Cloud Library II

💝💔SCARLET
HEARTS💔💝
{Love and vengeance}

Written by: Mercy Sheidu. 💛💛
Settings: Persia/Greece/Rome.
Genre: Historical romance.

♠CHAPTER 119♠

The sun shone brightly on this day like every other day. Yet, a subtle tension settled over the castle, like everyone knew deep down that the day was going bring forth a lot of tidings and dramas.

As Prince Melville prepared for morning court session, his henchman stood beside him.

"Is everything ready?" He asked, tying the sash of his apparel.

"Yes, your highness, everything is ready." The henchman answered.

Prince Melville nodded. With his hands behind him, he walked to the window and glanced down from there to behold Lords and ministers tripping into the castle.

"Any news from the ghost market?" He asked.

"Not yet. But no matter how skilled those two are, they can't possibly escape unshattered." The henchman reassured. "But I'll check in today to see if any news has dropped."

"No need. Whether or not they escaped, what's important is that they found no evidence and they can't change what's meant to happen. Fate is on my side." He smiled.

He turned around and began to head for the exit. "It's time. Go make sure everything is in place. Nothing must go wrong."

In court, Lords and ministers already gathered, awaiting the commencement of court session. Each knew today's court was going to yield a major change to Rome's monarchy and in their hearts, they already decided where their loyalty laid.

At the arrival of the Caesar, they all straightened up.

"All hail Caesar!" They chorused.

The Caesar walked quietly to his throne, his steps cautious — a bit too cautious even. It was as though if he moved any faster, he'd lose his balance. He reached his throne and sat. And for a moment, he shut his eyes to muster strength. But it was obvious. His health had declined significantly.

The Lords and ministers glanced at each other in a silent understanding.

When the Caesar finally opened his eyes, he glanced around the court, observing those in attendance. Aside from the Lords and Ministers, from the royal household, Prince Melville, Prince Aladdin, Prince Saul and surprisingly, Prince Felix too, were all present. When Felix had received the decree from his father earlier to attend court, he was surprised. Cause ever since his scandal, his princely rights were stripped.

"Today, we'd discuss a very crucial matter." The Caesar began. He took a pause. He wasn't sure how to tabulate this matter without disrupting court order, yet, it was high time the cat was let out of the bag.

"Prince Melville, step forward."

With a small smile, Prince Melville stepped forward as instructed.

"Before our father passed away, we made a promise to him. Do you remember what that promise was?"

A pause. Prince Melville's gaze hardened at the Caesar's words. "We promised to protect and secure Rome's future."

"It's a good thing that you remember." The Caesar nodded and lifted his gaze. "I'm charging Prince Melville with the following crimes. Embezzlement, attempted regicide and treason."

Murmurs erupted as the tension finally began to descend.

"Prince Melville, as a regent, you embezzled funds for stress relief, causing thousands of citizens to suffer. With the help of Queen Roseline, you poisoned me and attempted regicide. You colluded with Hakim and helped the enemy nation invade our lands, committing the act of treason. Do you plead guilty to these charges?"

The murmurs had amplified.
"Impossible! Prince Melville would never."
"Did he really commit these crimes?"
"There's no evidence."
"Is the Caesar just trying to get rid of his brother?"

Prince Melville chuckled. "Oh brother. I understand that we've never been in good terms. But you're Caesar. You could just order my ex*****on upfront instead of trying to slander me with baseless accusations. You want to get rid of me without painting yourself a tyrant? Now that's hypocritical."

He turned around to face the Lords and ministers of the court. "But I don't blame the Caesar. His mind is being manipulated. He is sick and a sick man shouldn't make decisions for Rome."

"Mind your words, Prince Melville." Aladdin sneered, stepping forward. "What are you implying? That the Caesar is too sick to rule? Are you trying to rebel?"

"Take a look at him." Prince Melville gestured at the Caesar on his throne, ignoring Aladdin. "Doesn't him seem like someone who'd collapse anytime? He charged me with heavy crimes with no single evidence. Is that the kind of leader Rome should have? Someone who is losing his mind. It's me this time. Who knows who else he may charge next."

"And who says there's no evidence?" All eyes snapped as Alexander and Dina walked in. Prince Melville's jaws clenched at the sight of them.

"There is evidence and witnesses too." Alexander bowed before the Caesar and casted a death glare at Prince Melville. "I'm sure you're disappointed to see us alive. But we didn't come empty handed. We brought you a gift."

"Everyone." Dina spoke, glancing from one Lord to another. "About the regicide attempt I was charged with. This is the truth concerning the matter."

"Indeed, I held deep resentment in my heart against the Caesar cause he caused my mother's death. I swore vengeance so I discarded my identity and crossdressed to join the military. But later, I realized there was more going on than I had thought, so I set my vengeance aside. When the Caesar fell into coma, Prince Melville already discovered my identity and planned to use me a disposable pawn in his dirty games. He offered me an opportunity to kill the Caesar. That night of the Regicide attempt, I faced no hindrance accessing the Caesar because he cleared the way for me. He had planned on using me to kill the Caesar and make me a scapegoat at the same time. But he never thought that instead of feeding the Caesar the poisonous pill he gave me, I had given him a lifesaving one instead."

"Lies." Prince Melville growled. "You think anyone will believe the empty words of a wanted criminal? Try harder." He gritted.

"Oh, there is a witness." Alexander said and Simone led his soldiers to bring in the former head of the palace security.

At the sight of the man, another murmur erupted. A few days after that regicide attempt, the security head was said to have died in a sudden fire with his family and now, seeing him in court sure sparked bewilderment.

"You looked surprised, prince Melville. Didn't expect that he'd still be alive right?" Alexander smirked and turned to the man who was made to kneel before the court. "Tell everyone what happened that night."

"That night, Prince Melville had paid me a huge amount of money to make sure the Caesar's chamber was left unguarded by midnight. He also instructed me not to let the assassin escape and that I should blow the alarm once I was sure that the assassin had carried out the mission. But he didn't foresee that the assassin didn't really intend to harm his Majesty." The man confessed.

"Empty words!" Prince Melville growled yet. "You have no single proof."

"What about poisoning the Caesar? Are you also going to deny colluding with Queen Roseline to poison the Caesar?" Alexander countered. "This time, we've got both evidence and witnesses."

"I can see you've all been planning this for a very long time. But I will like to see who your witness is this time. Another guard? Or a servant maybe?"

"Me." Everyone turned when the Queen mother entered and Prince Melville froze.

"Mother?" His eyes widened in shock.


TBC.
Unedited.

💝💔SCARLET
HEARTS💔💝
{Love and vengeance}

Written by: Mercy Sheidu. 💛💛
Settings: Persia/Greece/Rome.
Genre: Historical romance.

♠CHAPTER 118♠

Alexander exhaled and pulled off his mask. He glanced at the group of assassins surrounding him, and returned his gaze to the steward.

"What gave me away?" He asked.

"For one, Prince Melville only sends one hitmam that I know. He is cautious. Secondly, prince Melville already contacted me." The steward smirked, taking deliberate slow strides until he stood in front of him. "Not only did he retrieve the ledger, he also paid for the delivery of two heads."

Alexander frowned. "Whose heads?"

"Oh you already know who but if you need me to stress it, I'll be more than willing." The steward leaned in, his voice lowering to almost a whisper as if he was about to tell him a secret. "Yours and that of your little crossdresser."

The door bursted open and two men dragged Dina in. Her mask was gone too.

"Sire, we found her." Said one of the men.

They pushed her forward and she staggered towards Alexander who quickly held her wrist and stabilized her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She muttered, looking around. She'd been scouting the area like she said she would, but then she was discovered. She tried to fight them off but they outnumbered her and in the end, she was captured.

"Great," the steward grinned, flashing his braced dentition. "Now, you both can die together and that way, none of you will be lonely in the underworld."

He raised two left fingers and signaled his men. They charged at them, their various weapons aimed for the kill.

"Don't underestimate them, they are soldiers." The steward warned, taking a few seconds to watch the fight before exiting the chambers and on his way out, activating a mechanism that shut down the place.

Handling those assassins wasn't the problem cause soon, they their corpses littered the floor. The real problem Alexander and Dina faced was that they were trapped with no way out. And to worsen things, white smoke began to deep in through some tiny pores on the wall, stuffing the place with poisonous gas.

"Cover your nose, don't inhale it." Alexander warned quickly. He looked around frantically and found a jar of water on the table.

He tore out a part of his clothing and soaked it in the jar of water. He took the damp material to Dina and tied it around her nose. He repeated the process and used it for himself.

"This is just a temporary measure. We need to find an exit and fast else, we'd die for real." Alexander said.

They both began to search. There wasn't even a window in the chambers.

"It's pointless." Dina grumbled, staggering slightly. The poison kept seeping in through those pores, concentrating, and the wet piece of clothes no longer served well.

"Hang on," Alexander caught her arm as she staggered. "I'll get you out of here."

He led her to sit while himself continued the search for an escape. His gaze darted to the wooden shelf nailed to the wall and his feet led him there. He reached for the compartment that held the supposed ledger the steward had showed him earlier, and he pulled it open. He picked up the book and flipped through the pages, a scoff escaping his lips. Indeed, it was no ledger he sort, just some irrelevant account book.

As he banged the compartment shut, some books on the shelf fell of their positions, revealing the bricked walls behind the shelf. It was unlike the rest part of the wall in the chamber. An idea suddenly occurred to him.

He began to press on the bricks, seeking a loose one, pushing down more books to reveal more of the wall. He glanced back at Dina to find her half conscious and he increased his pace of searching.

Alas! He found it. His hand pressed on a loose brick and the ground vibrated a little under his feet. The wall adjacent to the shelf crack and parted, revealing a dark passage. Just as he'd suspected.

He stepped back and rushed to Dina whose consciousness slipped away by the second, and helped her up.

"Come on, let's get out of here." With her hand drapped over his shoulder and most of her body weight leaned on him, he grabbed a candlestick and ventured into the dark passage.

Alexander walked fast, determined to get out into the open and clear their airways with fresh air. He they walked, Dina stepped on a loose tile and a trap mechanism activated.

Arrows flew out of the walls but Alexander shielded her with his larger frame, hugging her tight. A low groan escaped his lips as an arrow pierced his back.

When the arrows stopped firing, he pulled back only to find out that she'd passed out. "Camillo." He shook her but she was already unconscious.

He laid down the candlestick and scooped her in his arms, before picking up the candle to lighten their path.

He moved cautiously to avoid more traps, the arrow in his back inflicting pain that he swallowed, droplets of his blood leaving trails after them as he pushed forward.


At first, her eyelids twitched. And slowly, they parted. Blurred images filled her sight till they cleared seconds later. She sat up with a silent wince at the throbbing headache she felt.

She looked around to register her environment. She was back at Juno's Grandpa's place at the village. She tried to recall how she got there but only remembered getting trapped in that poisoned chamber. She couldn't recall how they escaped.

She glance ahead and froze at the sight. Alexander was seated close to the lit fire hearth, his back towards her and shirtless. He struggled to reach the arrow wound on his back and seeing this, she sprinted and snatched the wool from him.

"You're awake." He muttered.

Dina ignored him, her brows creased deep in worry. Chunks of blood soiled wools laid on the ground beside him. Just how much blood had he lost?

"How did you get this hurt?" She asked, her hands trembling slightly as she tend to the wound. It was then she recalled how he'd shielded her.

"It's a small wound. No need to worry." He said, a failed attempt to downplay his condition. He winced when she added pressure to the wound and more bad blood oozed out.

"You call this small?" She muttered under her breath, dumping the blood soaked chunk to grab a clean one.

When the bleeding finally stopped, she applied medicine and bandaged him up. "Why are you so careless? Blocking an arrow for me, are you stupid?" She scolded but there was no real bite to it. It was more of a concerned lamentation than an actual chastising.

"I'd take a hundred arrows for you if necessary." He said and she paused, looking up at his face. "I'll never let you get hurt again, as long as I breathe."

She exhaled sharply and attempted to straighten up but he held onto her wrist. "Camillo, I admit I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better part of me. You suffered in that dungeon and I should have done more to help you. I shouldn't have doubted you. Can you forgive me?"

"It's in the past." She muttered. "I was wrong too. I deceived you. I have no right to be angry about how you reacted."

"Then let's forget about the past and start anew, okay? No more secrets between us." His grip tightened just slightly.

And slowly, she nodded. For a moment they just stare at each other in a silent understanding.


TBC.
Unedited.