63. Locked in the Dungeon.

News has spread far and wide about the death of the vampire king, who is Xavier's father. After his burial, the next important ceremony coming up was Xavier's coronation as the new king. He was an only child, so there was no need whatsoever to fight over the throne with anyone.

Invitation was sent to other kingdoms, just like the laws of the land. The werewolf Kingdom was not exempted, and since Xavier's late father also attended Arthur's coronation, it was only right for Arthur to also attend Xavier's coronation.

The morning of that day, Xavier had instructed one of his male servants to lock Winifred up in their dungeon. Their dungeon was behind the palace hall, but it was far from it that if anyone made noise in the dungeon, it would be hard for people outside to hear the noise. That was his aim, he didn't want any reason for anyone to claim her back, he had a feeling that Arthur might be looking for his dearest slave afterall.

There was a narrow road behind the palace hall that led to the dungeon, so the man dragged Winifred there very early that morning, with no mercy even. He didn't care about leaving marks on her either, she can be battered for all.he cared.

"Let me go! Where are you taking me to, you dimwit!" Winifred shouted as she tried to release her grip from the slave dragging her with him, but he was too strong for her. "Let me go!" She exclaimed stubbornly.

"The prince ordered for you to be kept in the dungeon on and before his coronation. After his coronation and all his guests leave, you would be freed so stop shouting and screaming like a fool! He probably doesn’t want you to be seen by the people of great caliber and who can blame him. Humans are made for food here and nothing else, nobody knows why he's still keeping you alive!" The slave said to her as he dragged her into a closed cell and slammed the door shut immediately, locking it behind her.

"So shut your mouth already and stop behaving like that!" He snapped.

"Get me out of here!" She exclaimed as she banged the gate of the dungeon angrily. "Get me the fuck out of here, I don't belong her, I was literally stolen, this is not my place!"

As if not hearing her screams and shouts, the slave walked out of the dungeon after he had made sure the doors were completely locked. Seeing that he left without answering, she sighed sadly and sat on the cold floor.

"What is happening to me? Why me, just why?? I keep getting into more dangerous things everyday of my life." She said as she rested her head on her knees and hugged herself. "This is so hard. I should just be allowed to go back to my world even if I can't see Arthur anymore, I keep getting dragged off a place I finally managed to get settled in, have I been destined to just suffer here?" she muttered continously to herself. Just then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, beautiful." Xavier said. He was dressed in a royal outfit, which obviously showed that he was fully dressed and prepared for his coronation. But before the programme starts, he quickly came down to the dungeon to see his hostage. "I hope you're doing fine?"

"How do you expect me to be doing fine in this hell of a place that you're keeping me? This whole place smells like the mixture of human excrete and urine!" She snapped at him angrily, still seated on the floor.

"Oh, you smelled wrong actually. It should be human bodies, we leave human bodies here to decay." Xavier said with a sinister smile that snet shivers down Winifred's Spine so she quickly changed the topic to a more pressing one, not wanting to end up like nay of those bodies, this man was crazy afterall.

"Why did you order your slave to bring me here?!" She asked.

"Calm down, miss. I'm only protecting you from other royals that will be here today. Do you want someone else to have their way with you?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"You are no better than them." Winifred said and spat at him, although it didn't get to him because she was still seated on the floor.

"Oh, you have no idea. To them, you're food and nothing more. We all hate humans with passion over here, there's absolutely no space for them. Before you know it, their fangs have been sunk into your neck." He explained but Winifred was having non of it as usual, "I'll take that over being in your clutch, it's a better option!" She snapped.

"Fine." He said shrugged. "You'll be here till I feel like releasing you then," he added and without waiting for her reply, he walked away. Winifred sighed as she watched his retreating figure. When he was far gone, she stood up and started looking for all possible ways that she could escape from the dungeon. She was looking around the dungeon when she sighted a window up above her. It was really far from her, but she knew she had to do something to make her escape happen.

Arthur arrived at the royal Hall as the coronation started. Immediately Xavier was crowned king and they were all seated to enjoy the rest of the ceremony, he began to speak to Arthur, who sat directly next to him.

"So, you came." He said to Arthur, trying to start a conversation with him.

"Of course, you invited me." Arthur replied without looking at him. "Unless you want me to look rude, why would I not honour your invitation? Your late father honoured my invitation during my own coronation."

"So, this is not about me. It is about you paying back the deed that he did."

"If that's what makes your boat sail, then so be it." Arthur replied nonchalantly, still not looking at him.

"Everyone here came with a slave of theirs," Xavier started again. He wanted to say something that would trigger Arthur. "I wonder why you didn't come with any."

"I did. And even if I didn't, how is that your business?"

"You came with one? I don't see her anywhere." Xavier said and looked around mockingly. "I don't see your favourite slave anywhere."

"I don't have a favourite slave." Arthur snapped at him, even though he knew he was referring to Winifred.

"Yes, you do. Everyone knows you do. Ever since you bought that slave with some expensive money, you've been keeping her so near. I wonder why she isn't here with you today though. Hmm, so unusual." Xavier said and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

Arthur turned to look at him with an angry face. "Mind your business and focus on your throne, for someone who's getting coronated, I wonder how you're still so annoying!Worry less about my affairs. Do you get that?!" He snapped at him.

"Woah, look at you! You're all mad because I mentioned your beloved slave. Is something wrong with her? Is she sick, that's why she's not here with you?"

"That's it!" Arthur replied and stood up from his seat.

The exchange of words between Arthur and Xavier was beginning to annoy Arthur, so he excused himself and walked out of their palace hall to get some fresh air. He walked to the back of the hall, and saw a narrow road there. He had never really explored the vampire kingdom, especially their palace, so he decided to do so to while time away. As he walked down the narrow road, he saw no one in sight, making him widner where the road leads to.

He has walked a lot further on the narrow path, when he heard something like the rustling of leaves behind him. He quickly turned, as he was being alert and trying to be careful, in case there was someone or anything that was after him. The vampires do not like the werewolves anyway, and he could not trust them either. Despite being the king of his kingdom, who knows, they might be planning to attack him without him knowing.

"Who's there?" He asked as he turned his back.

No reply.

"Is anyone there?" He asked again. He paused and there was no sound anymore, the rustling of the leaves had stopped. "No one, I guess." He turned back. As soon as he did, he was met with a hit by someone which made him stagger backwards as the person that hit him fell to the ground.

The person, who turned out to be Winifred, immediately stood up from the floor, panting. "I'm very sorry. I didn't see you there and—" She was saying when she looked up to see who she had just ran into. "Arthur?" She called, a look of disbelief mixed with a look of hope and happiness appeared on her face.

"Winifred?" Arthur, who was also shocked, said. He stared her at her, trying to understand why and what she was doing in the vampire kingdom.