303: Her great escape (part 2)

Her great escape (part 2)

As if by some miracle, her attempt to whistle bore fruit. A sharp, piercing noise cut through the tension-laden air of the throne room.1

Aldric, who had both arms extended forward, poised to shield Adela from an impending bullet, snapped in frustration, "I'm trying to save your life here, Sister!"

Samandra's eyes disengaged from Aldric's gaze and were redirected toward Adela. Her light green eyes gleamed with a strange admiration. Yet, Lady de Lanark von Conradie had her own focus on the Archduke, repeatedly pointing with the white straw at the emblem on her necklace.

Father! It's me! Her eyes screamed the message, though no words escaped her lips.

Kaiser acted swiftly, drawing his sword in an instant. Sasha mirrored his actions.

"Drop your weapons!" he bellowed at the counselors. His expression was one of barely-contained madness. Although he held no formal authority over them, most who had either witnessed his prowess in battle or heard of his battlefield reputation cautiously lowered their firearms.

"This woman is under the protection of House de Lanark from this moment onward. Anyone who wishes to keep their limbs attached to their body will not lay a finger on her!"

Aldric's voice lowered to a menacing growl as he confronted Samandra as if oblivious to their surroundings. "So, it has come to this, eh? Ruining my life once wasn't enough for you?"

Samandra's lifeless green eyes met his loathing midnight ones once more. "The only regret I carry from that life is that I loved you with the entirety of my heart. Not merely as a caretaker, but as a wife loves her husband."

Aldric snarled, his rage unabated.

"Love? How preposterous! Your charade does not deceive me, Samandra! Shift your aim away from her head and point that firearm at me! That's the target you truly desire tonight, isn't it?"

The scene around them came to a standstill. Even Adela, amidst her bewildered state, couldn't help but stare at Aldric.

"That's correct!" Aldric declared vehemently. "All this spectacle is nothing more than a medium to your actual intentions! Were you planning to make it seem like an accident? Betting that I would sacrifice myself to shield her? Why? Hoping they might relegate you to some desolate, solitary confinement? Well, you've just dug your own wretched grave! You will meet your end like the wretched mongrel you are, forgotten and forsaken!"

Samandra whose face revealed that the words hurt her deeply shuffled her weight between her two legs, but she never changed her aim from over Adela's head.

Aldric's chest heaved with unrestrained fury.

"You are threatening the wrong person! I alone determine whether she lives or dies!" His voice rang out, and his eyes blazed with madness as he locked his glare on his Queen.

Adela's eyes rolled back in her head, her hands instinctively flying to the necklace as it began choking her. It was a cruel and calculated move on Aldric's part, a reminder that her life now hung in the balance, solely at his discretion.

A chilling thought invaded Adela's mind. What if it wasn't just her life that was in danger? What if the Oracle's prophecy held true, and she was already carrying a child?

With this harrowing notion gripping her, Adela's fingers clawed at the straw with newfound determination, feeling its sharp edge before thrusting it as forcefully as she could into Aldric's leg.

"Argh!" He howled in pain, a guttural cry that overlapped with his release of the mental stranglehold on the necklace.

Seizing the opportunity, Samandra's trembling hands shifted the aim of her firearm from Adela's head to Aldric's heart, her eyes reflecting reluctance and conflict.

"Traitor!" Aldric's voice boomed, reverberating through the chamber, condemning the woman he once called his Queen.

"Seize her!" The Head Counselor's voice bellowed. "Protect our Monarch!"

The throne room descended into anarchy, conflicting commands and frenzied movements all over. Adela, caught between the armored Princess and the imposing Archduke, was encircled by their protective stance, their swords poised to strike at any sign of aggression.

In the midst of the chaos, a chilling and childlike voice pierced the turmoil. "Die!" it cried out.

A hail of gunshots echoed through the air lasting mere seconds, but it was long enough for Adela's mind to go blank as she helplessly awaited, her body trembling with fear.

Then, an eerie silence took over the room.

"His Holiness has been injured!" a voice quivered with terror, breaking the silence.

"The traitor is dead!"

Samandra? Dead!

"Hurry! Take His Holiness out of here to the safe chamber! Seize the nun who stabbed His Holiness!" The Head Counselor's voice erupted in urgency, directing the assassins to action.

Adela's heart pounded with panic. She couldn't bear the thought of going to prison, rotting away behind bars while wearing another woman's face. She clutched her father by the back, her eyes squeezed shut like a little girl wanting to hide in the darkness.

"Stand aside, Your Excellency," the Head Counselor's voice came closer.

Sensing Kaiser's head tilting backward, she opened her eyes to see his eyes on the emblem of House de Lanark. He whispered, "My protection was offered before you drew a monarch's blood. But worry not. You are not alone."

Sasha nodded in reassurance at Adela. 

I am not alone.

Suddenly, a massive masked man loomed over the three of them, his gloved hand grabbing Adela's arm with a firm grip. The other men with their faces obscured by tiger masks had their attention directed at the Archduke and the princess.

Adela's heart sank. It was over. She had been defeated from the very start. How could she possibly struggle against an assassin when her father and Sasha were this vulnerable? While they were both formidable warriors, the odds and the numbers were overwhelmingly against them.

How she wished Sir Gustave and Sasha's loyal bodyguard were present. It was bad enough that she was about to face yet another form of captivity, she couldn't bear the thought of her father and his friend facing danger while she languished behind prison bars.

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