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...
I must inform you that my brother, Gregory de Chauvelot had died of the plague last night. I have arranged a private burial here in Sutherland, but we cannot hold a funeral out of fear of the plague.
If you are willing, please hold a memorial, however small or insignificant, for my brother's soul. He barely had the time to grow up, and soon people shall forget about him. But if a memorial is held, then people shall remember him. They will know that Gregory de Chauvelot had once lived, had once existed.
I hope that you and the rest of the royal family shall pray for his soul, for he is one that is without sin.
Cecily Winterbourne Duchess of Sutherland
I folded up the letter and tossed it down onto the table. My head throbbed with pain as I read the letter over and over again, and I cursed in my heart.
This is truly the worst thing that could ever happen. Now, the Hasteburn brothers began to preach to me with more zeal and confidence, and the eastern people had become more vocal in voicing out their displeasure.
Gregory de Chauvelot had been the son of Jane Ainsworth, daughter of the Marquis of Lansbury. Though the members of the House of Ainsworth are all either demoted to commoners or dead, some of their supporters live on, and they are furious.
Rumours began to spread how I purposely started the plague in Sutherland so that I could kill off the bad king Edward's only son, which deviated completely from the original rumour, in which a plague had struck Phoenicia due to God's wrath at me. So which one is it? Which one do they want to believe in?
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, I truly wanted to, but I could not.
The supporters of House Ainsworth have now reached the capital, demanding justice for their 'martyred' prince.
"They want you to be held responsible for his death, Anne," my father confides to me. "They say that you were the one who killed him."
"But why would I? He was already deposed long before he died, so why would I kill him? He isn't a threat to me or Elisabeth, and I am not so cruel as to order the death of a harmless little boy!" I argue desperately.
I would be lying if I said that I was not at all affected by Prince Gregory's death. After all, I was the first person who knew of his mother's pregnancy, and it was also I who took care of his mother while she was carrying him in her womb.
He was born prematurely due to my own schemings, and he stopped developing mentally as a result of the poisoned incense I gave to his pregnant mother.
Perhaps the accusations are true. Just like Prince George, Prince Gregory also died because of me. The only difference is that while Prince George was poisoned by accident, I had knowingly poisoned Prince Gregory while he was still in the womb.
"I want you to arrange a memorial for him. A grand one, fit for a royal prince. Decorate the hall with thistles and sunflowers, and hire a choir to sing a requiem for his soul. This is the least I could do for him."
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