Page 46 of The Dark Prince
I was just a scullery maid in reality.
No.
I had to stop thinking like that. I wasn’t a maid any longer. I was still my mother’s trueborn daughter. And now I was Lady Black. I didn’t care if it was technically a bastard’s title, or one born of his deeds.
“How did you meet? Was it terribly romantic?” Aella held the teacup daintily in her hands, the china clinking softly together against the saucer. Her eyes were so guarded, it was hard to tell if she was fishing for information or simply being polite. Probably both.
“It was unexpected,” I began carefully. “I apologize if you came here with different expectations.” It seemed only right to clear the air as much as possible. “I won’t, however, apologize for marrying him.”
Her lips pursed. “Yes. The two of you seemsoclose.”
I made myself a cup of tea as a distraction from her sarcasm. Aella knew perfectly how to thread that line between saying something truthful, yet only slightly offensive.
“My father ordered him to marry,” she continued, nonplussed. “He simply thought since we were already familiar, it would be easier. Tyr can be such a stubborn bull.” She eyed me over the rim of her teacup. “As I’m sure you know.”
I raised my cup to my lips and took a sip. Too much sugar. “You’ll have to forgive my ignorance. I’ve never been to court and spent most of my life isolated in the countryside after my mother died.”
A glimmer of something passed through her eyes at that. “Your mother died when you were young? How old?”
“Nine,” I replied.
“Five, for me,” Aella bit back, her eyes suddenly wet as she glanced down at her tea.
A bit of my heart cracked open for her at that.
“I know little about the late queen,” I admitted. “Even less than I know about Tyr’s … history.”
Aella put down the tea and sat back in her chair. She folded her hands primly in her lap. “She loved my father too much. If she hadn’t, she might have been able to stomach everything better. She wouldn’t have banished Tyr to this decrepit winter palace. I wouldn’t have lost my playmate.”
Yeah, what a tough life.
My disdain must have shown on my face because she narrowed her eyes. I cut her off before she opened her mouth.
“Princess, you and I come from very different backgrounds. I am struggling to understand why you are here. It is still technically my honeymoon.” I tilted my chin up, my gaze challenging.
Aella shook her head, leaning back in her chair. “Don’t play high and mighty with me. I know that despite your technical ‘noble birth’ that you grew up as a scullery maid. You think it was a random chance Tyr showed up at your manor demanding a wife? I didn’t take you for a dim-wit.”
Any sympathy I had for her vanished. I stood. “If you’ll excuse yourself, I wish to retire early.”
She stood as well, laughing. “Kicking me out? How hospitable. I’ll offer you a bit of advice, since we share a few things in common. Here it is: don’t get too attached to your husband.”
Alarm and anger coursed through my veins, but Aella was already breezing back into the corridor as though she were the lady and I the visitor. What the hell had she meant by that?
I slammed my door closed behind her, then immediately felt bad. I was acting just as spoiled as she was. I grabbed a book from the mantle, something on the history of the northern provinces. I settled into the window seat and lit a candle, set on reading until I fell asleep.
Twenty Three
ISADORA
That night, I dreamed of wolves and red eyes watching me from the neighboring forest. When I woke up the next day, I chalked it all up to the history book I’d been reading the night before, which had detailed how the wolf was practically a deity to many people in the north.
It had also claimed that stripping the bark from a certain white tree would heal any poison, so I wouldn’t take everything it said seriously. Other highlights detailed customs long forgotten, such as the forgotten position of Mother Regent, a position of authority given to the eldest woman in the royal family. She would be next in command if the king died suddenly and there were issues with who should succeed him or if the heir was too young to rule right away.
I couldn’t imagine that such a position of power and prestige existed, though it didn’t sound like anyone used it. The book only mentioned a few women who had been given the honor in the past thousand years or so.
Figures.
I acquainted myself with the staff and determined I’d go into town. I didn’t know what Aella’s plans were nor did I care. I wanted to learn everything about Tyr’s world and how it had shaped him into the man he was. It would also give me a chance to investigate the odd heaviness that hung over the village without Tyr hovering over my shoulder.
