CHAPTER 20 _____ MARIAH   The princess was more beautiful than i could have thought possible. I sat quietly at the breakfast table somewhere near the middle while the King sat at the head with the princess by his side. I was offered the seat to his other side, but how could I take it? How could I willingly sit there knowing what people would think of me? It was humiliating to say the least. I kept my head down and did not bother paying attention to the chatter around me, focusing solely on playing with the food in front of me. I was uncomfortbale and I could not shake the awful feeling that lingered and festered in my gut. The terrible feeling only grew the more the King spoke to his future wife. She was kind. When the King greeted her at the door with me by his side, she smiled and greeted me kindly but I could not muster the same enthusiasm to meet her. The King could sense my resignantion and try to ask me if i was okay, but how could

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎 ______ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐕   Over the next few days Mariah did little else but wonder the halls of the castle. The King had left on a short one day business trip with Jessebelle and would be back in the night time. Mariah had a sour look on her face all morning after the King had informed her. She wished she could control her jealous thoughts, but she couldn't. She just felt angry and upset.  She was foolish to let herself believe that after her last intimate moment with the King he would be more attentive with her, she was ofcourse wrong. He had went back to his ways of ignoring her presence and only caring that she was close enough for him to sense her. That was all he wanted, to ensure she was safe.  While walking through the fifth floor, she was not watching her surroundings or taking in where she was or where she was going, causing her to bump into someone. She fell back on her butt and looked up w

Chapter 24_______Third person Point of View  Mariah woke up again to her body being lifted up gently. She opened her eyes and saw that she was near a river."We are just stopping for a rest. There is another 2 days journey before we reach Venice." The merchanter said."Why are we going to Venice?" Mariah asked timidly and the merchanter almost felt sorry for the little girl. She was clearly still young. "what's your name, little one?" The merchanter asked her. He did not seem like a bad guy and Mariah was hopeful that he would send her back. Although she was not on good terms with the king, at least she was safe with him."My name is Mariah Castello...." The merchanter hummed quietly in acknowledgment before quickly setting to work on making a fire. He would have to stop for some supplies in a nearby village before he could continue with his journey. He bent down by the rivers bend and filled up