Chapter 211: Chapter 211 Something Stirs Within
Phoebe’s POV
The silence felt endless before I finally heard the chaos behind the door fade away. Someone knocked—Justin’s familiar voice cutting through my fear.
"My queen, are you inside? Everything’s safe now. You can come out." He knocked again, more urgent. "Should I break down the door? Are you okay?"
I knocked back from inside, letting him know I heard him. My hands shook as I took a few seconds to pull myself together, then forced myself to stand.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I opened the door. The metallic stench of blood hit me like a wall.
"Everything’s handled now. I’ll take you back to your room so you can rest." Justin’s tone told me what he really meant—I couldn’t stay here.
I glanced around, desperate to find Samuel, but Justin’s hand covered my eyes.
"Keep them closed, my queen."
Where is Samuel? I mouthed the words, unable to stop myself from asking.
"He’ll be fine," Justin replied curtly, making my heart skip. His clipped tone meant something terrible had happened. "Marcela’s taking care of him."
If Marcela was involved, Samuel’s condition had to be serious.
Once we left the room, Justin dropped his hand and walked me to my bedroom. "Want me to stay, my queen?" He wasn’t being inappropriate—he could tell I was too rattled to be alone.
He’d wait until Perry arrived. Someone had already been sent to get the king. He’d be here soon.
I nodded. Being alone was the last thing I wanted right now. I avoided the bed, curling up on the sofa instead while Justin sat across from me. Neither of us spoke.
A short while later, Perry burst through the door. I rushed to him immediately, throwing my arms around him as tears came. What happened earlier had terrified me.
"It’s okay, you’re safe..." Perry soothed me while Justin nodded politely and left us alone. "You’re fine."
We found out later it was another Valerium Warrior attack. This one had managed to infiltrate the kingdom and blend in with the locals.
They were nearly impossible to detect because the capital had so much foot traffic. Strangers weren’t unusual here.
The beast that broke into Perry’s bedroom and attacked me had escaped by nearly killing Samuel in the process.
Now I insisted on visiting him in the infirmary to help Marcela with his treatment.
Perry let me go while he met with the elders and senior warriors. They had to make the final call about the Valerium kingdom.
"We leave tomorrow," Perry told me after a long day when we could finally be together. "This can’t wait any longer. You’re leaving too."
I was curled against him on the sofa, but I lifted my head from his chest, staring at him in shock. Perry flicked my nose.
"You’re not coming to the battlefield with me. You’ll go somewhere else. Your location stays secret since the palace isn’t safe if intruders can get into my bedroom undetected."
Perry later told me he’d received the full report, which explained that Samuel and Justin couldn’t detect the enemy when they were so close. Apparently, they couldn’t smell the intruder’s scent.
For this warrior to fight both Samuel and Justin, wound one of them, and still escape—he had to be exceptional.
I’d confirmed it too. I couldn’t smell the intruder’s scent either.
"I’ll never let you go there." Perry caught the disappointment in my eyes and chuckled. "How can you want to go near a battlefield when you were shaking during the attack?"
I feel safe when I’m close to you.
Perry sighed. He leaned over and kissed me. "You always know what to say, don’t you?"
The next day, Perry led ten thousand warriors to join the earlier battalion for the final assault against Valerium.
He should have done this long ago, but the elders had disagreed, claiming a king shouldn’t be on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t sleep. I stayed up late, and when it was time for Perry to leave, I couldn’t walk him to the gates because other warriors would take me somewhere else.
"I’ll come back as soon as possible," Perry whispered against my lips as I held him tight.
I hated this. I didn’t want us to be separated. I wanted to stay with him, but Perry wouldn’t budge no matter what I said about wanting to come along.
In a way, he was right. It was just my impulsiveness. I wouldn’t help anything by insisting.
"Everything’s ready. We need to go." I could sense Justin waiting outside the door, ready to take me to the secret location once Perry left.
But when Perry tried to let me go, I grabbed his collar and stood on my toes to kiss him.
"I’ll never be able to leave if you keep doing this, Phoebe," Perry groaned. He kissed me back, then forced himself to stop, pressing his lips to my forehead instead. "We really have to go now."
He hugged me one last time, then walked away from the room.
But something felt strange in my stomach...
