A Fate Foretold (formerly: A World Gone Mad)

A Fate Foretold 12

           The hazy images in Ally’s mind sharpened and zoomed in on one particular scene. Three figures stood stock still in a room that looked as though it had frozen in time and space. Ornamental draperies, delicately crafted furniture, porcelain figurines, and luxurious Oriental rugs decorated the entire house. A ten year old girl stood so rigidly, one would have assumed she were suspended in time. Beside her, her mother and an authoritative man with a hawkish look stood in wait, equally immobile.

            The gentleman whose arrival they awaited burst through the tall double doors with purpose. He sported a trim black beard with only a sprinkling of white hairs. Although rather short, he possessed such an air of dignity that he managed to look domineering in any setting.

            “Camille, it is an honor”, he nodded respectfully. “Cornelius.” Cornelius did not receive such adulation, but it was obvious that the two men respected one another.

            “And this is Alianora,” he said appraisingly. “I am to take you to your father.” He spoke to the child as though to a peer.

            The girl nodded mutely, before remembering her manners and answering softly, “Yes, sir.” She tried to discreetly wipe her sweaty palms against her sumptuous maroon cloak.

            Camille embraced her daughter one last time, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. Cornelius bowed his head as he shook her hand. He allowed a small smile to pass over his features, if only fleetingly, in order to reassure her. The new arrival laid a hand on her shoulder to steer the girl out of the room, out of the stately brick house, and into a waiting black town car with tinted windows.

            Alianora did her best to keep calm and barring that, at least look it. She could not disgrace her mother. She was determined not to let anyone down, although there were more demands on her than her ten-year old mind could cope with.

            She wasn’t sure if she was glad to be leaving England or not. On the one hand she would be sad to leave her mother. On the other, she was keen to see her father, although opposing giddy excitement and knee-knocking terror only made her nauseous. She was proud that he wanted to see her; for the past five years he had wavered between demanding her presence in Geneva and claiming he had no interest in his daughter.

            Cornelius had explained that this was simply a power play between her parents, who used their daughter against each other. Her mother, in a fit of rage, had left her husband and taken Alianora to England when the girl was five. However, although they were not true mates, once mated, mates could not easily separate from one another. This left the couple in emotional limbo, angry, and determined to hurt the other.

            Years later, Alianora would understand that her parents’ love, untempered by mature reason, had been their downfall. Young love does not last, and the sacrifice and understanding necessary in a relationship are painful. The loss of idealistic love proved too much for them. When the fog of first love had cleared, the two had blamed and cursed the other for it. Their daughter served as their retributory weapon. Camille refused to let her estranged husband see his daughter. His ploy was to routinely alter between demanding his heir and feigning no interest whatsoever in either his wife or child.

            Camille finally consented to surrender Alianora when word of her husband’s newest love interest reached England. Lydia Bubant’s bid for power was entirely too successful for Camille’s liking. To remind her husband of her importance, she sent Alianora to Geneva as constant proof. Neither Camille nor Alianora were going to be disregarded.

           It would be the second to last time Alianora saw her mother. She was allowed to return to England a year later, to bid her mother goodbye on her deathbed. She supposed it had been rather generous of her father to allow her such a luxury, but it remained unclear whether he had consented out of love of Camille or Alianora.