The Princess's Revenge Chapter 51

Valencia’s POV

"Let Delphine help you change clothes," Dr. Vance said, gesturing toward my charred and torn chemise. "You can't keep walking around like that."

"No," I said firmly. "Save people first. Clothes later."

"Fine." Dr. Vance nodded slightly. "I have Lucian, Macsen, and Rhodes handling the first floor. You and Delphine take care of the second floor."

"Okay." Delphine pulled a smoke-blackened tapestry from the wall and took about a third of the antidote bottles from Dr. Vance's basket. "Come on," she said. "Let's go."

We ran toward the stairs and the corridor was full of smoke.

"Dr. Vance told me Beta Dorian is the traitor," Delphine's expression grew serious, her voice tight with disbelief. "He said Dorian killed Gamma Xander. How could this happen?"

"Yes," I replied, my chest tightening with grief and anger. "Dorian was the spy behind this entire attack."

Delphine's mouth fell open. She stared at me in complete shock, unable to speak for several seconds.

We turned the corner on the stairs and continued climbing. I needed her to understand the full scope of what had happened.

"After I left the stone house, I went to the stables to get a horse," I continued, my voice growing harder. "I needed to help Alpha Logan. But when I got there, every single horse was dead. All of them killed."

Delphine's eyes grew even wider, and I could see fear creeping into her expression.

"Xander and I saw the smoke coming from the castle," I continued. "We ran to investigate and saw someone running into the burning food storage room. I thought it was Dorian, so we followed. That's when we discovered there was a secret passage - a back door that leads to the training grounds."

"This is fucking insane," Delphine breathed.

"The person we saw wasn't Dorian," I said grimly. "It was Landon. He was a spy too."

Delphine stopped walking completely. "Fuck. Landon used to be a wandering rogue. Alpha Logan captured him and he was supposed to be executed. But Beta Dorian pleaded for his life and convinced Alpha Logan to let him work in the stables as a stable hand."

"That bastard," I muttered under my breath. Of course Dorian had been planning this for a long time. He had probably been recruiting rogues and placing them strategically throughout the pack.

"I killed Landon," I said quietly. "But Dorian killed Xander. Xander protected me with his life."

The image of Xander's broken body lying on the stone path flashed through my mind. My heart sank with guilt and grief. He was still lying there, unburied, unprotected.

"You mentioned Xander? Where is Xander now?"

A familiar female voice came from behind us. I spun around to see Amara leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. Her face was pale and weak.

My blood turned cold. Delphine and I both froze when we heard Amara's voice. Neither of us had noticed her approaching.

"Amara," I said carefully, my voice gentle. "You shouldn't be walking around yet. You need to rest and recover."

"Don't fucking tell me what I should be doing," she snapped, though her voice was weaker than usual. "Where is my brother?"

Delphine and I exchanged worried glances. She was still weak, how could I tell her that Xander had given his life to stop a traitor? And we needed to put out the fires first. We didn't have enough people to retrieve his body from the training grounds now.

Delphine opened her mouth to speak, but I quickly patted her back to stop her.

"I'm not sure where he is," I said carefully, trying to keep my voice steady. "I think I saw him at the stone house earlier."

Amara's eyes narrowed as she studied my face. "Are you sure? What were you just talking about? I heard you mention his name."

I forced myself to remain calm. "You must have misheard. I wasn't talking about Xander."

Please don't push this, I thought desperately. I can't handle telling you the truth right now.

I could see she wanted to ask more questions, so I quickly changed the subject. "I brought antidote," I said, gesturing to the bottles Delphine was carrying. "You should take one and go back to your room to rest. Once you're feeling stronger, you can look for Xander."

She rolled her eyes at me, looking down with that superior expression I knew so well. But her attitude didn't upset me this time. I knew she was about to face terrible grief, and I felt sorry for her.

I looked at Delphine and reached into the makeshift blanket bundle for one of the antidote bottles. Delphine was clearly annoyed by Amara's dismissive expression, but she kept quiet.

"Here," I said, holding out the bottle to Amara. "Take half the bottle. That should be enough."

She snatched the bottle from my hand without a word of thanks. I watched as she tilted it back and drank exactly half, then thrust it back at me. Without saying goodbye, she turned and walked toward her room.

Delphine glared at Amara's retreating figure. "What a bitch," she muttered under her breath.

"She's going to suffer enough soon," I said softly, trying to comfort Delphine. "Let it go."

"You're too soft-hearted," Delphine replied, shaking her head. "Being kind to people like that just makes them treat you worse."

"I know. But sometimes kindness is all we can offer."I gave her a small smile. "Come on," I said, taking Delphine's arm gently. "We need to act."

The stone walls were bare except for a few iron torch brackets, and the air smelled of smoke that had drifted up from the burning rooms below. Directly across from the stairs was the kitchen, its doorway dark and ominous. To our left were the servants' quarters, and to our right lay the Beta and Gamma family living areas.

Delphine and I walked into the kitchen, and the sight that greeted us made my heart sink. Two servants lay collapsed on the stone floor, their faces gray.

"Nestor!" Delphine cried out urgently, rushing toward a thin man with red hair. "I'm here to help you!"

I recognized him immediately - he was the servant who witnessed Dorian personally filling Alpha Logan's wine bag.

Delphine knelt beside him and looked at me desperately. "Give him the antidote," she said, gesturing to the bottle I still held.

Nestor's face was deathly pale, and his breathing was shallow. I could see he was barely conscious. I dropped to my knees and carefully lifted his head, supporting him against my arm.

"Here," I said gently, bringing the bottle to his lips. "This will help you."

He drank weakly, some of the liquid spilling down his chin. I helped him lean back against the wall, and slowly his eyes began to focus.

"Thank you, Valencia," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

I stared at him in shock. "How do you know my name?"

A weak smile crossed his lips. "Delphine told me about you."

I looked at Delphine, who gave me a warm smile. Something fluttered in my chest - the strange, wonderful feeling of being remembered by someone who was almost a stranger.

The other servant lay motionless nearby. "What about him?" I asked, pointing to the dark-haired man.

"That's Kael," Delphine said, moving to his side. "He's been working in the kitchens for years."

I gave Kael half of another antidote bottle, then helped both men sit against the wall where they could rest. Their color was already starting to return.

"We need to check the other rooms," I said to Delphine. "There might be more people who need help."

We left the kitchen and walked toward the right side of the second floor hallway. Delphine stopped at the first door and turned to me.

"This is Clarence's room," she said.

I frowned. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

Delphine smiled at my confused expression. "The golden-haired twins. We met them before, remember?"

The memory became clear. Those handsome young men with bright green eyes. They had been so kind to me when most pack members looked at me with disgust. I had liked them immediately.

I knocked on the wooden door, the sound echoing in the empty hallway. We waited several seconds, but there was no response.

I knocked again, harder this time. "Clarence? Elias? Are you in there?"

Still nothing.

Nestor's weak voice came from the kitchen doorway. He was leaning heavily against the frame, still pale.

"Clarence and Elias left with Alpha Logan," he said, his voice strained from the effort of speaking. "They took several warriors with them."

My heart dropped like a stone. If the twins had gone with Alpha Logan, that meant they could be poisoned too. They could be walking into the same trap that Dorian had set for their Alpha.

I clenched my fists, rage and worry warring in my chest. How many good people is Dorian going to destroy?

"Are all the rooms on this floor empty then?" I asked Nestor, trying to keep my voice steady.

Nestor looked around slowly. "Most of them. Only Gamma Amara is here now."

Something felt wrong about his answer. "Nestor," I said carefully, "don't Beta Dorian and Gamma have parents? Shouldn't their families be living here too?"