The War of Queens

Chapter 38

Sybil

 Her stomach had been a knot for the past days - ever since the war declaration arrived. She paced her rooms all day, unable to sit, unable to sleep, unable to eat, all the while thinking one thing: Why was she not told? Had she been forgotten?

 Every night, her husband asked if she would come to bed, and every night she declined, choosing to reside in her bower instead. The bed was cold at first, but she twisted and turned so much and so often that soon it grew warm, and then too warm, and she would have to leave it again. Then she would return, and the same would happen over and over until she finally collapsed just hours before the morning light.

 She knew she would be unable to rest until she received words from her mother or sisters or just anyone in the North. But nothing had arrived.

 I can’t wait forever, she decided the morning a week after the declaration had been made. She called for her handmaidens, who, a little shocked and nervous, began dressing her. That day, she decided, she would be a great Queen and go to court with her husband.

 It took her an hour to regret her mistake. After so long of sitting by her husband’s side stiffly, watching man after man, some common and some of noble history, walk up and bring forth their case, all she wanted was to return to the privacy of her chambers. With the declared war, the amount of crime had almost doubled, and the King would have to sit through it all. And if I want to be a good Queen, then so must I, she thought.

 The courtroom was far from empty when Raynor stood from his throne. There were still two dozen citizens standing around, nervously fidgeting and hoping for the King’s ear, but it had been four hours and neither the King nor his Council had the patience for anymore.

 “Those of you who were neglected today, I ask that you declare your names to the servant that I leave behind, and I assure you that I will listen to your cases tomorrow,” he declared before holding out his hand to assist Sybil to her feet.

 “Have you heard from your family yet?” he asked once they were out of the throne room.

 She shook her head, not quite able to say the words.

 He gave her hand a clench before letting it go. “I’m sorry. You said you did not know of these plans?”

 “I… no, I didn’t.”

 He glanced at her. “You can tell me if you did,” he said, his voice plain and honest. “I will not hold your family’s treason against you.”

 She swallowed down a lump that had been forming. “I did know that they were planning something. That’s why they accepted to our marriage.” When he frowned, she stopped walking, standing to face him. “Please, do not be angry with me,” she pleaded.

 “I’m not,” he assured her, though his voice betrayed that he was angry - if not at her, then at something else.

 She touched his arm, trying to calm him like a wife should. “I didn’t want to. You have to realize that I did not want to commit treason - but they wanted to make me Queen, so I did not know how to decline. And if I did, they would just have put forth Isabella or Anne.”

 “I know.” He took her hand from his arm, pressed a kiss to it before putting it back to her side. “And I am truly sorry to be so unfair to you, but I can’t be with you right now.” He furrowed, as if he were in pain. “I do not blame you for marrying me - you are a woman, and you could not have made it otherwise - but lying to your King is still treason.”

 Tears began to rise to her eyes, but she forced them back down. Her throat burned when she spoke. “It was a choice between that or betraying my family.”