Ares furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the old woman in front of him.
"Madam Suzan? What seems to be the problem?" The woman's eyes widened as soon as she saw him. She rushed up to him and grabbed his hand.
"You have got to help me, Your highness. My niece's life is in danger" Ares furrowed his eyebrows.
"What kind of Danger?"
"His highness ask my little niece to sleep with him but she refused and tried to reason with him that she wasn't ready to have sex with anyone but that seemed to anger him and he promised to make her life miserable till she agreed to his demands" Ares clenched his fist as his eyes suddenly turned cold.
"What?" He uttered.
"That's not all. I sent her to the market yesterday and she came back crying with bruises all over her body. She said some women had beaten her up on the way and she knew his highness was behind them because she had seen those women with him before '' Ares was appalled and disgusted by what he just heard. He knew James was vile but this was…. He had no words for it.
"I'd like to talk to your niece" Suzan shook her head.
"She won't leave her room because she's scared of being ambushed again. She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday" Ares sighed.
"Tell her not to be afraid. Andrew? Leo?" Two men walked out from behind him with a bow.
"Yes your highness"
"Watch over her niece and report to me if anything else like this happens. Also, tell her to point out the women who beat her up and bring them to the castle, I'll deal with them myself" They both nodded.
"Yes, Your highness" Ares turned to Suzan with a smile.
"You don't have to be afraid, he won't hurt her anymore" Suzan smiled.
"I always knew you were a good kid and I never listened to those rumors flying around about you. You can't let James become King, your highness, you deserve to be King" Ares stared at her for a while but said nothing on that topic.
"I'll have to leave now. Leo and Andrew will stay over to watch both of you while I talk with James. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to reach out to me" Suzan bowed her head as he walked out with Julian.
"James is such a dickhead," Julian muttered as they walked over to their horses.
"I always knew he was a man whore but I didn't know it had gotten this extreme. He had done something similar to this in the past but the difference is that she wasn't a minor like Suzan's niece" Ares muttered.
"It seems he has done it to multiple women in the Kingdom. I hear rumors but everyone is afraid to speak up" Julian informed him.
"Because my father is backing him up for some bizarre reason. Everything always gets swept under the rug when James and Diana are involved. Let's go back to the castle, I need to speak with James immediately" They both got on their horses and rode away.
•
Jess immediately ran towards Ares as soon as she saw him ride in. She bowed her head as he climbed off the horse.
"Is something wrong, Jess?" He questioned.
"My lady has been arrested, Your highness" Ares' and Julian's eyes widened.
"What? What right does anyone have to arrest my betrothed?" Ares questioned through clenched teeth before running into the castle.
"Why was she arrested?" Julian questioned Jess. She wrung her fingers before raising up her head to stare at him.
"Because she's not the real Isabella and they have accused her of identity theft which isn't true. They had been the one who forced her to act like Isabella and now they were accusing her wrongly. I always knew that family was vile" Julian walked up to Jess and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"If Isa…. If your lady is really innocent then you have nothing to worry about, Ares will help her out" Jess glanced at his hand on her shoulder before turning back to stare into his green eyes. This was the first time she was this close to this man and damn was he handsome.
Her heart leaped in her chest as he smiled at her then walked away. She watched him walk away before slapping her face softly.
"Snap out of it, Jess. Reign had just been arrested. I need to go be with her in the dungeon" Then she walked away.
•
Ares marched up to the throne room with anger in his eyes.
"How dare you arrest my betrothed without my consent?" Ares questioned as he barged into the throne room. Diana and James were in the room but Ares could care less.
"I see you've heard" Ares furrowed his eyebrows.
"I've heard? I want her out of there now or I'm going to get her out myself" The King sighed.
"She stole the identity of her master's child, Your real Betrothed and was posing as her all this while. That's a punishable crime, Ares" Ares scoffed.
"Oh really? Get Williams for me, Now!" He instructed one of the maids who immediately scurried off.
Williams came minutes later then bowed.
"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses" He greeted.
"Williams? When you went to pick up My betrothed from that house, did it seem like she stole anyone's identity?" Williams shook his head.
"They acted like she was their real daughter, Your highness" Ares turned to the King.
"How can a common Maid in their house steal the identity of their child just like that and they let her leave the house with fine expensive clothes? Did you know I went to their house recently and they pretended she was their daughter and their real daughter was her cousin? You didn't know that, did you?" The king seemed conflicted but Ares knew his father. When he had made up his mind about something, it was hard to change it.
"Jacob told me she has leverage over them and that's why they had to obey her" Ares tilted his head.
"So why are they speaking up now?"
"Because they can't sit there and watch an imposter getting married to you" Ares scoffed.
"You know what? The only reason I'm not going to break her out of that Dungeon myself is because I want to prove you wrong. I pray to the heavens that one day, you'll finally make great decisions and be a wise king because now, you're obviously just stupid" Everyone gasped at his words but he could care less.
"How dare you talk to the King like that?!" Diana stood up fuming as she yelled but Ares just glared at her before turning around and storming off. He clenched his fist as he walked off.
"I'm coming for you, Reign"...