𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 ✔

Chapter Forty

I sat with Rheda on the way to the Ball, allowing Sheera and Merona to sit together. Admiring how subtly affectionate the two were with one another, but also longing to have what they had, even if it were a secret.

Sheera surprised me the most, with how gentle and kind she was with Merona. I had only ever seen her usual strong, sarcastic side, so I would have never guessed her to have been the type to love so purely and sweetly.

Merona was as I would have thought, shy and embarrassed by the littlest things. However, she seemed sturdier with Sheera near, less scared and on her way to being more confident in herself.

Love was an odd, yet beautiful thing to watch grow. So invisible at the start, but once it sprouted, it did not take long before it was in full bloom.

"I hope they do not make you uncomfortable." Rheda whispered, the two of them too enraptured with one another to notice.

"It is quite the opposite, I assure you." I smiled, "I cannot be happier for the two of them."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Navarre and Nysa are not like Myrce when it comes to the constraints of love. We do not put limits on such a natural thing, so I was unsure of how you would feel about the two of them."

"Myrce my have welcomed the church with open arms, but before it, we too weren't so controlling when it came to personal choices." I smoothed a wrinkle from my dress, "I have never been one to meddle in other's lives, nor have I been one to make judgments on things that affect me in no way at all. Something many of our people have forgotten how to do."

"Indeed." She looked over at her cousin, then out of the window, "Tonight is going to be harder than you might think."

I leaned my head back against the cushioned wall, "Oh, I am prepared for it to be terrible."

"The Dampierres are a mighty family, with wealth and connections to match. All of their hosted events are lavish displays and political stages where they secretly move to secure allies against the crown." She carefully checked the back of her hair to make sure she had not accidentally ruined her style, "Though, for as brazen as they are about it, the King and Queen have said nothing about their subtle treachery."

"Surely many of the families that have been approached by the Dampierres have ran eagerly to them in hopes of currying favor? There is no way the queen of all people is unaware of such undermining tactics." I could not believe that something so serious had been allowed to go on for so long without even a warning from the King, let alone the Queen.

"That's the thing," Her tone grew serious, "Many of the esteemed families that have the old blood of Myrce running through their veins hate the queen. To them, the queen consort should only be in charge of hosting events, entertaining the King's guests, and maintaining the social climate of the Kingdom."

"In other words," Sheera joined in, "Idra is nothing more than the second queen, their loyalties remain with the one that is dead."

"So, her abrupt marriage to the King was not well received." I had figured as much, just from the décor choices of the palaces alone, it had been very obvious she had tried too hard to prove something.

"From what mother says, Queen Prudence, Gods rest her, left a very large hole to fill." Rheda glanced back out the window, "One, many think, cannot be filled by someone from a family with such a low standing as Idra's."

"She's not highborn?" I internally gasped, keeping my lack of knowledge to myself out of embarrassment. "How many things are there that I still do not know?"

"Gods," Merona softly sighed, "we are here."

Something had changed about her since we had first met, though I could not place it at the time. Whatever it had been, however, was not for the good. It felt as if she had shattered and many of the pieces had yet to be found.