Chapter 35 Amaryllis
AMARYLLIS
Father lounges on his throne, one arm draped over a golden armrest while the other lifts a silver goblet to his lips. The grand hall is quieter than usual – so quiet I can hear my steps beneath the long skirt of my indigo gown.
Martha walks by my side, hurrying to keep up with me.
The nobles surrounding us speak in hushed whispers.
I hear my name, along with Orion’s, weaving through the huge stone pillars that hold up the painted ceilings.
I don’t listen to what’s being said, though.
Right now, I can only focus on one thing:
My freedom – and possibly Kasimir’s – resting in the hands of a rather bored-looking king.
“Father,” I call out, making no effort to hide the relief in my tone. “Father, please, I have to speak with you!”
“Amaryllis.” He straightens in his seat. “I sent your maid to fetch you over an hour ago. What could’ve possibly been keeping you—”
“Please, Father, there’s no time. I have to talk to you about something. It’s Orion. He’s been truly awful. He’s—”
“Enough with this nonsense,” he scoffs. “Prince Orion is a respectable prince, and if what your sisters have told me is true, then I can only assume you deserved it.”
My mouth turns dry. “What?”
“You must understand, I have spoiled you, dear. You and all the girls. Of course, it was not my intention, but alas here we are.” His gaze flicks over to me, but I feel none of the warmth I usually do – only a dark, seething anger.
“If the prince wishes to be rough with you, to shape you into the demure princess that I should’ve been strong enough to raise, then all the more power to him. ”
“But, Father—”
“More wine, servant.”
A servant hurries over to refill Father’s goblet as my lip curls. He doesn’t have to say anything more for me to understand what this means. This conversation is over. Return to your bedchamber, Amaryllis. Or in this case, the man who sees no issue in forcing himself upon me.
My heart pounds in my chest. Two weeks ago, I would’ve done what he’d asked.
I’m not that princess any more.
Marching forward, I open my mouth to shout, but before I can say anything, a soft voice touches my side.
“There’s no point, Ami.” Blossom hurries up to me, her expression grim. “We’ve already spoken to him. We told him everything Orion did in the ballroom. He just won’t listen.” Beside her, Camellia pats her shoulder, while Dahlia folds her arms.
“I’ll get through to him,” I tell them. “Father won’t let Orion get away with this when he hears what happened in his bedchamber.”
Blossom’s face pales. “What happened, Ami?”
I shake my head. “You’ll find out in a moment.” Ignoring her protests, I march towards the king.
“Father.” My tone is harsh enough to make him flinch. “Prince Orion is a brute who spent the past few hours torturing me. He threw ice water on my gown and forced me to sit by an open window until I couldn’t feel my hands!”
“Come now, Amaryllis, that’s hardly torture,” he warns.
“He’s forcing me to lie with him!” I raise my voice, not caring for the shocked whispers that fill the hall.
“He told me that the only way to make the torture stop would be if I gave myself to him. You would let him do that to me? You would let him rape one of your daughters?” Tears prick at my eyes.
“Please, Father, you have to listen to me…”
He scowls, the lines on his face deepening as he notices the finely dressed lords and ladies glancing wide-eyed between us.
“Oh, Ami,” Camellia sobs from the crowd.
I’m causing a scene, but I don’t care. If Father won’t listen then maybe his court might. He’d rather die than lose his reputation. Or at least, I hope that’s the case.
“Clearly there has been some misunderstanding,” he sighs. “I will have to speak with your fiancé over dinner tonight.”
Hope squeezes at my chest. “You will?”
“Of course, my dear.” A tight smile touches his cheeks. The whispers around us dissolve back into conversations as the nobles quickly lose interest. “In fact, why wait until tonight? Come, Amaryllis, let’s speak somewhere more private.” He pushes up from his throne, gesturing to a side door.
“Oh thank you, Fa—”
“Orion will join us, of course.”
I freeze mid-step. “I really must insist we speak alone first—”
“Thank you, Sol.” A cold hand clamps down on my shoulder, turning everything else I wanted to say into a pathetic whimper.
“Darling bride,” Orion whispers against my ear. “How I’ve missed you.”
“Don’t touch me.” I try to shove him away, but his grip hardens on my shoulder. His other arm curls around my waist, tight enough to bruise.
“Behave, Amaryllis,” he warns in a low voice.
I glance up at Father, but he’s already pushing open the door that Orion is marching us towards.
Breath quickening, I turn back to my sisters. I should scream, call out for help. My frantic gaze catches Blossom’s and Camellia’s, and then Dahlia’s, whose scowl could burn down the entire palace.
But they don’t help me. No one says anything as I’m pushed towards the wooden door, the dagger tucked into my bodice feeling heavier and heavier with every step I’m forced to take.
“We’ll use the princesses’ reception room,” Father says, reaching for the gilded handle of my sisters’ private room.
“I doubt it’ll be in use, especially since all twelve of them are so determined to spend their afternoon convincing me of your ineligibility for my daughter’s hand.
” He chuckles while I grip the skirts of my gown.
“Perhaps they have good reason to,” I seethe. But once again I’m ignored by both men as Orion huffs out a laugh.
“You’ll have to forgive me, Sol. I did not intend for my stay here to cause such a fuss amongst your daughters.”
“Jealousy, I suppose.”
My blood boils.
“Indeed,” Orion laughs, guiding me in and pulling the door shut behind us.
The reception room doesn’t feel so welcoming without my sisters inside.
Afternoon light filters through the tall windows, casting a golden glow over the ornate furniture.
Normally, we’d sit by the fireplace, playing cards or trading gossip we’d heard from the servants.
Sometimes maids would come by with freshly baked trays of biscuits and cakes from the kitchen, and we’d let them eat with us.
But there are no cakes on the tables today. And when Orion shoves me towards that same fireplace, forcing me to take a seat beside him on the chaise longue, the only thing I can taste is bitter rage on my tongue.
“Now, Ami.” Father sits down opposite us in a large armchair, but I can barely look at him as he speaks. “I appreciate that you are a young woman, and in many ways I have sheltered you too much from the world. Perhaps I have been too kind.”
“A kind father wouldn’t force his daughter into marriage.” The words shoot out before I can stop them.
“Orion is a perfectly good match for you,” he scoffs.
“He’s forcing me to fuck him.”
Father shoots out of his chair. “Have you lost your mind?” he spits, his face flushing as red as the burning embers. “You will not use such foul language in my palace. Did I raise a princess or a pig?”
“It’s quite alright, Sol. Her words do not offend—”
“My language is no more foul than what he’s doing to me.
Your daughter.” I finally meet his glare.
“You say you love us, but you ignore us when we tell you the men you’re bringing into the palace are hurting us.
” I rise from my seat, the scared faces of my sisters flashing in my mind.
“Prince Hugo was going to take Liliana away with him, and when I tried to stop him, you let him drag me out into the gardens to punish me. She’s fourteen, Father!
Fourteen!” My heart races. “And now Prince Orion is here, you’ll let him do whatever he wants to me.
Why, Father?” A tear slips down my cheek, but my voice doesn’t falter. “Tell me why!”
With a frustrated sigh, he sinks into his armchair. “Sit down, Amaryllis.”
My gaze narrows.
“Sit down, please, and I will tell you the truth of all this.”
I return to my seat as Orion tenses beside me. “Is this wise, Sol?”
“It doesn’t matter now. You’ll be returning to your own palace when morning comes.”
My lips part, but before I can ask whether I’ll be returning with him, Father begins in a cool tone, “I need an heir, Amaryllis.”
My brow scrunches in confusion. “But you have one,” I remind him. “In fact, you have more than one – you have twelve.”
“I have twelve daughters,” he grumbles. “I need a son.”
I shake my head. “But how could forcing me to marry Prince Orion help with this?”
Orion chuckles while Father exhales uncomfortably. “Because he’s going to give me one.” He wrings his hands together. “With you.”
“What?” The room spins. I can barely breathe until Orion clasps his hand upon my shoulder, and the realisation hits me. “I am not having a child with him.”
“You will,” Father warns. “Because if you are unable to produce an heir for me, then it will be Blossom’s turn, and then Camellia’s, and then—”
“Don’t you dare bring them into this.” My skirts almost tear from the force that I grip them.
“Then you will give me a son,” he sighs. “I only require one. You may keep any daughters or sons that follow.”
Disgusted, I twist away to face Orion. “And you’re okay with this?” I meet the smirking prince’s gaze. “Giving up your firstborn to another king?”
“That is merely a small part of the price I paid to claim your hand, dear princess.”
I stiffen. “Price? What price? What are you talking about?”
Orion just chuckles.
“Father, what is he talking about?” I whip my gaze back to the king.
Father winces, running his fingers through his golden hair.
“It was for your own good.” Red flashes in his eyes.
I blink, thinking it must be a trick of the light, but there’s another flash of red when he says, “It’s important to me that you have a good life with your husband. I do not wish for you to be unhappy.”
My stomach sinks. I don’t have time to consider what the red means as he continues, “I need an heir, desperately, so I sent your portrait to every eligible noble across the realm, with a letter explaining my predicament.”
“Along with an invitation to a private auction for your hand.” Orion smirks.
“An auction?” Fear washes over me. Had I not been sitting, I’d have collapsed to the floor. “You sold me to the highest bidder?” I yell.
“It wasn’t like that!” Red sparks in Father’s eyes. “It was more of a discussion.” More red. “And it was simply so I could make sure your future husband could afford to take care of you.” Red. Red. Red.
My knees tremble as I put the pieces together.
‘True sight’, the fallen star had said to me on that cool summer night – the night before I first saw red in Hugo’s eyes.
Hugo claimed he didn’t know how old Liliana was, but pursued her anyway. I saw the red flash again when Dahlia called Camellia ugly. And again when Orion promised he wouldn’t kiss me unless I asked him to.
“Father.” My hands become fists. “Is my name Amaryllis?” It’s silly to test it. I’m sure I already know what the red means, but there’s a part of me that wants to know one more thing – something I can’t bear to be a lie.
“What are you talking about?” he scoffs. “This is preposterous!”
“Is my name Amaryllis?” I yell.
“Of course it is.” No red. Obviously… Because he’s telling the truth.
I take a breath. “Do you love me?”
“Amaryllis…”
“Please. Father. Just answer the question. Do you love me?”
“Of course I do.” Red eyes. A lie. “I love all of my daughters.” Red again.
I sink deeper into the chair. Pain slashes through my chest, as if he’d just ripped out my heart and served it to the cruel prince beside me.
It must be magic. A twisted gift from the stars that shows me red when someone lies.
I’m too broken to feel grateful, though.
“And what about Hugo then?” I ask, my voice sounding very far away. “Did he come to this auction?”
“Hugo was the reason for the auction,” Orion laughs.
Father shoots him a glare, but the prince ignores him.
“Your dear father has an awful gambling habit. Had I not offered the price I did for your hand, I suspect Prince Hugo would’ve been wanting to leave your palace with many more of you than just your youngest sister. ”
My shoulders tense, and Father looks away sheepishly. I’m too hurt to shout at him. I don’t even flinch when Orion pulls me against his side, the stitching of his satin tunic like thorns against my skin.
“I am so glad we could come to this arrangement, Sol,” Orion purrs. “I’m sure Amaryllis will be very happy in my kingdom, and I shall endeavour to provide you with an heir as soon as possible.”
I shudder, but say nothing as my pulse thunders in my ears.
“I trust you will take good care of her prisoner too?”
A breath catches in my throat.
“Prisoner?” Father tilts his head.
“Orion, no,” I find my voice, pushing away from him. “Please don’t. You promised you wouldn’t hurt him!”
“And I’ll keep my promise.” Grinning, his gaze drops to my lips before meeting my wide eyes. “But I can’t speak for your father.”
“No—”
“There is a guard in the dungeon.” Orion turns to the king, ignoring my protests.
“He was spotted with your eldest late last night, and she’s already admitted to me that they’ve done much more than share a kiss.
I suspect you’ll want him executed for defiling one of your daughters.
I know that is how I’d want the matter dealt with. ”
Father mutters something in agreement, but I barely hear him as I launch myself at Orion.
“You absolute brute!” I scream, slamming my fists against his face, his chest, anything I can hurt. But he just grabs my wrists and scoops me off my feet as if I weigh nothing at all.
“That’s enough, Amaryllis,” he tuts, holding me against him and marching us towards the door. “You’ll have to excuse us, Sol. I fear that guard has had quite a negative influence on my bride. You’ll make sure he’s thoroughly punished, won’t you?”
I don’t hear Father’s answer over my screams. I thrash, yell, calling Orion every vile name under the sun, but still he whisks me out of the room without a care in the world.
Now Father knows – Kasimir is as good as dead.
And the thought of that makes me forget how to breathe.