~Steph~



The morning came quickly for me. I barely slept a couple of hours before the sun came out.

Last night was very eventful at the least.

And one of the reasons was lying beside me.


Flora!



She still had about eight hours of sleep before the dosage wears off on her.

So on my part, I need to make sure that I'm back in this room in eight hours time.

And also to keep my room locked at all times.


My lips still carried the warm fluorescent taste of Rowan's lips.

Our kiss last night just felt right. It felt like I had kissed my true prince charming. I didn't feel that way over the couple of times me and Luther had shared a kiss.


Despite all that happened.

I wouldn't trade that moment for anything.


That moment reminded me how peaceful life can sometimes be.

Free from the guilt, from the worries.


KNOCK

KNOCK


That moment I heard a loud knock on my door.


'Oh no!"

I have to hide Flora, like right now!


I instinctively pushed Flora over to the other side of the bed.


I then calmly walked over to the door and opened it gently.


Reta?


'What's wrong?" I was very surprised to see Reta in front of my room.


'Luther is summoning a crew meeting in ten minutes."

Reta passed out her instructions and left, not waiting to hear anything else from me.


Well I have to go for now, but soon enough after Zayne has been taken out, I'll get Rowan to bust Luther red handed and arrest him, or hang him who cares.


And then maybe Rowan can be king, and free Emily from prison, and then I live out happily as the queen of this kingdom when we get married.


I quickly got myself freshened up and changed to a fresh outfit before hurrying to Luther's room.


Of course, I made sure to lock my doors before leaving.


Reaching Luther's room, the whole crew was already gathered and so, I was late for the meeting.

I gently pushed his door open, and quietly walked to a corner of his room.

I could feel the cold stare of Luther and almost everyone else in the room all on me, but I tried my best to avoid any eye contact with them.


'Okay, now that we're all present, I can start with my plan."

Lither yelled out, his voice at a moderate tone, making sure everyone in the room heard him, but nobody from outside did.


'Well, this hopefully is the last plan I cook up to take out Zayne, once and for all.

Steph helped us a lot to take out Emily, and leave Zayne exposed.

So, now onto the next phase of the plan. Crystal, this is where you shine!"

Luther said, his tone very mischievous.


'You with the help of Steph and Reta will cook up a dangerous poison, to numb Zayne, and make him very useless and weak.

And then, that's when me and Thorn strike and kill him off."

I was taken back a bit by the nature of Luther's plan.


'There's only one fault in that plan. And that is, giving Zayne the poison.

Which is where you come in Steph. Zayne is least aware of your association and still thinks you're just an innocent human girl.

So Steph, you will be the one to serve Zayne the spiked drink, and once it kicks in, you run to inform us so we can kill him, before anyone else can reach his room.

So, Steph is that clear?"

Luther asked, turning to me.


'Yes."

I said, my voice very faint.


I was truly overwhelmed by Luther's plan. And my part to play in it.


What if Zayne finds out I served him poison? He will surely arrest me.


But I have to do this. I need to! If I want to ever have a normal life, I first have to take out Zayne, and then everything else in the world can be right.


I just need to find a way to get Rowan to see Luther after he's killed Zayne and not before.


'Well, troops, hopefully once we have this meeting this time tomorrow, we'll all be celebrating taking out Zayne."


'But for now, we have work to get done. Crystal, you guys get working on the poison.

You have Reta and Steph available to fetch anything or do anything really."


'Okay boss." Crystal answered before leaving his room.

Reta and I followed closely behind.


We headed in the direction of the kitchen, which was the most likely place to do it.


'Reta, tell everyone coming to the kitchen, that it's closed off for now."

Crystal said to Reta. Reta went to the door and stood in front of it.


I stood at a corner watching Crystal from a distance as she carefully prepared the poison.


She brought a small bowl, and poured in freshwater.

She brought a purple liquid in a small bottle from her pocket.

She gently poured half of it into the bowl. The color of the water instantly changed to purple, exuding purple smoke from it.


'Steph!"

Crystal called me out in her stern voice.


'Yes?"

I walked closer to her.


'I need you to fetch me an orange hibiscus flower."


'Where are they?" I asked about Crystal's annoyance.

She rolled her eyes at me, and moaned in frustration.

'You have to get them in the forest of course. Not too deep, though just at the borders."


I quickly dashed out from the kitchen and hurried to the stables.


I needed to hurry up to avoid Crystal's wrath. She fears me even more than Luther or Thorn.


I grabbed the same horse I used last night and rode straight to the forest.

It was the second time in less than five hours I was sent to go to the forest.


I arrived at the forest, and carefully recalling Crystal's words, she said the flowers were barely in the forest, just at the borders.


So I carefully searched through the forest. I spent a few minutes wandering around the forest, until I caught a glimpse of or age up ahead.

It has to be it!!

I ran through the forest. My legs stretched out, one in front of the other, as the forest winds blew across my face.


'Yes. Finally." I said, my voice laced with relief.


In front of me, was a garden of orange hibiscus flowers.


Crystal didn't really specify the quantity of hibiscus she needed.

So, to spare myself any nagging, I cut off quite a few of them, and gently placed them in my bag before returning back to my horse.


I didn't want to waste any more time than I'm supposed to.

So, I reached my horse and immediately moved back to the castle.


I was retrieving the horse, back to the castle, when I heard a familiar voice.

His tone startled me a bit.


'Hey Steph!" Rowan was approaching the stables.

I instinctively hid the bag of flowers for the poison, behind the horse's shoe.

I couldn't let Rowan know of Luther's plan, if he did he'll warn Zayne and everything will be ruined.

He'll know once Zayne is dead.


'Hey Rowan."


'I see you went back to the forest, anything wrong?"

Rowan asked curiously.


'NO, nothing really. Luther just wanted to make sure Flora was still asleep.

I think it's because Thorn told him something."


'Okay. So have you heard anything yet on Luther's plan?"

Rowan finally asked, the inevitable.


'NO, not yet. He's keeping his plan away from everyone for now.

But if I do hear anything, I'll let you know." I reassured Rowan.


'Okay."

Rowan gently nodded his head before walking away from the stables.


As he walked away, my heart grew heavy. I didn't really want to lie to him, but I have to. He's being blinded by Zayne, the way I once was by Luther.

They're both psychopaths who deserve nothing but death.


I grabbed the bag of orange hibiscus and dashed out from the stables.


Rowan had already delayed me enough. I couldn't waste any more time, or face Crystal's wrath.


I ran all the way from the stables to the kitchen, without taking even a pause.


I finally reached the kitchen. My breathing was heavy,as I bent down to catch my breath.


'Here it is." I said handing Crystal the bag of orange flowers.


'I only needed one, you fool." Crystal scoffed on seeing the number of flowers in the bag.


I couldn't even care less what she cared about anymore.


She proceeded with the poison, pulling off the buds of the flower and mixing it into the bowl of purple water.

After that, she carefully stirred it a number of times.


'...And it's done!!" Crystal yelled, her voice laced with satisfaction and pride.


I stepped closer to the bowl of the poison. The flower completely changed the closure of the poison from purple to light green.

It exuded a horrible smell, tingling my stomach to puke.


'I'll call Luther and tell him it's done. Crystal, you start making Zayne's dinner."

Reta ordered before moving out to call Luther.


After a few minutes, Reta came back this time with Luther.

'We'll do Crystal."

He held the bowl of the poison firmly in his hands, giving it an up close look.


'A teaspoon of this into Zayne's tea would be enough."


Crystal grabbed a spoon from one of the many cupboards and took a scoop from the poison and mixed it into Zayne's tea.


I stood from a distance, carefully observing what was happening.


'Well, Steph it's up to you now!" Luther turned to me, in his hands the tray for Zayne's dinner.


I gave it a little look, before taking the tray from his hands.


'Steph, you can do this. And remember once the poison hit him, call me and Thorn."

Luther gave me a final piece of instruction.


I nodded my head in approval. Before turning to leave.


I slowly walked the fair distance from the kitchen, to the royal sector.

And then to Zayne's room.


~Zayne~


The morning descended quickly on the Lycan kingdom.

The warm gushing wind filled my room. The sound of chirping birds and the loud rustling leaves pinched me up from my sleep.


I woke up, my heart heavy, I was deeply worried for myself.

Something was coming for me and I don't even have a clue what it might be.


I decided to take a short walk around the castle.


I stepped out to the cold breeze of the early morning.

I left the royal sector, not without giving Luther's room a long and piercing stare.


I walked around the castle for hours. There was a certain calm and quiet in the castle. They're the most peaceful it's been in a while.


I couldn't help but feel, it was indeed the calm before the storm.


I couldn't just keep this up. Being left in the dark. Not knowing what's going to happen. I had to do something to take my mind off.


The day was almost up, yet nothing from Luther.

From what Rowan had told me, last night, Luther was planning something big for me today.

Something that's sure to take me out.

I've spent the whole day expecting the worst but nothing so far.


For my own health, it was best I take my mind off this.


I retreated back to my room, and collapsed on my soft sofa.


And for the first time today, my mind was at rest.

I could just lay down and enjoy the calm and quiet.


KNOCK KNOCK


Suddenly, I heard a soft knock on the door,


I promised myself not to think too much of it, so I walked up to the door.

I was a bit surprised to see Steph in front of my door, and with a tray in her hand.


'Hey, Zayne. Your maid called in sick, so Crystal called me to serve you."


I allowed her into my room as she gently placed the tray on my stool and left.


The warm scent of green tea tingled my nostrils.

So I decided to take in a sip. I gulped down half the tea at once.


The tea never failed to satisfy me. But before I could reach my sofa.

My eyes began to spin. My head was getting dizzy and I dropped down to a knee before totally collapsing to the ground.


'Zayne, this is for Emily and every other human you've plagued over the years."

I heard Steph's stern voice in my room.