26. Cora #2
“Prince Jasper came into the castle and hid in the shadows?” Her eyes are filled with disbelief and a heat flows to my cheeks. The scandal has hardly begun. Poor Cora may faint before we’ve arrived.
“It was not so simple as that, but I did not know his identity at the time. Over the next few days, I felt him watching me, but he did not come close. And finally…I lost my composure.”
Isabel stares at me as if she cannot believe what I’m saying.
“Please do not judge me,” I murmur.
“Never,” she says quickly and takes my hand. “Did he…hurt you?”
“Quite the opposite… I saw him in the shadows at dinner one evening, watching me from a room nearby. I excused myself and went to him, and found him there waiting. And then…I challenged him. I challenged him to come to my rooms and take me, if he was brave enough.”
“And he did?” She’s still as a statue on edge for the remainder of my story.
“He did. That night. He put a blindfold on me, and when he was finished…I was no longer a virgin.”
Isabel falls back against her seat, although her hand stays clasped to mine. “But it did not end there?”
“No. It did not. The next day, I received word that suitors would be coming. I didn’t know how to feel about this timing, and what I had done.
I could hardly bear to look at them. I knew I was not being fair to them, but the man who had become my lover for that night did not appear, so I could not speak with him about it.
Then Prince Jasper arrived. He didn’t seem to be interested in me.
He did not want to meet that day, but suggested tea for the next.
That very night, the man in the shadows reappeared again. ”
Isabel leans forward, hanging on my every word.
“It was…rougher. The second time. But he did not hurt me. It gave me so much pleasure I could not fathom it, but he did not say a word, and he left me again without speaking. The next day, I met with Prince Jasper, and he could see on my face that I had a secret. I confessed to him.”
“But it was him? He kept that from you?”
“Well...there’s more but at the time I didn’t know who my lover was,” I answer honestly. “But I thought he had only taken the admission so well because we…we had an encounter in the garden when the servant was fetching tea.”
“In the garden!” Her hand leaves mine but only to cover her mouth for a moment before questioning, “Where was your chaperone?”
“Fetching tea,” I admit and a smile creeps on her face.
“My word you are…adventurous, Cora.”
“It was so… I would never have dreamed of doing such a thing before this week, but I loved it, and he could tell. He was so filthy. He did not treat me like a fragile girl. He treated me like…like a woman with real desires. That is why I confessed to him. He could tell it was not my first time, and I could not bring myself to hide it. But then one evening Prince Jasper was not at dinner. That night, I decided that I would end things with my secret lover. I could not continue with both. He came to me a third time, but he was different. Gentler, although what he wanted—”
“Something forbidden,” whispers Isabel in a full blown grin. “He is…well I suppose the two of you shall be nicknamed adventurers.” She laughs but I can’t bring myself to laugh just yet.
“Yes,” I admit, my face burning. “Yes. He took me in that…place, and by the time I took the blindfold off, he was gone. The next morning, the prince surprised me with a carriage ride, just the two of us, to get to know each other. I was going to tell him what had happened, I swear, but instead he opened up to me about his brother, who had been captured during the war and…changed.”
Isabel is speechless. She waits, staring, for me to continue.
“That night,” I whisper, and clear my throat. “That night, my lover came back to me. I ordered him to stand in the light, where I could see him, and I saw that he had scars on his face.”
Her bottom lip drops as the realization dawns on her.
“I asked him if that was why he did not want me to see him, but he would not answer.”
“He didn’t answer,” she nearly whispers, the confirmation shining in her wide eyes. “Both of them?” she whispers even softer and her lips stay propped open as if she’s unable to shut her mouth at all.
“I asked him for a kiss, which he gave to me, but then he left. I did not know what to do.”
“Then you came down this morning…”
“And it was him. Prince Casen. Prince Casen is Prince Jasper’s brother, and he was the man in the shadows. I have had them both, Isabel. They have both taken me.”
“Is this journey… Are they attempting to hide what they have done? To hide you?” Horror flashes over her face. “Do we need to find some means of escape?”
“No,” I say quickly. “No, Isabel. They do not mean to hide me or steal me. They mean to…have me. Share me. They mean for me to be Prince Jasper’s wife, but belong to both of them in private.
They both wish to have me, and there…cannot be a child, otherwise.
Prince Jasper is a good man. That is why he has asked you to come as my companion.
I think he is trying to show me that there is nothing to hide, other than—”
“The fact that you would be wedded to two men?”
“Not publicly, but…yes.” I lean back into my seat, exhausted from reliving the emotions as I told Isabel the story. But I pop up again right away. “You cannot tell anyone. It has to stay a secret between us.”
“I would never tell,” she promises. “You have my word.”
Isabel looks out the window for a long while.
“My God,” she says under her breath. “I would never tell, but…my God.” When she looks back at me, her eyes sparkle.
“I would have never guessed you had so many secrets, Cora. My sister”—she starts and then shakes her head—“I have stories to tell you one day, but for today, let’s…
well let’s get through this adventure, shall we? ”