by Kyra Gregory
Bella’s hand collided with Deros’s cheek, the sound echoing off the walls and forcing one of the passing servants to pull young Neyva in the opposite direction of her feuding parents.
Sybelle cringed, watching as Deros retorted with a growl and furious words that only Bella could hear. “I take it the gesture was not well-received,” she murmured.
“Not in the slightest,” Ewin replied, the grimace on his face more visible than her own. “Should I intercede yet?”
Sybelle sighed, beckoning him forward as she advanced on the couple. She mustered her best smile, one more easily put on than she would’ve liked to admit. “What’s the problem?” she asked, looking from one to the other as she placed her hands between them.
“He would have us remain here! Like prisoners!” Bella screamed, her voice shrill, enough to send chills down their spines. “We’re not prisoners, are we?” she asked, looking to Sybelle in a desperate bid to defend herself. “We’re not prisoners so we should be free to do as we wish!”
Deros opened his mouth to speak but Sybelle placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to say nothing and grit his teeth together. “His intentions are good. We don’t know what Azura is capable of and—”
“If it’s safe for your people to be out there, if it’s safe for them, I would be there too, if only for a few hours,” she said. “And I needn’t have any escort!”
Sybelle looked to Deros to hear his part but he addressed Bella, his jaw tense, “I won’t have you with my daughter out there if all hell breaks loose!”
“Of course,” Bella scoffed, rolling her eyes, “your daughter,” she said. “I shall leave her with you then! See how well you fare!”
Sybelle clapped her hands together before opening them up, speaking before they could spark another argument between them. “Is that not a fair compromise?” She asked, looking from one to the the other for their approval. They both looked at her in confusion. “Leave Neyva here. If you’re confident in yourself that you can return yourself here, were hell to break loose, then you should be free to do as you wish. Such risk, however, will be removed from your daughter.”
Bella smirked, almost devilishly, reaching out and patting Deros’s cheeks before storming down the corridor. Sybelle looked to Deros. He hung his head, brushing the tips of his fingers over his brows as he came down from his fit of rage. She was sure she could hear his heart pumping at a furious pace. “You would really trust her out there, by herself?” He asked, a tinge of anger still in his voice as he looked to Sybelle, his eyes tinged with the heated emotion and concern. He shook his head, pacing away from her.
Sybelle scoffed, shaking her head, “What sort of fool does he take me for?” she asked Ewin, watching Deros as he struggled to wind down. “Send one of our spies after her, make sure she’s safe. Keep the distance, just enough to watch.”
It was Ewin’s turn to scoff. “You would have us waste our resources on a lovers’ tiff?”
“I thought you said there was not an ounce of love between them,” she reiterated, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
Ewin shook his head, chuckling, “They are not the lovers that I was referring to.”
The corners of Sybelle’s lips drew into a smile and she rolled her eyes, shoving him lightly, “Go. Do as I asked or I’ll have you hanged.” Sybelle approached Deros with a growing, tender smile. “You choose women who prefer to do as they please and then despair that they don’t follow your instruction,” she remarked, amused.
“I don’t understand women, I must confess,” he said, his lips tugging into a helpless smirk.
Sybelle caressed his cheek, exhaling without a sound, “Take the opportunity to spend time with your daughter. Bella is a grown woman and, while I don’t claim she’s capable of helping herself, she should be responsible for her own actions.”
“Perhaps,” Deros sighed. “I thought the advantage of having them here would be that I needn’t be filled with concern for my daughter’s safety, allowing me to focus on matters with Azura.” He hung his head, shaking it, “Their presence here has distracted me instead.”
“Don’t take the troubles of this kingdom upon yourself,” Sybelle whispered, laughing. “That is my own concern. I have my own mind upon Azura and that is enough,” she said.
Deros chuckled, “That is very arrogant of you to say,” he remarked.
Sybelle shrugged her shoulders, bowing her head, “I like to call it confidence, not arrogance,” she said. “They are the ones that are arrogant.”
Deros nodded, falling into silence. He placed a hand on her shoulder, dragging his weight off the wall he’d leaned against for support before moving to walk past her. The sight of him withdrawing from her hurt, a short dull pain in her chest that she couldn’t deny. But he looked over his shoulder at her, mustering a grateful smile that had her beaming from within. She shook her head instead, throwing her hand out to gesture down the corridor, “Go,” she said, “and be with your daughter.” He nodded, retreating from her once more.
She, too, turned away, returning her gaze to the letter she’d clutched between her fingers. She opened it once more, walking without a thought towards the sanctuary that the highest tower in the kingdom had become for her. Nerves fluttered in the pit of her stomach as she placed her back against the wall, re-reading the words that Gyles had sent her, picturing his face in her head as her heart fluttered in her chest. She placed the letter down, leaning out into the sunlight with narrowing eyes, casting her gaze as far as her eyes could see.
That evening, sitting at the dining table over supper, Sybelle watched everyone with sparse glances from beneath her lashes. She sat at the head of the table, able to see everyone clearly as they so blatantly avoided one another’s gazes. Deros sat at her right, hardly paying her any attention, only lifting his gaze to smile at his daughter who sat across from him, picking at her food with mild interest. Beside her, Bella sat, entirely ignoring everyone else at the table while she enjoyed her meal.
Sybelle licked her lips, placing her cutlery on her plate for a moment of thought before asking, “Did you enjoy your day out, Bella?”
Bella nodded, swallowing a mouthful of food with her eyes still cast on her plate, “Very much so,” she said. Sybelle nodded, having hoped that she would expand on the conversation somewhat more than that. “Are you aware that your people are losing respect for you?” she asked, finally lifting her gaze. Deros dropped his cutlery with a sharp clattering sound, exhaling as he glared at her with blazing eyes from across the table. Sybelle smiled, extending her hand to touch Deros’s arm lightly. “Well, it’s true, after all,” Bella continued, forking another piece of meat, “with Azura sitting pretty on your coast they’ve stifled your trade and put all your people on edge. They think you’re just waiting for them to invade and ransack your lands.”
Sybelle laughed, asking, “Is that what they think?”
“It is,” Bella said, nodding insistently. “The market was full of such talk, what with the traders being so livid; they were hardly quiet about their frustrations, and nor was anyone else.”
“A little concern never hurt anyone,” Sybelle sighed, picking up her fork before returning to eating. “Though they have nothing to worry about. Azura won’t get inside and they won’t be ‘sitting pretty’ for very much longer,” she said.
“Perhaps,” Bella replied with a shrug. “That said, I’ve decided to leave Lionessa tonight.”
Deros choked on his food, coughing into his clenched fist. Sybelle shifted in her seat, prompting, “Oh? Are you concerned for your safety?”
“Not really concerned,” Bella replied, her eyes piercing into her like cold daggers, “but I find the world of palaces and castles to be more like prisons. I would leave as soon as possible.”
“Here is the safest place for you and Neyva,” Deros said.
“You needn’t be concerned with Neyva,” Bella said, laughing openly. “She will stay here, with you.”
Neyva looked up at h
er mother at the sound of her name, staring at her with large eyes, comprehending nothing of the conversation. Deros looked over Sybelle’s shoulder, no doubt at Ellyn who stood a fair few paces behind her. “Please?” He asked, giving a minute glance in Neyva’s direction. Though Ellyn was hardly a great admirer of Deros, she immediately stepped forward, forcing a smile and coaxing Neyva out of her seat and, then, out of the room.
“What’s this about now?” Sybelle asked, speaking in her most patient voice.
“You got what you wanted,” Deros said, hardly doing the same as his blood began to boil, “why should you leave? And why leave Neyva here?”
“It’s as you said,” Bella said, shrugging, “here is the safest place, most certainly for your daughter, so why should I stay?”
“Because you’re her mother?” Deros tried, gradually fuming. “Why would you leave her behind?”
“Because if she leaves with me there is nothing I can do for her,” she said, “but, even so, I don’t have it in me to stay here, feeling like a prisoner and regarded as nothing more than a mother.”
“Why are you doing this?” Deros asked, as calm as possible as he threw himself back into his seat.
“It’s the best way for all to get what they want,” Bella replied. “Neyva will be safe here with you, as you would have it, and I’ll have my freedom,” she said.
“And what of Neyva?” Sybelle asked, interrupting. She shrugged her shoulders as she gained their attention, elaborating, “What of what she wants?”
“Neyva is a child,” Bella said, scoffing. “She will do as she is told and will adjust with no troubles.”
Sybelle retreated from the conversation, instead sitting back to watch the back-and-forth exchange between the former lovers.
“Don’t leave tonight,” Deros eventually said, conceding with much regret. “Leave in the morning, if you still want to.”
“I’ll leave tonight,” Bella said, scoffing. “You needn’t worry,” she said.
“It’s not you that I worry about,” Deros said, rolling a crumb of bread in between his fingers before tossing it into his plate. Bella stood up, a sigh escaping her as she went to leave. Deros’s gaze followed her movements carefully, his chin perched in his hand. “Bella,” he called. The young woman turned around, looking at him inquisitively as he stopped her from leaving. “If you leave tonight,” he started, his voice calm and hoarse, “Don’t come back,” he said. Bella spun on her heel and left, saying nothing else. Deros stared after her with a blankness in his eyes, his head propped up in his hand. Sybelle was silent as she got out of her seat, approaching him and placing her hands on his shoulders, jolting him out of his thoughts.
“Unfortunate,” she said, massaging his shoulders. “But it’s as I said, she is an adult, to be responsible for her own actions, whatever they may be.”
“It cannot be bad,” he murmured, “so long as it suits you.”
Sybelle’s eyes widened as she bent at the hip to look at him, “You think I’m happy about this?”
“Does it not suit the ideal not to have her here?”
Sybelle scoffed, circling him, “Whose ideal? Mine?”
“Of course,” he said.
Sybelle’s lips contorted in disgust, her brows furrowing together in disbelief, “You genuinely believe I’m happy about this?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t you be?” he asked, glancing at her. “Does having her gone from here not suit your desires?”
“My desires for what?” She asked, inching towards him as she began to burn with anger. “My desires for you?” She looked him up and down, scoffing as she forced herself to walk away as she spoke. “I would be lying if I said I did not desire you,” she said, her voice cracking with heated emotion, “but I desire you only if you continue to desire me. If your interest lies with her then you should very well do the same.” She stormed out of the room before he even had a chance to answer her. She didn’t care for what he could say in return. None of it made any difference.
“You’ve hardly eaten,” Deros called loudly after her.
“I’ve lost my appetite,” she called back in return.
Sybelle paced the palace for some time, hoping that the cool late-night air would do something to cool her temper. Late into the night, when she noted the familiar figure making its way through the corridors, she followed it out the main doors. Bella stood at a horse, tended to by one of the guards who attached her belongings to the saddle.
“Why are you leaving?” Sybelle asked, approaching her.
Bella looked over her shoulder, momentarily surprised at seeing her there. “There’s no reason for me to stay here,” she said.
“I think your daughter would disagree with you,” Sybelle retorted, raising a delicate eyebrow behind her back. “Is she not a good reason to stay?”
“She will be fine without me,” she said, sighing. “For all his faults, Deros has her best interest in mind, after all.”
“Why are you really leaving?” Sybelle persisted.
“Like I said, there is nothing for me here,” she said, adjusting the straps on the saddle. “Your palace is a prison but with better linens.”
“Though, surely, you came here knowing that you would be protected in such a manner,” she said.
“I knew nothing of the sort, and that is the truth,” Bella snapped back. “All I was told was that Deros had sought us out.”
“You came because of Deros then,” she said.
Bella laughed openly, “Of course,” she said. “I’m not a woman of politics, your Majesty; I have no reason to lie.” She turned herself to face her, finally, crossing her arms over her chest, “I thought he still felt something towards me. That is the reason I came so willingly.” She bowed her head, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, “Now that I know that that ‘something’ is not the feeling I was hoping for, I can leave,” she said.
“And your daughter?” Sybelle prompted. “Do you question her feelings also?”
“Of course not,” Bella said, dismissively. “But she is in far better hands here, with him.”
Sybelle shook her head, “I don’t know what it means to be a parent,” she confessed, “but I suppose being a child must mean making such sacrifices to make up for the failure of the parents.”
Bella glared over her shoulder for just a moment before hiking herself up onto the back of her horse, “Say what you will, but I’ve loved my daughter from the moment she was conceived,” she said.
“But only if doing so meant gaining Deros’s favour, it would seem,” Sybelle remarked.
Bella shifted slightly, returning her gaze to where the guards cranked open the gate. “It’s for the best,” she said, sighing. “Deros is not the man I fell in love with. He has done plenty since the day those feelings first sparked; plenty that I cannot condone and that I cannot close my eyes to even if I tried.”
“And what made you think he was a different man?” Sybelle asked, laughing.
“His allegiance has changed, has it not?” Bella countered, raising an eyebrow.
“Which means nothing,” Sybelle said.
“It does not matter,” Bella said with a sigh. “The man I fell in love with is no longer in there and, if he is, he has no interest in me.”
“You think him such a terrible man,” Sybelle remarked, “but, even so, you would leave him with your daughter?”
Bella’s lips tugged into half a smile as she bowed her head. “Deros protects what little is dear to him. The savage behaviour he has developed means that he will do so ruthlessly, making it far more suitable for her to be in his company than mine.”
“You don’t have to go,” Sybelle remarked, sighing.
“I want to,” Bella said. “I want my freedom and freedom means being able to come and go as I please.”
“Yet, you know that with this freedom of leaving, you may never be welcome to return,” she remarked, drawing on Deros’s last words to his ex-lover.
Bella shrugg
ed her shoulders, the corners of her lips drawing into a short smile, “So be it then,” she said, kicking her horse into a start as she made her way out the gate.
Sybelle turned away, having no choice but to return inside with no success to speak of. She entered her chambers, finding Ellyn there, poking the fire until it grew large enough to warm the expansive room. “How is the girl?” Sybelle asked, casting a glance over her shoulder as she slipped out of her dress, allowing the garment to pool on the floor at her feet.
“In the hands of her father now,” Ellyn replied.
Sybelle raised an eyebrow, “That is hardly an answer,” she said.
“She is confused,” Ellyn said, rising to her full height, “she cannot understand why her mother has kissed her goodbye so suddenly, with no explanation as to what’s to happen. I’ve left that to her father to explain.”
“That discussion will go with ease,” Sybelle murmured sarcastically.
“That is not our concern,” Ellyn whispered. “That is a matter between the General and his ex-lover,” she said.
“His ex-lover has made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with any of this. She has made her leave already.”
“Which leaves matters to the General then,” Ellyn said.
Sybelle said nothing of the girl’s contempt towards him, getting dressed for bed in silence, only hissing when Ellyn’s cold hand brushed against Sybelle’s hot skin. Laying in her bed alone had grown to be the most unusual, most displeasing feeling she could think of. At a time when she wanted nothing more than comfort and the hands of the man she loved upon her skin, he’d become distant from her, causing her to slip out of her bed in the dead of night and wander the halls in silence like a ghost, unable to sleep. She entered her throne room, making her way to the table where a bottle of wine still sat half-drunk with her cup nearby. She emptied the bottle into the chalice with not a single drop left behind, taking to the poorly-lit corridors once more. There, slinking out of the chambers that had been prepared for the guests, Deros was, his movements cautiously silent while his eyes were well-trained on what was inside. His gaze flickered to her as she approached him, sipping her chalice of wine and asking nothing.
