by Sidney Gray
She hated lying about the Ashen, but she couldn't see any other way, she needed people to trust her so she could get the information she needed. There was still a lot she didn't know about the banishing, and she intended to find out, someone must know more than they were letting on. Not to mention, Kelsie’s Aunt, she just knew she had something to do with the darkness spreading in the woods, and she was determined to find out exactly what it was. Councilman Whitby had mentioned rumors of a sickness spreading so he would be the first person she went to, but first, she had to put on a display for the council and make them believe she was scared and scarred. Tears spilled from her eyes as the lies spilled from her mouth, it actually wasn’t that hard, the King had always had a soft spot for her and believed her story immediately. Councilman Atherton started to ask questions after she had finished, but Alex was quick to step in and insist she needed her rest and the King agreed as he stood up to hug her sympathetically before she was dismissed.
Judging from Councilman Atherton’s reaction it wouldn't be the last of the questions, but the others seemed to believe her at least, and Alex might be able to hold him off for a while. Her father in the other hand had watched her with narrowed eyes, and she dreaded what his reaction would be.
“You did well,” Alex said quietly as they reached his rooms.
She sighed, “if I had known crying would get me what I want I would have done it years ago, why did you bring me here though, shouldn't I be in my own rooms now?”
“Keeping up the pretense, you were kidnapped it’s only natural I would want to keep you close.”
She glared at him, “you just want to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't do anything stupid.”
He ignored her, “I will have the rooms opposite mine set up for you, in the meantime, you can stay in here.”
“And you?”
“I doubt I will be doing much sleeping, I have a meeting with my father now so I will be back later. Hayden and Lex will stay with you until I get back.”
CHAPTER 36
She thought long and hard about her choosing her guard that night, she knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought up the subject and she didn’t want to wait and have them make the decision for her.
She desperately wanted Bree as a guard, but she would have to convince everyone else it was a good idea. After everything she had gone through in the woods, she was determined to fight for what she wanted and no longer back down.
She knew they wouldn’t like it but she trusted Bree more than anyone, and she needed that right now, she just hoped Bree would agree, she had never really prepared for the role, and it would be a lot of work. But with Bree on her side, she hoped she might be able to somehow escape the city and get a message to Ella. Although she was hesitant to try and explain everything to Bree after Alex’s reaction, she would if she had to and just hoped Bree would believe her. She knew she had to find out what had happened to the others, she was already sick with worry over it.
She also wanted Alyssa, although she didn’t know Alyssa very well, she seemed like the type of person who would be open to deception, and she might need that along the way.
She spent the entire night tossing and turning, trying to work out exactly what she was going to say to Alex and more importantly, the Queen, she wanted to be prepared for every argument.
The next morning she brought up the subject to Alex and her decision to choose Bree and Alyssa, unfortunately, Olivia was also present, but that couldn’t be helped, they seemed to be inseparable these days.
Olivia scoffed, “are you joking, you couldn't possibly.”
“I wasn't asking,” she said calmly, focusing on Alex.
Cole looked amused, while the other guards glanced back and forth between her and Alex as if expecting a fight, to her surprise Alex just shrugged before leaving without a word. She caught Cole’s eye before he followed Alex out the door and he looked just as confused as she felt.
Olivia was staring after Alex furiously, she jumped to her feet.
“You still need to choose two others, at least make them respectable.” She snapped at Sofia before she stormed out.
“I don't know if that’s a good idea, Sofia, after all that you have been through, surely it’s better to pick someone we know is trustworthy.” The Queen replied when she had brought up the subject, they were seated in the Queen’s sitting room drinking tea. Sofia took a sip of tea before she answered. She wasn't surprised by the Queen’s response, but she refused to back down.
“That’s exactly why I need to do this, I need to choose people I trust and to do that I need to trust my instincts. I am going to be the Queen, and I need to start making decisions for myself. If you need to you can check up on Alyssa and Bree and make sure they are suitable, but I'm certain you won't find anything.”
The Queen studied her intently and Sofia no longer squirmed under her gaze, she had been through a lot in the last few months, she wondered if the Queen noticed how much she had changed, nobody else seemed to.
“Very well.” She said simply, Sofia tried to hide her relief as she continued, “however I must insist that you choose the other two girls from the list I gave you.”
She nodded quickly in agreement, she was too elated to speak.
She had already decided to choose Grace before everything that had happened, and she saw no reason to change that decision. Although the tournament had been canceled Claire had still made it to the final two so she really didn’t have a choice there, but she still felt happier now she would have Bree by her side, well hopefully, if she even wanted to be her guard? She sent a messenger to Bree straight away to let her know and waited anxiously for a reply. It was an absolute yes, and she almost collapsed in relief.
The next morning she was woken up by voices coming from the other room. A lot of voices. She got up to investigate, worried about what she would find, she rubbed her eyes tiredly as she opened the door, her body had mostly recovered but she still tired easily.
“Oh Sofia, you're up, finally!” her mother said when she spotted her in the doorway; her mother had clearly forgotten she was supposed to be resting. She looked around at all the people packed into the room, servants mostly, but also a few dressmakers she noticed, along with Lucy and Evelyn, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else. Lucy jumped up to hug her tightly.
“You are going to look beautiful, Mother has the prettiest dresses for you to choose, come see,” she said pulling on Sofia’s hands.
“Mother, what is going on?” she asked, dreading the answer, as she slowly pulled her hands away from Lucy.
“We are organizing your wedding of course,” she replied matter of factly, “honestly Sofia, what did you think was happening, we have so much to do, and we're already behind,” she finished with a glare in her direction like it was her fault, Lucy looked back and forth between them as if unsure of what to do.
She continued rambling on, but Sofia tuned her out, her head started pounding, she could not handle this right now.
“Mother stop,” she said.
She wasn't ready to marry Alex, not now, especially after everything she had been through and besides, she had more important matters to worry about right now, the wedding could wait, but her mother ignored her.
“Mother!” Sofia shouted at the top of her voice, Lucy stepped back in shock, and the entire room went quiet.
Finally, that got her mother's attention, she stalked towards her furiously,“ Sofia, what has gotten into you?” she hissed.
“Stop planning the wedding, I'm not marrying Alex, not yet, at least,” she snapped. “Everyone can leave now,” she said louder so the whole room could hear.
Her mother stared at her aghast as everyone rushed out the door, Lucy was staring at her with tears in her eyes, but Evelyn quickly ushered her out as well, shooting Sofia a glare and muttering under her breath.
“Have you any idea what I've been through,” she hissed after they had all left.
“Al
l the more reason for you to get married.” Her mother insisted.
“What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“Of course it does, Sofia.”
Her father stood up from the chair closest to fire, she jumped in surprise, she hadn't even realized he was there.
“After your meeting with the council there are questions as to whether you are capable of being Queen!” he said furiously as he stalked towards her.
She saw Lex and Hayden approaching out the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t break away from her father's hard gaze.
“I’m not a child anymore, you can't control me. I was chosen by the gods, they can't replace me, unlike you.”
Her father stepped towards her again, but she stood her ground, her heart beating hard.
“They did once, what is to stop them doing it again, when Queen Juliet died she was replaced by Queen Marianna,” her mother interrupted their stare down.
“Well, I'm not dead Mother.”
“If you're not careful you might be,” she muttered.
Sofia stared at her confused by her words.
“Never underestimate a man with power,” her father added cryptically stepping towards her again, at the same time Hayden moved closer to her side.
Her mother stepped in between them, reaching out to her, “we don't know what happened to Queen Juliet. Before she died there were a few council members who thought that she was getting too involved in the council and then all of a sudden…” she shook her head in dismay, “nobody could say why. We just want to protect you, sweetheart.”
“You just want to protect yourself and your noble position.” She replied hesitantly, pushing her away, she wasn’t sure of her mother's intention, she had never heard any rumours that Queen Juliet’s death was suspicious, perhaps it was true, or maybe she was just trying to scare her into marrying Alex, either way, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with it all.
“You can leave now,” she said crossing her arms.
Her father stood his ground glaring at her.
“Get out.” She shouted at him and was pleased at the look of shock that crossed his face, she had never directly defied him before, and it was a nice feeling.
Her mother stared at them both for a few seconds before she stormed out muttering under her breath, after a long pause her father followed. She breathed a sigh of relief, but she doubted that would be the end of it.
“Do you think they were telling the truth?” she questioned.
Cole looked worried. “I'm not sure, maybe.” He said uneasily.
“Your father is a very smart man, I don't know why he would say that if he didn't think it true,” Hayden added.
“Perhaps he wanted to scare me into marrying Alex, but Queen Juliet died after marrying the King, how will marrying Alex keep me safe? There must be something else to it, something they are not telling me. If Queen Juliet was murdered surely the King would have launched an investigation?” she asked.
“Maybe he doesn't know?”
“But my father was his guard, he would have told him his suspicions.” She insisted.
“Not necessarily,” Cole said frowning, “I said your father was smart Sofia, he knew how much the King loved Queen Juliet, and if he thought something had happened to her, he would have stopped at nothing to find out. Maybe he was worried the King would do something rash,” Cole started pacing, “but either way, we aren't going to let anything happen to you!
She couldn’t help but worry though, it had never crossed her mind that something like that would happen in Arandale.
She was jerked from her thoughts as the door suddenly burst open, and Olivia stormed through, followed by Alex and the rest of the Guards.
“Your mother said you are refusing to plan the wedding, is that true,” she screeched.
She almost groaned out loud, she had just gotten rid of her mother; she did not want to deal with Olivia right now.
“Yes, that's right, as far as everyone else knows I was just kidnapped, they will expect me to want time to recover, besides there is plenty of time.”
“No, this wedding needs to happen as soon as possible,” Olivia insisted.
“Why,” Sofia asked tiredly, suspecting she already knew the answer.
“Because the gods wish it so.”
Of course they did, she thought bitterly.
“No,” she said calmly.
“Excuse me,” Olivia hissed.
“I said no, I will marry Alex when I am ready and unless you plan on tying me up and dragging me down the aisle, you and your gods will just have to accept that.” She said furiously, she was tired of Olivia trying to control her.
Olivia eyes almost popped out of her head, “you haven't changed at all, have you Sofia, you’re still as selfish as ever!”
It felt as if she was suddenly detached from her body and she watched as her hand reached out and slapped Olivia across the face. Everyone looked as stunned as she felt.
“Sofia!” Alex yelled at her, and suddenly she was back in her body, and the fury returned, how dare Olivia talk to her that way, she had no idea what she had been through, she couldn't believe Alex didn't stand up for her.
“Everyone get out,” she shouted, she was so angry she wanted to scream. The guards exchanged glances before they turned to Alex warily, he nodded, and they left, Cole grabbed Olivia by the arms and pulled her out the door, she heard her muttering all the way but ignored it, she was focused on Alex now. It was time they had an honest conversation about their relationship, it felt like it was a long time coming and she was finally ready to tell Alex everything she felt.
“What has gotten into you?” he snapped, “I was right the banished have done something to you.”
“This has nothing to do with them Alex, this is about us, we barely know each other, and you want to get married.”
“What are you talking about, we have known each other our whole lives, beside that, it’s the will of the gods, Sofia; this is the way it's always been.”
“Screw the gods, I’m tired of doing everything everyone tells me to do, aren't you?”
“Of course I’m tired of it,” he shouted back, “but I don't have a choice until I’m King.”
“Even if it makes you unhappy?”
“You think marrying you would make me unhappy?”
“I don’t know, but it feels like it’s just another job for you, another step on the way to being King.”
He winced, “It’s not like that Sofia.”
“But it is Alex, we barely know each other anymore!” she said softly, “aside from that night during the tournament we haven't really talked in years. When it comes to important matters, you always go to Olivia.”
“She's my priestess, I'm supposed to talk to her.”
“But why can't you talk to me? I want to help you, and I want to help our people; you used to tell me everything, I used to be the person you went to for advice and then I was replaced. Why do you even need a Priestess? And more importantly, how can you trust her? Trust them? Nobody knows anything about them, yet they are supposed to be your closest advisors. It doesn't make sense!”
“Because they commune with the gods Sofia, they guide us to do our jobs, to do what is best for the people, I trust Olivia because I know her.”
“That's your problem Alex, you’re too trusting! you don't see the bad side of people.”
“There's nothing wrong with seeing the good in people.”
“Yes, there is! When you’re King and people are trying to manipulate you to get what they want, or convince you to do something stupid, like with Jack.”
“You are unbelievable Sofia, you weren't here, you don't know what happened, and even when you were here, you were always off getting in trouble while I was busy learning to be King and cleaning up your mess.”
He shook his head at her and stormed out the door. She stared at the door as it slammed shut, hurt, she sat down on the couch, trying to take everything in an
d remind herself that she had more important things to worry about but it was hard. She had wanted for so long to say those words to Alex, but she was always too scared of what his reaction would be. But at least now she knew, and she wouldn’t have to worry about her feelings getting in the way of what she needed to do. It had felt good, being honest. Ella was right, she had to stop doing what everyone else wanted her to do, it was time she started taking control of her own life.
If there was anything that being with the banished had taught her it was that she was stronger than she thought and she had a responsibility to help them and everyone else in Latheria. She was determined not only to stop the darkness and the man who could control minds but also to free the Ashen from the confines of the woods, they didn't deserve what had happened to them, and she was going to make it right. She was going to fix the mistakes her ancestors had made and stop the darkness, for the first time she felt that maybe the mountain hadn’t chosen the wrong girl. It would be hard, but she was determined, now more than ever, that she would stop the darkness.
