Remember When

Chapter 19

It had been three days since Constance locked me in this room. Three days since I found out the truth. And yet, I was still wearing the yellow ball gown I had worn to the ball.

The small plates of food, no doubt spit on or something of the sort, that Constance had brought me were left untouched. The only thing I made an effort to do is drink the water she left me, for without it I would surely fall ill.

A click sounded on the door and I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"She's in here," I heard Constance's unseemly voice.

The door swung open and I cringed as it hit the wood with a loud thud.

"Well, well, well," I knew that deep, unsoundly voice anywhere. It haunted me in the worst of my dreams.

"You sure have made a mess of things, haven't you," Duke Mason whistled, kicking one of the chairs aside so he could sit in it.

"So you found out, huh," he placed his feet on the chair beside him, pulling out his cigar.

"You're a monster," I muttered, unwilling to look at him.

He let out a deep roar of a laugh, half choking on the fumes from the cigar. If only it would consume him.

"Maybe," he huffed out a plume of smoke. "But I wouldn't have made it this far playing by the rules."

"So what now?" I glared at the vile shell of a man sitting before me and his smug daughter standing behind his chair, her arms folded across her chest. I always thought there was a glimmer of hope for her. Turns out I was wrong. She was the epitame of her father.

"Now," he continued to chuckle to himself. "Now, I need to clean this up."

"How do you suppose that's going to happen?" I asked, laying back down and staring at the ceiling, tracing the intricate spiraling pattern with my eyes. 

"I have a few ideas," said the Duke. "But first and foremost, you and Nicholas are to be married as soon as I can arrange a date with the priest. Until then, you will remain here."

I suspected as much. The sooner I was wed to Nicholas, the sooner I would be whisked off to a house on the outskirts of the castle where I would spend the remainder of my days as a housewife, bearing children and raising them until my dying breath. No doubt, I'd never be permitted to enter the castle grounds or Kentshire ever again. Not that I'd want to, anyway, with Prince Mathew sure to be married and Constance wed not long after that. 

"As for your mother," Duke Mason started. "If, for some reason, you feel the need to divulge this secret to anyone outside of this room, I would be more than happy to inflict punishment onto her."

I jumped up, ready to claw out this monster's eyes, regardless of what it would cost me. Nobody, not even Duke Mason could threaten my mother in such a way.

Suddenly, however, Nicholas stormed into the room, panting unlike I had ever seen him before and freezing me in my tracks. He bent over, his hands on his knees, as he caught his breath.

"Father," Nicholas panted, raking his eyes over me with concern.

"Your company is not needed here, Nicholas," Duke Mason hissed, not bothering to rise from his chair as he inhaled smoke from the cigar, appearing unfazed by my unforseen outburst only moments ago.

Nicholas forced himself to stand tall. He squared his back and straightened his shoulders, if only to look intimidating to his father. 

"When I heard you had travelled here, I came right away," he ignored his father's orders, finally catching his breath.