Once again, her mind went into a blur. Her environment fading into a distance while she remained stunned by the crazy thing that had just happened. How was it that she was the crowned the Bride? How was it even possible?Her mind was so occupied that by the time she realized that she had been brought into a room that wasn't hers, the guards were already gone and the door had been shut firmly. She jumped to her feet with a start, looking around the red painted room, it stung her eyes somehow considering red wasn't even really her colour to begin with.She yanked at her hair, pacing around the room, mumbling inaudible frightened words underneath her breath. At that moment, she heard horses neighing, a carriage driving out of the castle and heavy gates been pulled open from a distance away.She looked around the room quickly searching for a window, pulling open all the red curtains she laid her hands upon till she eventually from one with just the right view.From here, she could see
When next she opened her eyes she was greeted by Raquel's teary face. "My Lady." Raquel fell on her feet by her bedside. "You made me so--so--" more tears. "So worried!" She finally blurted out. Belladonna blinked, just trying to catch up with the world after returning from the land of sleep. Then she remembered, her eyes widened as the memories flooded in.She jumped with a start, looking around like a frightened deer, her head ringing from how swiftly she had moved."I slept!" She exclaimed like it was the strangest thing that had ever happened to her. Her stomach growled at that moment and she fisted her hand against it, leaning forward slightly. "I'm hungry too! Arrgh, I'm so hungry."Raquel's eyes lit up, she rushed up on her feet, stretching her hand to drag the trolley of food she had come in with. The wonderful aroma seeped into Belladonna's nostrils and it took everything in her to be patient for Raquel to hand her the plate instead of yanking it right out of her hand."I k
Red wasn't a color she particularly fancied because she believed it always clashed with her eyes, but she didn't complain about that when the dress Raquel had picked for her turned out to be a long red dress. She had bigger problems right now, like finding out why the King had sent for her and why he was been absolutely nice to her.There were so many servants in the castle and they all seem to be going around minding their business, while Colin led her to wherever it was the King was waiting for her, lighting up the way with the torch in his hand.Colin led her down so many dark stairs that she started to suspect that he might just be leading her to her death.As much as she had found the idea of death pleasing yesterday, today however, she felt totally different about it. She now had questions that demanded answers and to get those answers, she had to stay alive.They took another round of stairs lower and the whiff of a disgusting smell in the air stung her nose.Finally Colin sto
The strange caring royal gestures continued, from the King inviting her for breakfast, lunch and dinner every now and then, to ensuring that she was alright, to her going back to spend the night in his chambers because he wouldn't let her go back to her room.She could at least bare with that, considering the fact that he was never in his chambers anyway.Still, Belladonna was completely at a loss. She had no idea what the King was doing nor what she would have to do come one year.Was that thing she had to do, the same thing the former Brides had done in the past and failed? She was certain that they had failed because if they hadn't failed, he wouldn't keep being in a need of another Bride. If what they were to do was so hard that all the past brides had failed, then what was the assurance that her own would be different. In fact, it was most likely that she would fail too!The other thing that had been making her completely restless and worried was the question of 'what happened
As Belladonna would have it, Lady's Kestra bold request of her liking to the King was nothing compared to the strange things that happened afterwards.The invitation for dinner, lunch and breakfast became even more consistent. The time spent in the dinning hall became longer as the King would always want to exchange small talks with her. Lady Kestra was always coming to her, to help with her dress and hair to make she looked even more beautiful before going down to the Dinning Hall. All while she talked on and on about how wonderful the King was.Wherever this was heading to, Belladonna didn't know, nevertheless she kept jotting it all down, hoping that soon she would be able to finally connect all the dots and it would make sense.At a point, with how much care and grand gestures the King was showering her, she had written down Niti's theory as one of the possible outcomes of this strange situation.After all, it was starting to look like he indeed wanted a Queen, a marriage. But it
Had anything strange happened that night?Well...Despite Raquel mumblings and jitterings on their way back from the room like something terrible had befallen them, nothing strange had happened that night.At least none that she knew of."You didn't touch anything, the King doesn't have to know of this. N-no one saw, no one can say they saw. If he... if h-he doesn't ask and you don't tell, that is not lying.""Silence, Raquel. Your incessant mumbling is scaring the Lady." Colin had cautioned and for once Belladonna was grateful for that. Immediately she got back to the King's chambers, they bade her goodnight and she shut the door.She had fallen asleep in fear that something might cease her in her sleep and kill her. Earlier, she had tried to tell them that she had indeed touched a couple of things in the room and even admired a gem, but Raquel had been too wrapped up in her worries and Colin had been too focused on his own questions getting answered, to care about any other answer
For days now, she continued reading 'Heart of Fire', finding it hard to put down, taking it everywhere and not paying so much attention to everything or disturbing her servants with questions as she used to. This wasn't just because of how interesting the book was but because of the King's comments that was thrown here and there in the book. Those were the ones that kept her the most interested. Some of the comments she would argue against, some she would laugh about, and some she would nod her head in agreement, like he was right there in front of her, talking to her as they read the book together. Another thing was that reading his comments made her feel like she knew him. Through the comments, she grew to know some of the things he like, a few things he had done in the past and fewer of the things he hated. Not just that, each of his comment usually ended with him asking about her opinion on what he had discussed and she would reply. Talking on and on like he was right in front o
The whole room busted into flames. There was fire everywhere. Smoke, thick black one. Belladonna struggled, her throat clogged with smoke as she tried to reach desperately for the door before a certain dizziness would take over her finally. All that and worse would have been the outcome of Belladonna's late night reading, had Colin not walked in just in time to combat the situation. Raquel went around and around her, checking her hands, legs, and everywhere to see if she was alright. "No burns, no burns, no burns." "I'm alright." She yanked her hand away from Raquel, not understanding what was going on. She had only woken up because of Raquel's clumsily, worried and loud inspection. "You left that lantern burning all night, my Lady." Colin said, looking back at her. "It must have had a lot of oil." That reminded her. She had not fallen asleep on the bed. What was she doing here? It was then she noticed the floor. She rushed up to her feet immediately. "Oh goodness, what h