The Widow

Chapter Seventeen: French Revelation

Emelie traced her lips all night, the tip of her fingers gently glide against her bottom lip- I've and over again she touch them as if he were still kissing her. The kiss felt like the first time she tasted chocolate; the heavenly smooth and sweet taste upon her tongue, the burst of excitement, and the need for more. However, she felt lost and confused.

The way Jacob walked off that balcony wasn't exactly filled with content or joy, his shoulders were slumped, head hung low in shame, eyes planted anywhere else but her. During the rest of the night, he kept his distance, only engaged in conversation with King Dion, and not once giving eye contact.

Unfortunately, his cold shoulder didn't stop the young desirable woman from becoming desperate. Emelie found herself sitting in the window seal of her room, waiting to spot the navy blue and gold carriage, hear the hooves pound the earth, see his stern face. The young widow sighed heavily in despair, she was trapped behind similar stone walls but in a different location; away from everything she desires and a few things she wants to discover.

"What has you down, princess?"

Emelie looked away from the window she spent most of her days, her gaze fell onto the stone floor where the maid's feet settled, not once looking her in the eyes- afraid the experienced woman will uncover the truth. "Being trapped behind these walls." Instead of uncovering one truth, Emelie spoke another. Days of being stuck in the manor reminded her of Netherlands, the isolation from the world and everything in it, finding comfort in befriending maids twenty years her senior, the boredom was rotting her insides, and her mind started to become blank.

The old maid sighed heavily, she placed both hands on her wide hips, her thick brows raised while she shook her head in disapproval- causing her thick long braid to fall over her shoulder. "It's best to go outside, get some fresh air."

"How can I when the king forbids it?" Her tone was bitter, Emelie walked away from the window to the table where her father's letters were on display and waiting for a reply. She could not bear to write back, especially when her mind is not her own. "Miss Jaya, are you married?"

"Well, yes, for twenty-five years now... have two boys no older than you."

"Your husband, was he ever... stubborn."

Jaya giggles, she nod her head yes before carrying out her duties by fluffing the pillows. "I would say he's the most stubborn man I have ever met, still stubborn. What are you getting at, princess?"

Emelie released a soft sigh while turning around to the older maid who looked curious and concern. The room became quiet for a few seconds before Emelie confess her sin. "I've fallen for someone... someone stubborn and distant. Mistaken his feelings, I done the ultimate sin by following my desires. Now I can not see him, I do not think he wants to see me."

"What form of sin?"

"A kiss, a very delicious kiss."

Jaya suddenly laughed, as if Emelie's pain and sorrow were a mere joke. "A kiss? Just a kiss?"

The young woman looked down in shame before turning away once again, she walked to the other side of the room where dying flowers seems to bring life to the room. One touch upon a brown dried leaf, it fell by her bare toes. "It's wrong, a great sin. Fornication between two unmarried souls is a sin."

"Yes, I can agree. However, a simple kiss is nothing more than a greeting of some sorts, nothing more unless you intended to do something more."

Emelie was hesitant; the kiss was, of course, supposed to be innocent- nothing more to see where their feelings stood, yet she wanted to feel alive, to have a reminder that life and relationships weren't full of pain and lost. "No, just the kiss." She answered in a lie that made her stomach turn and chest heavy.