Chapter 32
"Princess, Princess Meera sent you a word," the maid said as Welme slipped my nightdress off my shoulders and helped me into my morning gown.
The maid held a small folded note between two fingers, carefully avoiding my gaze.
"Thank you. You're dismissed." I took the note from her, and she quietly left the room.
For a single moment, just that beautiful, terrible moment, I caught sight of Lys standing outside the door, his back turned toward me. That one glimpse was enough for everything from last night to come rushing back. As it always did lately, warmth flooded my cheeks, and my stomach tightened.
"Princess?" Welme asked softly, one hand resting around my waist. She brushed the back of her hand against my cheek before her brows drew together in concern. "You're flushed. Are you alright? Are you ill?"
I shook my head.
"No, Welme. I'm just warm. Could you open the window while I read this?" I lifted the folded paper as though I needed proof that I wasn't lying. "Of course." She nodded, her shoes clicking across the polished floor. The window creaked open, and a cool summer breeze nuzzled against my face and hair.
I drew in a deep breath of the fresh air before unfolding the note.
'Sister, I would love for you to join me for breakfast in the southern dining hall. Mother returned this morning. She would like to see all of us.'
My eyebrows nearly disappeared into my hair. Mother had returned.
I had thought she would remain away for at least another few weeks.
"Welme... please dress me in something nice." The words left my mouth almost in disbelief.
"Is everything alright, Princess?"
"The Queen came back early." Understanding flickered across Welme's face instantly. She pressed her lips together, nodded once, and began searching through my wardrobe.
I sat down on the edge of my bed wearing nothing but my chemise and the light corset over it. "Do you think she'll ever change?"
Welme rested a soft pink gown beside me. ?I don't know, Princess." She only shrugged, deliberately looking away. It wasn't fair of me to ask her questions like that. Very few people knew the truth about my mother. She was an excellent queen.
She simply wasn't a very good mother.
Not only to me, but to any of her children. She loved travelling. She loved returning to the lands where she had been born, where she had just come from once again, far more than spending time with us.
I couldn't entirely blame her.
Especially in her own youth, the position of a royal woman had barely been higher than that of livestock. And yet, some childish part of me had always longed for that warmth. She had been here during the tournament, yet she had never visited me beforehand.
Never congratulated me.
Never comforted me afterward.
My fingers drifted to the skin around my nails, picking at it absentmindedly.
"It's alright, Welme," I murmured when she held up a pale blue dress.
She nodded. I rose so she could begin dressing me.
"Is Sanaedeo back yet?" I asked while she fastened the second layer of the gown around me.
"No, Princess. The prince hasn't returned from his journey."
"I wonder where he keeps disappearing to..."I spoke more to myself than to her.
Welme, unfortunately much faster than I would have liked, finished fastening the last buttons. "You'll be alright, Princess." She stepped in front of me and fastened a necklace around my neck.
Her green eyes shone with quiet sincerity, and the freckles scattered across her face had almost blended together beneath the summer sun. "Thank you, Welme." I squeezed her hand. She smiled, nodded, and squeezed mine back.
"Blessed morrow, my Princess." Lys straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall.
"Morning, Lysande. I hope you managed to rest."
"Thank you. I did."
His answer was short, yet sincere. He might have wanted to remember what had happened the night before.
I most certainly did not.
"I see you've started speaking proper court language." I teased him lightly. A small smile tugged at his lips before he gave a quiet nod. "Princess Meera invited us to breakfast."After several silent steps, I slowed. "The Queen will be there as well."
I tried to hide what I felt. Apparently, unsuccessfully. Lysande seemed to notice every shift in my expression, every change in my voice. He caught this one immediately.
"Is everything alright, Princess?" The simple speech he'd used back in the tavern returned without hesitation.
I shrugged.
"She's my mother... but our relationship is complicated." He let out a thoughtful hum but remained silent. Only when we entered another hallway, empty except for the two of us, did he move slightly closer. Close enough that I barely heard him whisper.
"Do not fret, Princess. I'll be there with you. If anything happens... we can leave immediately." He didn't know that nothing would happen. That was precisely the problem. Still...He was trying to comfort me the only way he knew how.
"Thank you, Lys." I smiled honestly.
Even though he couldn't truly help in a situation like this, somehow, just knowing he would be standing beside me made everything feel just a little lighter.
At last we reached the southern wing.
Dozens of servants hurried through the corridors carrying silver platters piled high with food and drink. Each bowed as I passed before another servant pulled open the great doors leading into the dining hall.
Conversation ceased the moment we stepped inside, and Mother immediately caught my eye.
She sat at the head of the long table with a pitcher of wine already resting within arm's reach despite the early hour.
Meera occupied the seat at her right.
To Mother's left sat Faran, while beside him was our youngest brother, Reararion, his brown hair identical to hers.
As always, Corian stood quietly behind Meera instead of sitting. With Faran present, that came as no surprise. It required no imagination to know Faran would never willingly share a table with someone he considered beneath his station.
Of course, that rule never seemed to apply to the women he visited in brothels every night.
"Mother." I bowed politely. "I was surprised to hear you returned so soon. It's good to see you."
"I won't be staying long, Isolde." She answered while lifting her wine to her lips. .
"Sister. Brothers." I greeted the others as a servant pulled out the chair beside Meera for me, and Corian inclined his head with a faint smile.
I reached for my chair, but Lysande had already stepped forward. He quietly pushed it beneath me.
"Thank you." I looked back at him with a smile. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly before he returned to his place. A servant set a plate before me.
The movement drew my attention, but not before I noticed Faran.
He had been watching the entire exchange with narrowed eyes, fingers laced together beneath his chin. I frowned ever so slightly, my eyelids closing just a little bit. Before I could say anything, Meera interrupted.
"So, Sister... have you heard anything from Sanadeo?" I turned toward her.
"No. He's disappeared again." She sighed before looking toward Mother.
"And you, Mother?"
"A few weeks ago." Her answer was as brief as ever, as she was talking about some boring matter, not her own son.
"I hope your journey wasn't too difficult."
"It was quite comfortable." She gave a small smile. "We stopped often. There were no problems."
Meera and I continued filling the silence with conversation that somehow felt even more uncomfortable than the silence itself.
She answered in short, polite sentences, as though she were speaking to ladies and lords rather than to her own daughters. I pressed my lips together and looked down at my plate, absentmindedly pushing a small piece of fish around with my fork.
The worst part was that Faran hadn't stopped watching me .His eyes followed every movement I made without blinking.
The only thing that finally drew his attention away was Corian.
He accepted a dessert from one of the servants and carefully placed it in front of Meera.
Faran's lips tightened in irritation, but the moment Meera smiled at Corian, he threw his fork onto the table and rested both palms against the wood.
"Meera, if you insist on surrounding yourself with creatures like that, then at least make him wear a helmet. The rest of us shouldn't have to lose our appetite because of..." He pointed a finger toward Corian's scarred face.
Meera froze, her fork still hovering in front of her lips for a brief moment before she gracefully lowered it back onto her plate. She smiled.
"Watch your tongue, brother," she said gently, as though she were calming an unruly child.
Unfortunately, that very child continued.
"Oh, please. Just look at him. He's ruined my meal. I order you to put your helmet back on."
He barked the command at Corian, who remained perfectly still. His torn lips and the deep scars carved across his face didn't move by so much as a fraction.
Something inside my stomach ignited. A fierce, blazing fire that wanted to burn everything around it to ashes. Yet I stayed silent. Sometimes the wisest thing to do with outbursts like these was simply to ignore them. Meera, however, had no intention of doing that.
"An insult toward my knight is an insult toward me, Faran."
She slowly lifted her chin. "Know your place."
The expression on her face transformed into something I had never seen before.
The face she had worn while comforting me wasn't even close to this one.
erhaps the fire burned inside my stomach, but hers burned in her eyes and on her tongue.
"Know your place," she repeated calmly, "or I'll remind you of it myself." Faran laughed.
"You? Your tongue has become far too loose, sister. They should've married you off to some lord years ago so he could teach you your place." She tilted her head to one side, her voice never changing.
"Perhaps the King will, or the future one. But you never will. Secondborn." Faran slammed both hands onto the table and shot to his feet. I flinched at the sound and instinctively felt Lysande step closer until his body brushed the back of my chair. Corian did the very same behind Meera.
"You little whore." The words had barely left Faran's mouth before Corian spoke.
"Show respect to the Princess." That only fueled Faran's rage.
"I'll have your head for that, you ugly little monster."
Corian remained silent. There wasn't the slightest trace of fear anywhere in his posture. He stood over two heads taller than Faran. One of his hands was the size of my face, and his bicep looked nearly as thick as Faran's head.
He could probably tear him in half with his bare hands.
But unlike some unfortunate peasant, Faran couldn't simply murder a Blood Knight on a whim. So the never-ending coward turned to my knight and me instead.
"And you?" he said, nodding toward Lysande. "I've heard the southerners are as stupid as dogs and that they live like them, too." A crooked smile spread across his face. "Tell me... is that true?"
Lysande remained silent.
Mother, just as she had after every one of Faran's previous remarks, slowly poured herself another glass of wine.
She drank it in one long sip before closing her eyes for a brief moment, resting the goblet lightly against her forehead as though the entire exchange were little more than an inconvenience.
"Answer me!" Faran barked. Lysande didn't move. For he accepted orders from no other except his princess.
"Lys..." I said quietly, reaching a hand toward him.
Without hesitation, he offered me his armored forearm. I wrapped my fingers around the cool metal and rose to my feet while he gently pulled my chair back from the table. I folded my napkin and placed it beside my untouched plate.
"Thank you for breakfast, Sister." I turned toward Mother. "It was good to see you, Mom." Neither of them tried to stop me. Then I looked toward Corian. "Corian." He bowed immediately, a gentle smile touching the scarred lips that had endured far more than they ever should have. "My princess."
I gave him a small nod before turning away.
Lysande fell into step behind me without needing to be told.
We had barely taken a few steps toward the doors when I stopped. My jaw tightened. The same fire that had been burning inside my stomach climbed into my throat, demanding to be let out. I turned back to face Faran.
"The dog in this room isn't the one wearing armor." Every pair of eyes shifted toward me. "It's the one dressed in silken cloths..." I held his gaze without blinking. "...yet somehow it still can't hide its bark." I inclined my head politely, as though I'd merely offered him a courteous farewell.
Then I turned around once more and walked out of the dining hall with Lysande at my heels. Behind me, dozens of curses followed us through the open doorway.
I barely heard a single one. The pounding of my own heart drowned out every voice around me. Heat spread across my face while furious tears gathered behind my eyes, burning far more fiercely than I wanted to admit.
I couldn't even begin to imagine how Lysande felt. Or Corian.
But I knew there was one thing that might, if only for a little while, make Lysande forget everything that had just happened. I turned down a different corridor instead of returning toward our chambers.
"Come with me, Lys." He didn't ask where we were going. He simply followed.
Together, we made our way toward the stables.