Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 31

I nodded, "I think so. He would make comments like maybe he needed to show me or remind me how to be a good wife since I was making him look bad. He would never say anything like that when we were out in public or with my father, only when we were alone. That's what I meant by him being completely different. A week after my father died though is when he actually went through with his comments."

"Meaning?" Aaden asked.

A tear slipped down my face as I sniffled. "He walked into the store and found my assistant Cameron wiping some dirt off my cheek while making a silly comment about maybe I was a flower fairy in a past life. I knew he didn't like Cameron being my assistant but I promise I only saw him as a little brother, nothing more. That night when I came home I saw he was more drunk than normal. He started yelling that I was coming home later and later and when I tried to protest he slapped me."

Alun let out a deep growl then took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "Continue."

"He yelled that he was tired of being lenient and he wasn't going to tolerate having a bad wife anymore. It wasn't good for him to have a wife that didn't obey and I was going to start being a good wife one way or another. I had promised to be faithful and loyal and part of being loyal is to always believe my husband, he knows what's best for me and he is always right." I cleared my throat, "there were lots of corrections I needed to make over the years."

Eben scoffed then cleared his throat, "What happened the night you left, Evette? What caused you to leave your village? We need to know the truth."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could feel my body start to shake as the memories came rushing forward. "Two weeks before I left, I was walking past some construction to deliver some flowers. Cameron was with me because it was a large order. A beam started to fall and he knocked me out of the way. The beam fell on him instead and broke his leg. Unfortunately he got an infection and the doctors had to amputate. The day before I left, I was visiting Cameron against John's rules and I left him some flowers before telling him I couldn't visit him anymore. I needed to be a good wife and that meant I had to follow John's rules. Anyway," I blink back tears, "when I was there, the doctor told Cameron the amputation didn't stop the infection, it had actually spread and there was nothing they could do, he was going to die. I apologized, afterall it was my fault he was in that condition. He refused to believe that and he said he wouldn't have changed anything. I left to hurry home and John punished me for going behind his back. The next day Cameron's sister visited me with some shocking news. Cameron was no longer sick and was going to live. The doctors couldn't believe it and asked what I did. I didn't know what they were talking about and Cameron admitted that I was the last person to see him. John called me a witch in front of the whole village. He then held up my arms and the bruises he left me were gone. He openly admitted that he refused to be married to a witch and stormed off. The village started calling me a witch and I was locked up in my father's shop until the trial the following day. I knew what they were going to determine so I grabbed my father's journal which had the map in it and snuck out. When I was leaving I saw John kissing another woman outside the bar. I had suspicions for years he wasn't faithful but I swear I was faithful the entire marriage. I tried to be a good wife, I really did but I wasn't."

"How bad did it get, Evette?" Aaden asked. "Broken bones?"

I refused to answer but a tear slipped down my face and he started muttering under his breath.

"Evette," Alun said in such a tone that I looked at him before even realizing it. "I know you have scars on your body. Have you self harmed in any way that was dangerous to your health?"

"No," I shook my head honestly. "I...I...well, there have been times I couldn't eat for days, but I never cut or did anything like that. I miss my father and mother but I couldn't hurt them like that. I have thought about it but I never went through with it. I promise, I haven't."

"Thank you for being honest," Eben said softly. "We are so glad you didn't."

"Evette," Alun said, making me look at him again with both fear and nervousness. "Where is your old village located?"