Look out for the <>!!!

Gray POV

I paced around the same barred cage my father was in earlier. Worry for not only my sake but also for Stella's filled me. I thought about how Else brought me here. There was such disappointment and frustration in her eyes. It was as if I disappointed her beyond anything I could fix. But what she didn't understand was that she disappointed me.

She was supposed to be on my side, like she always reminded me, but she was going to let Stella die. As I held Stella's hand in her room, I started to believe that maybe she was never on my side. She was only on the Royal Families side and would do anything for them, not me. They would come first, always, never me.

What hurt the most is that after all we went through and all the years we spent together, she didn't even allow for me to watch Stella improve. As soon as I opened that door, she let those guards to drag me away here.

Since that moment, I had been beaten, questioned, and heard whispers that the castle was on high alert for my father. However, there was no sight of him anywhere nearby. The Royal Family had already come to question me about him. But they quickly realized that I knew nothing of my father and left me here in this cage.

Hours had passed with no sight of anyone else, and I worried that maybe they were waiting for the right moment to carry out my punishment. I knew the law for treason. They would kill me, but I thought it would be at least a little quicker than this.

Frustration and worry filled me like a pot on the stove. The more time went by, the more I felt like I was bubbling over with emotions. Before they drug me off to murder me in the woods, I wanted to know how Stella was and what else was going on those floor boards above me. But there was silence. Not even Else had come to see me since they locked me in here. I wasn't sure she would see me either. I was a traitor, so she would distance herself from me. That would be the safest thing to do if she wanted to be close to the royal family still.

I hit the cage in anger. Almost instantly, my hand received a burn mark from the spell I just hit. The burning feeling sank through my skin, forcing me to shake out my hand to ease the pain.

<>

"I wouldn't touch the cage again. The dean of the school cast that spell herself," Else's voice rang out.

With a nodded, I shook out my hand. I met her eyes as she walked into the room with such confidence and once again there was disappointment as she looked at me. It was like this was all my fault, but she left me with no choice. She was the one that forced my actions. If she told me about the cure from the beginning, maybe things would have been different.

I frowned at the guard behind her and wondered if it was her idea for the guard or if it was the Royal Family. From now until my death, we would never be able to have a private conversation. They really thought I was with him, didn't they? Finally, everyone got what they wanted, me as the criminal, just as bad as my father himself.

Else shoved her hands into her dress pants as she took slow, long strides towards the cage, closing the gap between us. "The Royal Family told me they wouldn't lay a hand on you just yet," she frowned as she looked at me better.

I rubbed the side of my face that was bruised and bloodied. This was just a tiny bit of the visible damaged they did while they questioned me. They were so confident that I was working with my father, that was why I let him out. With every punch, they convinced themselves that I was the bad guy, but they quickly realized that Stella was the only reason I let him out. I didn't care about him or them for that matter. All I cared about was Stella, it had always been her.

The words of Else rang clear in my mind as they locked me in here. She didn't want anyone to touch me, but of course the Royal Family wouldn't listen to her because they were higher than all. When did they ever listen to anyone? Resentment towards them washed over me like a breaking dam. I hated them. I hated everything about them and the world they ruled. It was because of their damn rules, and I was in this mess to begin with. They were afraid of me turning into my father, but I risked everything to save someone. That should show I was nothing like my father.

I could have asked her a million questions about a million different topics, but the only thing that mattered to me was Stella. I just hoped she was ok, and I knew she would tell me the truth. "How is she?"

"She's cured. The poison is almost completely out of her system. She is going to have a scar, though. Her shoulder will never look the same."

I gave a sigh of relief as I took a seat in the only chair in the cage. With that single piece of information, it made it all worth it for me. I had no regrets about letting my father out. My only regret was that I didn't do it sooner, so she didn't have to suffer as long as she did. The pain may have ended for her, but she would always remember the poison, like a tattoo in her mind, it would be stuck there forever.

For her, what I did... everyone would think I was with him. There would be no redemption for me here in Churchwell, I was sure of it. They didn't understand that I wasn't with him, however, he recently spoke more truth to me than anyone else in my life. He may have been a killer, but I don't think he was a liar. On the other hand, Else was both, a liar and a killer. She would have had Stella's blood and her hands and she would have been fine with it. Else knew my father was a cure, and she tried to keep me away from him. She wanted to see Stella die. Stella didn't trust her and she was right, I shouldn't have ever trusted Else either.

"Stella told me she didn't trust you and I should have listened from the start. You knew all this time."

Her face twisted as if the comment ripped into her. "Enough," Else said as she rose her hand, silencing me. She looked at the guard behind her and nodded, as if telling him she had it from here.

Silently, the guard left without another word, leaving us to have a simple conversation.

Else waited for a second, then walked closer to the cage. In a hushed voice, she said, "You know what I was doing for you? I was trying to find a cure. I knew your father was a cure, but I was trying to find something else."

I had a hard time believing her when she had nothing to back her up. Else was a liar, she always had been, so she would have to show more proof for me to believe her. "I don't believe you. You ran away, so you didn't have to watch her suffer."

She ran her hand through her hair in frustration, as if I didn't get some key information. "You don't understand. I went to the Royal Family to ask for the cure, which they also have, and they told me no. They wanted her to die because she was a human. They don't care about them and she wasn't supposed to be here, so death was the best option for them. I didn't want to accept it so I tried to find another option for you, for her."

Even if she was telling the truth, she did nothing to actually help. It was me that stayed by Stella's side as the poison wrecked her system. It was me that found the answers and used them. "Clearly you were failing because she was dying. You ran off and she had little time left. I was the one that saved her. I took the resources granted to me and used them."

"But Gray, do you understand what you did? You killed a royal guard and let out the worst criminal Churchwell has known."

The thing was that I wasn't sure that statement was true anymore. Maybe my father wasn't the worst the world had known. I knew nothing about Churchwell history to know anything different. The Royal family wanted us to believe he was the evilest man alive, but maybe the Royal Family was just as evil, like a wolf in sheep's clothing. "And do I feel guilty about it? No. I just feel guilty that the guard died. I didn't mean for that to happen and that is the only regret I have."

Else threw her hands up in anger. "Do you hear what you are saying? Gray, have you lost your mind? They will kill you, you know that, right?"

I only guessed as much. That was what happened with all crimes against the throne. "I know."

"And even with that information, you still went through with it?"

And I would do it again. Stella was worth it, she always would be. I on the other hand, belonged nowhere, not here, not in Jackson. I was never wanted. I was replaceable, as if always meant to die. "She was worth it."

She sighed as she looked around the room. Her body language changed into something softer as she realized I did this out of love, nothing more. "I can't get you out of this."

I nodded. "I wasn't asking for that." I made my grave, and it only was fair that I lay in it.

She sniffled as she wiped her nose as her confident composure faded. I had never seen Else get worked up, but as she stood in front of me, her marble composition crumbled just a little. It was as if she didn't want this for me, as if she cared. Maybe she did, but she never showed that side of her. However she cared about the Royal family more. I would come in second if she would have to choose. "I'll see what I can do to make the next steps quick for you. I don't want to see you suffer."

"Thank you."

"And I'll make sure that Stella gets back home safely. I'll do that tonight."

Those two things were the best things she could do for me. "Thank you."

She nodded with a sigh, looking defeated. "I know it was hard to see, but I was always on your side. Just sometimes rules made it hard for me to do what was best for you." And with that, she left the room, saying nothing more than that.

I let out a heavy sigh and looked up at the ceiling, realizing that I didn't have much more time left. Else saw that and she was preparing me for my fate. That conversation was her goodbye, she wouldn't be around for my death. She didn't want that to haunt her thoughts. I couldn't blame her, though. I just hoped she really did live up to her word, and it was quick.