"Poisoned? With what?" Lyne asked, now getting shaken. Who could have done this?

"I really can't say but if my guess is correct, she was poisoned with a scorpion sting. That liquid is as poisonous as its name." Rydel explained and she let out a small gasp, covering her mouth with her palm. 

"Oh my god! How did this happen?" 

"Hey, beautiful," Rydel called at Aurora who looked at him weakly. He took her small hand in his, probably checking her temperature. He grabbed his bag, searched it for a while, and brought out different objects. 

"Um, I think we should leave you to do your thing, Dr. Rydel," Zeidan spoke up, placing his hand around her waist. "We'll just be outside and I'll make sure whoever does this is brought to book."

"You don't have to look further. The criminal is here." They both looked up at the entrance to see Amber pushing inside a young maid. 

The maid looked like one who is still a teenager but she is a vampire and in this city, guessing one's age is a bad idea. Amber is a very good example. Over a hundred years old, her skin is as clear as milk and her hair had no traces of grey. The maid had short dark hair and slightly looked like Flora, the Chief of the Kitchen maids. 

"What has she done?" Zeidan asked, still standing behind her.

"I just caught her standing behind the wall and trying to listen to our conversation. I suspect she may have something to do with Aurora's ailment and I thought I should bring her to you." 

Amber grabbed the maid's hair, urging her to speak.

"Speak up!"

"It wasn't me." She said, voice shaking and her face red with tears. "I was sent to do it."

"To do what?" Lyne asked, listening attentively to her confession.

"To poison the Princess."

Her heart skipped and blood rushed through her veins. Her eyes changed immediately and her claws were out as she moved to attack her but Zeidan was fast enough to hold her waist.

"You foolish bitch!" She cried. "I'll see to it that I tear you apart!"

"Calm down, Lyne." Zeidan urged but she wasn't going to calm down. 

Her daughter was dying and all he could say was to calm down.

"What do you mean by calm down? Didn't you hear what she said?"

"What if we didn't get to know she was the one?"

"It will leave us wishing we knew and we can do whatever with her. But right now, the murderer is here and I won't hesitate to chop her head off."

"We won't be able to know who sent her."

"Well, then let's ask." She turned to face the girl again.

"What's your name?"

"Hailey Cursor."

"She's Flora's twin sister. They are fraternal." Amber added and she nodded.

"I figured."

"Who sent you?" It was Zeidan who asked this time around.

"She said if I told anyone, I'd be dead. And I'm sure she's going to do that. She threatened to kill my sister too." Hailey said but she wasn't going to have any of that.

"And what makes you think I care? You just attempted to murder my daughter. Tell me why I shouldn't kill you."

Hailey looked down.

"I don't think so."

"So, who sent you?" 

"Luana." The room stood still and her head spun.

"That bastard!" She gritted her teeth. 

"Who else works with you both in the palace."

Hailey shook her head. "No one else. As far as I've been working with Luana for a long time, the only ally I used to know was Chloe and she's dead now."

Lyne nodded, flashing back to Chloe's confession of how she had started working with Shelbrooke and Luana. 

"And now?" Amber asked sharply.

"No one else. I'm the only one she has been working with."

"Since when did you start working with her?" Zeidan asked this time and she looked up to remember.

"The day you both left for your vacation in Los Angeles, I informed her and that was when she told me that I'd be good for her. She started sending me to run her errands since then."

It was a good thing they didn't tell her of their real reason for going to Los Angeles even if they had to, or she would have told Luana that too.

"She threatened to do a lot of things if I didn't do it..."

"This wasn't your first time, was it?" Amber asked and she kept quiet, sniffling.

"No." She finally shook her head.

"I was responsible for poisoning the Queen as well some years back. She made me do it, I swear, I didn't want to." 

"You'll tell that to the blades by the time we're finished with you." Amber gestured for one of the guards that stood by the door to take her away and they did.

Lyne was filled with heaviness, tiredness, and pain as she made to sit on the bed, eyes turning misty. Her visions were coming to pass, yet she couldn't do anything to prevent it. Maybe all these wouldn't have happened if she had stayed in Los Angeles.

Zeidan placed his hands on her thighs and crouched before her.

"You don't have to worry, Lyne. Aurora will be fine and we'll fight this battle together to the end. You're not alone in this." 

"But why? Why me? Why do I always have to fall victim to every mishap? Mom," she sniffled. "Samantha, Tina, the manager, Brady, Chloe," she tried to swallow her tears but as she said the last words, her voice shook and tears let coming. "Now Aurora."

"Don't say that." Zeidan wiped a drop of tears with his thumb. "Aurora is not going to die. Rydel is already taking care of her."

Lyne looked back and touched her daughter's resting body. The doctor looked up at them, straightening his coat.

"I've just given her a dose of the poison suppressor, which explains why she's now sleeping. I'll bring the antidote tomorrow but before then, make sure you give her this suppressor each time she wakes up or cries out of pain." Rydel gave them a small bottle that contained a thick whitish liquid. 

Lyne nodded and thanked him before going to lie on the bed closer to Aurora and gathering her in her arms. Scooping her small body in hers, she thought of how crazy she'd be if she lost her. It would mean starting again or in her case the end. 

Apart from Zeidan coming into her life, Aurora being in her life had filled up every hole that was there. Losing her is like taking away her life and everything she has ever had. 

"I'll just leave now," Amber announced and left the room.

Zeidan came to the other side of the bed and touched Aurora's forehead too, looking at her and not saying anything.