CHAPTER EIGHT: THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE

~~LUCY'S POV~~

I couldn't stay in that room another minute.

Draven had made his orders perfectly clear, but I couldn't sit in a gilded cage while Molly lay somewhere in a hospital bed, possibly getting worse. If I had to break a rule to reach her, then I would break it.

I pushed the blanket aside and eased out of bed. My legs trembled, but they held. I crossed the room, wrapped my fingers around the door handle, and pulled.

Two men stood on either side of the doorway.

They wore dark palace uniforms, their hands clasped behind their backs, their faces carved from the same unreadable stone as their master's. The moment they saw me, they bowed in perfect unison.

"Good morning, my lady."

"Good morning."

I stepped forward. One of them shifted, just slightly, and the doorway closed like a gate.

"Forgive us, my lady. You are not permitted to leave this room."

"What?"

"The prince has ordered that you remain here."

Of course he had.

"Then go and tell him I want to see him."

The two men exchanged a glance. "We cannot leave our posts, my lady. We have been instructed not to move from your side until the prince himself relieves us."

"So I'm not even allowed to speak to him?"

"You may speak to His Highness when he comes."

*When he comes.* As though I were a letter waiting to be collected.

I looked down the long hallway. Neither man moved an inch.

"Fine," I said, and stepped back.

I closed the door and stood there with my hand pressed flat against the wood, my pulse hammering. I was being guarded like a prisoner. I hadn't tried to escape. I hadn't tried to cause trouble. I only wanted to know that my sister was breathing.

I sat on the edge of the bed, and the questions came flooding in. What if her condition had worsened? What if the hospital needed more money? What if she was asking for me right now, and no one answered?

I had already spent the money from that night on her treatment. But paying for a cure meant nothing if I couldn't see whether it was working.

There had to be a way.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in," I murmured.

Elara slipped inside with a tray of food. "Good morning, my lady. His Highness instructed that your meal be brought to his chambers."

I barely heard her. My eyes were fixed on the floor, and an idea was forming, dangerous and impossible to ignore.

"My lady?"

I lifted my head. "Elara, please."

She paused. "Yes?"

I rose and crossed the room to her. "My little sister is very sick."

Her expression shifted. "Your sister?"

"She's in the hospital. She's getting worse, and I don't know what will happen if she doesn't receive her treatment soon." My throat tightened. "I have the money. I just need someone to take it to her."

Elara's gaze flicked toward the door. "Can't you ask His Highness?"

"I did." I looked away. "He keeps saying he'll think about it. But I don't know how much time she has, Elara. I can't sit here while she suffers."

She said nothing.

I took her hands in mine. "Please. Will you help me?"

"My lady..."

"All I need is for you to go to the hospital, pay for her care, and see that she's all right. I'll give you the money. You wouldn't have to use a coin of your own."

Gently, Elara drew one hand free. She looked deeply uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, my lady. I can't."

My heart sank. "Why not?"

"His Highness has forbidden you to leave the palace. I may attend to anything you need here, but I'm not permitted to act outside these walls without his approval."

"But you wouldn't be taking me anywhere. You'd only be going to the hospital."

"Even so." She lowered her eyes. "If the prince discovers I defied him, I could be in serious trouble."

I understood. Draven was not a man people crossed lightly. Even the servants lowered their voices when they spoke his name. And here I was, asking her to gamble her livelihood for a stranger.

But then I thought of Molly, small and pale beneath a thin hospital blanket. What if the doctors were waiting for payment before they treated her? What if every hour I waited cost her something I could never get back?

I couldn't spend my life worrying about what might happen if I did nothing.

"Elara." I held her hands tighter. "I'll give you her name and her room number. You won't have to explain anything to the prince, only to the nurses. Please."

"My lady, I..."

"I don't want my sister to die."

My voice broke on the last word.

"She's all I have. I promised her things would get better, and I can't let her believe I've forgotten her just because I'm here."

Elara studied me for a long time. I could see the battle behind her eyes, kindness struggling against fear.

"I know it could cost you," I whispered. "And I'm sorry. But I don't know who else to turn to."

"If His Highness finds out that I sneaked out to do something he specifically forbade..."

"Then I'll take the blame. I'll tell him it was my decision. I won't let him punish you for helping me."

Silence stretched between us.

Then she exhaled, slow and quiet. "All right, my lady."

I blinked. "Really?"

"I'll do as you ask. But I must return quickly. I cannot be gone long."

Relief hit me so hard I nearly wept. "Thank you."

I hurried to the wardrobe and dug through the unfamiliar dresses until I found the clothes I had worn when I first arrived. My fingers searched the pockets and closed around a familiar bundle.

The money was still there.

I counted out one hundred and five thousand dollars and pressed it into her hands. "One hundred thousand is for Molly's surgery and expenses. Give it to her doctor, and tell him it must also cover her food and care until I can return."

Elara looked down at the cash. "And the other five thousand?"

"That's yours."

Her eyes widened. "Mine?"

"Please take it."

"No, my lady." She shook her head at once. "I didn't agree to help you for money."

"I know. But I want you to have it."

"I won't take it." She stepped back before I could force the bills into her palm. "The hundred thousand is enough. Please don't ask me again."

She looked so earnest that I finally let it go. "Then thank you. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"You don't have to, my lady."

She counted out the hundred thousand, tucked it into her bag, and straightened her uniform.

"I'll go now. I'll be as quick as I can."

"Tell me how she is when you come back."

"I will."

At the door, she turned and gave me a small bow. "I'll do my best, my lady."

Then she was gone.

For the first time since waking, I felt something besides helplessness. Someone would see Molly. Someone would make sure she was cared for.

I drew a slow breath and turned toward the bed.

The door opened again.

I looked up, expecting Elara, already forming a question.

It wasn't Elara.

A woman swept into the room in an elegant royal gown, her hair arranged without a single strand out of place. Her posture was flawless. Her face was not gentle. She looked at me the way one looks at something foul found in one's own home.

I knew who she was before she spoke.

The Queen.

Draven's mother.

She closed the door behind her, and for a long moment, she simply stared. Then her gaze dropped to my stomach, and her lips curled.

"So this is the girl."

I stood very still. "Your Majesty."

She gave a short, humourless laugh. "Don't."

I lowered my eyes, searching for whatever I had done to earn such hatred.

She took a step closer. "Who do you think you are?"

"Your Majesty?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of place you've wandered into?" Her voice dropped, cold and precise. "This is the royal palace. It is not somewhere a rotten little thing picked out of the trash can stroll in and make herself comfortable."

My stomach clenched.

"Who gave you the right to enter this palace, to deceive your way into the royal family, and then to carry a bastard child and pin it on my son?"

The blood drained from my face.

*Bastard.*

My hand moved to my stomach before I could stop it.

The word hung in the air between us, and I couldn't speak.

Then, with terrible clarity, I understood. Whatever waited for me in this palace, the Queen had already decided I did not deserve to survive it.