The King's Mistress

Chapter 206: Atonement

The cold glint in her eyes was bone-chilling. It was the look she reserved exclusively for her worst enemies. The ones she wished to destroy. Recalling everything he’d done, Sierra clenched her jaw. She clenched her hand into a fist.

She grabbed him by the collar and punched him square in the face. Blood spewed from his broken nose. Cedric begged for mercy, but Sierra did not care. In the time she had taken over kingdom affairs in Cair, she learned about the other atrocities he had done.

The list of war crimes he has committed. Death was too easy. That’s what everyone kept saying and she couldn’t agree more.

"K...kill me where I lay... atone... sins...," he could barely speak in complete phrases with his face all black and blue.

"Death is mercy, you fool," she spat, "You will suffer the punishment for the crimes you have committed, for the pain and suffering you have caused."

"But... you and... I. Did... did it mean," he choked and gurgled as he tried to reason with Sierra, "...mean nothing... to you?"

Anger flashes across her face. He was trying to guilt trip her.

"You are nothing to her," a cold hard voice replied from behind.

In all her rage, Sierra did not notice the familiar presence that came from behind. As soon as his unique familiar scent hit her nose, she felt safe. His shadow loomed over her and Cedric. The man’s expression twisted in horror through his bruises.

It was Alistair.

He gently placed his hand in Sierra’s, getting her to release his hold on Cedric’s collar. She loosened her curled fist too. As the adrenaline subsided, a wave of calm washed over her.

"We wouldn’t want him dying here, now would we?" Alistair whispered in her ear, reminding her.

Taking full advantage of the situation, Cedric made a bold move. They were only inches away from the side of the cliff. Knowing the fate that awaited him, he crawled towards the edge.

Before either Sierra or Alistair could get to him, he pushed himself off. He let out a maniacal laugh as he entered free fall, thinking he would finally escape into the sweet embrace of death.

"No!" Sierra yelled in anguish.

’He’s not going anywhere,’ Opal’s voice rang in her mind.

From Alistair’s wrist, the little snake slithered off, propelling herself into the air. Both Alistair and Sierra watched on in shock as the snake free fell over the edge of the cliff.

"Opal?" She gasped in shock and horror, realizing what had just happened, "Opal!"

Sierra rushed to the cliff side and looked over the edge. She wanted to leap off it too to save her snake. They had been together since she was young. She could not lose her like that.

Alistair held her back, knowing she would not survive the fall if she did. They could’ve survived if they summoned their wings in time, but he was not willing to take that risk. But soon, their worries turned into amazement.

A bright flash of light enveloped the cliffside. Sierra and Alistair both shielded their eyes for a moment.

"What was-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Sierra was stunned by the sight before her. From the cliff’s edge, a huge shadow of a snake-like creature flew up into the sky. At the end of its tail, it held the body of a person.

She recognized those glittering scales anywhere.

Sierra got up to her feet alongside Alistair as they both looked up in awe at the majestic snake creature floating before them in the sky.

"Opal?" Sierra gasped in shock.

Her little snake had the ability to shapeshift into a much larger form and she never knew until now!

"You can shapeshift?" She asked, curious to know.

Opal nodded as she threw Cedric down on the grass-covered ground before them. Cedric was thrashing about, yelling and screaming when she picked him up during his free fall.

Opal landed on the grass moments later. Cedric was already attempting to reach the edge of the cliff again. This time, Opal coiled around him, restricting his movements as she held him in place.

She raised and stretched out her body to look up at his face to face. A cold chill ran down Cedric’s spine as he came face to face with Opal. The snake bared her fangs and hissed at him.

Unable to take in the shock, Cedric’s eyes rolled to the back and he fainted.

"If that was all it took to get him to faint, we should’ve gotten Opal to shapeshift sooner," Alistair mused.

Sierra chuckled, as did Opal through telepathy. The snake was about to swallow Cedric whole when Sierra stopped her.

"Don’t! We still need him to be prosecuted in court for his crimes." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

’Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat him,’ Opal replied, ’I’m just going to safe keep him in my belly so that he won’t escape again.’

’You can do that?’ Sierra looked over in shock.

Opal nodded. Upon finishing their conversation, she unhinged her jaw and swallowed Cedric’s body whole. Then, she shapeshifted back into the previous form, looking more like a harmless little snake once more. She slithered back to Sierra and coiled herself on her wrist once more.

"What just happened?" Alistair wondered out loud in confusion.

Sierra quickly explained everything to him, giving him a sense of relief. Now that they had subdued Cedric for the time being, the couple properly embraced once more.

"When did you get back?" Sierra asked as she kissed him on the lips. She missed his presence, his company, his voice.

Alistair gave in to her kisses with a chuckle, "Just a short while ago. I ran into Opal, who kindly guided me to you."

"What were you doing out here all alone? And with that bastard no less?" There was animosity in his tone of voice as he asked the second question.

Ever since he’d found out alongside Sierra all of the atrocities Cedric had committed, he had come to despise the man more than her. Sierra quickly explained all that had happened. She leaned against his chest as she did, relishing in the comfort only he could provide her.

As she spoke, he took off the cloak he had and draped it on her shoulders, not wanting her to catch a cold. It was chilly, and Sierra only had a thin layer on.

He gazed lovingly into her eyes as he cupped her chin with one hand while twirling a lock of her hair with the other.

"Next time, be more careful, sweetling. Who knows what could have happened if I didn’t come here in time? I..." he could not bring himself to say the rest.