The War of Queens

Chapter 56

Sybil

 Brightsnow castle seemed so much smaller than Sybil remembered. It seemed strange to her that it had been four years now since she last saw it. It seemed time had gone so quickly by, and yet she felt it had to have been a lifetime ago that she left her home to become Queen.

 If only for a little while. She could not believe that her short while on the throne was now over, that it was now her mother’s turn.

 Her mother looked very much herself, while Anne, who stood beside her, seemed older - and even more beautiful in her rich, ermine cloak. When Sybil stepped out of her carriage, she wasted no time in running to her and hugging her.

 “Oh, Sybil, I have missed you,” she said. “I cannot imagine the terrors you’ve had to endure.”

 Lady - no, Queen Anne, her mother, walked to them. Even though she seemed unchanged in the looks, Sybil felt as though she was watching a stranger. She curtseyed deeply and muttered, “Your Grace.”

 “Don’t be silly,” her mother said kindly. “I am still your mother. Anne, take your sister to her chambers.”

 Anne smiled excitedly. “You’ll sleep with me, in our old chambers. It might be one of the last times we share beds, though.” Her smile grew. “Have you heard? I am to be married to Lord George of Blythall.”

 Sybil frowned. “Philip’s older brother?”

 Anne nodded smugly. “The heir to the Blythall fortune,” she whispered. “Mama says that the Blythall family shall be showered in fortune now that we have risen to power.”

 Sybil smiled. Even if she did not know how she felt of her own future, she was happy that her sister was so happy. “It is everything you ever wanted,” she said, and Anne nodded excitedly. “I am so happy.”

 “And that is not all,” Anne said, pulling her inside of the castle. The dark stone hallways seemed familiar and, at the same time, strangely foreign. “Helena has married Jon Bonney, the younger son of Lord Edward of the Pinelands. They’ve been given a manor near the Frostriver. That is why she could not come - you know how much it snows that far east.”

 “It seems fortune smiles upon our family,” Sybil said.

 “Yes,” Anne said. The smile vanished from her face and she stopped walking as though she had just realized something. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I quite forgot - you were Queen. It must feel awful.”

 Sybil bowed her head. “Thank you, but I never expected for it to last. I enjoyed it, yet I knew the goal was for our family to be restored to power all along.”

 Anne smiled. “You even speak like a Queen - so gracious. But not to worry, I know Mama will find a good marriage for you as well.”

 “What of Lisa?” Sybil said. “And our brother, Robert?”

 Anne seemed saddened, but continued walking. “Lisa’s husband died, so now she has retreated to servitude in one of the Temples. It is rumored that he was not faithful to her, but she denies it. She loved him.”

 “I am so sorry to hear that,” Sybil said.

 “Well… as for our brother, he must marry as well. Since he is the heir, the wife must of course be of a great house, perhaps from the Kingslands.”

 Sybil nodded. “I am very tired. The journey was long.”

 "Of course. I’ll leave you.”

 Sybil thanked her sister before finding her way to her old chambers. Though she remembered how this had once been her sanctuary, full of warmth and safety, she felt none of that anymore. All she saw was a cold room with stone walls and a dying fire.

 She lay flat on her stomach on the bed and took off the locket she wore around her neck. It was golden with intricate flowery engravings. Within it was a piece of the emerald silk that she had used for Raynor’s handkerchief. It was very small, just a piece she had picked up from the floor where she had cut out the handkerchief, but it meant much more to her than that.

 You were a Queen, it seemed to tell her, if only for a little while.

 The door opened and she quickly hid away the silk within the locket. The serving girl curtseyed. “Her Grace, Queen Anne, is here to see you.”

 For reasons unknown, Sybil felt rage rise within her. Why, she did not know - she had never wanted to be Queen. Yet seeing her mother in a cloth-of-silver dress fit for exactly that station filled her with jealousy.

 She raised herself to a sitting position and watched her mother take a seat by her vanity table.

 “I am sorry for interrupting you,” her mother said, “but I felt I needed to talk to you about what will happen in the near future.” She drew in a breath, as if to prepare herself. “You will soon be sent back to the capital to officially relinquish the title of Queen of Etheron to Elizabeth. You will pledge fealty to me, to her and to Asha. Then your marriage will be declared void and you will marry Aryavan instead, to ensure our alliance.”

 Sybil furrowed. “Aryavan?”

 Her mother nodded. “You’ll be Queen once more.”

 "Aryavan can’t marry,” Sybil said. “He’s a Kahari.”

 Her mother shrugged. “Then you will be his official lover - or marry someone else. One of his advisors.”

 Sybil clenched the locket hidden in her hand. “Can I not first mourn my marriage’s ending?”

 Her mother smiled as though her words were ridiculous. “What is there to mourn? It was never a real marriage.”

 “He yet lives,” Sybil said. “My husband.”

 “He’s not your husband anymore,” her mother stated.

 “But he is still King,” she said, ignoring her mother’s glare. “He yet has power over Tibera. Elizabeth did not conquer that part of Etheron yet. Some even say she has not made plans for it yet.”

 Her mother seemed not at all pleased. “Sybil, you are not to care about that. He is no longer your husband.” With that, she stood up and made to leave the chamber.

 “Our marriage was consummated, though,” Sybil said. She could hear her mother stop walking, but she did not turn to look at her. “I have a daughter to prove it.”

 Her mother’s steps were quick and hard and suddenly she was by her side. Sybil’s head was rudely turned to face her mother, who was so close she could feel her breath on her face. “You will not speak of this any longer,” her mother told her. “You will relinquish your title as Queen and declare your marriage void. Is that understood?”

 “I do,” Sybil said. “But then again, I understood the letter you sent me as well.” She pushed her mother’s hand away. “The one where you ordered me to assassinate my husband. Or do you not remember?”

 Her mother’s jaw clenched. “You will speak to no one of that letter if you care for your family at all.”

 Without another word, the Queen left. Sybil rubbed her chin where her mother had grabbed it. She was sure marks would form, but she refused to cover them. That night, when she bathed, she made sure to wash her hair with the bleacher Evelyn had given her.