Glass Slippers [1st Draft]

27. The Departure

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

The Departure

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The events of the feast were not forgotten easily, at least not by Clara. The lords and ladies of the court, however, seemed to forget the attempted assassination with little trouble, their gossip turning back to its usual circles of who ran off with whom and who lost how much of their fortune. Clara was not as lucky as them.

Even though it had been three days since the events of the feast, she still was startled awake by nightmares that perfectly pictured the night of the feast, that is, except for one detail. The servant, who had passed on the morning after the feast, was replaced by Frederick. Instead of it being the servant's face that turned purple and the servant's lips that spilled forth blood, it was Frederick's face and Frederick's lips.

Needless to say, Clara awoke with her heart hammering and her body covered in a cold sweat every time she attempted to sleep. Such was her fate when she awoke early on the morning of the departure of Princess Sophia. She didn't even attempt to go back to sleep, instead wearily swinging her feet out of the bed and onto the cold stone floor of the bedroom she had been allowed to use during her stay.

The moon was still shining brightly from her window, and Clara shrugged on her dressing gown and put on a pair of satin slippers that Sophia had loaned her. She was far too anxious to go back to sleep even without the nightmares. In a few hours, Sophia would be leaving and Clara was rather nervous over the implications of what that meant.

On the one hand, she would most definitely miss the young woman who had become something of a close confidant to her. However, on the other hand, she was desperately worried about being left without Sophia to help her in court settings and figuring out Frederick's motives. But due to the attempted assassination, there was no question of whether or not Sophia and Frederick would still be married, and King Ferdinand had decreed that Sophia was to leave. However, she was not going to Carigan.

Thankfully, Sophia would not be returning to the home of her brother or her parents. Instead, she was to take up residence at the home of her grandmother, the mother of her own mother. Her grandmother's home was deep in the woods and far from most civilization, even the majority of letters could not make it into the woods to their rightful owners. It was by a pure stroke of luck that the messenger from the palace did not get chased by wolves through the woods when he had to deliver Sophia's letter to her grandmother explaining the situation. Needless to say, correspondence between Sophia and Clara would be out of the question, and so Clara would have to face the obstacles of court life without any aid at all.

Over the past few days, Clara had felt less like a guest and more like a small field mouse hiding from birds of prey. Almost every man and woman in the court was busy gossiping over the fact that Clara and her family were still staying at the castle even though it was a well-known fact that her brother was not as ill as he was.

Her brother was much improved and he was definitely well enough to return home, but the Queen had sent Clara a missive to tell her that the royal family wished for the Cordens to stay a while longer. Clara could not pretend to understand the motives of the Queen, but she was hoping to converse with Sophia about it before she left.

She glanced out the window, willing the sun to rise faster, but alas, it seemed it would rise at the same pace it always did. Clara contemplated reading, but she didn't quite feel settled enough to read any of the books provided to her. She felt like pacing, or better yet going on a walk, or just talking to someone.

Clara held her dressing gown closer around her and peeked out at the sky once again. Surely no one would blame her if she took a small walk? She decided that it would be well worth it. Perhaps after the walk, she would be able to go back to bed more easily. She glanced over at the clock that was ticking on the far wall of her room.