Thank you to everyone following this story, I've really appreciated all your feedback so far. Apologies for the delay with this chapter, life sometimes gets in the way!
I also wanted to say a massive thank you to those who've helped to edit/proofread this chapter.
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The last thing I expected was for a blue vapour to seep from within as I reflexively inhaled, and it swept into my mouth. I immediately felt a daze wash over me as I desperately tried to reach for my magic, only to find it slipping from my grasp. As I drifted unconscious, my last thoughts were of how I'd left Scarlett alone and vulnerable.
I awoke feeling dazed to hear a man and woman whispering furiously. I struggled to make out what they were saying as I tried to take my bearings. My shoulders and back ached and felt stiff, and I could not move my arms, realising that ropes secured my wrists behind me to what felt like a chair.
"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" I finally heard in Ravian from the female voice as I tried to look, realising a blindfold was covering my eyes.
"I didn't realise he would inhale the whole vial, and the smallest dose was enough to knock him out. He'll wake up eventually, and then we need to work out who he is," the male voice replied.
"I thought you said you recognised the sword."
"It looks familiar and I have my suspicions," he replied.
I suddenly felt a vicious cramp through my shoulder blades as I shuddered in pain and a deathly silence spread across the room.
"His heart rate just jumped," the man declared. "He's awake."
I reached for my magic, finding a faint connection, but as I tried to draw it, the link slipped away. I began to try again, but a blinding pain exploded in my head as I recoiled in agony, letting out a cry of pain.
"He's a sorcerer," I heard the man exclaim as the pain slowly subsided, "Try that again, and it will be the last thing you ever do," he then said in accented Volantian as fear rose within me.
"He's a sorcerer?" the lady burst out in surprise.
"He's just confirmed my suspicions. Fiona, please leave us, and I will speak to him alone."
"No, please let me stay. This is the best lead we've ever had."
"I'm sorry. I know you want to be involved, but I don't want you to see the next part. Please, wait for me upstairs," the male voice replied sternly.
"Yes, your Grace," she replied as I heard footsteps and the creaking sounds of someone climbing an old wooden staircase.
I heard a chair drag across the floor until it was right before me.
"Who are you?" the man asked in a neutral tone as I heard him sit before me.
I panicked as I tried to find a way to hide my identity from my captors.
Another explosion of pain cascaded through my skull as my head reactively lurched backwards, straining my neck as I cried out.
"Let me make this simpler for you then. Are you Prince Henry?" he asked with a dark undertone.
I was shocked that this person knew exactly who I was.
"Your heart rate gives you away, Henry," the man continued, "If you hesitate to answer my questions, your pain will only worsen."
I want to say that it was bravery that kept me silent, but in reality, I was still under the effects of whatever I had inhaled, and the combination of that and the pain in my head meant I was struggling to string two thoughts together.
"Now tell me, did your mother put you up to this?"
The left-field question put me on the back foot as I struggled to think of an answer. A slow, dull ache began to build at the base of my skull as the pain slowly increased.
"Wait, please!" I cried out in desperation, "I don't know what you are asking!"
The pain slipped away momentarily.
"Did you send the message?"
"Yes, it was me."
"Did Princess Eleanor put you up to it?" he asked in an overtly calm manner.
"No, I did it alone. Who are you?" I burst out.
At my words, I heard the chair creak as the man stood. Moments later, the blindfold lifted slowly from my eyes as a sturdily built middle-aged man was revealed who looked down at me with piercing brown eyes.
"I am the father of the murdered girl your message claimed to be alive. Given what your mother did to my family, I am considering taking an eye for an eye."
"You are the Duke of Ravia?" I asked as dread overcame me when he nodded in response. "What are you saying she did?"
"She had my daughter murdered." He replied as his stoic façade slipped.
"My mother? She couldn't hurt anyone!" I exclaimed in response.
"I always believed the same. At least until she sent me an urn of my only daughter's ashes and the locket she would never have removed," the large man paused as unexpected emotion spread over his face, "she promised me Scarlett would be safe and that she would keep her away from him."
"Away from who?" I asked, trying to piece everything together.
"From the king, of course," he replied.
"What did the King want with her?" I asked, desperate to know more about her past.
"Enough!" he roared, "how dare you ask questions after sending such a cruel message."
"What do you mean? I was trying to tell you she was safe and with me," I replied.
The Duke froze in shock, staring at me intensely.
"Say that again," he said as I heard the emotion in his voice.
"Scarlett is alive. I was with her before I came to collect the message," I replied, realising that he was reading my heart rate to see if I was lying.
The Duke lunged at me, grabbing my shirt collar.
