The Usurper's Queen | COMPLETED

11 | the duchess of irakli

At first, I felt the carriage abruptly come to a halt, and I was painfully squashed by the chests, jolting me awake. Then, I heard Edmund's voice, and a woman's voice conversed along with him merrily. I heard two kids chattering among themselves, one voice deeper than the other.

"I'm hungry, Mother!" one of the kids cried out, and I heard Edmund say, "I have brought some food for you two. They're at the back of the carriage, so let's go and take a look."

I was still groggy and sleepy at that point, and I did not notice the rummaging sounds right beside me, but when the boy decided to shriek, I was immediately wide awake.

"Mother, there's a lady sleeping here!" he shouted. Immediately I began panicking, and I realized that this adventure would not be so fun after all.

A beautiful woman with jet black hair and pale green eyes peered inside and gasped. "You're right Edgar! There really is a lady!"

I could hear Edmund grunting in confusion and displease, and the chests were pulled out from the back of the carriage, exposing me laying there. Edmund's eyes were wide with surprise, but they gradually narrowed into anger.

"I told you to go home, didn't I, Anne?" he questioned, and at that moment, I felt both afraid and humiliated at the same time. "Why didn't you go, Anne? Why must you be so stubborn!"

Even though I had been scolded and humiliated numerous times by both Mother and Lisbeth, being scolded by someone you consider your ally hurts a different way.

"Why are you shouting, nest-hair? The girl can hear you just fine!" the woman shouted and smacked the back of Edmund's head. "You will hurt her feelings you dimwit!"

Edmund's cheeks went pink, and he hissed, "Stop embarrassing me Claudie!"

The woman rolled her eyes and said, "You are embarrassing me! I can't believe I'm related to you! Now go and apologize to her or I'll disown you!"

"Claudie I-" Edmund tried to protest, but the woman quickly retorted, "Just apologize, dum-dum."

Edmund then reluctantly walked towards me with an extremely somber expression, and he began to say, "Anne, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

Usually, I would have just accepted the apology and moved on, but I was tired and cranky, and the way the woman talked to him somewhat gave me the strength to do what I did later.

"You really shouldn't have," I said with a sour face and roughly pushed him away. "Since you don't want me here so much, I'll just walk all the way home!"

I stubbornly hopped off of the carriage and onto the hard cobblestone road, but I had been sitting for far too long and my legs simply gave way. I was sprawled on the ground, red faced, and I could hear the two kids laughing at me.

"Anne!" Edmund cried as he rushed over and quickly pulled me to my feet, but I was feeling so embarrassed and humiliated that I slapped his hand away.

"Are you alright, Anne?" Edmund asked, and I bitterly yelled a loud, "Yes, I am perfectly fine! And I shall go home right away so that I will not be a hindrance to you anymore."

I stomped off indignantly, even though I did not have the slightest idea of where I was. The climate was vastly different than what I was used to - it was so much colder here, as if this place was stuck in an eternal winter. My feet were ankles deep inside the snow, and my damp clothes made it much worse.

"Your fiancée is quite a handful. Goodluck dealing with her," the woman giggled. "But if you let her go any further, you won't have to. That girl is going to die. Terrawinian winters are very harsh, you know."