The Traitor's Daughter

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Elizabeth slowly forced the glare off of her face and replaced it with a smile, although it was difficult to do. Sir Richard Morton was the man who kept her locked up in his household in an attempt to get her to say anything against her father. He had abused her both physically and emotionally, and tried to turn her against the father that she adored, although he had failed at it. And when he grew tired of dealing with "The Stubborn Bitch" as he called her, he had her taken away from his house in the middle of the night to be killed. She was simply lucky that the man who was in charge of killing her led her to Mary instead, where she was raised as Elizabeth Ashbury, daughter of the Duchess of Cranton instead.

She bowed her head slightly, so as to appear modest.

"Forgive me, Sir Richard. It seems I have forgotten my manners!" She let out a small laugh. "My name is Lady Elizabeth Ashbury. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She raised her head and glanced at the man, who was smiling too much for her liking. But instead of this smile being the cruel smile she had been used to when she was a girl, this smile seemed to be a genuine, kind smile. He was buying her act.

"You are the Duchess of Cranton's daughter, yes? Why, the pleasure is all mine. I've only been at court for a few hours and feel as though I already know you."

Elizabeth groaned inwardly. She was expecting the people at court to want nothing more than to gossip about the newcomers, but she wasn't expecting it to be like anything she was experiencing.

"That's what I've been told by many," Elizabeth said with a laugh.

Sir Richard laughed along with her, studying her features. He suddenly reached out a large, aged hand and acted as though he was about to touch her eyes, something that startled Elizabeth. Instead, he let his hand sit in the air for a few seconds, inches away from the younger woman's face.

"You even have your mother's dark eyes," Sir Richard spoke fondly.

Elizabeth fought the disgust she felt from showing on her face by putting her head down, her eyes staring at the ground.

"You were friends with my mother?" She questioned, her eyes still on the stone floors.

"Back when we were children, yes."

Before Elizabeth could say anything, somebody called Sir Richard's name from behind her. He immediately apologized and excused himself, the other person clearly more important than she. Glad that he was finally done talking to her for now, Elizabeth walked the few steps to her room and immediately closed the door behind her.

Her maid, Jane, was standing over the bed, shaking out a wine colored gown. She looked up when she heard Elizabeth entered and smiled, her small hand gesturing towards the gown in her other hand.

"I picked out a gown for your dinner this evening with His Majesty. And-" She cut off as she knelt down to pull something out of a chest. She straightened her posture and held up a black fur mantle. "This to keep you warm tonight. They're saying it will snow!"

Elizabeth groaned and threw herself into the chair that sat next to the fireplace. "If only it was socially acceptable for me to wear my cloak and muff around court. This palace is so bloody cold!"

Jane nodded in agreement and set the dress and stole aside on a small armchair that sat in the corner of the room. Elizabeth began removing the pins from her hair that held her French hood in place, her headache immediately beginning to lessen. She removed the golden coif that held her hair at the base of her neck, then shook her long, dark hair free, immediately feeling better.