Fuchsia's eyes widened with shock. She gasped and closed the door. Her hands flew to her mouth as her mind became numb. "This can't be…" she murmured.
"Yes, Sammy!" Bernice shouted from inside. "Ride me! Ride me hard!"
"Hu! Hu!" Samuel. "Yes, yes!"
Fuchsia could hear the sounds of their skin slapping against each other. It was so disgusting that she ran to the nearby bathroom and vomited. Perturbed mentally and physically, she staggered as she walked out. All her plans, all her dreams— that magic castle whose bricks she had been laying brick by brick, shattered by the hideous sounds that came from Bernice's room. She wasn't sure whether this was all real or not. Her eyes welled with more tears and they flowed out. She whimpered, "Bernice… I had my hopes on you…" When she walked out to the main hall, she saw Samus standing over there with his arms crossed across his chest. His face was red with anger.
Olivia and Kaizan were also standing over there. She looked at them with wild eyes. "I— I am having a headache," she muttered. "I am going to my bedroom."
"Stay where you are!" Samus roared, his command rolling off on her like shackles. Fuchsia froze in her place. He took a step closer to her as she stayed there fixed to her place. He came to her and grabbed her by her upper arm. He dragged her to the sofa and pushed her hard to sit on it.
She sat there, stunned as hell. He had never treated her so badly. "What are you doing?" she cried.
Samus was so full of rage that he slapped her again. "You bloody whore!"
"Samus?"
"Don't you Samus me!" he roared, his cheeks mottling with anger.
Fuchsia shrank in her place as she looked at him like a mouse.
Samus took the blade from Olivia's hand and asked, "Where did you get this from?"
Fuchsia's lips quivered. Her mind was in complete tumult. Inside, Samuel was still banging her daughter and out here she was being questioned about a knife that she had brought from Murtagh. If she said that this was from Murtagh, she was sure that she would rot in the royal dungeons for the rest of her life. If she said that the knife belonged to her, then Samus would give her a harsh punishment and leave her. But either way, it would cost her relationship with Kaia, and she could kiss her dream goodbye. Fuchsia chose the lesser evil. "It is from my kitchen," she replied as her gaze darted from Samus to Kaizan.
"And how did you get hold of this poison?" Samus interrogated.
"I— I don't know if that is poison. I picked it up from the kitchen, that's all I know!"
Not convinced, Kaizan asked, "You didn't know that Samuel was Bernice's mate, then why did you have that knife in your hands? Did you want to kill Olivia?"
"What? No! Never!" Fuchsia countered. If they came to know that she wanted to kill Olivia, Kaizan would surely kill her right now and no one would even question his judgment.
"I don't believe you!" Kaizan growled as he held the knife in his hand, its blade pointing towards her.
"Don't believe it!" Fuchsia said like a pathetic liar. "I did want Bernice to take her place, but I had no intentions of killing her."
"Then you wanted to kill Samuel?"
"No, he wanted to kill Olivia."
"And why would he want to kill Olivia?" Kaizan's fury was rolling out of his body. His muscles bulged in anger, his aura leaking out of him.
"How would I know?" she faked. "You should ask him."
"Samuel had come to your house for the first time, and yet he decides to kill Olivia, and then he goes all mate on Bernice and they bloody end up having sex in her room! And you fucking tell me that Samuel wants to kill Olivia?" Kaizan roared.
"Yes," Fuchsia squeaked, her focus on Kaizan's demeanor.
"Why hasn't Samuel run away and why didn't he attempt to kill her then?"
"Don't you fucking ask me!" Fuchsia shouted back.
This time Kaizan couldn't stop himself and he grabbed her neck. "Then why did you say in the beginning that Samuel wanted to kill you?"
Fuchsia's breath choked as her eyes widened. She recalled that she had told Samus that Samuel wanted to kill her. All of a sudden how did Olivia come in between and how did she get entangled in it? She held her wrist as she struggled to get out, choking and coughing. She was trapped in her own web of lies.
"To hide a lie, one has to weave another hundred lies, you dimwit!" Kaizan growled as he continued to squeeze her neck.
"Leave me," she sputtered.
"Not a chance!" Kaizan growled. Suddenly he left her and roared, "Guards!"
His guards who were standing on the outside came rushing in. One of them was a Mozia.
"Seize her and take her to the dungeons of Vaarin's mansion. Chain her to the wall!" Kaizan ordered.
"What? No!" Fuchsia screamed. "Are you mad?" She looked at her husband. "Say something, you moron!"
Samus narrowed his eyes and said, "Take her to the deepest and darkest dungeon and don't you dare to give her food. Give her a bucket though which she would use for daily activities!"
"No, no!" Fuchsia rasped. The guards started walking towards her. She got up and started to run, when she found that she couldn't lift her feet. The Mozia had flung his hand forward to cast magic on her. "Free me!" she screamed. "Free me!" She extended her hands to hold Samus. "I am your wife. Don't you have even a modicum of respect for me? See how Kaizan treats his wife. See how Vaarin treats Kaia. I knew that you were always a filth. Now prove that you are better than them and don't let them take me!"
Samus just stared at Fuchsia. The woman was beyond redemption. She had crossed all the limits of sanity. "There is no coming back, Fuchsia," he said in a heartbreaking voice. "Enjoy your time in the dungeons." Saying that, he walked away from there with a heavy heart. He had thought that he would marry his daughter to Captain Samuel and then ask Kaizan to take him to the capital, but the evening ended on such a terrible note that he didn't know if he would be able to face Vaarin ever.
"You can't leave me in this lurch!" Fuchsia shouted behind him as she resisted the guards. "You moron, you dimwit, you—" she found her mouth sealed.
The wizard rubbed his ear with disgust. "She is very chatty!" He snapped his hands after holding her upper arm and Fuchsia found herself in the mansion of Vaarin along with everyone else except Kaizan.
Kaizan was sure that Bernice was involved in this. After Samus went to his room, Kaizan couldn't stop feeling bad for him. He took a deep breath and then walked to retrieve Bernice to throw her in the dungeons with her mother. His anger was through the roof. However, when he reached there and opened the door, he saw a wolf jumping out of the window. It leapt out and howled as it landed on the ground. Another wolf joined him and then the two loped towards the forests.. Bernice was gone… forever.
