CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 79

Rhea’s eyes, burning with fear, locked with the guard’s. She didn’t let him finish. "I know how to stop it," she said.

"What could you possibly know that you are disturbing the peace in the castle?" he asked.

The guard’s voice was a low growl, like a harsh flog on the skin. It made Rhea’s throat clamp shut, the words dying before she could get them out, but she didn’t relent. "I have to see your queen." She muttered.

A Queen? I don’t even know where I am, and I’m asking for a queen? she thought.

"What insolence. How dare you!" The guard’s arm flew into the air as he brought it down to smack Rhea. She whipped back, retreating into her own embrace and bracing herself for the impact.

"I would advise you not to strike her, no matter what you do," another guard said from the shadows. "Even though she is a land-dweller, she is still the young Alpha’s woman."

"I don’t give a bilge about this barnacled-wrench, Commander" the first guard cursed, stepping forward. His gaze was full of hate.

Rhea shrank back as he approached, her heart racing and her chest tight. Her gaze never left his face.

"Calm down," the commander said, pushing off the wall. "We all hate them, not just you, so don’t get so worked up."

"Why would this shell-splitter be asking for the queen? The effrontery. I would kill you right now, and nothing would be done about it," the guard by her said, storming forward in two thunderous strides. He towered over her, his shadow covering out the dim light.

Rhea staggered back until her shoulders slammed against the wall, the air jolting from her lungs. Before she could recover, he struck her shoulder, shoving her harder into the stone.

Her legs buckled beneath the force, and she crumpled to the floor, her body smacking the cold, hard ground.

I’m not even sure what is going on or where I am, and I’m already being slammed against the wall, she thought.

"I said calm down." The one outside stepped inside, sending the guard flying against the wall off of her. His eyes were calm yet not. They trailed over her for a while then looked away.

"Stop acting with your brute force, Mace. The Queen hasn’t given an order yet," he said to the guard, who was now leaning on the wall with a tiny line of blood at the side of his lips.

Then he turned to Rhea. "Why do you want to see the queen?"

"Come on, Commander," Mace said, standing from the ground. "Whatever she has to say is not relevant. What could a land-dweller know?"

The commander leaned closer to Rhea who still had her ass on the floor and for some reason was in a daze.

"Human you have been shouting and disturbing out sanity, now you can’t speak." The commander rasped, looking at Rhea from that tip of his eyes.

Rhea snapped from whatever trance she was in, scurried to her feet, brushing her stained hands on her dress and said, "I have a solution to Zeenare’s wounds."

"Go on. Tell me," the commander ordered.

"I can’t. It’s only the Queen I have to tell this to," Rhea replied.

The commander’s eyes locked on Rhea’s, eating away at her every expression. For a while, his gaze didn’t leave hers and he saw the resilience in her eyes.

Mace scoffed, prepared to fire back, when the commander spoke. "Inform the queen about this."

"What! You’re actually believing what she said?" Mace complained, even as he made his way to the queen.

After a while, Mace scurried back, breathless. "The queen wants to see her in her chamber," he said.

Rhea was led out of the cellar in chains into a mega-sized hallway laced with ancient walls and rare gems.

As they trailed further, a door leading to another hallway was opened, a bright all encompassing light swallowed her, blinding Rhea’s vision for a couple of seconds. As her eyes fluttered open, the sight before her was nothing short of heavenly divine and beauty. After her eyes perfectly adjusted, a lake revealed itself, surrounded by a lush, mysterious forest.

The atmosphere felt as if it was night-time, as butterflies danced across the lake drunkenly while dragonflies darted to and fro.

A bright light, illuminated the water, stars spattered the dark sky, and a warm breeze whisked her disheveled hair from her eyes.

Enchanted by the pastoral beauty, she momentarily forgotten she was a prisoner, handcuffed in another world.

Then muttered smiling in a daze. "This is so beautiful,"

"Keep moving!" Mace uttered, bringing her back to reality.

As they kept stalking forward Rhea brain couldn’t believe her eyes, for the things she was seeing wasn’t possible, for everything was too beautiful to be real and too real to be fake.

The instant her gaze lifted and Lexicon spread before her eyes, her very mind stuttered—like her thoughts had been yanked out of her chest and flung into silence.

Lexicon suspended impossibly in the air, hovering above endless waters that stretched like glass.

The first thing she noticed was the light. There was no sunlight, no moonlight, but something richer, something more primal, spilling across the sky of the floating island.

Colors she had no name for shimmered in the air, dancing like liquid flames and sparkling jewels, staining the skies in ribbons that bent and twisted.

Rhea swallowed in awe as her throat went dry. Her eyes followed the cascades that tumbled from the waterfalls of crystal that poured down into the sea below the island’s cliffs, yet dissolved into mist before they ever touched the surface. That mist curled back upwards, caught in an invisible current.

The castle itself was in the center of the island in impossible spires, piercing the sky, threaded with veins of silver and black stone that gleamed like obsidian tamed with fire. The walls felt alive with carvings that felt like they moved when she wasn’t looking directly at them.

Her eyes swept over the figures moving gracefully across the courtyards and balconies. They were all beautiful, not merely beautiful—they were eyes blinding to gaze on. Their faces shattered every fragile idea of human perfection she had ever known.

Their features were sculpted as if the gods themselves were obsessively carving every detail. Each one had a different skin shade, eyes, and hair. They all looked breathtaking.

"What is this place?" she thought out loud, expecting a response, but no answer came back.

Rhea was led into a massive chamber, her eyes trailed over everything else and landed on a gorgeous young yet somehow elderly woman, who sat leisurely alone by the window side near a pool. The guards pushed Rhea to her knees, and her chains clanked against the floor.

She is beautiful. Rhea eyes latched on the Queen’s face as she drank her gracefully.

With terrifyingly cold eyes, the Queen began. "What is this?" she asked. "I heard you have been making absurd claims."

Rhea’s heart pounded. "I-I-I know how to stop the poison’s effect on him," she stuttered, her voice raw.

And the Queen’s face tightened. "What could you possibly know?" she asked, her voice low. "Our healers have already started working on him. What could a human possibly have that we don’t?"

"The poison isn’t what’s killing him," Rhea insisted. "It’s a substance in the poison that is stopping his regeneration. That’s why he’s not healing."

The Queen was silent for a moment. Her gaze was fixed on Rhea, searching for a lie. "That I know already. So what is this solution you keep going on about?"

Rhea took a deep breath. "It’s an ancient word," she said. "An incantation that will sever the substance’s hold. You need to get a handful of Reef moss and burn it while you chant these words. Then the poison’s hold will break."

As those words left Rhea’s lips, she noticed that the Queen shifted in her seat, like something clicked in her head.

The Queen stood and strode toward Rhea. She stopped just a few feet away, looking down on her, and said,

"You have said a lot," her voice like a knife’s edge. "But I wonder why I should believe a land-dweller’s words?"

A land-dweller? Am I that? Her brow furrowed, Is she looking for proof at a time like this? Rhea thought.

"There’s no time for proof!" Rhea pleaded. "He may die tomorrow if you don’t do this."

The Queen’s face hardened. She turned and gestured to the guards. "Take her back to the cellar. She is of no use to me."

"Please, we don’t have time for this doubts!" Rhea shouted as the guards grabbed her arms. "He will die!"

Rhea struggled, trying to make the Queen see reason, but she didn’t even bat an eye at her again.

The guards didn’t bother to hide their cruel satisfaction as they dragged her out of the chamber.

The chains clanked against the cold stone floor as they led her back into the darkness. And once more, she was a prisoner again.

"Please listen to me, please!" She begged as they throw her forcefully into the cell. The loud cry of the door ringing across the hallway as they clamped it shut.

Rhea rushed to the small bar space, pushing her face through. "Please tell your queen to do what I say." She cried, but no reply came back but the echoes of retreating steps.

"Just listening to me. Please." She cried in a whisper while her hands slid down the door as her knees touched the damp floor.