Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 564: Hand in the jar

Ada waited and waited for Morgana’s return and when that did not happen, she asked other nurses about her.

To no avail as the only answer they all had to give was that she had been summoned for something important down in the dungeons, but none were able to tell her exactly what that important mission was or where she might have been after so many hours.

Especially when counting the fact that the head nurse was never summoned to the dungeons unless something truly out of the ordinary happened.

A flavor built up at the back of her throat. One that tasted very sour... Something from deep within urged her to rush up towards the training room in order to find Arabella under the pretenses of tending to Arwa but much to her dismay, her friend was nowhere to be seen either.

"Nurse, please tell me what her situation is?" a blond with a devastating frown on her hovered near Arwa’s bed as Ada examined her.

"Worry not, madame," Ada fought her own features to push a smile forward, "She just has a fever that will subside very soon for as long as she rests,"

Although, the look on the blond’s face by the time Ada had stopped speaking, left her a little perplexed. It was as though she had said something out of norm...

Regardless, that was the least of her worries as Arabella was nowhere inside the dormitories and the training room alike.

So, it was with shaky knees that Ada headed for the exit door. Well, that was until a hand grasped her arm and dragged her back and to the side.

"They came in and took your friend," the same young woman that had interfered that morning stood in front of her.

Ada rummaged through the crevices of her mind only to recall the name was Luiza. At least, that was how that repulsive hag had addressed her.

"I do not know what... You mean," Ada refused to meet her eyes and tried to slip away.

"They tied, gagged and hauled her out of here without any explanations. They usually only do that when they wish to get rid of someone discreetly," Luiza pressed on.

"What are you saying?" Ada instantly dropped the act and finally looked Luiza in the eyes.

"I am saying, they know something. My dime is on the fact that you are here. I am ready to wager you are next on the list," Luiza crossed her arms over her chest.

"And who are you? What do you stand to gain in this?" the nurse studied the woman’s face, searching for any sign of deception.

"If you fail, nothing, but if you succeed in whatever it is you are planning, I might get what I wished for the most. So, please, do tell me, what can I do?"

Ada hesitated... On one hand, nothing guaranteed that she would be free for very long but on the other, nothing guaranteed that Luiza was to be trusted either. Even though she intervened in their favor that morning. It could have been a ruse to subvert their attention and earn their trust.

"Can you leave this room?"

In the end, Ada concluded that she had no other choice. They had Arabella, and potentially Morgana too... It was only a matter of time before they got their hands on her as well.

"I can manage that," Luiza nodded.

Ada plucked the potion vial out of her pocket, "The king needs to ingest this at all costs. It should cure and wake him up at once! Can you reach him?" she held on to the flask so tightly in front of Luiza.

"I can promise you I will manage that too," Luiza extended an open hand.

It took Ada a good few seconds to finally put the vial in Luiza’s hand and less than three to rush out of the training room without looking behind herself.

Along her way back to the infirmary, her pace slowed down a lot for her mind buzzed with images from that morning replayed on repeat before her eyes.

The desolate and disgraced state of her friend then the arrival of her tormentor who was every bit as cruel and vile as the prince himself...

Once again, it was all her fault, wasn’t it?

Once again, she was told, multiple times and on various occasions not to take any unnecessary risks when in the castle but she did not listen.

Once again, her emotions controlled her instead of the other way around and the price to pay for that would be...

Well, she wasn’t even allowed to ponder that thought as two guards barred her path.

"You are being summoned to the dungeons, nurse!"

On both men, there was that sort of smirk. Not exactly sly, but no better descriptor came to mind.

One walked in front of her while the second followed suit at the end of the line, null doubt making sure she did not try to escape.

"There she is!" the bile raising voice of that hag blared through the rocky tracts that made the dungeons.

She stood tall next to one specific cell towards which Ada’s eyes immediately flew only for her lungs to let out a gasp.

One man sat at the visible heart of the prison. One Ada easily recognized as he knelt in his true form instead of the skinsuite Morgana had gifted him.

"Edgar!" the young woman ran towards the bars.

Her chest twisted, threatening to burst open for everything in it to spill out, "Edgar!" she called again.

Her callings fell on deaf ears as Edgar seemed to be out of it. In some sort of a daze despite his body holding up in a kneeling position without any support.

"Don’t be too harsh on yourself," Zarah’s voice rang right in her ear.

The hag had moved ever so discreetly to stand right behind Ada, wrenching a jolt out of her.

So cold, everything around her was... So cold. The bars she grasped so firmly between her hands, the air that imbued her lungs with life... Even the fire dancing upon the heads of those torches that surrounded them.

Absolutely nothing offered a lick of warmth her way.

"Oh! And if you turn around," Zarah backed up, gesturing at the cell facing Edgar’s, "Here we have your other friends,"

It took the young woman, every ounce of strength left in her, to actually turn around and meet the dull eyes of Allegra and the unconscious figure of Morgana right next to her.