Amelia's Fate Hanging In the Balance - Chapter Forty Eight

Amelia followed the wizard down a staircase where she could feel a cool draft. She had never seen this part of the castle before.

Amelia was shocked at the sight before her eyes. There was blood on the floors and lots of odd looking things that just didn't look good. Amelia started to get scared when the wizard stopped in front of a room with bars for the doors. 

"You are to remain here until I send for you." he told her.

"Please! Please! Don't put me in here! I'll do as you ask! Just don't put me into this cage." Amelia pleaded. 

"No, you have to be here." he replied. 

"Why do I have to stay in a dungeon like someone that has committed a crime?" she asked, panic in her voice. 

"Because the queen demands it." he responded sternly.  

She walked into the wet, damp cell and felt despair overcome her. She broke down and began to cry. 

"Why must I endure this!? I don't understand why the queen hates me." she thought.

After many hours, she finally calmed down and sat alone in the dim cell quietly.

The next day she was taken to the wizard's cottage. He met her and handed her a red bottle of liquid. 

"Drink!" he commanded. 

"What is this?" she asked. 

"It doesn't matter, you have to drink it" he told her. 

She stared for a moment at the bottle and realized she had no choice. She drank it and felt a warm sensation throughout her body.

But to the wizards shock, she fell to the floor in a daze. She couldn't move or speak. The potion didn't work on her like it did on the others. 

He was worried now that he wasn't going to find a cure for the baby in time for its birth, like the queen was hoping for.

He had the guard come and take her lifeless body back to the dungeon, to wait and see if she would awaken.

A lady was selected to tend to Amelia, to watch her progress and to keep the wizard informed of her condition.

She was placed on the wooden bench. The lady tended to her to make her as comfortable as possible.

A couple of days passed and Amelia still laid there with no signs of recovering.

Then on the third day, she awoke to sharp pains all over her body. She began to throw up.

After she threw up several times in the course of a few hours, she grew weak and drifted back into a deep sleep.

Sara, Amelia's sister and a good friend of James, snuck out of the cottage and went off towards the castle to find him and ask him what had happened to her sister. After sneaking into the castle, she ran into him walking down the hall. She ran up to him quickly. 

"Have you seen Amelia?! She was brought back here over a week ago." she asked straight away. 

James was shocked to hear that Amelia had been there so long and he hadn't seen her. 

"No, I haven't seen her. They must have her somewhere out of sight! That wizard is always up to no good." he told her, alarmed that he knew nothing of Amelia's whereabouts.

"If she's here, I will find her. Speak of this to no one! I don't want anyone growing suspicious. Meet me out in the field, but do not let yourself be seen!" he told her. 

"Ok, I'll see you there." she replied. She watched as James hurried off and she carefully, but quickly, left the castle and headed towards the field to hide.

He searched everywhere and then there was only one place left to look. He made sure no one was down there, then slipped into the dungeon.

To his shock, he saw Amelia in a cell locked up and lifeless on the floor. 

"Amelia! Amelia! It's James. Wake up!" he yelled at her. 

She didn't respond to him at all. He feared that he was to late. 

"What did they do to her and what if shes dead?!" he thought as he tried desperately to open the door.

A lady's voice startled James. He turned around to find a lady standing there. 

"You're not supposed to be down here. If they find out you're here, it would be bad." she told him. 

 "Why do they have this girl here?" he asked. 
"I don't know why they have her down here. I'm just supposed to take care of her. She's really ill and I think it has something to do with that wizard. I'd bet it has something to do with the curse and your child to be." she replied hesitantly.

A short time later, James found Sara in the field waiting on him. 

"I found her. She's in the dungeon. I can't get her to respond and the wizard is up to something. I know it. I have a bad feeling that they are trying to find a cure for the baby Julia is carrying." he told her.

Sara was horrified at what James had just told her. 

"She doesn't deserve this James! He's going to kill her! I just know it!" she exclaimed as panic and fear overcame her. 

"I can tell you this, they're wasting they're time. That baby isn't even going to have the curse because it's not mine!" he informed her.

"What are we going to do?! I told her that I would protect her!" she asked him. 

"I'm not sure, but we have to think of something before her time runs out... if we're not already too late." he replied.