DUSK.
His eyes were wide open, and his throat was torn out. He had the same terrified look, and his mouth was open.
I let out a loud, terrifying scream and ran away from the garden in fear.
I stopped when I spotted some guards on standby.
"There's... There's.... On the tree, there's... There's a body on the tree." I said, shaking, and they looked at the drops on my face and immediately ran into the garden.
I followed them but stopped far away from the tree.
They looked every bit as horrified as I had been, then one of them climbed the tree and pushed the body down; it landed with a large thud on the ground.
"Call the Alpha's attention to this." One of them said, and a guard ran quickly out of the garden. It didn't take two minutes before Lucius arrived at the garden, staring at the body speechlessly.
"How did you find it?" He asked, and they all looked at me.
"She called our attention to it, Alpha." They said, Lucius came to me.
"How did you see it?" He asked gently, and I took a deep breath.
"I thought that was paint." I said, pointing to the red liquid on the glass. "On getting there, I discovered it wasn't paint, and then a drop fell on my hand. I looked up, and another fell, and I saw the body." I was still shaking from the shock.
"But... he's still in the dungeon." He said to himself, and I bit my lip.
"For now. Let's go in." He said to me, then turned to the guards. "Bring the body in." He said, and the woman nodded and carried the body.
The body was taken to the Royal Physicians' Quarters, where the other one lay.
As the physicians checked the body and cleaned it up, I couldn't help but notice Lucius was in deep thought. On three different occasions, the physicians called his name three times before he answered. His attention was divided.
Just then, Athena came in. It seemed Ethan had called for her.
"Lucius, you need some rest." He said, but Lucius shook his head.
"There's too much on my mind. I can't rest." He said, but Ethan went to him.
"Only when you rest can you think better. You're not alone in this; you need to be in a calm state. You need to be in the right state of mind for this. We'll think about this; you need to rest." Ethan said, and Athena went to him.
"It's okay. All this shall pass; for now, you need to rest. There's too much on your mind." She said in a voice so sweet that I wished she'd speak to me in that voice.
Lucius stood up from his seat and, after taking a deep breath, left the room.
I looked at Ethan, and he nodded as a way of telling me I could also have my rest.
I gave him a little smile and left.
~
Later in the afternoon, Lucius looked a bit better; it seemed like some sleep had helped him a bit.
"Let's see Gareth first." He said to Ethan, who I had stuck with.
"How did it feel when you saw that body?" Athena asked as we went to the dungeon.
"I was so scared, I thought my soul might jump out of my body as I ran." I said, and she looked at me sadly.
"Did you scream?" She asked, and I nodded.
"It was horrifying. If it were you, what do you think you'd have done?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"I really don't know. I just wouldn't be in the right state of mind. I'd be so freaked out." She said with a facial expression that said she was imagining it.
"This is really bad. Two dead men. This is getting too serious." I said as we walked into the dungeon.
"What do you think is happening? Do you think there are people against him?" She asked in a whisper.
"Who?" I asked, lowering my voice to match hers
.
"The Alpha." She said, and I looked at Lucius.
"I really don't know." I said. "I just hope the real culprit is caught." I said sincerely.
"Where's Gareth?" I saw Lucius ask in alarm.
"He's not here." Marcus said, looking at the cell they had kept Gareth in.
"It means he found a way to escape." I said, and right then, there was a loud roar filling the dungeon.
We all followed the sound of the roar and saw Gareth at the extreme end of the large dungeon, suspended by his wrists.
The prison guards had been torturing him.
"Has he been here the whole time?" Lucius asked, and they nodded.
"We haven't left him out of our sight for once." They replied, and I looked at Gareth, who was in really bad shape.
"Did he confess?" Lucius asked, and the prison guards shook their heads.
"He keeps saying the same thing." One of them said.
"Bring him down." Lucius said, and the prison guards started to untie him.
After that, they dressed him since they had undressed him, leaving only his underwear.
After that, he was made to sit opposite Lucius.
I and Athena left the men to tackle Gareth while we stayed in between the cells.
"I've been down here before, and it's such a bad memory." I said, looking at the very cell I had been locked in.
"Down here? For what?" Athena asked.
"I stood up to the previous Alpha. These prison guards are quite horrible. They've been avoiding direct eye contact with me because they knew how they made life harder for me." I said, and she had a concerned look on her face.
"It's dark, lonely, and it smells horrible. I can only imagine how it must have been for you. How was the food?" She asked, and I crossed my fingers, which made her laugh.
Just then, Lucius came out angrily with his men behind him.
"He's not alone. They're two." He said, and my eyes went wide as I repeated his last word.
"Two?"
It meant one was still roaming freely around the castle.