death is the only ending for the trash queen

Part 12

The arrival into the Henituse territory was somewhat more rushed than planned.

After the incident with the princess, all focus was brought to reaching the destination as swiftly as possible to treat her meager injuries and obtain the safety of the most well defended territory in the kingdom.

The king and queen were practically attached to the smothered princess throughout the process, only the finest of potions and healers to handle the minor cuts on her hands and knees and the bruise on her cheek. Such constant fussing that there was hardly even time to acknowledge the royal family's arrival.

The Henituse family certainly took notice of the arrival though. As with the king and queen, they rushed into action, the young princess' safety and comfort being the primary concern on the mind's of all.

Penelope felt a bit dizzy from the whirlwind of movement. She hardly had the time to register new faces or new places before she was safely placed in a luxurious bedroom that could put some of the rooms in the palace to shame, surrounded at all sides by relatives and healers and strangers.

She locked eyes with her mother in desperation and it was only a moment of eye contact but Cale immediately understood.

"Get out." Hardly anyone paid attention to the command upon first hearing it. Those who heard and knew took a rather generous step towards the door.

Penelope closed her eyes and winced as her mother cleared the room in a way that only she could, wiping her hands on her dress and huffing before she turned to the remaining members in the room.

Alberu had chosen not to flee but Cale had chosen not to engage with him. And there was an elderly butler standing beside Penelope's bed, conspicuously unflustered by the chaos that had just occurred.

Penelope let out a tiny sigh of relief. She felt like she could breathe again. She saw Cale take a step towards her, the soft expression of a worried mother painted all over her face, before her eyes flickered to Alberu and she hardened her expression. Turning away from Penelope as though she didn't care.

Penelope really wished the stupid king would just leave.

"Ron." Cale's cold voice cut into the air. "Prepare a meal for the princess. Bring me the finest wines as well."

Alberu frowned at the request but Ron bowed long. "As her majesty wishes." He said, a benign smile of apparent harmlessness decorating his wrinkled face.

Penelope had never actually heard her mother refer to a servant by name so it caught her by surprise.

Although she was aware when she'd proposed this trip, it really struck Penelope for the first time that this was her mother's home. The place where she'd been raised, all the nauseating strangers that she had kicked out at Penelope's silent request were likely people she knew. Perhaps people she cared about.

Penelope felt a bit strange then.

The dissonance that came with viewing a parent as an individual outside of their role as a parent was one that she wasn't quite familiar with. She was used to terrible parents who could be dismissed as awful and loving parents who ought to be protected but... the in-between gap of a parent having a life outside of the myopic existence of a child was new.

She understood it in theory and she'd been hopeful for her mother to find happiness as an individual. She just hadn't fully internalized the information before this moment.

Cale had a life outside of her and one that she had a very limited understanding of.

Why had Cale agreed to marry the crown prince when she clearly abhorred everything about the palace? Why had she never once contacted her family in Penelope's memories? Why did she look smaller than ever as she glanced at the door 'Ron' had left from?