Book Two of The Usurper's Queen Series
The kingdom is slowly dividing itself into different factions. The people's true faces are being exposed in the race of wealth and glory.
And in the heart of it all is Anne, Duchess of Cindertrappe. The promise...
What do you want to be when you're all grown up, Anne ?
If someone had asked me this question seven years ago, without skipping a beat I would say that I wanted to become queen. Of course, I knew that it was all wishful thinking, and the common blood that ran through my veins could never get me a place on the grand throne.
But today, on this glorious day, it happened. The Crown of the Phoenix, majestically bejeweled with rubies and amethyst, crafted from the molten gold of that once touched the sacred flesh of our great king, Gregoire, was laid on my head.
The golden circlet, despite being a mere object, had legitimised my place by Edmund's side. I am his Queen, his other half, and not even God can separate us. This is our kingdom, our dominion, the fruits of our labour, and now we shall reap the harvest.
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The magnificent court that once belonged to the dead Queen Helene is now rightfully mine, and the walls that were once adorned with the Ainsworth badge of the wee lamb and the thistle is now replaced by my own family's blue periwinkle adjoined with the marvelous Chauvelot sun.
For our celebratory feast, my father had ensured that it would be much grander, much more opulent than the feast at Queen Jane's coronation. But instead of sharing it only among the rich nobilities, we opened the palace gates and invited the commonfolk inside, and all of us ate the food cooked in the same pot.
Such a humble and loving display had endeared us to the people, exactly as my father had hoped, and I now knew why the people loved my father so dearly.
"More wine, my dear ?" I heard Edmund say, and I briskly nodded, holding out my goblet.
"The sun is particularly bright today, my love," I say to him while swirling the wine in my goblet. "Perhaps now that the true king has arisen, the sun finally has the will to shine again."
"I wonder how bright it is in Edward's dungeon cell," Edmund whispers in my ear. "Alas, he wouldn't be there for long."
I abruptly set the goblet down on the table, and the red liquid spilled over the rim, splattering on the white tablecloth. "Do you plan to release him ?"
"No, of course not, Annie. He will be sent off to the Isles of Chamier, off the coast of Kelle. There, he will live the rest of his life peacefully, in exile."
"You are allowing him to live ?" I scoffed. "You have become soft."
"I haven't forgotten about what he had done to my late father, Annie. Killing him off would be too easy. Edward is used to a life of luxury, of magnificence. Now, let him waste away in that obscure island, where he will be treated as he is -- a murderer."
"And what about old Jane and her boy ?"
"Jane shall be exiled in Sutherland, where no Ainsworth influence can reach her. And as for her little boy, I shall grant custody to Cecily, his half-sister."
