Chapter 3 THE PRINCE MADE ME CUM (3)

The sex with Prince Damian was insane.

Elizabeth pulled her dress back on with shaking hands while Damian fixed his robes. They had maybe five minutes before the coronation ceremony was supposed to start, and she still had to get to the great hall without being seen.

"Go through the servant corridors," he told her as he adjusted his crown. "Stay hidden until the ceremony starts. Then slip into the back of the hall before I make the announcement."

"What if someone stops me?" Elizabeth asked.

"Then you fight your way through," Damian answered seriously. He grabbed her face and kissed her hard one more time. "Nothing should stop you from being in that hall when I say your name. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Elizabeth promised.

"I love you," Damian said, and his eyes were intense. "I am going to make you my Queen tonight."

"I love you too," Elizabeth whispered.

Then he was gone, walking out of the room toward the great hall where hundreds of people were waiting for him. Elizabeth waited thirty seconds and then slipped out into the hallway.

She moved quickly through the servant corridors, keeping to the shadows and avoiding the main hallways where guests were still arriving. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She could still feel Damian inside her and smell him on her skin, and that gave her courage.

She was going to make it.

She had to make it.

Elizabeth rounded a corner and ran straight into someone.

She looked up and her blood turned to ice.

Her stepmother stood blocking the hallway with her arms crossed and that cruel smile on her face.

"Going somewhere, Elizabeth?" she asked softly.

Elizabeth tried to step around her but her stepmother moved to block her path. "Get out of my way."

"I do not think so," her stepmother said. "You are supposed to be at home washing laundry. What are you doing sneaking around the palace?"

"Please just let me go," Elizabeth pleaded, and she tried to push past but her stepmother grabbed her arm hard.

"You are not going anywhere," her stepmother hissed.

Elizabeth did not think.

She just acted. She brought her knee up hard between her stepmother's legs and the woman gasped and stumbled backward.

And then she ran.

"Guards!" her stepmother screamed behind her. "Stop that girl! She is a thief! Someone stop her!"

Elizabeth ran faster.

She could hear footsteps pounding behind her and her stepmother's voice screaming, but she did not look back. The hall was just ahead, and she could see the doors.

She was almost there when two guards suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her path.

"Stop right there!" one of them commanded.

"No, please," Elizabeth begged. "Please, I need to get inside. I have to-"

"The head maid says you are a thief," the other guard said, grabbing her arm. "You are coming with us."

"I am not a thief!" Elizabeth screamed, trying to pull away. "Let me go! I need to get in that hall! Please!"

But the guards were too strong.

They dragged her backward even as she fought and kicked and screamed. She could hear music starting inside the great hall which meant that the coronation ceremony was already starting.

"No!" Elizabeth cried. "No, please! You do not understand! I have to be in there! I have to-"

One of the guards put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. They dragged her down a different hallway, away from the great hall, away from Damian, and away from everything.

Elizabeth fought as hard as she could but it was useless. There were two of them and they were both bigger and stronger than her. They pulled her down a set of stone stairs that led deep under the palace.

The dungeon.

They were taking her to the dungeon.

"Please," Elizabeth sobbed when the guard finally removed his hand from her mouth. "Please, you are making a mistake. I am not a thief. I need to be at the coronation. The King is going to announce his Queen and I have to be there or-"

"Quiet," one of the guards snapped. "The head maid said you were sneaking around and trying to steal from the palace. That is all we need to know."

They threw her into a small cell and slammed the iron door shut. The lock clicked into place with a sound that made Elizabeth's heart break.

She was trapped.

Elizabeth ran to the bars and grabbed them with both hands. "Please! Please listen to me! I am not a thief! My stepmother is lying! I need to get to the great hall right now! The King is announcing his Queen and if I am not there when he says my name, I cannot be chosen! Please!"

But the guards were already walking away and laughing at her. Their footsteps echoed down the stone hallway and then there was silence.

Elizabeth sank to her knees on the cold floor and pressed her face against the bars. She could hear music faintly from somewhere above. The coronation ceremony was happening right now. Damian was up there in front of everyone, and she was down here locked in a cell.

She was too late.

He was going to announce her name but she was not going to be there, and the council would refuse to accept her. Everything they had worked for. Everything they had promised each other. All of it was ruined because her stepmother had her thrown in jail.

Elizabeth started crying.

She did not know how long she sat there crying before she heard footsteps coming down the hallway again. Elizabeth looked up and saw her wicked stepmother walking toward the cell with that satisfied smile on her face.

"Well, well," her stepmother mocked, stopping in front of the bars. "Look at you now. You are not so proud anymore, are you?"

"You did this on purpose," Elizabeth said, but her voice was hoarse from crying. "You knew I needed to be at the coronation. You had me arrested on purpose."

"Of course I did," her stepmother said simply. "Did you really think I did not know what you have been doing? Did you really think I did not notice you sneaking around with the Prince?"

Elizabeth's blood ran cold.

"You knew?"

"I have known for months," her stepmother replied, and she looked pleased with herself. "I am the head of all the maids in this palace. Nothing happens here without me knowing about it. I knew the Prince was climbing through your window. I knew he was fucking you, and I also knew he was planning to make you his Queen tonight."

"Then why did you not stop us before? Why did you have to wait until today to ruin everything?" Elizabeth demanded.

She still could not believe it.

She had absolutely no idea her stepmother knew everything.

"Because I wanted to watch you hope," her stepmother answered cruelly. "I wanted to watch you believe you were going to be someone special. I wanted to let you get so close you could taste it. And then I wanted to take it all away from you at the last possible moment."

She leaned closer to the bars and her smile was the most evil thing Elizabeth had ever seen.

"Right now, Prince Damian is standing in front of the entire kingdom announcing his choice for Queen, and you are not there. He is going to say your name but you will not be standing in that hall, and the council will refuse to accept you. Everything you worked for is gone, Elizabeth."

"You are evil," Elizabeth sobbed.

Her stepmother did not say a word.

She just began to walk away but then she stopped and turned back.

"Oh, and one more thing," her stepmother said with that wicked smile. "As long as I am alive, you will never be Queen. I will make sure of that. You will never have what you want, Elizabeth."

Then she turned and walked away, and her footsteps echoed down the hallway until Elizabeth was alone again.

Elizabeth sat in the dark cell and felt everything inside her break. Prince Damian had probably announced her name, but she had not been there.

She was never going to be Queen.

And there was nothing she could do about it.