The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Since it was still very early in the morning, other members of the royal family and aristocrats were not out yet, so the maids and guards who were walking around paid no attention when Susan and Luciana passed them.

Once they walked into Susan's chamber and shut the door behind them, Luciana turned to Susan again and said, "I heard that Princess Amber has regained consciousness. Have you been able to see her? Or have you heard from her yet?"

Luciana asked, and Susan nodded, but she looked away from Luciana as she spoke

"I snuck into the dungeon last night. She can't remember anything that happened," Susan said with a sigh, and Luciana frowned.

"She can't remember anything?" She asked, and Susan gave her a nod.

Luciana looked at Susan closely. "Do you think she did it and is pretending not to remember?"

"If you believe she did it, you won't be sneaking around and risking the wrath of the Queen," Susan pointed out, and Luciana nodded in agreement.

That was true. And even now, it didn't make any sense that Princess Amber would do something like that and have no memory of her action. Princess Amber was a lot of things, but she wasn't a coward. Everyone in the royal family could attest to that.

"Don't you find it strange that she was unconscious for two days and now she can't even remember anything that happened?" Luciana asked thoughtfully, and Susan paused as she considered it.

"I do. That is why we need to find out what happened at once," Susan said, and Luciana nodded in agreement.

"Is there anyone else that believes that she is innocent?" Luciana asked, thinking that the more they were in number, the better for Princess Amber.

"It's just me, you, and Williams," Susan said, not mentioning Harvey's name since he had insisted that she shouldn't tell anyone of his involvement for the time being.

"I'm praying that Princess Tyra regains consciousness soon," Susan said, and Luciana looked at her like she was crazy.

"Even if she regains consciousness, do you think the Queen or Ivan is going to let her say the truth?" Luciana asked, and Susan narrowed her eyes.

"Are you suspicious of them too?" She asked in a whisper, and Luciana nodded.

"Why else was Prince Harold attacked at the same time?" She asked, and Susan nodded in agreement.

"You have to stick by Princess Tyra's bedside and make sure you are there when she wakes up. That way you can hear the truth from her before the Queen or Ivan tries to shut her up," Luciana said, and Susan nodded.

"I learned that Prince Harold is still unconscious, and that the maid who testified against Princess Amber is missing," Luciana said, and Susan gave her a nod, not bothering to ask her how she got to know these things when she was not even in the palace.

"Stay by Princess Tyra's bedside. I will return to my chamber and try to gather as much information as I can from there. I will send my maid to you if I find anything. Williams should try to get close to your father and the Queen and find out their plans," Luciana suggested, and Susan gave her a nod.

It sounded like a good plan. They were all strategically positioned to get information. "I will send for your maid if I learn anything."

~~~~~~~

Alicia felt like she was hallucinating. She could no longer tell the difference between what was real and what was fake. One moment, her consciousness was in a place; the next, it was somewhere else.

She wanted it to stop, but what could she possibly do? She was too weak to do anything. Maybe it was because she hadn't had anything to eat or drink for days. Or maybe this was something else entirely.

One moment she was dreaming about speaking with Harold, and the next, she was in an unfamiliar place in the same era. It looked like an inn.

She was listening in on a conversation going on in the next room. She didn't know how she got there or who the people were, but she could tell they were plotting something against someone. She hadn't been too subtle in her eavesdropping and accidentally dropped her bow.

"Someone is there," she heard the voice of a lady who seemed to be panicking.

That alerted all her senses, and she ran out of the room. The next thing she knew, some bulky men were chasing after her. This reminded her of a previous dream she had. She remembered...

She hadn't been able to make sense of what was happening when she suddenly found herself in the palace with Harold handing her a gourd of water.

"You should not always run." He advised.

She accepted the water and took several gulps from it, some slipping out and ending up on her chin and the side of her mouth.

Harold looked at her with his lips pressed together and said, "I can easily understand why Harvey was quick to believe that you are not Amber."

Wait... what did that mean?

She was about to demand an explanation when she found herself in a different place entirely.

This time she was drowning, and she could feel it. She was not in Amber's body. She was in her real body in her own era. This was the night she tried to end her life on that bridge.

Her eyes widened when it dawned on her where she was, and she tried to swim to the top, but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not do it and she kept sinking down.

"I can't die like this," she heard a familiar voice in her head. It wasn't hers.

"My lineage cannot end this way. I have a descendant. So I didn't end like this." The voice said with confidence.

It was Amber's voice.

"You have to save me, Alicia. Please save me." She said it again before saying some things that didn't make sense. Something that sounded like poetry, but wasn't. Was that... a spell?

"Milady!"

Alicia was shaken awake by a scared Paulina, who had tears in her eyes.

Alicia gasped for air as soon as she found herself back in reality. The drowning had felt real just now. She opened her eyes and groaned in pain, so she squinted to look at Paulina.

Seeing how worried the girl looked, she wanted to smile and assure her that she was okay, but she couldn't fake it. She was not. At this point, she was probably going to die before she was released from this place.

Were those real dreams or mere hallucinations? She wondered until she noticed how Paulina fearfully looked at the door. Alicia followed her eyes to find four bulky men standing outside the open dungeon, looking down at them condescendingly.

"Bring them." The one at the back ordered and two approached the girls, each manhandling them as they dragged them up and tied their wrists with a rope before pulling them out of the dungeon.

It was difficult to stand, much less walk, but Alicia had to do it, and she gave Paulina an encouraging look.

"Bear with it. We are not going to return here." She tried to sound confident, but she was far from that. Even the way her voice sounded didn't help motivate Paulina, but she nodded, deciding to believe her. Alicia was capable of making impossible things possible.