Viscount Calder walked into the throne hall the next day and nearly stumbled when the beast suddenly roared from inside its cage, the sound echoing violently through the hall as though it wanted to tear through the iron bars and leap at someone.

So the rumours were true after all. The king truly had brought back a beast, and seeing it with his own eyes almost made Calder lose control of his bladder from fear alone.

Alaric’s gaze locked onto him immediately, dark and simmering with anger because Rosalind still had not been found, even after word had been spread across the kingdom the previous day.

"Long live Your Majesty," Calder said quickly, bowing his head deeply.

Alaric studied him with creased brows before speaking. "Rise, Calder."

Calder straightened at once.

"Are you aware that your daughter has ran away?" Alaric demanded sharply. "were you involved in it as well, considering she is your daughter?"

At this point, the king’s patience was already wearing thin. The fact that Rosalind had managed to escape him after he had made it clear that she never could was driving him into a dangerous rage.

Calder immediately dropped to his knees. "I would never betray you, Your Majesty. I swear it with my life," he said frantically, though Alaric’s expression only darkened further.

"I came to report her myself, Your Majesty," Calder continued quickly.

That caught Alaric’s attention slightly.

"My wife is gone, and so is my money. I believe this is tied to my foolish daughter Rosalind. I do not know how she managed to do this, but Your Majesty, you must find her and punish her... and please save my wife from her as well." His words rushed out desperately.

Alaric’s eyes sharpened. "Not only did she run away, she kidnapped someone and stole from you as well?"

Calder lowered his head again. "That is right, Your Majesty. She must be punished."

Alaric’s grip tightened around the arm of his throne. "You have failed, Calder," he said coldly.

Calder’s head snapped upward in shock.

"For raising such a disgraceful brat, I will have you punished first."

The color drained from Calder’s face immediately. This was not how this was supposed to go. He had only come to report Rosalind and make sure she was hunted down. He had never expected the king’s anger to turn toward him instead.

"Seize him," Alaric thundered.

The guards moved without hesitation and grabbed Calder by both shoulders.

"Your Majesty... what are you doing? Your Majesty, this is not right!" Calder cried out in panic.

Alaric’s gaze turned deadly. "Do you dare question me, Calder?"

The man froze instantly.

"I see you are growing bolder," Alaric continued coldly. "Perhaps I should remind you of your place."

Calder swallowed hard and immediately shut his mouth. The beast beside the throne gave another low growl, and that alone was enough to make him realize silence was safer than another word.

The guards dragged him away from the throne hall shortly after and locked him inside the dungeon.

****

The mistresses were all being held in the same section of the dungeon. There was barely any light except for a small window high above, and the entire place smelled damp and rotten. Water stained the walls, the floor was wet beneath their feet, and rats occasionally darted through the corners.

For Sabine especially, the conditions felt unbearable. "I knew she was bad news the moment she stepped into this palace," Sabine gritted out for what felt like the tenth time that morning. "Imagine being punished for something I know absolutely nothing about."

"I just hope they find her already so we can leave this place," Claire muttered under her breath. She hated the dungeon almost as much as Sabine did, especially with the rats running around. Spending even one night there had already tested her patience.

Thalia and Verity remained quieter than the others while Sabine and Claire continued complaining loudly.

"Where do you think she could be?" Thalia finally asked Verity softly.

Verity shook her head. "I don’t know."

Thalia sighed quietly. "She’ll be in serious trouble if they ever catch her. I honestly hope they don’t."

Unfortunately, Sabine overheard that. "You what?" she snapped loudly as she marched over to stand directly in front of Thalia. "You hope she isn’t caught? So the rest of us should rot down here forever because of that wench?"

"I wasn’t speaking to you," Thalia replied, turning her face away.

"But it concerns me," Sabine shot back immediately, "because it is Rosalind who brought all of this upon us."

"It was the king who threw us into the dungeon," Verity said calmly, reminding her. Alaric could have easily left them confined to their chambers instead, but he had deliberately chosen to punish all of them.

Sabine crossed her arms stubbornly. "And why did he do that? Because Rosalind ran away."

Verity simply sighed and decided not to argue further.

Just then, one of the guards approached the cell and began unlocking it.

Sabine immediately rushed forward. "Are we finally being released?" she asked eagerly.

"No, my lady," the guard answered, crushing her hope instantly.

Then his gaze shifted toward Verity. "Lady Verity has been summoned by His Majesty."

Verity and Thalia exchanged uneasy looks, both wondering what exactly the king could want from her, but Verity slowly gathered herself anyway. The guard waited by the opened cell, and once she stepped out, it was locked again behind her before she was escorted away from the dungeon.

Her heart pounded the entire way to the throne hall.

As she walked through the palace corridors, her brows remained tightly creased while she tried to think of what Alaric could possibly want from her. She could only hope she would not somehow end up in trouble. When the king was in a state like this, there was almost no reasoning with him, and Verity had no desire to become the next meal for his beast.

"Your Majesty, she is here," the guard announced upon entering the throne hall.

Alaric lazily lifted his gaze toward her.

His lips slowly curled into an unsettling smile before he tilted his head slightly. "Do you recognize him?" he asked.

His eyes shifted toward a particular guard who was currently being restrained by two others. The man’s face was pale, and sweat ran visibly down the side of his neck.

Verity immediately recognized him.

It was the same guard she had encountered that night when Rosalind and Rowan were sneaking out. She had never imagined that such a brief exchange could now drag her into something like this.

"I suppose you do recognize him," Alaric said calmly.

Verity swallowed quietly.

"Would you care to explain what you were doing that night when he saw you?" Alaric continued. "Who exactly did you meet, and what were you discussing?"

Verity took a careful breath before answering. " I could not sleep, so I went to the library to read for a while. When I was returning, I came across him, and he escorted me back to my chamber. I did not meet anyone else, and I spoke to no one else."

"Really?" Alaric’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Because he claims you met someone that night, and the two of you had a conversation."

Verity turned toward the frightened guard. "But it was only me," she said firmly. "You never saw Rosalind there."

"Rosalind was there that night," Alaric stated coldly, immediately shutting down her denial. "Which means you knew something and chose not to speak."

His gaze hardened further. "Have you not learned enough about what I am capable of?"

Verity’s heartbeat quickened inside her ches as she looked back at him, realizing he had already cornered her long before she entered the throne hall.

"Since you were present on the night Rosalind disappeared," Alaric continued, "and considering how close the two of you are, she must have told you something."

His voice sharpened. "Where is she hiding?"

"I do not know," Verity answered truthfully. That night, there had only been confusion and questions. Rosalind had not revealed any plans to her.

"You do not know..." Alaric repeated slowly. "Or you refuse to speak?"

Verity remained silent.

Alaric leaned back against his throne. "Either way, it makes no difference." His expression remained calm, which made him even more terrifying. "You shall be executed"

Verity stared at him in complete shock. "What?"

"You have three days," Alaric said coldly. "If Rosalind has not returned by then, I will have you executed for lying to the crown and aiding a traitor."

The words crashed heavily into the throne hall, leaving Verity frozen where she stood.