Chapter 4: Severed

Cecilia's POV

“What did you hear then?” Lucy asks impatiently.

I open my mouth to answer, still trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

Lucy shoves me lightly. “Tell me, now.”

“Okay, okay. I heard an angry voice, a man’s voice. All he said was that it was too noisy.” I run my tongue over the edge of my teeth, completely aware that I might sound a little crazy. “Either way, you need to be more careful.”

Lucy narrows her eyes at me, then her face breaks into a cold smirk. “Oh, do I?” she retorts.

“Yes, you do,” I say. “Please, it’s not just your life that’s on the line if we mess up. We’re in this together, remember? At least for today.”

She snorts derisively. “Of course,” she mutters, shaking her head. “I should’ve known.”

“Should’ve known what?” I ask, puzzled.

Lucy shoots me a bitter glare. “Your little trick. And now your worthless fake advice.”

I stare at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Listen, Cecilia, or Sophia, or whatever your name is. I can tell you are jealous of my beauty. Normal girls like you always do. But don't even think about stopping me from being the King's concubine.”

Before I can argue, she breaks free of my grasp and darts over to the Alpha King’s bed.

“Lucy!” I hiss, but it’s too late. She’s almost directly at the side of the bed, cooing softly again in his ear.

"TOO LOUD!" The same angry male voice pounds in my eardrums once more, chilling my blood. "Noisy, noisy, NOISY!"

I can’t let her ruin this for both of us. If the stories about the Alpha King are true, it’s likely that I won’t be spared even if she is the only one responsible.

“Lucy, please, stop,” I say again, crouching down and moving quietly towards her.  “You heard it this time, didn’t you?” I plead with her.

Finally, she spins around and stares directly into my eyes ferociously. “Shut up,” she snarls and pushes me and I stumble backwards. Thankfully, I catch my balance in time and manage to avoid falling.

“Don’t. Get. In. My. Way,” Lucy says, walking over to me. She stands a few inches taller, but it feels like more. “Or when I’m the Alpha King’s beloved concubine, you’ll be the first to be executed,” she says, venom in her voice.

I shut my mouth.

My lack of response finally seems to satisfy her, and she returns to his bedside once more to murmur, “My Alpha King Leopo-o-old…”

I simply stand and watch as Lucy prances to the little table where we are supposed to prepare the king’s tea and refreshments. I bite my lip as she heats up the water and arranges everything on a fancy gold tray.

Regardless of what her personality is like, I can’t deny that her knowledge and skillset when it comes to servant work are simply more advanced than mine.

Once she’s finished, Lucy drifts back over to the bed gracefully and adjusts her headpiece. “Good morning, Your Highness,” she says softly.

This time, the Alpha King’s eyes flutter open, and he blinks away the last traces of sleep.

Lucy offers the sweetest smile I've ever seen from his bedside, but he doesn’t seem particularly pleased by her charms.

“Is the tea ready?” he says gruffly, gradually sitting up.

My heart leaps for a second from the view.

The King's broad shoulders roll beneath the thin sheets, muscle and strength evident even in the lazy motion. His dark hair fell loosely over his brow, framing a face carved with sharp lines. Even seated, even half-awake,  King Leopold radiated undeniable Alpha dominance.

Lucy freezes for a second too, probably also mesmerized by the King's charm. Then she trills, “Yes, of course, Your Highness. I’ll get that for you right away.”

As she flounces back to the refreshments table to grab the platter, she shoots me a triumphant smile.

But I’ve just had an odd realization. King Leopold’s voice is not the same one I heard moments ago, the one that was furiously complaining about the level of noise in this room.

“Your Highness, I have your tea right here!” Lucy says, bringing it over to him. “Enjoy,” she smiles, placing it on his side table.

He scowls impatiently in response, which seems to fluster Lucy a bit.

“Do you need anything else at the moment?” she bats her eyelashes at him, but apparently, he’s completely immune to her attempts at flirtation.

"Bad woman!" This time, I’m positive that the menacing voice I’m hearing isn’t coming from King Leopold. But if that’s the case, then…

Who did I hear?

Lucy scurries to me and clears her throat disparagingly. “Give me the toiletries,” she says under her breath.

“What?” I reply dumbly.

She rolls her eyes again and snatches them from my hands. I hadn’t even registered that I was holding the washcloths.

"I DON’T LIKE BAD WOMAN! "

“Lucy, wait,” I try to whisper-shout, but it’s too late. She’s already back at the king’s bedside with the towels and a vessel of water.

I watch helplessly as she leans down, exposing her bare chest and shoulders, and begins to soak and wring out a washcloth, flashing a sickly sweet smile.

If I wasn’t hearing the voice, I would say the Alpha King Leopold is just not fond of Lucy’s theatrics. He slightly frowns at Lucy when she approaches his face with the cloth, and takes the cloth away from her.

Definitely not as angry as that voice. Does that mean the voice has nothing to do with King Leopold?

Lucy remains relentless in her efforts to make physical contact with Leopold.

"HATE! HATE! HATE! MUST TAKE CONTROL!" The voice growls, louder and more frenzied this time.

King Leopold’s expression is now flashing rage. It seems that each outburst from the other voice does seem to send him further and further over the edge.

Suddenly, King Leopold freezes as if he suddenly realizes something and pushes Lucy away.

Lucy falls to the ground, eyes widened.

"LEAVE NOW," King Leopold growls with his own voice.

I notice that King Leopold is almost like straining to maintain command of his own reactions, but Lucy, to my surprise, crawls back to him, "King Leopold..."

“Lucy!” I scream, but it is too late.

"TAKE CONTROL! NOW" It is at that moment that the unknown voice roars with thundering might, "KILL! KILL! KILL!"

And Leopold has drawn his blade.

The last expression on Lucy’s face is one of total terror, as the Alpha King swings the sword down brutally on her neck, slashing her throat.

Blood spurts from the wound, and her open-mouthed look of surprise freezes as her eyes go glassy and unseeing.

And distinctly, I hear Leopold’s voice and the other shout out at the same time:

"FOOL!"

“Fool!”

She’s dead.

It only took a fraction of a second for the light to leave her eyes. Her body was an empty shell before it even hit the ground.

I fall to my knees, no longer able to hold my composure.

If that’s how quickly the king’s demeanor can pivot from mere irritation to violent rage, I don’t know how I’ll have any chance of surviving this place.

But when I look up at him, his face is different. The manic energy seems to have dissipated as swiftly as it had taken hold of him, and it dawns on me that I’m also no longer hearing the second voice.

What was that, anyway?

Lora’s restlessness inside of me offers an unexpected hint -- could it have been the voice of Alpha King Leopold’s wolf?