Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 226: Pointing fingers (4)
Giselle decided to stay out of the conversation since she noticed the guards paying close attention to what was said between Alistair and Cecilia. They were both exposing themselves.
To survive, Giselle wanted to be quiet and become someone Ophelia forgot about.
The dungeon was an awful place, but it was better than dying. Giselle held onto the thought that Ophelia would take mercy on her and free her from the dungeon once Joel was dead.
Having no castle or husband to return to should be good enough punishment in Giselle’s eyes.
"You planned to take her during an outing!"
Giselle sighed, tired of Alistair and Cecilia going back and forth. She would rather hear news about the Valthorn castle and the palace.
Was the king dead yet?
Had Nigel succeeded with his plans to kill Joel?
Was Theo ready to die?
Giselle shook her head.
Now wasn’t the time to think about the children who placed her in this very position.
Giselle ignored the bickering pair and looked at the guards.
"Ophelia?" Giselle whispered, certain she saw her daughter near the entrance. "Ophelia!" Giselle yelled and waved her hands, but the person only retreated.
Giselle was certain it was Ophelia.
Alistair and Cecilia stopped their fight to see if Ophelia had come to see them, but she was not there.
"She has lost her mind," Alistair muttered.
Alistair feared that he would share the same fate of going mad in the dungeon. Giselle couldn’t have been here for too long, yet she was already going mad.
"I must get out of here," Alistair whispered, determined to survive. "Send for Lord Hastings. I will speak of what truly happened."
"Will you reveal that it is you and your niece who started all of this?" Cecilia asked, hoping Alistair wouldn’t receive an audience.
"I will speak of what you did. The letters will reveal what happened. You will pay for what you concocted. She is the evil one," Alistair said, pointing his finger at Cecilia.
"Then I request to speak to my son," Cecilia demanded.
On the outside of the dungeon, Ophelia stood with Dante.
"They are quite the noisy bunch. I wanted to go in to see them together, but we should keep our distance a little longer and let them expose each other," Ophelia suggested.
Ophelia watched as Dante grimaced. She assumed that the shouting affected his hearing.
Ophelia reached her hand to palm his face. "You must visit Ester before you leave to get help. I imagine war is not quiet. It won’t be good for you to be unable to focus because of your hearing."
"I am fine. It is just not as strong as it was before," Dante said, holding Ophelia’s hand to remove it from his face. "Nigel plans to kill Joel."
"This doesn’t surprise me. While Joel favours Nigel the most, Nigel has never proved himself worthy to Joel, so he has limited power. If Sebastian is killing his father, it makes sense that Nigel would follow suit. We have more problems than we thought," Ophelia realised.
Ophelia thought of whether Nigel would kill Joel before Edward was dead. It would be wise of Nigel to wait for Sebastian to kill his father.
"Nigel is reckless. You beat him in the contest, and since he ran from you the one time he led the army, he will want to get revenge. I do not doubt in my mind that Nigel will bring his father’s army here. Is there a way your spies can find out if Joel is still alive?" Ophelia asked, worried Nigel might have already acted.
"I can find out, but by the time a response comes, I will have left for the palace. There is much to reconsider," said Dante.
"There is, but I think you should carry on with your plans. Nigel will come here if he takes his father’s place, but Sebastian seems to be more of a threat. If you go to the Valthorns and kill Nigel, word will reach Sebastian, and he will prepare for an attack," Ophelia said, plotting out the options.
"You cannot give time for Sebastian to gather allies and strengthen his seat on the throne. Nigel has never been in a war long enough to develop a good plan. He will think that his name alone will get him the win, but the crown prince has a chance to beat you if he has time to gather others," said Ophelia.
"If you kill the crown prince, then you will cut off the last of Nigel’s strongest support. I’m confident that when the other men on the Valthorn land hear that Nigel is leading the army, they will be wary about supporting him. Nigel will fall easily; the prince shall not."
"Nigel will come here, not only looking to kill me, but to get you back. That alone makes me wary about leaving you alone. It is risky," Dante said, second-guessing his plans.
"It is risky," Ophelia agreed. "But there is far more to be lost if you go after Nigel first instead of the crown prince. You once said that no one has ever gotten by your border. To be prepared, we need to send more men there and have the people near the border move to somewhere safe."
"I am afraid of having to see Nigel without you present, but I know these sacrifices must be made to win the war and to finish it. You must ask the duke to leave some of us men here to help me defend the land," Ophelia suggested.
"Kaden will want all his men heading to the palace."
"Well, if he wants your support, he will leave some behind. It pains me to say that I know Nigel well. I know that he will hide behind his men, so your spies must blend in with the Valthorn army to get to him. He will push full on because he will think he has the power to get through your border," Ophelia assumed.
Ophelia knew well that the title of Lord Valthorn was going to make Nigel too cocky. He would think that he was on top of the world now that he had the power his father once withheld from him.
"Nigel is in a position of power, and there is no one who can speak up about his plans. Nigel doesn’t know much about leading an army. I promise you," Ophelia spoke confidently.
Nigel always followed the plans Joel gave him.
"You must have confidence in me as I have in you. I am afraid, but I know what is best for this castle. Do you trust me?" Ophelia asked, hoping Dante would work with her.
"More than you know," Dante replied.
