Eleanor kept her mouth tightened and clenched her fists in a silent murmur not to infuriate him.
Luckily, she managed to send Cole away moments before, or she would have been in big trouble already.
But then…
"Where is Missy?" Thomas asked suddenly, his voice sharp as a blade, cutting through her skin.
Eleanor's breath caught in her throat and her knees weakened.
"S-she… I sent her on an errand at the market," she answered, her voice barely steady.
Thomas turned to his men.
"Find the personal maid, Missy. Search the entire palace. She may not be alone. Alert the gate.
"No one leaves, no matter their status," he orders.
Some of the guards saluted and hurried off to carry out the command.
Eleanor's legs gave way, and she collapsed into a chair, biting her nails, her mind spinning with panic.
Thomas's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, reading every flicker of emotion on her face.
He stepped closer.
"I would be leaving for now. But when I find him," he said slowly,
"I will return. And then, I won't be so polite.
He turned on his heel and marched out, leaving behind the wreckage of her chambers—and the terror curling in her stomach.
Eleanor suddenly starts to have difficulty with breath as soon as Thomas is out of her quarters, fearing greatly about his men catching up to Missy and Cole.
It seemed all her deeds would be catching up to her one day.
Exactly one year ago, she recalled clearly her actions against Thomas that made him hate her so much.
When Eleanor first entered the palace as a royal Consort, Lucas didn't so much as glance in her direction.
Weeks passed. Then months, but he never visited her chambers and always had work to do.
She wanted so much to bear his child before the next Queen was crowned.
She tried everything she could and eliminated every rival in the harem, but still, he ignored her.
In her desperation and obsession, she devised a rumor.
She was always greatly annoyed by Thomas' great closeness to Lucas and envious of the fact that he was always with the King at every hour of the day.
At his table where he eats. In his private court. In his chambers.
She couldn't even get an hour with Lucas without being dismissed.
Eleanor couldn't bear it, and she had her maids spread the rumors that the King had no desire for women and had an explainable relationship with his commander, Thomas.
She even includes the fact that they spend nights together in the same chambers at some particular time of the month, then uses her father's influence to spread the rumors in the court as well and also among the people.
She influenced the concubines also to whisper of the King's inappropriate fondness for his commander.
The scandal spread like wildfire.
Being cornered, Lucas was forced to silence the gossip by spending a night in Eleanor's bedchamber and has never allowed her in his presence ever since.
She got pregnant but lost the child, as if, her retribution.
Thomas was punished severely, beaten nearly to death, and forbidden from the King's quarters for a time.
He only returned to Lucas's side three months ago.
Now, if he finds any proof of her deals with Cole, then she's finished.
---
Eleanor snapped out of her thoughts.
"Someone out there!" she shouted.
One of her maids rushed in.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Send words to my father to have his men in the palace find Cole and Missy before the King's guards do." She muttered.
" And when they find Cole… kill him," he ordered.
The maid hesitated. Eleanor grabbed her wrist tightly.
"No matter what, he must not be left alive."
The maid nodded, terrified, and fled.
Eleanor stood by the window, her heart hammering against her ribs with each second passing.
---
Missy and Cole haven't walked for a long time before they notice the tight security before them and hide away quickly, unable to pass through.
Both of them hide quietly behind the secluded walls, and soon the sun begins to set.
Seeing there was no way they could pass through the guarded gates, they veered towards one place in the palace no one would suspect.
The cold palace, on the edge of the city.
It had been abandoned after Queen Helen died there and no one would ever visit it.
Taking some shortcuts, the both of them arrived there and Missy turned to Cole, heaving.
"Stay here for now, no one can find you here," she instructed him, but Cole wasn't willing to stay.
"Are you going to leave?" he asked, fearful.
"I need to return now and bring words back to her Highness."
"Once the heavy guard is lifted, you can leave the palace walls," Missy assured him and turned quickly to leave.
But as she turned her back, three hooded figures appeared out of the backyard, blocking the narrow path.
Cole halts, instinctively stepping in front of Missy.
"Who are you people?" he demanded, his tone sharp with suspicion.
The three of me look at each other without giving an answer. Their clothes are dark, foreign to the palace guards' uniforms, which means they don't work for the King.
One of them lunges the sword in his hand without warning, and Cole grabbed Missy and shoved her backward.
"Run!"
He shouted, turning to Missy but instead, she stumbled out of fear, terrified.
The men approach them slowly, calculating their steps, and Cole draws out a knife from his clothes, his hands trembling.
"Who sent you?" he demanded again.
The path he took with Missy is not known to many, except if one lives in the palace or is familiar with the space, it's difficult to catch up with them so soon.
The three of them charges at Cole with deadly precision.
He ducks, barely avoiding the strike, and retaliates with a swift elbow that cracked against one of the man's jaw. But the odds are against him.
He isn't well-trained, and barely learned some defense moved. He lands a few good hits, managing to kick one of them down.
But then a blade slashes across his stomach, sending him crashing to his knees with a pained roar.
"Cole!" Missy screams, paralyzed by fear.
"Who are you? How dare you try to kill in the palace?" she cries, her voice trembling but the men ignore her and charge towards Cole, who is writhing in pain on the floor.
"Please…don't kill us!" he begs.
One of the assassins raises his blade again, and aiming to kill.
Out of fear, Missy screams loudly and fainted. Not able to withstand the cruel scene.
An arrow flies towards the assaulter from the roof, piercing his shoulder.
He slumps forward, taken by surprise and the two other men turned to the direction of the attack.