I Bought the exiled king (by Natalie Winter) novel Chapter 150

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Chapter 150

Valencia

GAD

My body, fueled with hope, began climbing up the dirty, moss–ridden stairs. I kept following the direction of the ray of light.

The stairs kept taking me up, upwards and I was finally in a corridor that felt familiar. It felt like the section I had been with the King but there was no King around and neither was the door he had opened to slip inside the castle.

I hoped he was okay.

Killian’s howls had been accompanying me but they grew lesser and distant the more I climbed back. That only told me how deep he had been locked in.

“Mary. Potion. Infirmary. Torv.”

I chanted to remind myself of the goal again.

Soon I came across a service passage lined with old barrels and sacks.

Most of them looked abandoned and broken.

I took a whiff and could smell some familiar smells.

Herbs.

But these were not the ones in the infirmary.

Because that smell was accompanied with that of frying and baking.

I coughed but was delighted to realize I was somewhere where the chances of finding Mary were high.

I climbed faster as more smells bombarded me. The route was likely used by cooks and laundresses.

It smelled of mold and stale beer. I slipped through it like a rat, torch held low, ears straining for the scrape of approaching boots.

I was not sure how long I had been in the dungeons or where all the guards had spread to. Though I believed the kitchen would be the least place they would take a fight but then I didn’t want to take any chances

The castle above still roared and I could still hear the shouts, the clang of metal on metal. I even heard someone cursing the name Martin and I hoped they would just behead him but that was just speculation.

Because here the world was smaller and crueler: narrow, clotted, designed to trap

I swallowed hard, heart hammering. This wasn’t a knight’s hall or a guard’s stair–it was the kind of place servants used when the nobility never looked. Granted the kitchen was mostly full of women but the piles of rags and unwashed bedsheets told me the male servants frequented this passage too.

10:38 Fri, Sep 26

Chapter 150

Bachata

If I slipped through, I might find myself in the guts of the castle—closer to the kitchens, closer to the temple’s cavern passages. And, maybe, to Torv.

For a moment I leaned against the stone, torch trembling in my grip.

Goddess, what if I’m wrong? What if I waste precious minutes stumbling in circles while Killian bleeds out in the dark?

I closed my eyes and forced myself to picture him.

Not the blood on his skin, not the chains, but the way his eyes had flared like molten fire when he’d demanded, “Who made you wear that?” That raw fury had been more alive than anything else I’d seen tonight. That was what I was fighting for.

If we lived through this hellish phase, I would wear something just for Killian. And see him smile at me.

Yes, that was what I would do.

I pulled in a shaky breath and ducked into the passage.

The ceiling dipped low, forcing me to crouch. My torch threw light over baskets piled with linens, a broken clay jug seeping sour wine into the dirt, a broom snapped in half and left to rot.

The air was warmer here, heavy with kitchen smoke drifting from somewhere ahead. My boots sank into packed earth instead of stone, muffling my steps. It smelled of sweat, yeast, and old grease.

I had passed through a lot of clothes and that gave me an idea. I didn’t want to parade around in that see through dress and hideous robe.

A few maid gowns were hanging from the ropes, fluttering in the wind and left to dry. I quickly looked around and stripped off of that hideous dress and put on one of the maid’s dress.

My body instantly thanked me for not having to move in that tight fabric or always worry about keeping the robe around me to keep myself covered.

A bucket of soap water lay nearby and I quickly washed my face and hands to get rid of the dirt and grime.

I wished I had enough time to bathe and wash my hair but that was a luxury I could not afford right now.

Thus I dried myself, combed my hair with fingers to the best of my ability and put on a cap that maids usually wore to cover myself from head to toe.

Just my face and hands were visible now but if I stayed careful nobody would notice me as I slipped through the castle.

I thanked the Goddess and Killian for sending me through this path and looked around.

I moved quickly, trying to memorize every turn, left at the broken jug, left again where the wall dripped with

condensation.

Left when in doubt.

10:38 Fri, Sep 26

Chapter 150

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195 Joncters

The words pressed against my skull with every step, like Killian himself was walking beside me, guiding me.

The passage bent sharply and opened up into a wider space: a storage corridor lined with huge barrels and sacks, all filled with rations and supplies.

Somewhere above, faintly, came the muffled roar of voices the chaos from the hall hadn’t died down. My stomach knotted. The King’s court was still at war with itself while the true heir lay rotting below.

Thats what Killian was. Not the exiled heir but the true heir.

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