Heirs of the Gods

Ch 2: The glorious, brutal art of subtle insults and backhanded compliments

       Painstakingly bathed and primped by two ladies-in-waiting, Ella stared at her reflection in the ornate gilded mirror.

Over a chemise, a corset cinched to diminutive perfection and a wide hoopskirt, she wore a voluminous brocade gown. Pearls and lace roses adorned the blush-pink skirts, fanning around her like frosting. Scalloped ruffles trimmed the bodice, the sleeves and the edges, all draped like piping on cake. Her frosty hair had been piled sky-high, looped with even more pearls and lace roses, and her ears and neck glistened with rubies. She felt like the worlds largest wedding cake, bedecked in pearls and all the lace of the Kingdom. Yet, the shining jewel of the attire was the monstrosity on her finger.

It was a massive, gaudy thing, taking up her entire fourth knuckle. An eyeball-sized diamond surrounded by blood-red rubies in a thick, golden band.

An engagement ring given to her weeks prior, to seal the contract.

Tearing her eyes away from the heavy weight on her finger, she swung open the windows and braced her hands on the sill, enough that her knuckles turned white. From her room in the manor, crowning the top of a fortified hill, she could see the forest line. She breathed in the crisp air in greedy gulps, attempting to calm the stirring in her stomach.

Codshire bordered the forest that divided Fae Realm from them. Just thick tree lines stretching far into the horizon, miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. It was the same forest most sensible people avoided going too deep into, for fear of what might be lurking. The same one bordering Cedric's farmhouse, where they'd played as children, straying as far as they could before getting scolded. The one where they would play hide-and-seek, pick berries, mushrooms, flowers and the four-leaf clovers Ella was a champion at finding.

Perhaps she had no common sense, but the woods fascinated her. There was something soothing about the darkness of the forest, the ever-present rustle of life, the lulling song of wind whistling through the leaves. In the midst of the towering trees, she had room to breathe.

Her existence was always one of being constantly watched. The manor may have been grand and enormous, but it was suffocating. She rarely had a moment to herself, alone. From morning to nightfall, there was always a multitude of people breathing down her neck, courtiers watching her every move, maids fussing about her, a constant reminder of her duties. In the last months, as the pressure she was under piled on, the impulse to submerge herself in the thick tree line was almost unbearable at times, making her skin prickle and her stomach clench. She chalked it up to the fact that she was to be married soon, and even the dark forest was far better than the alternative.

As Lord Blackwell's eldest daughter, it was past time for Ella to do what women like her are born for: marrying well, securing an alliance, breeding the perfect little heirs to do the same, so on and so forth. That was the way Lord Blackwell saw it, the way all of the aristocrats did.

Harrion would have had Ella married far earlier if he'd had his way, but Ella's mother had interceded in her favour, and Ella had kicked and fussed all she could to avoid marriage. At great cost, she had succeeded in postponing it for a year, but the time was up and there was no more putting it off. Today was the official engagement party, the day her marriage to Duke Jonas Pendergold would be announced to high society.

Jonas Pendergold was the son of Duke Barnabas Pendergold, of the adjacent duchy, Hampton. Codshire was the largest terrain and Hampton the richest, it was an obvious and advantageous arrangement. From a ripe young age, Ella had known she was eventually going to be married off to the man. Even her introduction to society during her first debutante season had been merely a formality, as everyone knew she was eventually going to be wed to Lord Jonas. There had never even been a possibility for her to marry anyone else.