28 Say the truth

Mirabel and Reynolds walked into the throne room with frowns on their faces. They bowed their heads respectfully as soon as the King turned to them.

"We need to talk Father," Reynolds said with an expressionless face. Just like Ares, Reynolds hardly talked to anyone in this castle, especially the King.

"Oh Reynolds, Mirabel. Can I help you with something?" The King asked with a smile.

"We want Reign out of the dungeon" The king furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who's Reign?"

"Are's Betrothed" Mirabel Responded. The King rolled his eyes as he let out a sigh.

"Don't tell me she was able to fool both of you too" Reynolds furrowed his eyebrows.

"Fool us, how?"

"Listen, until she's proven innocent, no one is allowed to take her out of that dungeon without my consent and if she's proven guilty, I'll have her beheaded in the town's square" Mirabel gasped while Reynolds clenched his fist.

"Then how can she prove she's innocent if she's in that dungeon?" Mirabel argued.

"Don't worry, Diana said she'll get the truth out of her" Reynolds' eyes widened.

"And how exactly is she going to do that?"

"How ever she can, Reynolds" Reynolds scoffed.

"I knew it was a mistake coming to meet you" He walked out of the throne room and Mirabel followed him.

"What are we going to do? What do you think Diana is going to do to her?" Reynolds clenched his jaws.

"I don't know but I feel it's not going to be good. We need to find Ares, he's the only one that has power over them"

•

Reign stared up at the guards curiously as they walked towards her cell.

"Are you here to release me?" The guard didn't reply to her. Instead, he motioned towards her with his fingers then unlocked the cell gate. As soon as it was opened, Two guards yanked her out of the Cell and grabbed her arms.

"Ow! You're hurting me! Let go!" She screamed but they pretended like they couldn't hear her.

They carried her out to the punishment ground before they let go of her and took a step backwards.

She stared up at Diana and James with wide eyes then bowed her head.

"Your highnesses" Diana who once looked kind was looking sinister as she stared at Reign.

"I should have known you were an imposter. You have no etiquette" Reign wrung her fingers.

"I'm sorry Your highness but you have to believe me, I didn't…."

"Oh save your breath. Bring out the cane" Reign furrowed her eyebrows then watched as two men with canes walked up to her.

"What's…. What's going on?" Reign questioned as her voice shook with fear.

"Do not stop till she confesses the truth. Give her 100 whips of the cane" Reign eyes widened. She screamed for mercy as the men grabbed her hand and laid her down on a wooden surface.

"Please have mercy" She yelled as tears flowed down her cheeks. James turned towards his mother with a frown.

"Mother, I don't…."

"Keep your mouth shut, this is all part of my plan. Do not feel sorry for her, James" James clenched his jaws then nodded.

"As you wish, mother"

•

As soon as Ares and Julian climbed out of the carriage, two guards ran up to Ares and bowed.

"I'm sorry your highness but Sir Jacob and Madam Linda are not receiving visitors today" Ares raised an eyebrow at them then scoffed.

"Do you know who I am?" The guards glanced at themselves then nodded.

"We do but…."

"And you think I give a Fuck about what they want. If you don't want me to make you crippled for the rest of your life, I suggest you fucking leave my way" The guards broke into a sweat then they reluctantly got out of his way.

Ares and Julian marched into the house and didn't bother knocking before walking in.

Linda's eyes immediately widened as soon as she saw him.

"Oh! Your highness, we weren't expecting you" Ares held back himself from running up to her and snapping her neck like a twig.

Jacob's eyes widened as he walked downstairs and saw Ares.

"Oh your Highness" He avoided the Eyes of Ares which made Ares scoff.

"You were expecting me, you just didn't want me to actually come. Did you?" Linda's eyes widened further.

"That's absurd, Your highness. You are always welcomed in our home" Ares rolled his eyes.

"Let me get straight to the point then because I'm done playing word games with you. Redraw your claims against Reign and tell the King the truth" Diana glanced at Jacob who had literally turned white then turned back to Ares.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Your highness. Everything My husband told The king was the truth and…."

"Are you really going to stand there and lie to my face, Linda?" She paused. Jacob sighed as he walked towards Ares.

"Reign isn't the real Isabella and that's the truth" Ares scoffed.

"You think I didn't know? No parent sees their daughter after a long time and behaves the way you two did" Linda briefly glanced at Jacob before turning to Ares.

"That girl is vile, she made us do all these things because she wanted to get married to a prince but I couldn't stand by and watch her live the life that was rightfully my daughter's and that's why we decided to come clean to the King" Ares squinted his eyes at her.

"And what exactly did she threaten you with that you just had to obey her wishes?" Linda bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Your highness but it's a family business so I can't disclose it to anyone. Reign wasn't even supposed to know but then she overheard us talking about it one day" Jacob glanced at his wife in surprise at how quick she was in making up a lie.

"Are you really going to keep lying to my face? Or do you want me to force the truth out of you?" Jacob and Linda glanced at themselves before bowing their heads at him.

"We are telling the truth, Your highness. We understand that she has gotten you under her spell, she did the same to us and that's why we are surprised and angered by what she did" Jacob again glanced at his wife.

Ares nodded slowly.

"Force it is. Julian?" As soon as he called out Julian's name, Julian drew out his sword and pointed it at them.

Linda's and Jacob's eyes widened as they shook with fear.

"Even if I have to cut the truth out if you, I won't hesitate to do that for Reign. I'll tell you this one last time, tell the King the truth and redraw your claims on Reign" Linda shook her head at Jacob as soon as she saw he was about to break and say the truth.

"Enough!" They all turned to the voice and Saw Isabella running down the staircase. She ran towards Ares and bowed before him.

"After everything we have told you about Reign, you still want to help her? She's not your betrothed, I am. Don't you want me instead? I would do anything for you" Isabella said as she batted her eyelashes affectionately then grabbed onto his arms.

"I'm much better than Reign, I can assure you. My body will belong to you and only you" Ares stared back at her disgustedly then shook her off his arm.

"As you can see, nothing about you interests me so there's no reason for me to be with you instead of Reign when she's someone you would rather be Milady" Isabella gasped as she stared at him in shock.

"What? You…." Ares grabbed her hand, spinned her around and pressed a knife to her neck. Linda and Isabella screamed in horror while Jacob stared at the scene in front of him with dread.

"Will you tell the truth or watch me kill your daughter?" Ares said with a sinister smile on his face. Linda glared at him.

"You won't dare" Ares tilted his head at her then pressed the knife further into Isabella's neck just enough for it to bring out blood. Isabella cried out as she grabbed onto his hand.

"Let me go!" She screamed but Ares could care less.

"So what's it going to be?".....