Trigger warning: There's some significant non-consensual activity in this chapter.
*
The whole world was hidden in the black void. She was vaguely aware of herself, but everything else eluded her sight and senses.
She knew she was in danger and struggled to drag herself out of the dark. She could occasionally see glimmers of the world around her, first it was a few hedges, some random ivy, then it was the familiar flagstone of the courtyards and the smooth stone tiles of the halls. Each time she glanced something that pierced through the veil she scrambled towards it, but a strong hand kept her in place.
She couldn't see who it was, but she knew it must be Darren.
"Where is he taking me?!"
Heidi panicked. She couldn't struggle away from him and clearly he was up to something.
A small part of her hoped, seriously hoped, that she was simply misinterpreting the situation.
"Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, maybe someone else is doing this to me?"
As much as Heidi wanted to lie to herself she had to face reality, her predicament was entirely the fault of Darren and his scheming uncle Vishal.
She couldn't believe the betrayal,
"I thought I could trust Darren, I thought I could trust Vishal! He knew my father and helped rule my kingdom in his stead!"
She shook her head as she saw his past action
s
in a new light.
"How could I have been so stupid!"
she was angry at herself for not seeing it coming. She'd played directly into whatever scheme they'd planned, and practically served up the Kingdom to her advisor,
"What if Vishal never intended to give up his stewardship. That would explain the years of failed suitors!"
Heidi was fuming,
"That rotten dirty snake!"
For years she'd been ruined by the thought that no one would ever love her. She'd internalized the rejection and the failure as a slight against herself, and it drove her to desperate measures.
"That fucking potion. That must've been him who organized that little 'gift' from the witch."
The seething rage was helping to keep her mind focused. The more she concentrated on her anger, the clearer she could see through the dark mist.
She recognized some of the artwork as it glimmered through the darkness. She knew this part of the palace was in the west wing. She gulped in preparation, she knew exactly where they were headed, as a shadowy figure welcomed her into the advisor's chambers.
In the center of the room was the figure. It was a tall shadow and utterly dark. She couldn't see who it was, but she could feel its presence and could hear murmurs piercing the void, it sounded like voices.
The black shadow moved rapidly towards her, grabbing her by the cheeks and tilting her face up towards a featureless face, "...and you're sure she can't hear us?"
A second voice, directly beside her ear whispered a reply, "She's completely out of it. If it's anything like last time, we should have a couple hours before she'll come to."
The words were barely audible but she understood them fully. She was beginning to resist whatever control Darren had over her. The clearer her mind became and more the black fog receded in kind.
She struggled to escape Darren's handhold, but he still held her tightly in place.
"Bastards," Heidi managed a futile rebute. Her captors heard her and jolted away. Though her one word was only barely audible she spoke it aloud. She tried to play it off, acting as mellow as she could, but the shadow pulled in close.
The shadow was definitely her traitorous advisor. It sounded like Vishal and Heidi was finally able to start recognizing features on his partially foggy face. He carefully inspected her eyes, before pulling away.
"Clearly she's
not
out fully. Take her away and make sure she's properly compliant this time," the shadow barked.
Darren nodded before dragging Heidi out of the chamber. She resisted as best she could while still pretending to be under the effects of the control. She knew that even with her full strength, Darren was likely strong enough to overpower her.
She scanned the halls for someone that could assist her, anyone that might hear her if she tried to scream.
Darren quietly talked to her as they moved down the halls, "This was supposed to be a quick fix. I was assured you'd be completely under my control after the first dosage," he grumbled. His demeanor shifted as he roughly pulled her along, "At least that's what happened with your little servant." He smirked cruelly as he taunted her.
"Sophie?"
she thought to herself,
"He must be referring to Sophie. I knew something bad must've happened to her, Darren must have her locked up somewhere!"
Heidi was fuming now,
"What did I do to deserve this fate?"
she pitied herself and her dire situation, "But, what did Sophie do to deserve any of this?" This usurper had taken her friend captive and now was working with her treasonous Advisor to steal her throne. Heidi plodded methodically, as she tried to plan her next steps, "I have to do something to save her, and get my Kingdom back. But first, I'll need to get away from Darren."
Right as Darren and Heidi crested a corner she spotted a person at the far end of the hall. They had their back turned to them, but luckily they weren't a great distance away.
Heidi focused as hard as she could, managing to muster a cry for help, "Som-someone... help me," she whimpered softly.
She was able to speak but only barely, her voice too weak to yell. They couldn't hear her, her cry was too pitiful.
Darren was close enough to hear her, her cry for help made him furious. He moved a hand to muzzle her mouth, making a second attempt to yell pointless. She instead opted to struggle out of Darren's grip, tugging on his remaining arm and flailing wildly in a bid to escape. The squirming broke his hold and she fell to the tiled floor with a loud
thump
. Luckily, the commotion attracted the passerby's attention. Having spotted the fallen Queen and a dumbstruck Darren they quickly rushed to assist.
Darren scrambled to pick Heidi up so they could get on their way. But, the bystander was fast, responding quickly to the assumed accident. As they approached she could recognize his face, it was Prince Eugene.
Heidi prayed silently as he came closer,
"Thank the goddess!"
The Prince quickly knelt down and lifted her up onto her feet, carefully assisting as best he could without getting in the way.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" He spoke in a concerned voice. He was propping her up, allowing Heidi to steady herself on the crook of his elbow.
"Yes, yes we're fine. Just had a small tumble is all. Haha," Darren faked a laugh as he lied to the Prince.
The Prince looked at each of them, he could see that Darren appeared a little nervous but otherwise bought into Darren's excuse.
"I-I, please help...me," Heidi's voice was still too weak to fully communicate, but she managed to eek out as much as she could, before Darren rudely interrupted her.
"Hmmm YES! Quite humorous my dearest." He was reeling from her response, still muddling together some excuse to explain their situation, "You know, my lil Heidi is always joking about. She's already trying to recruit assistance after I accidentally dropped her- just this one time," he spoke in a light-hearted tone, playfully using unearned pet names.
It made Heidi sick.
With Heidi back on her own feet, Darren hoped to collect her from the Prince's arms. "Thank you, you are free to go. I can handle her from here," he wanted to dismiss the unwanted help now that Heid was steady again.
She croaked feebly, tugging on Eugene's tunic as she tried to pull away from Darren. Her voice was too weak to make audible words.
"You sure she's okay? She seems pretty out of it right now," Eugene spoke up, clearly he could tell that something wasn't quite right with the Queen.
Darren did his best to excuse her behaviour, "-Just got a little bit too much of that house wine and I'm afraid poor Heidi's just a little bit woozy." He rambled a bit too much with his reasoning, "I'm sure just a little bit of rest will fix her right up, it's been a really long day for both of us."
"Here, let me help you carry her," The Prince lifted her off her feet, carrying her in his arms, "Where are we headed?"
Darren fumbled briefly, before pointing towards Heidi's bedroom. Without hesitation Eugene set off and left Darren shambling behind. As the Prince carried Heidi, Darren kept his eyes on her. Making sure she wasn't going to cause any more trouble.
The effort needed to fight off the dark haze was exhausting. But Heidi was managing to stave off further dulling of her mind. She was refusing to fall deeper into the darkness again, she refused to let Darren get away with this. She needed to get Eugene's attention, she would need the Prince to intervene.
They were quickly making their way through the halls. In only a few moments the group would be in her room, so she would have to make her move soon, before she is left alone with Darren.
Heidi wasn't able to talk, but she had some control over her body. Eugene remained stoic, as she squirmed in his arms trying to get free. He held her tightly, careful not to drop the Queen. But Heidi was persistent, her continued squirming allowing her to free one of her arms. With her hand free she fumbled around blindly, grabbing onto the first thing she could get a hold of.