Chapter 92: Rules Have Changed

Lauren felt the air leave her lungs as her head was shoved into the tub full of water.

She was in the red chamber with King Martin, Queen Thalia, and Cassandra supervising her torture session. Two guards were holding her down and one of them was shoving her head into the tub. After a long minute she would be pulled up and after a few seconds she would be pushed into the water again.

Queen Thalia sat with a wicked smile as she watched Lauren’s mishap. The red chamber was dark and reeked of blood but she didn’t care. She was enjoying the show too much to think how dirty the place was.

"That is only the beginning, Lauren. Keep breathing, darling," Queen Thalia said.

After half an hour of drowning her again and again, Lauren’s face had gone pale and she was having a hard time catching her breath. Her face was dripping wet as well as her hair and her neck down to her chest.

"I’m a royal! A court trial should be done! This doesn’t follow the law!" Lauren’s voice trembled in anger.

The King wasn’t following the rules. She was his daughter, a princess, she deserved a court trial before she was subjected to merciless torture! Clearly, her father was being unfair because he did not care about her.

Queen Thalia rose from her seat and walked towards her. She looked down at Lauren who was on her knees with her arms being held by the guards.

Lauren received a slap again. This time, she felt a cut on her cheek because of the rough stones around the Queen’s rings. She really didn’t miss slapping her if she had a chance.

"A royal?" Queen Thalia snickered. "You claim yourself as part of the royal family after you killed your brother?-"

Lauren’s delirious laugh echoed in the room.

"See, Martin? This bitch had gone insane." The Queen glanced at the King who was watching in silence.

"You really are a good actress, Queen Thalia. I wouldn’t be surprised if you worked at a cheap theater before you were adopted by a rich family," Lauren said which made the Queen’s eyes grow wide.

The secret of Queen Thalia’s past was unknown to most, even the King had no knowledge of it. People in Evardin knew her as someone from a wealthy mage family before she married into the royal family, but only very few knew about her real past, and all of them were now buried six feet under.

"What on earth are you talking about? Making up stories just to mock me? I wonder what other cheap antics you have stored up your sleeves!" the Queen looked at Lauren with disbelief.

The shock and confusion she had on her face a second ago vanished, not letting anyone in the room sense that she was affected. She didn’t want rumors to spread about her as it might give her problems. After all, a woman could only be a Queen if she was born into a noble family, a true child of noble people and not an adopted one. It was a law in most lands.

"You have been an unruly child, dear Lauren. As your stepmother I failed to educate you enough and I apologize for that," the Queen’s voice toned down as she put a pitiful look on her face as if she was apologetic. "But you see, some people never changed. A crooked person will always remain a crook no matter how you straighten him up. It’s a shame."

"Tie her up," Queen Thalia ordered and with the strong arms of the tall guards holding Lauren, she could only flinch as they pulled her up roughly.

At the center of the room was a thick rope connected to the ceiling. The guards tied Lauren’s wrist with it, leaving her feet half a meter above the ground.

She clenched her teeth at the pain from the tight rope around her wrists. She was basically hanging in front of her torturers, and her body that was exhausted from the thirty minutes of drowning torture she received just a while ago felt weak in her position. She looked nothing less than a lamb ready to be butchered.

"Here, mother." Cassandra gave the whip to Queen Thalia.

"Remember this whip, dear Lauren?" The Queen asked in a sweet tone, tracing the long whip with her fingers.

How could she forget the whip that caused the ugly scars on her back? The royal family’s cruelty was embedded not just in her soul but also in her body. It was not something one could forget.

"You still remember, I see," spoke the Queen when she saw how Lauren’s eyes narrowed into slits at the whip on her hand.

"Now brace yourself, you foolish child."

Lauren closed her eyes, bracing for the extreme pain that would rock her body, but the rushing footsteps caught her attention.

The room’s door flew open.

Soldiers under Alec’s army entered the room without permission and formed two lines. Their faces were stoic and did not hold any expression, nor did they acknowledge the presence of the kingdom’s rulers in the room.

As the soldiers stood straight in two lines, Alec walked through the narrow pathway between them. He wore a black cape over his shoulders, and the look he had was cold and menacing. His steely eyes had turned darker and when his gaze found Lauren, his orbs flickered to red.

Alec pulled his pistol and fired twice at the rope without giving a damn about the other people in the room.

Before Lauren could fall to the ground after the rope was cut by bullets, Alec caught her right on time.

Witnessing what Alec just did, the Queen’s mouth fell agape. She was shocked when he suddenly arrived but as much as she wanted to yell at the man, Alec’s dark crimson eyes gagged her.

The King rose from his seat, his rigid face was marked with anger. "We know she is your wife, Alec, but that woman committed a grave sin only punishable by death. She is here to receive the torture that she deserves, and I did not allow you to barge into this room and interrupt us. And what is the meaning of this?" He glanced at the soldiers who came with Alec. "Without my permission military soldiers cannot enter the castle!"

"The rules in the castle have changed, King Martin," Alec muttered coldly as if he was not talking to the ruler of the land.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read