Majesty Castle

Three days passed since the accident and in those three days, there was no change in Allegra’s condition. Matthew stayed with her day in and day out. He’d spend his time reading to her or talking to her as if she were actually awake. He’d give her sponge baths; brush her hair and every night he would pray for her life. Not a day passed where he didn’t tell her he loved her.

In the last three days, he’d spent more time with her than he ever had in all the time that they were married. The guys would stop by to check on him and to bring him food, but he hardly ate anything at all.

On the fourth day, Peter intervened. He’d pretty much forced Matthew to leave the room and get some fresh air. It took some convincing, but Matthew gave up and decided he would go see Nightmare while Peter had agreed to stay with Allegra.

Peter sat there for hours reading Nicolette’s diary. He never noticed that Allegra had opened her eyes. Disoriented, she turned her head to see Peter sitting in a chair reading the same book she saw him with the day in the dining room when they had their talk. She remembered the name on the front of the book, but from the way Peter was holding it, his hand covered the first two letters, so all she could see was Colette.

“It’s her,” she whispered.

Peter’s eyes peered over the book in her direction. When he saw that her eyes were open, he stood up from the chair and walked over to the bed. “Did you say something?”

“Matthew… please,” she whispered.

He didn’t hesitate to leave the room and go find Matthew. Luckily he didn’t have to go very far, as he reached the staircase, Matthew was coming up the stairs. “Why aren’t you with Allegra?”

“She’s awake and asking for you.”

Matthew didn’t give Peter the chance to get the last word out before he started running. When he reached the room, he pushed the door open and went straight to her side

“Matthew,” she whispered.

“Hi,” he smiled and sat down beside her.

“It hurts.”

He moved a hair off her face and touched her cheek. “I know love, you were practically crushed. The doctor gave me something to give you to help with the pain if you need it.”

“Could I have some water?”

“Yeah,” he nodded and got up from the bed. He poured a glass out of the pitcher and brought it back to her. “I don’t think you can sit up yet, so I’m going to help you ok?”

“Ok,” she whispered.

Matthew gently placed a hand behind her head and lifted it so she could drink from the glass he was holding. “More?”

“Yes.”

He brought the glass back to her lips and let her drink from it again. When she had enough, she turned her face away from the glass.

“Baby, can you tell me what happened to you?”

Allegra looked up at him with heavy lidded eyes. “I wanted to ride.”

“What happened in the stable?”

Her delay in responding made it appear as if she were trying to remember. “He came in after me.”

“Who did?”

“Luke.”

“What happened when he got there?” Matthew knew what happened, but he needed to hear it from her.

“Nightmare,” She whispered. “He hurt Nightmare.”

“Do you remember what happened after that?”

“No,” She whispered.

Hearing someone knocking at the door, Matthew rose from the bed to answer it. It was Etta that stood on the other side.

“I heard she was awake, mind if I have a look?”

“Yeah, come in” he nodded.

Etta walked over to the bed and knelt down beside Allegra. “How are you feeling?”

“Pain,” she whispered. “Hurts everywhere.”

Etta turned around to face Matthew. “I can give her a shot for the pain if that’s ok.”

“Ok,” he nodded.

Etta stood and Matthew watched as she took the syringe and filled it with the medicine that the doctor left. She walked back over to the bed and gently pushed the tip of the needle into Allegra’s arm. Matthew winced when Allegra groaned in agony.

“I know she just woke up, but this will probably make her go back to sleep for a little while. She doesn’t have a fever and that’s a good sign. You should probably try giving her some warm broth for nourishment. Not right away though. Give the medicine some time to do its job. I’ll make sure Pippa has some ready for later.”

“Thank you.” Matthew replied.

“Come find me if there is any change.”

When she left the room, Matthew returned to the bed and sat beside his wife.

“I missed you,” he told her lightly rubbing a hand over her cheek.

“Matthew, am I going to die?”

“No way, you’re my rebel remember. Rebel’s are fighters.”

“It hurts when I breathe.”

“You have a collapsed lung,” he said softly and continued to caress her cheek.

“Please don’t kill Nightmare,” she cried.

He kissed the top of her head in hopes of soothing her. “Shhh. I’m not going to kill your favorite horse” he whispered against her forehead.

Allegra yawned as the medicine started to take effect. “You should rest. Close your eyes and I’ll be right here with you when you open them again.”

“Wait,” she whispered. “The ball.”

“Don’t worry about the ball, just get some rest.”

“Matthew please,” she pleaded.

“What is it?”

“Colette. I want Colette to come to the ball.”

He smiled down at her knowing it was the medicine talking. “Sweetheart, you’re a little delirious, you hardly know Colette.”

“Please,” she pleaded.

“Ok, what ever you want, love. I’ll invite Colette if you get some rest.”

He sat there with her watching as her eyelids fluttered up and down until they lost the battle with sleep and closed fully. While she slept, Matthew had Etta come and sit with her for a while. There was something important he had to take care of and right now, it was the only thing that could take him away from Allegra.

************

“So, how about I pour you a drink? You seem a little tense,” Luke said to Zacky.

“Better make it three,” Zacky said as he crossed the room. “I’ve asked some friends to join us. Hope you don’t mind.”

“The more the merrier,” Luke countered with a smile.

Brian and Matthew walked into the study and Brian shut the double doors and locked them behind him. “So, this is where the party is!”

“Zacky told me he asked his friends to join us. I didn’t know it was a private affair.” Luke said.

Matthew made himself a drink and stopped in front of Luke. “I don’t care if it’s private or not, just feel like having a drink with Zacky and Brian. You’re going to have to ask Brian why the door is locked.”

Luke turned his gaze to Brian and waited for a response. Brian simply smirked and opened his jacket revealing what was sitting in the waistband of his pants. “Can’t very well go waiving my gun around out in the open can I?”

“Why would you need a gun in here?” Luke asked.

All three men stood around Luke forming a triangle around him. “Well, ya see, Luke, sometimes I feel like shooting this little bugger off and tonight that urge seems to be stronger than ever.”

Luke looked around him at all three men stopping at Zacky. When his eyes met Zacky’s he peered into the coldest green stare he’d ever seen Zacky give. “What’s this about?” He asked.

Zacky spoke coldly without a hint of affection for the person he once loved so deeply. “This is about Johnny and what you did to him. This is about what you did to Allegra and what you’re planning on having done to Fawn and my unborn child.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Matthew stepped behind Luke and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and started to squeeze. “A man with a gun is standing to the left of you and a man twice your size and ten times stronger is standing behind you. Now is not the time to lie.”

Luke swallowed hard. “What do you want?”

“A confession,” Matthew whispered harshly in his ear.

“To what?”

His grip tightened on the back of Luke’s neck. “To what you did to my wife.”

Luke stiffened in Matthew’s grip. “It was an accident,” he lied again.

“Brian, I don’t think our friend here understands the concept of telling the truth. Maybe you better show him what happens to people who hurt the ones we love and lie about it.”

“My pleasure,” Brian smirked and took the gun out of his waistband. He loaded a single bullet and spun the chamber before snapping it into place. When he aimed the gun at Luke, Luke tried to step back, but he stepped right back into Matthew.

“Wait!” he pleaded.

“Something you want to say?” Matthew asked.

“Ok, I spooked the horse, but it wasn’t my idea!”

“We’re waiting.” Matthew squeezed his neck tighter and Luke started to sweat.

“It was Rosalie, she paid me to do it. She said Allegra had to die before the ball so she could marry you off to someone else.”

“So much for your loyalty to Zacky,” Brian noted.

Matthew put his arm around the font of Luke’s neck and squeezed so hard Luke could hardly breathe. “Can’t find your breath? Well that is how my wife feels right now. She can hardly breathe. There isn’t a single part of her body that isn’t in pain right now.”

“She…wasn’t …supposed…to…survive.”

Matthew spun Luke around and punched him dead center in his face. “WELL SHE DID SURVIVE,” he shouted and punched Luke again. “But you!” Punch. “Took a life from her.” Punch.” And a life from me!” Punch. “You killed our unborn child.”

Brian and Zacky looked at each other in surprise and then both turned their gazes to Matthew. “Yeah, she was pregnant.” He nodded. “Doc said it will be a miracle if she ever bares a child now.” Luke was staggering from all the blows to the face Matthew had given him.

Zacky squeezed his eyes shut knowing he would never be able to handle it if he were Matthew. Matthew grabbed Luke by the hair and forced him to look at Zacky. “Isn’t that what you had planned for Zacky’s baby?”

Luke looked into Zacky’s eyes pleading for his life. “It was for us! So we could be together!” He was pleading, but Zacky wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

“You were going to kill my wife and child for your own selfish gain?” Zacky picked up the small knife that was used to cut limes for drinks and twisted it in his hand.

“No! It was for both of us. Don’t you see, if Fawn has the baby, we’ll never have time to be together!” Clearly Luke was looney bin crazy right now.

Zacky gritted his teeth and stepped in front of Luke while Matthew held him tightly. He took the knife and shoved it into Luke’s shoulder and pulled it back out again. Luke screamed out in pain, but Zacky was hardly finished. “I love my wife,” he said and stabbed Luke again.

“WHAT ABOUT ME!” Luke shouted.

“What about you?” Zacky asked stabbing the knife into Luke’s other shoulder garnering another scream of pain.

“You love me!”

“I loathe you,” Zacky countered. “Maybe there was a time when I did have feelings for you, but those feelings wore off after realizing you were just a toy. Do you know what happens when boys get tired of their toys, Luke?”

Luke swallowed hard as Zacky pulled back the knife again. “When boys get tired of their toys…Luke…. they break them and throw them away.” Zacky stabbed him hard in the shoulder again and Luke screamed in pain, but the boys were far from finished with Luke.

“Tell me, how were you planning on doing it? Killing my wife and child that is,” Zacky asked.

“I – I wasn’t going to do it. Rosalie, she was going to poison her at the ball.” Luke was practically choking on his own blood from the gashes in his face that Matthew put there with his fists.

Zacky shook his head and turned his eyes to Brian. “Guess it’s my turn now,” Brian grinned enjoying this way too much. He spun the chamber on the gun again and smiled at Luke. “For over two years, my best friend wouldn’t say a single word to me. Know anything about that?”

“No,” Luke shook his head. The blood from the broken nose that Matthew gave him was running down his face into his mouth like a fountain.

Brian shook his head. “Wrong answer.” He aimed the gun at Luke and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. “Must be your lucky day. Lets try again. Maybe I should rephrase the question. “What did you do to Johnny?”

“Nothing he didn’t want!” Luke spat at Brian and blood splattered all over Brian’s pristine white shirt.

Brian looked at Luke clearly annoyed that his shirt was ruined. “Now that was just wrong.” He aimed the gun at Luke again and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
“Only four more chances to give me the right answer and one of those chances is a bullet in your face.”

“What do you want me to say? You know what happened!” Luke wasn’t impressed by Brian’s display of arrogance.

“I want,”
Click

“you to,”
Click

“admit it.”
Click

“Look at that, your luck just ran out. I pull this trigger now and you’re a dead man.”

“OK FINE! I DID IT!” He shouted and Zacky moved closer. “I had sex with him against his will. Happy now?”

Zacky stabbed him again with the knife, this time lower, just under his collarbone. Matthew picked up a bottle of scotch and broke it over the table. He spun Luke around and shoved the broken glass into Luke’s stomach. Luke fell to his knees but still they weren’t finished.

Brian kicked Luke in the face so hard they heard his bones crack. “I think it’s time we bring our final guest to the party don’t you?” Brian asked Matthew and Zacky.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s about that time,” Matthew agreed.

Zacky smiled and walked over to the door. When he opened it, Zakk walked in. Brian walked over to Zakk and handed him the gun. Zakk crossed the room and stopped just before Luke and aimed the gun, but Matthew stopped him.

“Wait, if you shoot him, it will end his agony too quickly. I have a better idea.”

“I’m listening,” Zakk said.

“I think the best revenge is to put him in a pine box and burry him alive. Let him suffer helplessly like my wife is upstairs. Let him suffer like Johnny has been for the last two years. Take away his choice to live like he did to my child, without mercy. Let him die a slow painful death with no one to hear his screams.”

“I like that idea.” Brian smirked and looked down at Luke who was writhing in pain on the floor.

“Me too,” Zacky nodded.

“Fine, I’ll get a shovel,” Zakk said and handed the gun back to Brian before walking out of the room.

Matthew bent forward and lifted Luke up by his hair. “I’ll take out the trash. Someone needs to clean up the blood in here and the broken glass.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Brian said.

“What do you want me to do?” Zacky asked.

“Keep an eye on your wife,” Matthew answered and dragged Luke kicking and screaming out of the study.

A few hours later when all was said and done, Luke’s screams went unheard as he lay in a pine box six feet under ground waiting for death to come and claim him.