Book 2: Chapter 10 – Escape [Part 2]
Book 2: Chapter 10 - Escape [Part 2]
The young girl’s eyes glittered as her voice rose. “You’re afraid of war? I doubt that very much. War never touches people like us. It is the peasants who bleed, not the highborn. Let them die if they must. They breed like rabbits and return in the spring, their numbers renewed.”
“You would drag us into war for a few pieces of Saint’s Silver?” Anaselena said, her tone smooth as silk. “For what? What is it that you truly want?”
“What I want?” Seraphina’s voice cracked like a whip as she finally reached her limit. “What I want!"
She shot to her feet, her chair screeching against the stone floor.
"To start with, I’d like to live a single blasted day without being picked apart for doing what I must to survive. And I’ll be friends with whomever I damn well please. I will not grovel and scrape to please half-wits with titles.”
Her breath came fast now, words tumbling out sharp as thrown daggers.
"And as for what I truly want... I want to be queen. Not a consort. Not a pretty wife on a prince’s arm while he chases every whore with legs. Queen. Of this wretched, backwards kingdom. If Father can put his crony on the throne, then why not his daughter? You claim to be an Oracle, yet you see nothing. Nothing of what I’ve sacrificed. The Church is turning against us. They want a theocracy, a puppet court where their priests can fondle boys in peace—Divines help us!”
She nearly choked on her fury, then stormed from the hall, shoulders heaving, her footsteps echoing like hammer blows against the stone. At the threshold, she paused, glared at the heavy oak table, and for a moment looked ready to go back and flip it. But instead, she left it standing and vanished from sight.
The staff barely blinked. They were more than used to their little lady’s tempests.
“So, dear,” Anatoli said, frowning toward the doorway once he saw their daughter had gone. “Was that what you wanted?”
Anaselena crossed her arms beneath her chest. Her expression was unreadable, but her voice was calm and satisfied.
“I do wish she’d learn to speak without such vulgarity, but yes. That will do. I’ve told you before. She must believe this path is hers alone. That’s the only way she’ll follow it. She’s so wonderfully naive, so easy to guide with just the gentlest nudge. A little push here, a little pull there... and she bends.”
Anatoli's frown deepened. “But must it be done so… manipulatively?”
“It must,” Anaselena replied, not unkindly. “She is near invisible to my Sight, and she grows stronger with each passing day. It took me far too long to locate her last time, and for that, I am truly sorry, my love. Too strong. But I am proud of her. I truly am.”
He studied her for a long moment. “Then I’ll trust your judgment in this. War, though? Is that truly coming?”
Anaselena reached for her goblet. “The signs all point to it.”
Anatoli gave a low chuckle. “Well, I am growing restless of late. I care not who it is against, I only ask that the enemy be a clear target that can be defeated. A good war will do wonders for the boys, toughen them up. And, I could use a bit of excitement these days. ”
“I hope you’re not saying I bore you,” she said, raising an eyebrow and swatting him lightly on the shoulder. He winced in theatrical pain.
“Not at all, light of my life,” he said, dutiful as ever. “Not in a hundred years or more.”
“Well,” she purred, leaning back in her chair, “you could make amends for such dangerous words. I’ve been eyeing a pair of Mithril earrings.”
She laughed, watching his face darken and fall like a knight hearing the cost of his ransom.
***
“MIRIAM!” Seraphina’s voice rang out like a warhorn as she strode through the stone halls of the keep, her tread striking hard against the flagstones.
“Yes, milady!” came the reply, hurried and breathless, echoing from some distant corridor. The maid appeared moments later, skirts flying as she rushed to her mistress’s side.
“We are leaving,” Seraphina declared, her tone brooking no discussion.
“But, milady,” Miriam ventured carefully, “we only just arrived a few days past… and you’ve only just reunited with your lord father and lady mother. They were most terribly worried—”
“Worried?” Seraphina spat the word like it offended her. “They have done nothing but find fault. A girl could mistake them for enemies, the way they carry on. No, Milly. As always, if I want anything done, I must do it myself. I must seize my future with my own hands or be trampled beneath someone else’s boots. Now pack my things.”
Miriam nodded. “At once, milady.”
“And have the carriage readied. Tell Frest to cobble together a proper escort,” the young noblewoman ordered.
“If I may be so bold…” the maid said, hesitating with the caution of one who had been burned before more than once, “...where exactly are we going?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Seraphina replied, sweeping into her chambers as she fanned herself with her hands. “Anywhere but here. I cannot stomach another moment in this place.”
She paused in thought, then snapped her fingers.
“We bought a lumber mill somewhere, didn’t we? And a patch of forest?”
“Yes, milady. That is correct.”
“Then that is where we’ll go. It will do me some good to inspect a corner of my realm. I expect they’ll be honored. After that, we shall impose upon the de Laneys. Eloise will be thrilled to see me.”
“I’m sure they, and the Lady Eloise, will be most delighted,” Miriam said with the forced cheer as her mind turned over on ways to send word ahead. Seraphina was in one of her moods, and any attempt to reason with her now would end with tears, shouting, or flying objects.
She bit her bottom lip as she adjusted her spectacles. “Is there anything else you wish for, milady?”
“Is there anything else?” Seraphina snapped, eyes flashing. “I could wish for a thousand things, and not one within reach. For a start, I wish for a single member of staff who does not need to be told every last, tiny, insignificant thing. But no matter. Get to it, Milly. I simply will not stay in this cursed place a moment longer than I must. The very air is poison to me.”
She took a long breath, drawing herself upright with exaggerated poise.
“And pack lightly,” she added. “But be sure to stop by the cellar and fetch a few decent bottles of wine. We may be guests, but we will not arrive empty-handed. I’ll not be gossiped about for lacking common decency, no matter how sudden the visit.”