Chapter 48
"I’ve learned quickly from being sent off to meet Killian Bune that you do not care about my wellbeing and nothing I say will reach your ears. Why should I continue to argue with you, father? You will not feel bad for me if I cry my eyes out so I will keep in everything that I am feeling. Please sit now so that we can all eat. There is a pregnant woman at the table," said Amelia.
"Have you accepted the arranged marriage?" Annabelle questioned in disbelief. She never expected this outcome from Amelia. It was not as much fun as she had been expecting. ’At least I got what I wanted. She’ll no longer be around the castle by the end of the month.’
"I do not want to be married and sent away but what can I do to change his mind? Right now, I am hungry and this talk is prolonging me from getting something to eat. After we eat, we can consider getting into our usual arguments and then go our separate ways. I wouldn’t smile so much Annabelle," Amelia commented on the smile Annabelle could not stop from spreading across her lips. "He might do the same to your little princess."
"You," Annabelle bit her tongue since Margaret was present in the room. "We have no idea what the gender of my baby is but we’re hoping for a boy. Do not ruin my first pregnancy, Amelia."
"Princess Amelia," Margaret corrected Annabelle. "Only royalty can comfortably refer to each other without royals. Amelia is your princess."
"Annabelle is family, mother. There is no need for her to use titles," Richard sat back down in his seat.
"Oh please," Margaret rolled her eyes. "The child in her stomach is hardly family so what makes you think she is? Honestly Richard, what more will you destroy? Our kingdom has not had a slave trade for years but under your ruling, it has formed again. I am hearing you wish to name her child your heir if it is a boy. We have never placed an illegitimate child on the throne."
"The king and I will wed therefore our child will be a legitimate heir. There is no need for you to be concerned about that, Lady Margaret," Annabelle smiled but beneath the table, she was gripping her dress. She was carrying the next king and yet she was being treated like an outsider.
"Is that what you have been filling up her head with? Dreams about marriage, son? You need a history book, my dear. Blackwell kings do not marry their mistresses. You may bear him a son or two but he will find a true queen from a prominent family. You will never sit on the throne," Margaret confidently spoke.
She saw many women in Annabelle’s position when her husband ruled. They all had the same delusion that the king would get rid of his wife and make them the queen instead. What they got, in the end, was thrown out of the castle when the king no longer admired their beauty.