The Dark Crown

Chapter 2

It was a quiet evening in the Dawson mansion. The soft glow of the fireplace and the lit chandeliers bathed the room with golden light. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner. It was a peaceful night. The master of the house Louis Dawson sat in the dining hall along with his wife Charolette Dawson both engaged in excited conversations. "I really can'tbelieve we are going to be at the royal wedding, Louis. It is so generous of the princess to personally invite us." Charolette said as she chewed through the lemon cake that she had desperatelycraved."Of course she would. She is one of my closest friends." Louis smiledat his wife's adoring excitement. "oh yes.But I still cannot believe how close you are with the duke and princess. And she is so down to earth. They both are. When you three get together one couldn't tell they are royalty at all" Charolette recalled happily. "yes ..they are "Louis smiled lost in thought. Their conversation is cut short however when a maid steps into the room announcing the arrival of a messenger from the palace." What is so important that they couldn't wait till sunrise?" Louis murmured looking at the great clock ticking past 11 and watching the royal messenger enter the room wearing a black attire and handing over the envelope to Louis. He opens the scroll revealing the royal crest on its back and reads its contents. He shares a bewildered glance with his wife.

'𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝔀𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻. 𝓞𝓾𝓻 𝓐𝓵𝓮𝔁𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓪 𝓲𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮!𝓶𝓾𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭.𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓰𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓬𝓴 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓲 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓻𝓮.𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓰𝓻𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓭.𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓸𝓶 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭.𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓲 𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓾𝓼𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷 𝓪𝓼 𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓮 '

                                                                                                                                     -  𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓮𝓼

Louis having already sunken into his chair with eyes flooded with tears sits staring at the note willing it to be a hoax. A trick that Alexandra is so fond of playing and yet aware it couldnt be.He felt a consoling squeeze on his shoulders and hence looks up to see Charolette sharing an understanding glance with her own eyes too brimming with tears. Sharing a wordless nod with him, she orders "Hans, the master and I will be heading to the castle now. Please bring down our belongings and get the carriage ready for our travel" and the servants leave right away to prepare for their departure.