Hi everyone,😚 how have you all been?

It was a sullen morning in the Rivinlyte Castle when I woke. Everyone went about their business with a down look on their faces because they could all feel it.

Their Alpha's anger.

The guards stationed in the castle had gotten the brunt of it. Even from the new room I had been given, I could easily hear Rhydian yelling at them. It was unsettling but I could understand why he was so angry.

Vampires had almost gotten into the castle. They shouldn't even be in Aradia, not to talk of this close to the castle. The border guards were slacking off. The palace guards as well. They were werewolves. They believed themselves invincible and that had been taken advantage of.

I doubted that after the treatment Rhydian was giving them, there would be anymore slacking off.

I sat in my bedroom, tapping my foot impatiently as my handmaid pulled my hair into a braid. Rhydian was still raving. At an increase in his volume, the omega handmaid cringed. Her hands were shaking. She could feel his anger so vividly and she wasn't even close to where he was. I wondered how the guards hadn't broken down in tears yet. He needed to calm down. What was done was done.

When my handmaid was finished with my hair, I sat in my room wondering if it would be wise to go see if I could calm him down. Carrison had said it would be better if I gave him some space for a while and at the way he was raving, I decided he was right.

The handmaid entered my room again.

" My lady?" She said holding something in her hand.

" What is it?" I asked her, sitting up.

She held up a sealed envelope.

" It's a letter addressed to you, my lady." She informed and I took it from her and dismissed her.

The letter was from Czar. I opened it up and read the contents.

____________________________

Dear lady Devenity,

I'm writing to inform you that the gems which you specifically asked me to prepare for you are ready to be delivered tonight.

I shall be visiting you later today so we can execute the delivery.

Your brother, Czar .

____________________________

I was very confused by his letter. I hadn't asked him to prepare any gems. Maybe Milah had. Or Sierra. I got off the bed to go show them the letter when I realized just what he was talking about.

I'd asked him to prepare food and drugs for the prisoners in the cells but I hadn't told him a date. Of course Czar had went ahead to get things moving.

The timing was bad. The guards would be on high alert after the attack and the reprimanding they'd gotten from Rhydian today. I also wasn't in the right mindset for this but Czar would still be coming over. I had to go along with it for the sake of the others in the cells.

I groaned and lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I just wanted to remain in my room and worry about Rhydian but maybe this would be a good distraction.

I called my handmaid in and asked her to go to the kitchen and ask them to prepare a large hot meal for Czar and my sisters but it really was for the prisoners. I doubted that Czar would be able to get something hot for them to eat and after all this time, I was certain a hot meal would be a blessing.

〰️〰️〰️

Czar walked through the palace gates with nothing in his hands and I breathed a sigh of relief. Of course he wasn't stupid enough to bring the supplies right under the noses of the palace guards. I wondered where it was exactly.

" The timing is bad." I said to him when we were in the privacy of one of the palace gardens. " Very, very bad."

" Why?"

" Something happened. The guards are all on high alert." I looked at him curiously. " Where are the supplies?"

" Outside the castle, hidden in some bushes." Czar said. " We'll need to scale the palace walls and with the Ardenite, it shouldn't be a problem but if you say the guards are on alert ..." He trailed off, looking around.

There were guards everywhere. Even more surrounded the castle's exteriors. It was a miracle Czar hadn't been caught hiding the supplies but they were constantly patrolling the grounds. If they caught his scent, found the supplies and then tracked it to the castle's gates, it could lead to some uncomfortable questions.

" We need to get the supplies into my room." I said urgently.

Czar nodded in understanding and looked around to get his bearing.

" We need to get to an eastern wall. It'll be closer to where I hid the supplies." He said and I lead him closer to castle wall, moving east.

We walked, talking quietly about practically nothing, under the pretext of taking a stroll around the castle. We drew slightly curious glances from the patrolling guards but none bothered to stop us and ask our business.

Thankfully, when we found an appropriate wall to scale, there were no guards around, but I knew it wouldn't be like that for long.

Czar took the crystal from me and channelled its magical properties into himself. For a second, his eyes rolled back into his head at the high the crystal had to offer. I allowed it even though we didn't really have time because I knew how it felt to be using a moon crystal again after so long.

When he recovered, he harnessed the wind and used it to lift himself into the air. He was behind the fence in an instant.

I waited impatiently for him to return. It was a struggle not to pace around but I managed it.

Some sounds reached me and I thought Czar was back but instead, two guards walked by, talking quietly. I turned quickly and pretended to be admiring a rose bush.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw them glance with mild interest at me.

" You alright, my lady?" One of them asked and I swallowed and turned, speaking loudly in hopes that Czar would hear and not try to re-enter the castle.

" Yes. I'm fine. I'm just walking around the gardens. So many beautiful flowers." I said and they nodded and walked away. I didn't breathe until they disappeared completely from view. " Czar!" I whispered heatedly, hoping he was near and could hear. This was taking too much time.

As I looked up. A large, black bag floated down from over the fence and Czar followed a few seconds later.

" That was too easy." He said with an elated grin. He was clearly enjoying using the crystal.

" We need to get it into the actual building. With all the guards and servants in there it won't be easy." I warned. Czar shrugged but then the grin faded from his face.

" Shit Deven, someone's coming this way."

With my heart thumping against my chest, I looked around discreetly for a place to hide the bag but there was no closed places. Without thinking twice, I stepped over the bag, my floor length dress covered it up perfectly but standing with my legs apart was slightly uncomfortable.

I managed to suppress my groan when Carrison came into view. He was alone thankfully.

" Deven," Carrison said with a pleasant smile directed at me and a wary glance at Czar. " You're out and about." He commented.

" Yes," I said, my voice breathless with worry. " I wanted to have a private conversation with my brother."

Carrison nodded but made no move to go away. Czar nodded at him.

" My lord." He said in greeting.

Carrison acknowledged his greetings with a nod and said to me.

" Rhydian was looking for you."

My heart sped up. Rhydian wanted to see me? Damn it! Carrison would want me to go with him and I couldn't dare move.

" Er ..." I began nervously.

" He wanted to see you before he left but you weren't in your room." Carrison said with a shrug.

" He left?" I asked, feeling glad. It showed in my tone and Carrison looked at me with surprise in his eyes. " I mean ...damn it, I wish I'd seen him before he left." I said in a more somber tone.

" Yes, he's left for the border. The guards there are going to get it." Carrison said shaking his head.

" Why didn't you follow?" I asked. Rhydian not being in the castle was a good thing for our plan. If Carrison left too it would be better.

" Me?" Carrison said with a nervous laugh. " I don't want to experience that. Today was bad enough."

I felt sorry for the border guards. They were in for a long, loud night.

Carrison glanced at Czar.

" You should be leaving soon. The castle gates are closed from six now." He informed.

" Can he spend the night?" I asked quickly and Carrison raised an eyebrow at me. His actions reminded me so much of Rhydian. They were so alike.

" Rhydian won't like that." He said his voice low.

I rolled my eyes.

" Not with me. With Milah. It's a surprise for her." And Czar nodded in conspiracy

" Um, yes. Today is our ...anniversary."

" If that is the case, then you can." Carrison said gruffly and I could tell he didn't want to let him though. " I'll see you later, Deven." He said and with a parting smile walked back in the direction he came in.

I waited a few seconds after he'd disappeared from our sight to speak. He did have good hearing. It wouldn't do for him to pick up our words.

I stepped over the bag.

" We need to get this into the palace."

That proved easier to do than I'd thought. When we were safely in my room, we decided it would be better if Sierra and Milah didn't know about his presence in the castle and so till night came, we stayed in my room.

The handmaid delivered the meal and we killed time by organizing all the provisions to make them easier to carry. Czar had done well. There were several blankets and clean simple clothes here as well as a large amount of non preshiable foods. There were some drugs to help fight infection and several bottles of water.

Deep into the night and it was time for us to go. To make it easier, I'd changed into a pair of men's trousers and boots that Czar had provided. That way, I wouldn't have the skirt of my dress holding me back.

With guards in front of my room door, it was impossible to go out that way. With the aid of the Ardenite, we got out through the room window, first lowering the bag of supplies and then ourselves.

" If we remembered an invisibility spell this would be so much easier." Czar whispered as we made our way towards the dungeons.

I shushed him. We had to be extra quiet since werewolves had good hearing. He was right though but an invisibility spell wasn't something we used on a daily basis and so we both couldn't remember the words.

I glanced out behind a wall. I could see the dungeon gates now. There was only one person standing guard. If memory served me right, he should be the only guard here. We wouldn't have to worry about more once we were inside.

I harnessed the crystal and directed it to the guards mind. With the aid of the crystal, I had telepathic abilities and with that, I could make the guard go to sleep.

I had several concerns. The charge on the crystal wasn't high for one. We had used it already and it wasn't a big crystal so it couldn't retain much charge. The fact that it hadn't been charged under a full moon didn't help but that was out of my control. Also, the guard was a Werewolf and I was worried that with the weak charge, there wouldn't be enough power to penetrate his mind.

These concerns affected my focus and I slipped out of the guards mind. I didn't dare calm myself with deep breaths. He could hear that. Instead, I cleared my mind of every worry and invaded the guard's mind, halting his thoughts and driving him to sleep.

He had no idea what was happening and was asleep before he knew it, his head rolled to the side.

I slipped out of his mind and we waited hoping that he was in deep sleep. We waited for maybe two minutes before he started to snore. It quickly got loud and we moved under the cover of his snores, our breaths held in hopes that he wouldn't wake.

Once inside the dungeon, we followed the surprisingly lit corridor down to where the cells were. Last I remembered, the dungeons were always in darkness. I was grateful for the light. The thought of being in here again had been difficult for me. It still was, but the lights helped greatly.

Another surprise was the tubs stationed around the cells. We hadn't been allowed to bath at all when I was in the cells so what were these tubs doing here.

" Unpack." Czar said, taking the crystal from me. " I'll open the cells."

I knelt down and began to unpack the supplies when I heard a loud click; the sound of several locks being opened at once.

Low murmurs of surprise rented the air as the prisoners moved closer to investigate the new development.

I looked up and my eyes widened in surprise. They were all dressed in clean simple clothes, their hair looked washed and no odour followed them. They looked well taken care of and weren't as skinny as I remembered.

" Another bath day?" Someone asked staring at us curiously.

" You two don't look like guards." Another commented.

I stood up slowly unable to hide the surprise from my face. The looked really well. Last I remembered, we were all starving and dirty.

" Meccah?" Czar called out scanning the crowd with desperate eyes for his brother.

I held my breath hoping someone would respond. In the time they've been in here, Czar's brother could have already died. It came as a huge relief when a dark skinned, blue eyed man came forward with wide, disbelieving eyes.

" C-czar?" He said, his voice shaky. " I thought you didn't make it." He said, his eyes filling with tears as he reunited with his brother.

I watched them hug, tears filling my eyes. I wished I had someone to reunite with. Someone from my coven if not a direct family member but as I scanned the faces of some of the people in the crowd, I came up disappointed.

" Where were you?" Meccah asked. " You look so ...well. You couldn't have been in a cell. I didn't see when we were released to bath."

" I wasn't in a cell. I was released more than a month ago." Czar informed and excited murmurs rented the air.

" So we will be released soon." A woman said. " Thank the goddess. He told us we would all be let out soon but that was weeks ago."

" He?" I asked and all eyes turned to me.

" The Alpha prince." Meccah said. " He had us and our cells cleaned and provided us with three meals a day and baths once a week with the promise that we would be released from this place."

Rhydian had done this? I looked at them again. They had some meat on their bones so clearly this had been going on for a long time. Why hadn't he at least told me.

" Why did he do this?" I asked, thinking out loud. I really wasn't expecting a response and so it came as a surprise when a deep familiar voice replied.

" Because Rhydian isn't as bad as you think, Deven." Carrison said and I turned quickly, dread filling my heart.

Carrison stood there in the corridor regarding us with an annoyed look in his brown eyes.

" I don't think Rhydian is a bad person." I said defensively, angry that he would say that. Czar and the others were rigid with the fear at being caught.

" Really, then why are you doing this Deven? Why did you get all these things to give the prisoners. Did you really think he would leave them in the same state that they've been all these years especially after mating with you?"

" What did you expect me to think?" I asked angrily.

" Deven," Czar said warningly. It was clear he wanted me to tread gently with Carrison so we would be on good terms with him and not get reported.

" Maybe you could have a little faith in him Deven. He is not his father. Don't expect him to act like his father."

I bit my lip to keep from replying. Of course I knew Rhydian was very different from Eryk Rivinlyte, but how was I supposed to know that Rhydian had raised the standard of living of the prisoners. All I wanted to do was help my people. It didn't mean I don't have faith in Rhydian.

" Ok." I said, backing down. " You're right." I said and Carrison rolled his eyes. I ignored it and asked quietly. " Are you going to tell him?"

" No. A lot is going on already." He narrowed his eyes at me. " But Deven if you ever try anything like this again ...you realize you should be imprisoned for breaking into the dungeons. You should -"

" I get it." I said cutting him short and he bristled. " Thank you." I said quietly. " Can we still give them the supplies?"

Carrison shrugged.

" If they want it."

Czar and I began to hand out the food and blankets to the prisoners. It was a good thing Rhydian had changed things here because the supplies we had couldn't reach everyone. There were so much more survivors than I'd expected.

They were very grateful for the hot meal like I'd thought and managed to spread it out so everyone had a bite.

As I shared the food, I glanced into one of the cells. It was very clean. There were sleeping bags on the floors as well as several books, playing cards and even a chamberpot. I felt immensely grateful to Rhydian. It wasn't much but it was a still a lot.

Still, the sight of the cell rattled me and I looked away.

" Did I hear the wolf say you mated with the Alpha prince?" A woman whispered to me. She looked young but had greying hair and a tired face, you wouldn't be able to tell her age.

I nodded and handed her some food. She looked at me curiously, ignoring the food.

" What does that mean for us?" She asked. " When you're Queen."

She'd just assumed that I would instantly be made Queen Luna because Rhydian and I were mates but it wasn't as easy as that. The Alpha chiefs for one were a problem I had tried not to think much of but with the Dowager Luna's help maybe ...

" Deven, you need to leave. I don't want any guards knowing about this." Carrison said.

I nodded and looked at as much of the prisoners for any familiar faces but I came up short. With a sigh, I gathered the bags and moved towards the corridor as the prisoners moved back into their cells. The hadn't even considered trying to escape. They couldn't anyway with no Ardenite and guards everywhere.

Carrison glared at Czar as he used the crystal to lock the cells again. I could tell he wasn't happy that we had a crystal.

" You will be escorted off the premises immediately." Carrison said to him taking my hand and dragging me out of the dungeon.

The guard wasn't snoring anymore. He must have been woken by Carrison and had a sheepish look on his face.

" Get him to the gates and escort him to his residence." Carrison instructed without a glance at him.

I wanted to get the crystal from Czar but I didn't dare ask because I didn't want to draw Carrison's attention to it. He could have it confiscated and I didn't know how to get another crystal.

Once we were in a quiet place, Carrison let go of my hand and glared at me.

I folded my hand stubbornly and returned his glare. I already take this glaring crap from Rhydian. I wasn't going to take it from his beta as well.

Carrison shook his head and said tiredly.

" I was really looking forward to getting some sleep this night."

" I didn't ask you to come snooping." I said. " How did you even know we had something going on?"