn’t have.
“Just try to get some rest. After your shift, I will take you to Kyson’s old quarters,”
“But my birthday isn’t for another couple of weeks,” I tell him.
“The fact you recognized the King as your mate ivy, shows your birthday is today,” he says just as hear someone curse. The stable doors opened, and hope bubbled in me. Thinking it was Kyson to tell me this was some sick joke, but it was just Clarice and Abbie. Clarice rubbed her elbow as if she had just banged it which would explain the curse that left her lips. They stopped by the door and glanced at Gannon, who nodded to them before standing up and walking out. He stopped by Clarice at the door.
“Don’t belong; I don’t want to be dragging you to the cells for disobeying the King,” Gannon tells them. She nods before rushing in with Abbie close behind her. Abbie embraced me, hugging me, then checking me over while Clarice stood with a cupcake in her hand.
“I had a cake made, but I couldn’t carry it down,” Clarice said.
“You should have seen it, Ivy. Clarice did a good job. We spent all day making it.” Abbie said before frowning.
“You enjoy it then,” I tell her, knowing just how much we always wished to celebrate our birthdays but were never allowed, never allowed the cakes we made for the children in the orphanage. Abbie and l always stared longingly, wishing we could try the cakes we made. We never knew if they tasted alright, but the delight on the kids’ faces told us they must have or they were just being polite.
“We can’t stay long; Gannon is right; the King is on the warpath. But I couldn’t let you go without wishing you a happy birthday,” Clarice says, placing the blue cupcake in my hand. She lights it with it a match, and I stare at the flickering flame.
“Blow it out and make a wish,” Clarice said, and to humor her, I did. Abbie smiles sadly and kisses my knee where she was crouched beside me.
“What did you wish for?” Clarice asks, a teary smile on her face.
“I wished to be free,” I told her, and Abbie sobbed.
“Don’t say that,” Abbie cried.
“I think it’s a good wish,” Clarice says, looking confused at Abbie.
“Not where we come from. The only freedom rogues get is in d***h,” Abbie chokes out, and Clarice looks at me, shocked before grabbing my face in her hands.
“You wish for anything but that. Do you hear me? I will not watch my Queen d*e. I have buried enough of them,” she says before walking out. Abbie watches her go before looking back at me.
“I wish I could stay to see you shift,” she says, and I nodded, terrified of the thought of shifting with no one here, in a stable of all places surrounded by hay and horses.
“It’s not too bad. We have slept in worse places,” Abbie says, glancing around, trying to uplift my mood.
“I will speak to Beta Damian. Maybe he can convince the King to let me stay here with you,” Abbie says, and I shake my head. She was a good friend, I was blessed to have her. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
“No, stay in the castle; you don’t need to be punished too,” I tell her. Abbie looks at me, confused while chewing her lip.
“Abbie, love, you need to go before someone sees you and reports back to the King,” Gannon tells her, and I see her cheeks turn a little pink. I smiled at Abbie. She didn’t get flustered much, but just that one endearing word sent her crimson. She nods before standing and kissing my forehead.
“I will try to come back. If I not, I will tomorrow, Abbie says, rushing back to the door. She looks up at Gannon as she passes him.
“I won’t leave her alone. Once she shifts, I will sneak her back into the castle,” Gannon tells her before reaching for a lock of her auburn hair. He twirls it around his finger and then clears his throat, nodding and letting her rush off. I raise an eyebrow at him.
“What, she is pretty,” Gannon says, shaking his head like he just got caught doing something he shouldn’t.