Saving The Abandoned Empress

Everyone stood up and distanced themselves far away from my father except me, Duke Heartz and Marquis Roselia.

“Arrest Duke Dalton and take him to the cells immediately!”

The emperor commanded furiously to everyone in the room.

They all scattered quickly to obey the Emperor, not wanting to upset him any further.

“And you,”

He said, turning his cold red eyes to me with disgust.

.....

“Get out of my sight and stay in your room until I say you can leave. You will remain there and conduct all your business from within those walls. Do I make myself clear, Empress?”

I couldn’t talk. Words wouldn’t come to me as I stared in fear at this man.

I was sure he would send me down after my father or kill me if I misspoke at this moment.

I mutely nodded my head and quickly left back to my room in a daze after i saw my father being taken away to the cell.

And i couldn’t forget how he smiled at me which seems to say ‘Everyting would be allright.’

The days passed quickly after that as I organised the final touches of my escape.

Everything was now ready.

I had packed my bag, noted instructions for my empress duties over the following few weeks, and even left a letter for my father.

I wasn’t sure if he would receive it given his current incarceration, but I needed to tell him I was thankful for what he had done for me.

It was nice to know he had actually loved me.

It pained me to even think of leaving him behind, but there was nothing I could do to save him now.

The cells were the most heavily guarded place in the whole empire.

Even attempting to break him out would lead to me being instantly caught.

The night of the escape I was having a final dinner with Rena and Maria.

Maria was my maid since i was a little baby.

For some reasons she didn’t liked Rena but she adjusted because of me.

After hearing my plan, she came with her own bag and said to me that no matter what i do, she will always be my maid to follow me and help me.

In the end, i had no choice but to agree her coming with me.

We had decided to leave once dark so it would hopefully hide our presence a little.

Tonight there would be a large celebration happening in the main palace to celebrate Jena’s crowning as a queen so the guard patrols would be at their lowest.

I was sure their opinions of me had only gotten worse now my father had committed one of the highest offences possible; attempted murder of the emperor.

“It’s time to go,”

I said nervously to Rena and Maria.

I was scared. I was scared that we would be caught, that I would be dragged back to this hell, and possibly executed.

But if we could pull this off, leave and finally be free, it would be worth everything.

I need to do this for my unborn baby.

They nodded her head as Maria grabbed my and her bags, getting ready to leave.

“Where did you put your bag?”

I asked, noticing Rena hadn’t put anything by the front door yet.

Before Rena could answer though, the door crashed open and several imperial knight warriors stormed in.

They grabbed my arms and pushed me up against the wall, restraining me in magic ban handcuffs.

A few of them started searching the mansion and begin sifting through all my belongings.

I was only just able to witness, in the corner of my eye, Rena and Maria being forced outside.

It happened so quickly I couldn’t even call out to them.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

I scream, my face still pressed against the wall.

“I am the empress and I demand that you stand down and explain yourself.”

I could tell the weight of my aura washed over them, making them hesitate... but only for a moment.

The one holding me loosened his grip slightly but they didn’t completely let go.

This meant the order had to have come from Cathain himself.

He was the only one who would have had enough authority to allow them to ignore me.

Another minute passed before Brayden finally walked in the door, glancing only quickly towards me.

“You can ease your grip and turn her around,”

Brayden said to the one holding me. He spun me to face him, his face was unreadable.

Were they doing all this because they discovered my plans to escape?

It seemed a little over the top for something like that.

No, something bigger was happening.

One of the warriors suddenly walked up to Brayden, a few items in hand.

“We found these, Marquis Hill,” he said, presenting them to Brayden.

“It also looks as if she was planning to run away before we caught her. She had a bag near the door, full of clothes and supplies when we arrived.”

I couldn’t see what the second item was but the first one was my letter to my father I’d left on the bed.

A sinking feeling hit my stomach.

I knew that letter could be misconstrued as sympathising and thanking the man who had almost killed the Emperor.

I had planned to have left before anyone read it.

Brayden read the letter, his face still completely emotionless, before he sniffed at whatever else he had been given.

He grimaced and turned his face away.

“Is this yours?” he asked, showing me a neat bunch of herbs.

I didn’t recognise them, but then again I’d never been great at herbalism.

The only thing i knew was how to rule and swing swords to kill enemies.

“I’ve never seen that before in my life,” I replied, spitting the words back at him. “I don’t even know what it is.”

“They were found in her bedroom, Marquis. Hidden under the bed,” the knight interjected.

“What?! You’re insane! I don’t keep herbs in here. I don’t even know the first thing about identifying the different types!”

“It’s Ephedra,”

Brayden answered calmly, his violet eyes piercing mine.

“It induces miscarriages during pregnancy.”

“What?” I gasped.