The Queen of Hope (Tower of Glass series) (The Throne Of Glass Book 1)

by Anna Lacroire

  Amenea knew that look only too well – Oriana did the angry look particularly well, with her sleek dark hair that emphasised her piercing blue eyes and her current, thin tight lips that looked half knotted with tension.

  Amenea then had a flashback of how Oriana’s anger developed or rather deboarded all measures of reason once before when one of Oriana’s friends met Amenea and then decided that she preferred her friendship to Oriana’s. Preferred it to the point of requesting that Oriana never speak to her again. That sisterly grudge lasted a long time and what annoyed Amenea the most about this was that she had done nothing to deserve the half bitter, half angry spite that Amenea had unravelled upon her in one way or another for many weeks afterwards.

  The voice of Prince Daryl broke Amenea’s momentary recap of Oriana’s’ flight of fury.

  “The Ancient ones first initiated the ceremony when they created this Chateau with the Divine spirits. And as they carved light out of the darkness that was thrown upon them by the Lords of darkness, it is expected that we …”

  At that moment the doors opened and Custennain, Mabon and Hearne entered. They all looked incredibly smart this morning. Amenea followed the wide, shoulders of Custennain as he glided in from the doorway to the only remaining vacant places at the table where waiting staff stood waiting to seat them. The light curls at the end of his hair, bounced slowly upon his shoulder line, in perfect rhythm with his firm walk in-to the dining room. Light shone in from the window and glared a beam of bright sunshine. It’s rays flickered on to him and his brothers as they walked to their awaiting places. All remained, unrivalled by the bright, momentary glare of sunlight, all three remained focussed and did not blink once, unlike the other guests who were hit by this sudden, bright flash of sun.

  Custennain and his brothers were immediately served, and the waiting staff looked particularly nervous around Custennain. The hand of a female waiting staff trembled slightly as she filled his drinking goblet with fresh, elderberry juice. He thanked her politely and kindly and adjusted his tunic before he looked up and looked at Amenea. Amenea rolled her lips slightly, before seeing his eyes soften as he looked at her, she felt her cheeks warm again as her lips parted to let out a small smile. Amenea thought of last night in his chambers. This smile was immediately cleared as Oriana left her seated place as she walked over to greet the three brothers. Amenea thought that Oriana would be focussing her normal flirty attention on to Mabon but to her surprise and by the look of shock on Mabon’s face which also showed the air of hurt feelings, Oriana was giving her full flirty, attention to Custennain.

  Amenea could not believe or understand what was going on in front of her eyes. Oriana was holding onto the elaborately, carved, high backed sculptured chair that Custennain was seated upon with one hand as she gently pivoted and precociously spun herself from behind him to the side of him, provocatively curling her body back and forth as she flashed her white upper breast to meet his eye levels, chatting and smiling at him the entire time.

  Custennain seemed to be responding with words whilst he ate politely his breakfast, in-between her episodes of pivots. Amenea watched him carefully and she could see his lips moving but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Oriana was wearing a soft, lilac velvet gown that had small golden flowers embroidered on to the laced-up cotton breast yolk. Her waist was seemingly slender as she gleefully, lingered alongside Custennain. Amenea was sure that her other hand must be touching Custennain and Amenea tried to squint from across the table to focus her eyes more on exactly what Oriana was doing without showing her interest or her definite annoyance at her sisters’ behaviour. She quickly glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching her, and she was pleasantly pleased to see that no one was. Everyone else was totally unaware of what her interest was or what Oriana’s actions could be.

  Hearne in particular was so engrossed in devouring everything on the numerous platters in front of him and beyond in a quiet but distinguishable fashion that Amenea worried if he was actually even chewing anything or was it just being directly swallowed. Mabon however, sat to Custennains right, looked very uncomfortable and upset at what was happening. His face was full of gloom as he looked down at his food eating it reluctantly, very slowly. He seemed to be listening to what Oriana was saying to Custennain whilst he was eating.

  Feeling dazed by being subconsciously in two places at once, half with Custennain and Oriana and the other half with Prince Daryl and not really hearing anything from either but a mottled silence Amenea tried to peel back her own ears even more to try and reach the conversation that Oriana was having with Custennain on the other side of the table. But Amenea’s listening senses were once again drowned out by the continuing voice of Prince Daryl. Unsure of how long she had been silently nodding her head as he had been talking to her whilst she had been watching Oriana and Custennain, Amenea decided to engage in Prince Daryl’s conversation or at least, actually listen to him. And how glad she was that she has decided to that.

  “I am so pleased you have accepted my invitation,” Prince Daryl said.

  “And even more pleased that you have accepted to be my guest of honour.” He continued as he beamed a huge smile at Amenea.

  Amenea started to feel quite uncomfortable as she started to question what she had agreed to. She started to feel even more annoyed with herself that she not been listening to anything he had said, being the Prince she could hardly ask him to repeat himself, so instead she smiled graciously at him whilst panic started to strike her.

  “Have you two enjoyed your breakfast?” Amenea’s mother asked as she arrived next to Amenea.

  “Oh very much so, thank you” said Prince Daryl. “And I am thrilled that your beautiful daughter has accepted my invitation to be my guest of honour at the Carving of the light ceremony, next week.”

  “Ah!” replied Amenea’s mother as she looked over to Amenea.

  However, Amenea was no longer smiling graciously and brought an air of concern to her mother who quickly noticed that her daughter now had a face of stone, looking towards Custennain who was no longer seated but was now standing next to her sister Oriana who was just finishing placing a kiss on the lips of Custennain.

  Chapter 14

  Confused, chocked, hurt, annoyed were the rampant feelings that were charging through Amenea’s senses right now. Her body was on fire with anger. ‘How could I have been so stupid.’ She thought to herself as her temper softened slightly at the memory of when she lay in Custennain’s bed.

  The vision of her sisters smiling, flirty face came now to her mind and the way that she was flaunting herself and her breast at Custennain flooded any tenderness with rage – pure rage. Amenea didn’t know who to be annoyed at the most right now, Oriana for managing to do what Amenea really wanted to do – to kiss Custennain or with Custennain for allowing her to kiss him or with herself for thinking that Custennain would be anything like the man she had wanted him to be.

  In fact, Amenea was so occupied with her thoughts and embroiled in her own anger that she didn’t even hear Cordelia enter her chambers. It was only when the soft, gentle hand of Cordelia reached out to cover and calm Amenea’s hand which now had red, swollen fingers as Amenea continued to twist the cords of her bodice, tightly around them without realising, whilst she attempted to lace her breast bodice that the blood supply to her fingers was beginning to suffer.

  At that moment the eyes of both sisters met and Cordelia’s soft but sage eyes, told Amenea all she knew. Cordelia knew exactly what the issue was – her eyes said it all. And Amenea’s now, narrowed, dark, glassy eyes also confirmed what Cordelia knew. This was all the confident Amenea needed right now and even if she had wanted to say something, the huge, dry, tear ball that had now manifested in her throat would not allow her to. Amenea could do no more than collapse into a hopeless sob into her sisters, now open arms. Cordelia embraced her sister and let her sob silently, trying to sooth her by stroking her soft hair that rivered down her, long, sleek ba
ck. Cordelia felt happy that she was able to calm her sobbing sister and as she did, she also worried as to what would happen between her sisters. Silently, from her seat at the table Cordelia had seen the entire episode unfold. Normally their mother would have foreseen what Cordelia had seen unfold at the table, however with so many lords and ladies to attend to, along with the Prince - how could she?

  Cordelia had tried to entice Oriana in vigorous conversation when she had seen how interested Oriana was at Custennain’s presence. She had no idea at that moment that Amenea also liked him. What Cordelia did see many days ago though was how Mabon and Oriana were arriving back to the Chateau together, late at night. Cordelia had also seen them on another occasion tenderly embrace when she had been collecting spiderwort late at night herself. There is a particular bush that she likes to harvest this herb from which grows under the window of the kitchen pantry, on the side entrance of the Chateau. Cordelia picks it there as it is strong and fresh, and she needed a lot of it as the potion she had recently made to help one of the kitchen maids who had a rampant crush on a very disinterested servant had seemingly disappeared. Cordelia hoped it had not fallen foul of someone as the drinker of the potion will fall in love with the first person they see after consuming it. Cordelia had been preparing it for a while under the last three full lunars and had just left the newly finished bottle near to her perfumes one night when it seemed to disappear overnight …

  And so, Cordelia was cultivating the herb from the bush, one night, bent low into the shadows as she tried to harvest the spiderwort nearest to the stem as this is the freshest. Cordelia thought they had seen her as it was a full moon that night, the light of the moon lit up all the grounds of the chateau clearly and Cordelia saw them arrive, quietly on horseback together. Oriana was seated behind Mabon and she was holding onto him tightly with affection as their horse mastered its way towards the stables upon their return. Her thighs were gripping each side of him tightly.

  Cordelia realised when she rose to her feet to wave to them that they could not see her as the high walls of the Chateau, cast her into complete shadow. When Mabon helped Oriana descend from his horse, he held her close to him as he kissed her passionately. Orinana kissed him back and put her long, slender arms up and around the back of his neck, pulling him even closer than what he was already.

  All this knowledge flashed in Cordelia’s mind as she consoled her sister, right now before her and whose sobbing was showing no signs of stopping. As much as Cordelia wanted to let her sister know that the kiss that Oriana had placed so openly on Custennain’s lips must be a mistake for sure based on what she had seen, Cordelia herself felt somewhat confused by the happenings and decided that her sister was in no fit state to hear the truth, even if Cordelia thought she should be cruel to be kind. More to the point, thought Cordelia. What is the truth?

  Cordelia had now led her sister over to her bed where they both sat, holding each other’s hands. Amenea was silent and glum, her eyes were red and bloodshot from her tears, her heart was heavy.

  Cordelia was perplexed by the events and felt confused by the sequence of events. She wondered if she should speak to her mother to see if she could would be able to tell her what she should do, to make her sister less glum. But then Cordelia suddenly had an idea. She remembered an amulet her father had once given her, many years ago when her first sweetheart had thrown her love and her alongside it to the thoughts of the dark lords.

  Cordelia suddenly started to delve into her memory glands, through the passage ways of thoughts and memories that were stored deep in the library of her mind. Did she still have it? Would it still work now that her father was …?

  Her mind suddenly drifted far from where she sat now and far from the land of opaque freedom that she and her family had now acquired. But then just at that moment, she thought of the moon reading had done in the waters of the spring last week. Her deep, large brown eyed glazed over and the gentle, rose blush of her cheeks disappeared from her face. Her mouth became dry and her sister who was now standing in front of Cordelia with an air of concern at her sisters’ new comportment, peered deep into her eyes. The wide, golden edged lavender candle that had been burning so gently and silently on Amelia’s side table next to her bed light, started to flicker as if the wick was about to end or like the draught from an open door or window altered its passage of air. Nothing could be further from the truth.

  Suddenly brought from her distilled daydream, Cordelia’s wide, gentle eyes blinked a few times as her consciousness betrothed her. The sudden chill in the air, told her all she needed to know. She took her sister’s hand firmly and as turned towards her, to speak, the candle lit the silence of the night …

  Chapter 15

  As the two sisters fled swiftly along the hallway corridor in their jewelled, satin slippers, they moved silently and anxiously through the darkness of the night. The resident, eternal torches that normally burned in the hallway were also extinguished. The two sisters knew not where they were going but knew that the cold chill in the air and the distinct way in which the candle just stopped burning was a sign …

  As their breath grew raspier amongst small murmurs of sharply drawn breath they moved further along the hallway, trying to steer themselves in the darkness as quietly as they could towards the door to the courtyard where the fountain was. Just as they reached it they could see the moonlight shining in through the glass in the door. Cordelia took a step towards the stone doorway which led to the fountain as she took a step down towards the descending steps that led her into the night time of the courtyard where the fountain stood, proudly her hand gently slid out of Amenea’s.

  Feeling the cold air of the courtyard veil her warm cheeks Amenea gently shuddered, pulling in her robes to warm herself and as she did, she turned to quickly glance at the hallway behind her. As she did the doorway to the courtyard silently closed and another doorway that Amenea had not noticed before, back in the corridor seemed to gently glow – she could just make out the outline of the door. As she stared at it more, she started to walk towards it, she felt drawn to it, intrigued because now she could see shimmering in the dark, a golden handle that gently gleamed in the dark, dark, night. In its lock there was a long, brass, ornate key and dangling from this was a trilogy of brightly coloured stones like those that edged Amenea’s mirror.

  Not knowing why Amenea reached out and gently turned the key in the lock, her eyes widened whilst her small mouth opened slightly in wonderment, her warmth breath gently flowed into the night. Forgetting all about her sister Amenea took a step into the darkness that the door opened into and then just stood still. Silently still. Before her was a pathway, like that within a forest. Amenea could not see on either side of her it was dark, very, very dark but the pathway appeared more and more as she stepped upon it, she could smell the damp of the night air and wondered where she was as she knew this was a room within the Chateau, but it didn’t feel like it.

  Amenea felt peacefully alone as if she was walking in the Chateau grounds at night. The pathway glistened with golden mist that emanated a source of light for Amenea to tread. Behind her was only darkness. Amenea continued to follow the golden mist and as the pathway gently twisted and turned. The pathway sloped gently beneath her feet and she could feel a dense feeling of pressure like weighted gravity, expand within her head, just as if she was travelling through the dark passage between the two worlds like she did with her mother and sisters.

  This feeling was quickly overtaken by intrigue, Amenea could see before her a small flickering of light, lights from a window of a house, gently flickering in the night. I wonder who lives in this house thought Amenea as she tried to narrow her eyes to focus more on the gentle orange light that she could see nearing from the distance. However, as Amenea got closer she realised that this was not a house.

  Amenea found herself standing on a bed of flattened rock. Where was she, she thought. The rock was warm to the touch and a deep, dark blue. Within the hard, warm rock th
at resembled a type of granite shone golden stars. Tiny golden stars, they were simply beautiful, twinkling and shining. Had Amenea not of bent down to touch one and feel the warmth and the hardness of the rock she may have thought that she was looking at the night sky.

  The gentle sound of rippling water brought Amenea to her senses and she started to fret realising that the golden mist had also disappeared. If it was not for the golden gleam of the stars, Amenea would be in complete darkness. Where am I she thought and how will I get back? Realising that the path behind her was now, totally invisible. Just as the peaceful silence that Amenea had felt walking along the pathway to where she now stood started to fade being replaced by creeping anxiety, a gentle voice in the dark spoke.

  “Do not fear, my child, you are safe. Here you are safe.”

  Amenea looked to each side of her and behind her too and as far as she could see in front of her, which was not very far, and she saw no one. She put her hands out in front of her and gently paddled them in the night air, not too far from her body to see if someone was there.

  “Be calm, my child.” The voice said.

  “You are in the lake of souls.” It continued.

  Speaking out loud, Amenea replied confidently,

  “Of course, I am, that is why I am standing on a rock filled with stars isn’t it?”

  “Yes, my child, you are and if you look up you will see.”