Book Two of The Usurper's Queen Series
The kingdom is slowly dividing itself into different factions. The people's true faces are being exposed in the race of wealth and glory.
And in the heart of it all is Anne, Duchess of Cindertrappe. The promise...
It was a night like any other. The bedroom window was open wide, allowing the moonlight to stream inside.
Spring was coming soon, and I eagerly anticipated for the flowers to bloom once more. As I silently lay against Edmund's chest, I stare wistfully at the moon.
All these years, I was enamoured by the glorious sun, golden and mighty, that I never noticed the lovely silver moon. Instead of burning me, it soothed me.
"You seem to be in deep thought," Edmund's voice echoed from behind me.
I smiled softly as I turned to face him. "The moon is particularly beautiful tonight, don't you think so?"
His eyes flickered towards the window, and he made a sound of approval. "It is, sweet Anne. But do you no longer love the warm sun?"
That question was like a double-bladed sword, so I decided to answer accordingly.
"While I love its warmth, at times it burns me too. If I hold onto it too tightly, it sears my flesh. The sun is always by my side, so is it wrong if for once, I dream about the moon?"
Edmund's pale green eyes bore into mine, and he reached out to caress my cheek gently. "I too dream of the moon, Anne. Sometimes, I do think about what it would've been like if I never chased the sun."
"We wouldn't be living in darkness," I say to him. "Look outside, isn't the light enough to illuminate the room?"
"You dream of an ordinary life, don't you?" he eventually said. "Do you harbour regret in your heart, Anne?"
I shook my head. "There is no regret, only wonder. What about you, husband? What is in your heart?"
"There is neither regret nor wonder, Anne," he whispered. "I knew that I had to keep chasing for the sun, or I would be left in the darkness forever, where even moonlight cannot reach me. I knew if I remained quiet, I would stay in the bitter north forever. So I fought, and I never stopped doing so. It is either to rot in silence or to prevail."
It was at that moment that I realised how selfish I had been all these years.
In my eyes, he was the most powerful man in the land, but I have forgotten that he too was once a young child. At only four, his entire family has broken apart, and he was essentially sent to exile.
Edmund did not seek the throne out of greed, it was due to the need to survive. The older he grew, the more agitated Edward became, and the closer Edmund came to the chopping block.
My desire to become queen stemmed from my own thirst for power, but Edmund had only wanted to live.
"Forgive me," I whisper as I gently pressed a kiss right below his left eye.
"For what, Anne?"
"For not understanding you better," I murmured while running my fingers through his soft black curls. "But from now on, I will."
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