The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 25: Rebecca Wullmont

The sun rose to start the day and Ferenor's streets buzzed with commotion. The sounds carried across the city and to the Royal Estate, where they fell upon the waking ear of the Queen. Rebecca had slept on the balcony of the guest room where she spent her nights. The king's Chambers was no place for her to rest her head. The guest room had become hers, suiting enough. For she felt more like a guest than a queen, a guest who was unable to leave.

Rebecca found her peace at night, on the balcony, listening to the sounds of Ferenor. Ironically, she envied the peasants and commoners. They had simple lives, and loved ones to return to after the day's end. They lived in ignorance, unaware of the danger they were in or the wickedness of those who ruled over them. But that ignorance allowed them to be moral, to be sane. She gazed towards the market, pretending that she too could escape from the hold of royalty.

She gathered herself, and made her way to the King's chambers, as she did most every morning. She felt it was her duty to wake her husband, even if another had put him to sleep. She never could understand why she still did so, but it was habit, it was structure.

The doors to the King's chambers were opened, an unusual sight for the morning.

"At this hour? Kline, out of bed?" Rebecca mumbled to herself under her breathe. Her steps hastened as she approached the opened doors. She turned and peered into the room, resting her left hand against the opened maple wood door. The room looked unsettled; the maids had not yet been in yet. The bed was unmade, the drawers opened, the blinds still closed. Rebecca stepped into the room and soon realized that she was in fact not alone.

From under the sea of blankets, a whore arose and raised her head. Her eyes grew large as she saw the Queen standing over her, peering down. Startled, the woman shuffled back towards the headboard, covering her body from the Queen's gaze, leaving just her regretful face above the sheets.

"My Queen, I-" Queen Rebecca cut her off as she interrupted.

"I haven't seen you before. You must be new to the brothel. I am quite used to seeing women arise from my husband's bed. You are not the first, nor the reason for my concern." The Queen turned away from the whore as she peered around the room. "My husband is awake, I take it? Where has he gone and for what reason?" The Queen asked the fearful girl, as she turned back to face towards her.

"Before the sun rose, a knock came at the door. The King went to the door, and spoke for a moment with a man, I... I do not know about what. Then he turned and came back towards the bed, shuffling through his drawers and dawning his cloak. I asked if everything was okay. He told me the business was no concern for a whore. I should have left the estate and returned to the brothel, my Queen. I was unsure of what-". Again, the girl was interrupted as she attempted to defend her actions from the night before.

"What did the King speak of with the man at the door?" The Queen pressed on, searching for more.

"I had just woken, they spoke softly. I could only make out a few words, a phrase or two." The girl sat herself up in the bed, leaning forward towards the Queen as she spoke. "They spoke of The Vanguard, that they had been defeated. I heard nothing more, my Queen."

Rebecca turned away immediately and left the whore alone in the chambers. She knew of the Vangaurd's mission in Oaksguard, which Kline had mentioned. She had begged him not to send them away. But he did, half the Vanguard leaving Ferenor's walls. If things truly had gone awry, she knew the High Council would have met. Rebecca made her way from the Estate and made the short walk towards the Hall.

As she approached, she noticed a fire lit the inside of the Hall, contrasting the room with the dawn sky. Voices echoed from within as she approached the door. Surely, Rebecca thought, the High Council would dismiss her, Kline would not tolerate her presence in the matter.