I sat in a daze at my dressing table, brushing my hair. I felt glum today and my chest felt heavy. I knew it was because my heart just wanted a break, something good. Some light to shine in on our lives, not just for me, but for everyone. I kept thinking on how I felt like a prisoner. I couldn’t run away as much as I fantasized about it. I couldn’t without Edric hurting anyone just to find me, but in reality, we were all prisoners. Edric held the key to all of our lives.“Are you ok, my dear?” Maude asked as she walked into my room and jolted me out of my daze.“Mmhmm” I replied.“Aurelia! What is going around in that head of yours?”“Nothing, I was just getting ready for bed”“Well, it doesn’t even look like you’ve brushed your hair properly. Here, let me do it” she said softly as she took the brush from my hand and began to stroke it through my hair gently.I sighed “We’re all just stuck here, aren’t we?”“Well, obviously we all dream of things being better, but all we can do is thi
“Good Morning Maude, morning everyone”, I greeted the kitchen staff as I strolled in to have some breakfast. I didn’t want to eat alone in my room and, definitely didn’t want to eat with Edric and his guards.“Good morning, Aurelia” they all called in unison as I sat down on one of the stools next to the kitchen side door. It was always open when they were cooking, with all the fires lit, it would become so hot, you’d feel like you’re suffocating with pools of sweat underneath your garments.“What’s for breakfast this morning?” I asked Maude, who was busy slicing bread.“What would you like, my dear? You can have some oats, or we have some apples and bread”“ An apple and a piece of bread please?”She handed me the food then continued with preparing the food. “If you’d like Aurelia, once you’re done eating, you could pick some fresh berries from the gardens. We’ll need some for tonight’s meal.”“ok” I agreed as I chomped down on my apple.“The king has asked for fruit pie. I’m assumin
It has been a week since we buried those bodies, but I have barely been able to sleep since. Me and Nathaniel have visited twice since, with whatever food I could scrape together without it being noticed. On one of those days, me and Nora managed to make a potato and mutton broth and it helped to feed most of the more malnourished families.When I watched them scoff their food down like ravenous wolves, I felt guilt knowing that, as bad as it was living in the castle, at least I still got to eat full meals. So, after that day, I started to keep most of the food from my meals saved for them. I instructed Nathaniel to give it to Nora every night before he went home. It still wasn’t enough, but at least it was food Edric or the cooks wouldn’t notice.I led on the grass in one of the castle gardens, silently staring up at the sky. Only the sounds of tweeting birds and the swaying of the trees surrounded me, but it felt peaceful. It felt like a world away from the world I was really in. It
Four weeks later:For some time now, me and Nathaniel had taken it upon ourselves to do all we could for our village. Nathaniel was now keeping back half of his food too, to give to the people. Every night before he went home, he would check on many families and give them whatever we could spare.I had finally told Maude about the dead people me and Nathaniel helped to bury. Since then, she’s tried to put aside spare food for me to take for them. I felt a sense of achievement. It still wasn’t feeding everyone as much as we’d liked but we were making a difference and people were starting to really appreciate our visits. Nora had been busy making as many broths as she could. One elderly couple had started to look less skinny and had started to regain enough energy to walk and gather little bits of food for themselves.I tried to focus on the good we were doing. I had to. Edric had received word from King Aldrich, stating that Mallon had become ill, but once he was well again, Mallon wou
“Wake up Aureliea, Wake up... quickly, you must get up” I heard Maude demand as she burst into my room."What is it Maude, why are you rushing?.... Don’t tell me, the king is in a bad mood already?” I asked as I sat up with a yawn.“It’s not the time for jokes, Aurelia, I’ll tidy you a dress while you comb through that hair of yours and be sure to pop a pretty pin in it”I rubbed my eyes and looked at her rummaging through my dresses. “Maude, what is going on?”“The king wants you in the throne room now, and he commanded you to hurry. He seemed in a rather excitable mood, he has something stirring in that head of his.”I scoffed “Well, what’s new?”“Aurelia, I told you, this is not the time. Do you want him to scold you?”That reminder was enough to make me jump out of bed and start brushing through my hair. Once I was ready, Maude walked me down to the hall. Edric and Matthias were already there. Edric was sitting tall and proudly at his thrown, with Matthias standing next to him. As
Several weeks later:Of course, Nathaniel brought me here today! It was the same rock cove that he had brought me to before. It was a place of peace for him and fond memories. I guess he knew that after the news I received from Edric this morning, I too needed a place of peace. His disgusting superior grin as he told me that King Lyon had sent word, that once his son has returned home from his travels, he will come to Northleye to wed me.Nathaniel wasn’t there at the time. He didn’t see what Edric did to me after he told me of the news. When he called me a ‘bastard burden from my whore of a mother.’ He didn’t see the blood I had to clean from my nose after Edric punched me to the floor. But he did see the bruising and the fact that my nose was swollen to almost twice the size. Poor Nathaniel was seething as he tried to refrain himself from finding Edric and hurting him in return. It took a lot of pleading to stop him from acting so foolishly. The only outcome from that, would have be
One week later:My legs and my back felt stiff as I led on my thin bed, with only one blanket that was ripped and torn in so many places, it barely covered my tense, shivering bones, but I still tried to have it wrapped around me as tightly as I could. The gusts of wind would howl and whistle as they blew through the small holes in the wall. I knew winter had begun, it had become so much colder on the nights and daylight always faded by noon as the rains poured and the heavy winds would rattle the metal bars that kept me captive in this dank, dark room.I could never warm my hands and my toes felt like they were close to forming icicles. I had spent the last few days and nights curled up, trying to keep in my heat. The only time I moved was when food came or I had to relieve myself in the cold, stained metal bucket in the darkest corner of the room.I hated it at night. Daytime was bearable, but when night came, I felt afraid and alone. Abandoned in complete darkness, when the rats wo
Six months later:As I sat, leaning against the cold hard wall with my moth-eaten blanket wrapped around me and my bottom now numb from how long I’d spent sitting on the hard floor and bits of loose stone and rubble poking into my thighs. I just stared emotionless at my fingernails, just calmly noting how brittle and dirty they were now. They were all chipped with engrained lines and patches of muck and old dust along my fingertips and on the palms of my hands. Every few days, a maid was sent in to bathe me. I never had the energy or the care to do it myself. I had lost all incentive. But even when the maids washed me and combed my hair, within a day I’d be back to looking like a poor and starved crazy woman. My hair, which was once long, silky and golden sleek, was now always matted, smelt like old rust and looked more of a dowdy old brown. My skin was paler with flecks of a faint purple, apart from the dirt that covered me, of course. My feet were the worst though. When I first came
Four years later. I held firmly onto the bedpost as Maude laced the back of my dress. I reached for another piece of dry, cooked bread that she had advised might help with my sickness. My little bump was starting to show now under my dress, but this time I was more excited than I had been when I was withchild with Helena and she was just as excited as me and Mallon at the thought of her having a baby brother or sister. “Feeling any better my dear?” Maude asked as she finished the last bit of my dress. “Umm, a little, but it comes and goes”. “Well remember, just little nibbles dear”. She took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs and I took the one opposite her. Helena was with Lillian and her son Thomas, he was one now and every day he would want to follow Helena and she adored him and his little giggles, every time she did a silly dance or put on a puppet play for him. We couldn’t wait for her to be a big sister, we could see already she’d take the role seriously. So while Helen
Ten months later.In between trying to walk and crawl, Helena was trying to waddle across the throne room before sinking to her knees again after a few unsteady steps. Mallon swooped in behind her, clapping his hands and opening up his arms, he tried to encourage her to stand again and walk towards him. “seeing as she loves food so much, perhaps we should bribe her into walking”. He chuckled and I laughed with him.“Before you know it, she’ll be running circles around you and you won’t be able to keep up with her!“. I joked with him.“Yes, she’s definitely going to keep us chasing after her that’s for sure!”Just then Maude came in and straight away she rushed over to Helena and picked her up, giving her a hug. “Are you trying to walk, little princess? Don’t you just look positively beautiful today. You’re looking more and more just like your mother when she was a baby.” She coo’d at Helena.“She will be a beauty indeed, like her mother and one day she’ll capture the stone heart of a
Three weeks later“AAAAHHHHHH!! AAAAHHHHH.... IT HURTS, IT HURTS AAAAHHHH, WHY ISN’T IT OUT YET!!” I kept screaming at the doctor, Maude and the wise woman who was acting as my midwife. Luckily she had safely birthed children of her own and aided many women through the births of their own but as experienced as she was, I was not prepared for it to hurt THIS DAMN MUCH!“WHY ISN’T IT COMING? AAAAHHH! IS IT OK? AAHHHH FUCK!”The moment Mallon heard my screams, he broke tradition and came bounding into the room and took my hand as I squeazed his hard. “Mallon, it isn’t coming, why isn’t it coming yet?” I asked breathlessly as I writhed in pain.“It’s ok my love, it’s ok, the baby will come, you’re doing great my love, just keep strong”.“It fucking HUUURTS AHHHH!“. I yelled again.I saw as Mallon looked at the wise woman, I quickly looked to her aswell for a sign of what was happening. She simply nodded “This is normal, the baby will be ready to be pushed out, just keep breathing”.I want
Three months later:I walked through the halls whilst the autumn sun was streaming through the windows, my steps were slower and I felt like I was a waddling duck. All I could hear was John and Kol’s armour slowy shuffling behind me as they patiently waited for me to get to Cedric and Belinda’s room. My hands rested on my huge bump as I willed for it to stop pushing all of it’s weight onto my vagina and my legs, I felt as if someone had rested sacks of grain on my stomach and my feet were starting to swell in these blasted shoes that were squeazing my toes together.I entered quietly into their room to see the doctor wetting a cool cloth on Belinda’s forehead as she lay sleeping in bed, with Cedric and Nathaniel standing beside it, looking down at her, their faces tight with worry. I walked over to them and rested my hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder as belinda’s breaths were short and heavy, like every time she breathed in, it was as if she was gasping for air to reach her lungs. Cedric s
Ten weeks later:With everything that was looming over us, the village had been quiet since our soldiers had left almost two months ago. It seemed as though the sky had known the heaviness in our hearts as since the night they left, we hadn’t seen the sun in the sky. Grey clouds swarmed the sky from morning to night as if displaying the gloominess that lurked inside of us all every day. It was only three days ago that I was awoken with the news that I had been waiting for every day and worrying and filled with dread for the lives of all of our men.King Broch had finally returned word to me and had decided to agree to a new peace treaty and had informed me that he will not act against any of my allies unless he has good cause in future to do so. He explained that he was aware of Edric being removed from the throne but not why.. and that after conversing with neighbouring kings and queens, he found justifiable cause in Edric’s reign being put to an end. I took his letter to mean that h
Eight weeks later:I sat excitedly in a velvet cushioned seat with Mallon next to me, his hand covering mine on the arm rest as we over looked the crowd that was standing by in the village, with smiles of glee of the new matrimony they were exhilarated to see with this feeling of us all being brought together today for a happy celebration. I looked at the stone Pillars that were covered in green ivy and white flowers as Nathaniel stood in between them, waiting with the priest. I could see him nervously shifting on his feet as he waited for Lillian to appear.It wasn’t long until a young man, playing a soft tune on a flute began walking down the petal filled isle with Lillian close behind, with her mother walking at her side. Lillian’s dress was white lace from the bodice to the hem. The sleeves at her forearms flowed as she clutched her bouquet of white and pink blossoms. Her long brown hair was wavey with a band of flowers resting on her head. She looked like earth and nature, so pur
I awoke this morning feeling rather dizzy and Maude’s usual breakfast made my stomach turn, all I could eat was an apple and berries. When I still felt quesy by noon, I had sent for the doctor. I wasn’t panicked by being unwell, I just didn’t have the time to sit around until I was better, so I had hoped the doctor could give me some herbs and treatments to keep it at bay, but when he came to see me and did some rather different observations, none that I had ever had before. When he told me why I was feeling so ill. I felt as though someone had kicked me in the gut and hit my head with a shield.I knew it would happen eventually, but.... but if felt too soon. it has barely been a year since I became queen and wedded Mallon, I wasn’t sure if I was readily equipped for this!After wrapping my head around my shock I set off to find Mallon, who was in our study looking over letters from Kings that used to be allies of Edric and from the concentration on his face, it didn’t seem like posit
Four weeks later:Over the last few weeks, me and Mallon had been in constant communication with Aldrich In Ailingdale. Through his and our most trusted messengers we had finally signed and sealed our peace treaty, bringing our kingdoms together. Aldrich had also included in his letters that he had been in many talks with his allies in hopes to convince them to allign with Northleye. He spoke of how at first they all had refused to join forces with the king of greed of Northleye but that once he had told them of Edric’s removal from the throne and the new queen in his place, only too soon did I have letters from kings and queens in other kingdoms wanting to know more of me and the current state of my kingdom.I was only too eager to tell them of all the work we had done for our people who were now living in their new homes. All thier old shacks had been torn down to make way for a more variety and prosperous village market. Our Tavern had been refurbished as the roof had been falling
Three days later:Since our wedding night me and Mallon made love the moment we were alone in our room at the end of each day. He was right of course... by the third time we made love, my whole body completely melted into his and all my nerves I had before had vanished. It was such a powerful, exhillerating explosion that swept through my entire body and released on his penis as we both had peaked together. I knew from Maude’s descriptions what reaching peak meant, however she never told me what it would feel like and the incredible pleasure it could bring. Once Mallon had known I was just as pleasured now as he was, he was even more eager for us to be alone. Each night we would make love until the candle’s light went out and when morning came, we would do it again. And I stuck to my promise of calling him my husband each night and morning and he reciprocated by lovingly calling me his wife.The last three days I felt as though I was walking on a blissful cloud a bounce in each step I