Richard just looked at the two.
Aside from what had just happened, he could tell something was bothering Anne. On the other hand, he could not understand what was wrong with Wilder or why he had worn the cloak when he was supposed to be checking his injury. How was he still standing there and chatting with her? He could smell Wilder's discomfort from where he stood.
"Look at me," Wilder ordered Anne when she kept staring into the stream.
She sighed and turned to look at him, locking eyes. "This... is going to be my last time meeting you." She said.
The silence dragged between them before he said, "They finally know."
"What?" Anne asked, looking confused by his comment.
Instead of answering, he grabbed her by the waist and drew her closer to him with barely enough space between them. She let out a shout and looked up at him with wide eyes, but he ignored everything else and just leaned down.
"What... are you doing?"
From where Richard stood, he could hear her heartbeat. The sight made his eyes bulge out as he wondered if Wilder was about to do what he thought he was about to do.
When their faces were only a few inches apart, Wilder's tongue darted out, and he licked the blood on the side of her jaw where the knife had left a cut.
"Why... are you tasting my blood?" She asked in fear and pushed him off.
He let her go with a conflicted look.
"You are, indeed," Wilder whispered, sounding disappointed.
"You should leave. Do not return." He said in a harsh tone before walking away from her.
Richard was too stunned and confused to say anything. When Wilder walked past him, he followed him after glancing back at Anne, who just stood there looking dejected.
As soon as they had walked far ahead and had gotten to some areas with people, Wilder almost stumbled and winced in pain.
"Find a physician." He instructed.
"What if they come again?" Richard asked in concern even though he knew that finding a physician was more important right now.
"Now!" Wilder said sternly.
Richard bowed and walked away but hadn't completely disappeared when Anne showed up with her face rid of blood now. She looked angry.
"What do you take me for?" She asked as soon as she stood in front of Wilder.
"You think you can control me as you please? One minute you tell me to do this, and after I do that, you still try to chase me away. Do you know what it took for me to come here to find you? Do you know... how much I am suffering because of you?" She cried.
"And so?" Wilder asked blandly.
She sniffled and looked at him coldly as she said, "I... will no longer like a murderer who is going to turn me into one. We will... end here. But... you have to remember that I hurt you too." And suddenly, she grabbed his hand and gave him a strong bite that made his eyes widen, and he hissed in pain.
When she was done, she let go of him and ran with all her might without looking back, while he looked at her running back in disbelief before looking at the bite mark with bits of his blood pooling around it.
"Such a strong bite for a little thing." He commented with a sad look.
Not that he was always happy, but he just looked really sad now.
Some passersby had seen what happened, but Richard guessed none of them knew who he was, which was why they were still around.
"HOW... COULD A GIRL EMBARRASS A MAN LIKE THAT IN PUBLIC AND GO SCOT-FREE!" An elderly man, who seemed to obviously not know who Wilder was, said this in anger.
"Shut. Your. Filthy. Mouth." Wilder said in a menacing tone before he kicked the man out of his path and walked away, sending the poor innocent man flying and crashing on a nearby brick stand.
Richard could not stop thinking about it all. Especially the attack that had happened.
The physician he had called had done his best, but the arrow had grazed Wilder's heart, with the wolfsbane affecting him there. They weren't even sure how he had been able to still fight and return to his tent when it had been that severe.
Even though the physician had been too scared to mention it, they knew that his life had been significantly cut short.
He wasn't sure what Wilder thought about the attack. Wilder never mentioned it.
Richard was at this point lost, especially when he remembered the note he had received on his way to look for the physician. An arrow had been shot in his direction with the note.
"REMEMBER." was the only word written on it. But he knew what they were talking about.
He reached for the bottle of potion in his inner pocket and looked at it even as he remembered Lord Zealot's words.
"Prince Wilder is going to bring doom to this kingdom. Because of him, everyone looks down on the King. He thinks he is better than everyone and doesn't care about anyone. Do you think you can remain loyal to that kind of person?"
"Isn't that why you are not yet married? You have been betrothed for more than a year now. But because of his selfishness, you cannot return and start your family. Is that the kind of life you want to live?"
"I will give you two options: Give me something solid that would justify Prince Wilder's arrest. Or make him take this." Lord Zealot pushed the potion at him.
It was a large dose of Beta's nightmare. The same potion that was banned years ago.
"It won't kill him. By making him take it all at once, he will only go crazy. But he will live. So either he goes crazy or we arrest him according to the customs of the Kingdom. The choice is in your hands."
"If you hesitate to make up your mind, it means unnecessary bloodshed is going to happen. And it won't just end with you both."
Richard knew it. Lord Zealot was not only threatening him with his life but with that of his family and that of his bride-to-be.
The shocking part about everything was that after he left the room, he saw King Eli standing outside. He had been able to mask his presence and heard their entire conversation. But what did he do?
He just stared blankly and turned around, leaving without saying a word.
Richard was stuck, and that was Sir Zealot's pattern. He never offered good options.
And with Prince Wilder already this sick, he decided to choose the only option that was best for all of them. At least, if he were to go back to the palace, even as a prisoner, he would still be able to live longer and get treated by the best physician with the best herbs.
How naive had he been?
His option was to capture Anne and accuse Wilder of protecting the witches. Once Wilder was arrested, they would use Anne to find her people and annihilate them, and everyone would be happy.
"That... was your choice?"
It was Harvey who asked his father in disbelief.
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