Slave to Destiny

Chapter 44

Cole’s POV

I had never been so angry in my life as I stormed through the corridor pushing away anyone who stood before me. My brow was set and I was determined. How dare he? That sick man came into my home to try to kill my wife…fiance.

Gabby and I owed everything to Bennett. If he hadn’t reacted so quickly when he heard her screams, she would be dead. The very thought of her dead made my stomach clench up in disgust. Within days of us taking over, there had already been an assassination directed at her. What was wrong with these people? Couldn’t they see that she only wanted to help? That she only wanted what was best for the people? But of course they were so stuck in their old ways they wouldn’t be able to see past it.

As I descended down the stairwell the demeanor of the palace became dark and gloomy. By the time I reached the dungeon the floors were now dirt. My father had purposely created the dungeon so it would be a hellish place to be. Against the back wall cells lined the wall each as grotesque as the one before it. I hoped he got the worst one. I hoped he was so miserable tears would be streaming down his face.

The area was lit dimly by a few torches lining the wall, but my eyes immediately locked on to the twenty or so figures standing in front of the cell like stony guards. This prisoner was in for a hell of a time. As I approached I was able to depict Daniel in the dark. His lips were set in a strait line. He no longer adorned his usual smile and jolly attitude. It’s not like I could blame him, I wasn’t exactly Mr. Smiley either.

“Let’s do this,” I hissed. My feelings were mixed. On one hand I would enjoy forcing answers out of the son of a bitch, but on the other it physically hurt me be away from Gabby in her present state. She had been forced to be rushed into immediate surgery to remove any silver that had remained. When they lifted her shirt and revealed mass of burned, scarred and twisted flesh, I became so overwhelmed with a pain and disgust I was forced to leave the room. What kind of man was I to leave her?

All of my emotions built up to one thing, intense unstoppable anger. Thankfully for everyone I had something to take my anger out on. “How is she?” Daniel asked his voice barely above a whisper. He was completely distraught. I couldn’t figure out how the bastard had slipped past security. It was the first thing to be written on the new list of rules: ‘No one shall bring silver into the castle’. It was something so obvious considering the fact the queen was a wolf.

“She’s fine,” I whispered as convincingly as I possibly could, before stepping through the crowd of angry, protective men. As I looked inside the cell my skin boiled. The man, Edwardo, sat near the back of the cell with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. He was shaking ever so slightly. I could sense the sorrow around the man. Who did he think he was? He didn’t know sorrow. He didn’t know what it was like to have the girl one loves so dearly finally to return your affection only to be snatched from your grasp.

Daniel sent me a worried glance.

Roughly I grabbed the collar of the man and dragged him across the floor. A small cry escaped his lips as I tossed him across the dirt floor like a rag doll. “Everybody out,” I hissed towards the guards. It wouldn’t be right for them to watch me, their future King, butcher the man.

They hesitated ever so slight before turning away and stumbling out of the dungeon leaving me alone with the man. Only Daniel was gutsy enough to remain with his feet planted firmly in space. “Cole,” he whispered to me, “We need to know who he’s working for. There’s a traitor among us.” His words rang loud and clear my mind. Traitor. This was going to be a disaster.

Randomly out of frustration I smashed my foot down on the man’s face enjoying the crunch of jaw as it was crushed beneath my force. Blood spilled over the sides of his face much to my comfort. I kicked him. I drug him through the dirt. He was dirt. He was a waste of space and always would be in my mind. How could anyone do this to my Gabby?

After my repeated blows Daniel finally stepped forwards to break it up. “Cole we need to handle this better,” he whispered in my ear. I could barely hear him through the man’s sobs. His cries echoed through out the room possibly making the scene even more pathetic and devastating.

“We will take him into the room and you will leave Henry and I with him. We will make him speak. We will get it out of him. You’re angry Cole. You’re upset. You need to go back to Gabby and wait there with her. She needs you right now,” Daniel explained to me in a low strained voice. I stared down at the bloody pulp that lay at my feet covered in soot.

Perhaps he was right.

Whether he was right or wrong would never be discovered because ten minutes later I found my self ambling down the hall headed strait for the love of my life. The servants I passed stared up at me wide eyed and scared. It was as if they could see I was on the verge of losing control. I’d never felt so a raw and animalistic. Well that’s not true. The night Gabby was sent to Henry for punishment I’d nearly lost it and the night I watched Gregory sink his filthy teeth into her neck I had lost it.

As I approached the door to her room I saw Bennett and the wolf I’d recently met named Roland standing guard on either side. Pity was laced ever so slightly in their features. My skin burned with anger and sadness.

I was losing it.