10 Scapegoat

Desiree

Six months had passed, and I was a lot comfortable around Adam now. We snuck around a lot. It bothered me, but as long as he wasn't trying to sleep with me, I was okay. Although I wouldn't lie about the sexual tension between us, we kept it under control. He often came to hold me at night, and I looked forward to it. I knew what I was doing was dangerous, and Alice's journal explained the repercussions to me, but I was falling fast. My eighteenth birthday was in a month and I couldn't wait.

I tried to keep my head down. People had started acting funny towards me, but it didn't bother me. I was taken off all physical tasks, and I knew some people began to suspect that I might be sleeping with the Prince.

Aunt Margret called me into her room one evening to ask me intimate questions.

"Desiree, are you sleeping with Prince Adam?" she asked me with a stern look on her face, and I shook my head.

"Are you sure, because you reek of him, and people are spreading rumours about you two," she said, looking worried and concerned?

"I am still a virgin, Aunty," I told her, and I saw her relax a bit.

"This is a bad situation for you. If these rumours spread to the king's ears that you are sleeping with his son, he could have you executed," she said. And there it was for the first time, a solid confirmation that Alice's journal was true, and what Adam and I were doing could lead to our deaths.

"But I am not sleeping with him. You can check me," I said close to tears, and she nodded.

"I do not know what is going on but plead with Prince Adam to reduce the affection and attention he is showing you. If he wants you to be safe, he needs to send you back to the kitchen and get a new taster. I know he is fond of you, but his affection might get you killed," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I have told him. I pleaded with him the morning after his engagement party and refused. I honestly do not know what to do," I cried to her, and she touched my head.

"What I am about to tell you might seem wicked and cruel but listen, Desiree. When your mother finally passes away, promise you will leave this place?" she said, and tears came to my eyes because my mother was now on her deathbed. Her death was inevitable. We didn't know precisely how long it would take, but we knew she would die eventually. Adam had helped her, but she had received the help a bit too late. All they were doing was prolonging her time based on her request.

I wiped away my tears and nodded.

That evening, I wasn't my happy self in the kitchen. Sandy and Kate tried to cheer me up, but I couldn't. What Aunt Magret had told me was scary. I intended to plead with Adam to demote me so I could last a bit longer there.

A new set of Omegas came to get his food, and when I asked them what happened to the old set, they said they had been promoted.

They arranged the food on the dining table in Adam's apartment and left.

Adam came out of the room. He smiled and me and came to hold me to his chest. He took in my scent, and I tried to break away.

"What is wrong Desiree," he asked me gently.

"People are beginning to suspect. My aunt told me that if the King should hear of this, I can be executed," I said, tears falling down my eyes.

"Please send me back to the kitchen. I do not want trouble," I pleaded, but I knew my pleas would fall on deaf ears because Adam used that opportunity to hold me close and kiss me passionately. My treacherous body responded.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Desiree," He promised.

"You can't protect me from your father," I pointed out, and he paused for a while.

"If I have to Desiree, I will," he promised me with conviction in his eyes and he went to lock the door.

I served his food and wanted to taste it first, but he insisted we eat together. Adam was a stubborn man, and I knew he wouldn't let me do my work. So we ate the food together.

"Come close," he said to me after the meal, and I was about to argue with him when I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

I flinched, and then I saw Adam flinch, and I knew my life was over.

Holding the pain, I asked him if everything was okay.

"Kyle is coming. Open the door," He managed to say in pain. He held his tummy, and I wondered why I wasn't in as much pain as he was.

I managed to open the door, and by the time I returned, Adam had passed out on the floor.

I was in pain too, but I was afraid. I knelt by him and began to cry.

Kyle entered, and I knew my life was over.

"Desiree, what happened?" he asked in a stern voice.

"He finished eating, and this happened," I said, and the pain was increasing.

"Did you not taste his food?" He asked me, and I didn't know if I should lie, so I opted for the safest answer.

"I ate it," I said, holding my tummy. Kyle checked on Adam, and he was sweating literally.

"I can't get you out of this, Desiree," He said with concern in his eyes, " Even if I tell you to leave, they will come for you because you are his food taster. You have to surrender to me now, and we will investigate this quietly." He said, and before he could complete his sentence, Lola entered with Nickson and screamed when she saw Adam on the floor. She began to hit me, asking me what I had done to him.

Under normal circumstances, I would have defended myself, but I was a Moon, and she was a Blood and the daughter of the Beta at that. Retaliating will mean certain death for me. To add to that, I was equally in pain, and my vision had become blurred. I slowly passed out.

I woke up in a dark, dirty cell, and I remembered what had happened, and I began to cry. There was a possibility they didn't give me any treatment and had left me there to die. If that was the case, then I had hope because it meant Adam would be alright.

An hour later, a guard came to get me in chains and dragged me to the throne room.

There were a lot of people present. I saw Aunty Margret standing in tears, and I knew I was in big trouble.

I was thrown to the floor in front of the throne where King Kingston sat with rage in his eyes.

"Adam is my only child," he began, " I loved his mother so much, and he was all she left me to remember her by," he continued.

"Usually, the right thing to do was to wipe out the Moons when we won the war, but I showed kindness by sparing your lives and allowing you to live in our Midst. You now choose to do this to me!" he said, and I cried because whatever they were thinking wasn't the case.

"I told my son he was stupid to hire you as his food taster, but he wouldn't listen. You want to take revenge for what we did to your grandfather and father, right?" he asked, and I shook my head with my head bowed. A whip came down on my back hard, and I screamed.

"Answer your King!" I heard someone say and I cried.

"No, Your Majesty,"

"What you did is enough to make me claim your life, but I want you to suffer before you leave this world, Moon," he said with anger and pain in his voice, and the whip came down hard again, and I cried.

"Why did you feed my son Poison?" he asked me, and I cried because I was afraid something had happened to Adam.

"I swear by the Moon, Your Majesty, that I didn't," I cried. "I ingested the same substance too," I added, and the whip came down on me again. I knew it drew blood this time around because I felt the fabric of my blouse tear and my skin tear along with it.

"You are the only Moon staff that handles his food. Are you trying to implicate the Bloods?' someone asked me, and I shook my head. The whip came back down.

"No! No! " I said, crying out loud.

"So who is going to take the blame now and why?" The voice asked, and I knew what had happened. A crime had been committed, and I was going to be the scapegoat. It had nothing to do with whether I was guilty or innocent. It had everything to do with the fact that someone had to pay for what had happened. If I were a Blood, there would have been an investigation, but the fact that I was a moon meant I would take the blame.

The whip came down again, and my flesh began to hurt. I was yet to get my wolf, so the healing process was slow for me.

"Me your Majesty. I am to be blamed," I said, and I didn't know what to say as the 'why'. But I would give anything for the thrashing to stop. The moment I said it, the crowd went silent.

"Take her back to her cell," I heard the king say, and they dragged me away.

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