Lyne laid there half dead and still gasping for breath. She clamped about, hitting chairs and tables, trying to ask for help but it's either the cooks had been chased outside or they were just too terrified to help someone the terror queen has punished. 

She held her neck and soon, her body became limpid. Except for the little breath she got from tiny gasps that almost looked like hiccups, Lyne was near death. 

She wondered where Zeidan was and she wondered if anyone really cared about her. She closed her eyes and she wondered if this was it. 

The end. 

She would just disappear from the face of the earth and what does she get in return? Bunch of flowers from Zeidan and a coronation for Luana days after her burial. This can't be the end. She clenched her fist as she felt pain at the back of her throat.

Her lips were driving up and her eyes were turning purple. 

On the brink of giving in to death, she heard an echoed voice shouting her name from a distance.

 "Lynnnne!" Her head thumped with each step the person took towards her. 

She felt someone lift her and place her head on her chest.

"Lyne." Her voice was shaky. That familiar warm voice.

"Lyne are you okay." She was sniffling as if crying.

Too weak to answer, she just stared into the blurry space and the last thing she said before blacking out was her name.

"Chloe?"

"Lynnnne!!!"

Her fingers were turning purple and her skin whiter as Chloe carried her through the corridor, her legs carrying her as fast as she could.

She met Wikh on the way and as he was worried like her, he followed.

"Where the hell have you been, Wikh?" She asked him and he scratched his head..

"I went out to get some things. What happened to her?"

"What happened to her?!" Chloe paused in her tracks to face the tall lanky man before her. 

"I hope you ask the King the same thing when he gets back. At least, what have we got? An incompetent King's aide who couldn't detect when his bride was poisoned." She spat and continued her journey to the royal infirmary while Wikh stood back.

"Poisoned?" 

-------

Zeidan drove into his building at exactly 4:00 pm and alighted from the vehicle, he ignored his guards' salutation and made straight for the palace.

"Where the hell is that man?!" He thundered, his face red from rage and as he turned into the corridor, he saw him.

Tall and lanky with his black coat and hat. 

Funny. How foolish of him not to have bothered to destroy evidence from the night before. Or did he think he wouldn't notice or suspect him? Well, today is the day.

"Oh, you are back, my Lord. Your highness, a lot has been going on..."

"And a lot will go on now." He retorted.

"Guards, arrest him." His jaws were clenched and he snorted, seeing the man's surprised reaction. What an actor!

"Your highness...the Queen..."

"Yes, she found out before you could notice. It was a pity I didn't get to save my loved one. But whatever it is you've got to say, the dungeon is open enough for all kinds of talks." Zeidan spread his hands and resigned back as he ordered.

"Take him to the torture room."

"What? Your highness, I don't understand. I've been working for your father for years and never has he accused me of any atrocity..."

"He wouldn't because, for all I know, he wasn't even aware that his most trusted subject was on drugs...medications."

Wikh's face turned pale and his breathing turned rapid as he looked down like a kid whose mischief has just been discovered.

"How did you find out?" He asked, his tone dark.

"The same way you tried covering it up. Thanks to the people I have with me, they opened my eyes to the truth." 

"This isn't the right way to go about this, your highness. Arresting me won't change a thing."

Zeidan was taken aback by his outburst but within him, he told himself he had been right.

"What do you mean?" 

"One of your loved ones. Your most loved one is next."

With fury, he moved toward him and punched him hard in the face, causing him to go on his knees coughing. Looking up at the King, his confident face now had blood running down his nose.

"What have you done to her?" 

"He hasn't done anything to me, sweetheart," Luana answered behind him and moved to embrace him but he knew in his head and he was sure Wikh knew Luana isn't the one he was talking about.

"Right." He answered curtly before asking.

"Where's Lyne?" 

His hastened voice sounded like he had just announced the death of someone important as Luana's countenance fell.

"Why must you always care about her? She has nothing to offer in the affairs of this city. Just let her be. I'm sure she's in  her schoolgirl gown catching butterflies right now."

"She isn't an imbecile. She just possesses orderliness and is very calculative. Learn to commend, Luana, not complain always."

"I hope she learns." Another voice called and he saw Chloe come out with puffed eyes and a shaky voice.

"Especially as she has made it her mission to kill whoever deserves commendations."

There was silence everywhere and the tension around could be sliced with a knife.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"Well, nothing." She replied as she looked at Luana's face.

"It's just that, Lyne has been poisoned."

He almost fainted as he heard that. He wanted to punch this woman in the face so hard. 

"How did this happen? Weren't you supposed to be there? You..." He was stopped by Wikh's laughter.

"You bastard!" He yelled as he moved to punch him in the face and chest, leaving the older man covered in blood. 

Luana froze as she saw his reaction. She squeezed her fingers as she was sweating inside out already.

"Luana!" She jumped as he called her name.

"I need you to stay with her and cater to all her needs. I'll go deal with Wikh's case right now." He moved away heading to the courtroom, his guards dragging Wikh behind him.

Chloe was left with the terror Queen who turned to her with a dangerous look.

"What was that you just did?"

"What was what?" The woman spoke back, her built stature already towering over Luana's who was taken aback.

"Now you're talking back. The audacity..."

"Your ego, drop it. According to the rules, you have no right to be involved in the affairs of the city unless you have been made Queen. And from the way I see it," Chloe moved closer until there was barely a gap between them. "You can never be made Queen." She said and then walked away.

Luana arched a brow as she strode to the infirmary and stared at Lyne's weak body on the bed, and IV passed to her body.

"She may not last a week. You won't even be alive to compete with me." She chuckled to herself before turning away.

"You are this heartless, Luana?" Lyne's weak voice called out to her and as she turned, she could see her struggling to sit up.

"So much for competing to be the Queen."

"Do you know what it's like to have this city at the tip of your fingers? Do you?" She asked as she sat at the edge of the bed, clicking her tongue.

"Definitely not. You were even too close to being a slave in your own Father's house."

"At least, I got out. Whether I'm a Queen or not, I'll have a life...my own life to live here. But you? You'll keep being a pawn in the King's hands."

Luana's shoulders dropped at this and her face crumpled slightly.

"Normally, I would sit back and watch you all bully me just like in the good old days but not anymore. I'll fight back this time."

Liana laughed so loud that her voice filled the room. She sniffled after having a good laugh.

"We'll see about that...in a week."

With that, she stood up and left the room, leaving Lyne to her thoughts.

Whoever she thought she was, she is nothing compared to her. 

Lyne managed to get down from the bed and surprisingly, she felt good. Her legs were strong and the dizziness was gone already. She gasped and tried jumping and doing other heinous tasks to confirm.

As soon as she was sure she was fine, she moved to run out but she bumped into a busty man with a cap that had a red cross on the front.

"Dr. Steve?"