The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 16: Rebecca Wullmont

"M'lord, the day has begun." One of the Royal Servants entered the King's Chambers, and pulled back the blinds, allowing the light of the sun to wake King Wullmont and his mistress alike.

"Ugh, Gods. Shut the damn light out, girl," The mistress snapped, her voice carrying down the hall outside the chambers. It reached the Queen's ears as she entered, as she did every morning, to wake her husband.

"The light won't be here long, and some of us do our work in it," Queen Rebecca said, tossing a sarcastic remark toward the whore who lay next to Kline.

The mistress rolled her eyes. She had seen Rebecca many mornings, and had even bore two of her children. The Queen snapped her fingers and pointed towards the door. Kline nudged the girl and signaled with a nod of his head. She stood from the bed and slowly walked past the Queen, her eyes glaring at Rebecca. Most of the girls had learned they were safe. Kline had all of the power, and as long as they kept him pleased, the Queen could do nothing to them. But Rebecca was no fool, and she wouldn't be made one at the hands of some whore.

"Well, go on then!" King Wullmont ordered the whore. She kept on with a ruthless stare, and a smile came across her twisted face as she finally left the room, naked and laughing. Ferenor had become a place where whores held more power than Queens.

"Have you been working hard to bring me another child to raise, Kline?" Rebecca said to her husband as she walked towards her jewelry box that near the bed. Rebecca kept all of her jewelry in it, and she came in to fetch it each morning.

She wasn't quite sure why she kept that jewelry box in his chambers. It was the only thing of hers that was still there, everything was moved into a chamber of her own. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside her sole, Rebecca loved him still. Or maybe she just longed for the idea of love. The thought of loving someone truly, it was something she wished to find, and long ago she thought she had found it with Kline.

"Someone must provide me my heirs, Rebecca. And someone must also raise them," Kline responded as he slowly made his way out of bed, getting ready to prepare himself for the day. Kline's words hurt Rebecca, perhaps more than the choking she received the last time the two had exchanged words. All she wanted was to birth a child, to have something that was truly hers, something she could call her own. The inability to do so made Rebecca feel that she somehow deserved the abuse.

She searched her jewelry box, without intentions to respond to the King's sharp words. Her jewelry was more than any woman could ever desire. Diamonds, gold, pearls from the Southern Suns, and Isles of across the Farsea. It was all beautiful.

But she found little interest in any of it. She had learned at a young age that wealth had its limits, it could not love or care for her. Yet, neither could her husband. But Rebecca knew that wealth was all she would ever have. Ferenor was all she knew, and now that too was slowly slipping away. The Queen gathered her thoughts and turned to face the King as she placed a diamond necklace around her neck. "Is the High Council to meet soon?"

"Indeed, we meet today. I have sent Sir Vicar Alaine and a portion of the Vanguard East, to Oaksguard. A revolution has begun there, one that poses a threat to the unity of The Realm," Kline responded as he stood, clothing himself.

"A revolution? It seems something of the sort was bound to happen, in the wake of the Great War. But a threat to the uniting of The Realm? That seems unlikely. A group of peasants battling their way against the joined armies of Miriela? I'd say the odds are in our favor, Kline." Rebecca did not see a revolution as a threat, not like King Wullmont did. Instead, what concerned the Queen, was the idea of the Vanguard leaving the city's walls.

They only did so in times of war, to ride into battle. The thought of an uprising, no matter how small it may be, did not seem justification to leave the city the Vanguard was sworn to protect. Rebecca knew that Kline did not just want to remain in control of each city of Miriela, he needed to. Kline had told Rebecca, time and time again, that the only way for peace, the only way to ensure Ferenor's safety, was to control its potential enemies. But Rebecca knew better. Ruling over five kingdoms was no easy task, and Miriela had always been a land of five Kings.