Life would have been much easier if she wasn't a Duke's daughter. Or the heiress, for that matter. The society made terms she had to adhere to. The terms which stated that she simply couldn't march up to His Highness' room and demand an audience. She was desperate to see the prince. He was the answer to all of her worries.
The night had fallen on the castle like a blanket of darkness, with no moon in sight, it suited the beastly kingdom much more than its day-time view of ostentatious beauty. Elizabeth lay awake in her bed, sleep evading her. With eminent danger lurking on her door-step, literally even, it wasn't a wonder why she couldn't drift into the oblivion.
Her ladies maid, Verena attended to her every need. She was everywhere - from her bathroom to her closet and even in her bedroom. Watching her every move. The thought had gnawed at her since her return from the theatre, making her very uncomfortable around the olive-skinned maid.
She had been racking her brains to keep Verena away as much as possible, but apparently, there weren't many places where she could avoid Verena's presence. Elizabeth tossed in her bed, suddenly elated to have her sister and aunt with her in this hell of a country.
Her thoughts drifted to the prince, on whom she had pegged her plans of survival.
If a maid isn't to be trusted here, should the Crown Prince be?
She sat up, rubbing her face with her hands, exhausted. She had to leave Warnia ruined, unmarried, and preferably alive. But none of her goals seemed to near its fulfillment. She had formulated a plan, but Verena's action had put her on guard yet again.
The Crown Prince of Warnia was the last person she should trust in this damnation of a place. But against her better judgement, he somehow seemed the only person who could get her out of this mess. The irony of the situation was deadly.
Drawing her robe closer, she got up from the bed and walked towards the open window. It was maddening when there were only questions but no answers to the riddle called life. Yardwell allowed heiresses to inherit lands, if they remained unmarried. The concept felt flawed in itself. Which parents would allow their daughter to remain a spinster in their society? And above all, how would the lineage of the ruling house of the duchy continue if their were to be no heirs?
Yardwell, the only duchy in the entire continent to present the rights of the lands to its daughters. The largest duchy in the entire continent. Perhaps the richest too. The herald had chosen to announce her as heiress of Yardwell, choosing to ignore her country. The ballroom had stilled at her entrance, because of her title.
The question had lingered since years now. Why was Yardwell different? What was so special about Yardwell that against the patriarchal views of the society, it chose to allow the so-called dim-witted women to govern its lands?
She didn't have answers to these questions. She had tried to ask her father, but in all these years, her father had only provided vague answers. Answers which held no true meaning. It had been all philosophical balderwash. She had given up questioning after a while. But she would have pushed harder if she knew one day it would rise up again, this time the answer of far more import than her petty curiosity.
She could lay little trust on her aunt to provide her with answers. If her father hadn't, there was little chance her aunt would defy him to assuage her worries. Eliza rubbed her temple. If only she could not have been a duke's daughter.
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The bright, humid sun rose over the Warnian kingdom, trying to give the otherwise gaudy, palely-beautiful castle walls a bright sheen. But the bright sun did nothing to lit Eliza's temper. It was a mechanical day ahead for her. An afternoon with the Queen, the rest of the debutantes and the lady guests from over the continent in the salon, tittering and sewing (reading in her case) and missing the clear sky for a lackluster afternoon in general.
She greedily desired a ride in the open skies. It would do wonders to her clouded mind, and release the tension she could feel in every inch of her being. The only positives she could see in the day were having her aunt and cousin to accompany her in her sufferings, as well as the ball in the evening hosted in honor of the Warnian military. It was the only time she would be seeing the prince in the day and proposing her plan to him. The breakfast had been a debutantes'-only affair, a headache at its best. The table had been livelier than she had seen since her arrival, however the conversation had been anything but dull to her.
She had taken upon herself to watch over Adine, the gullible debutante who had taken over to grovel at higher ranking debutantes' feet. Of course, it hadn't escaped her friend that she was the highest-ranking debutante in the lot, however Adine had conveniently looked past that fact and simply greeted her with a stiff curtsey, before sauntering away with the kindest smile on her face to others.
Eliza didn't mind at all. If at all, Adine's reaction to her was all but refreshing to her. After the inaugural ball, and the theatre evening, she had been all but hauled in the dining hall as she made her presence known. The flock of swishing skirts had followed her to her seat, only to be discouraged by her constant rude and short remarks. Still, some of the persistent and suspiciously deaf to her unwelcome responses had followed her and been her unwanted guests for the duration of the meal.
"Which dress have you chosen to wear for the ball this evening, Lady Elizabeth?" A shrill voice spoke from left, making her winch and pause on her meal.
"Haven't chosen one," she mumbled as she forced another morsel down her throat. Really, how could anyone converse when there were such delicacies being served to you? It felt almost criminal.
She heard a gasp from three chairs down the from where she was seated, followed by quiet mumbles. She looked up to help herself with some fruits to find Adine's steady gaze on her, voicing her disapproval of Eliza's third helping quietly, before turning red and letting her gaze fall down on her plate. If she were in a different mood, she would have winked at her and watch her squirm as one of her governesses did whenever she disapproved of her. Of course it was almost tragic that she hadn't chosen her dress for the evening, but she was sure Verena would have pulled out something from her closet.
Her hand paused as the dubious maid crossed her mind. She had been careless about what she wore, much less interested in the correct pairings of the stockings and gloves and jewels with her gown.
It was time to pay attention to all of that. And more.
As the chitter chatter died around her and shifted to other corners of the table, she let her mind wander to more important things. More important plans. And the confusion surrounding her own family. Her father had not once sent word since her arrival in Warnia. Yes, it had only been a few days and her father wasn't the most communicative of all, but he did inform her about important things, albeit a little late. If he were to come to Warnia, the most beneficial ball with the best candidates for business were to be present this evening. Meaning today would be the best day to make his presence on the so-called forbidden lands.
Military men weren't so high in their insteps to not consider trade as means for making money. And father didn't give a flying fig about steps, either high or low. But Eliza had not heard from her father in the morning.
She didn't know what to expect. The only thing she could do was trust him. And she had. She had trusted him enough to come to the dreaded lands. She had trusted him to not have thrown her in the arms of danger. She had trusted him to not question further about her rights on Yardwell. He was her kin. She had trusted him all her life.
But now, when he kept her in dark, was trust enough to save her?
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So we're back with another update, and shall keep the updates going from here on. And to all those who have recently added this book to your reading lists, all I can say is thank you! Those notifs inspired me to go on and write this next update. And I shall continue with these!
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أنت تقرأ
An impertinent affair
التاريخيةElizabeth. Your not so typical blue-eyed, ice-glaring, feminine past time's - detesting lady, the only daughter of the Duke of Yardwell. Which makes her the Heiress of the largest and richest estate in the Kingdom of Demonire. And the twist - Demon...
