Avarice | Sample 10 Chapters

A v a r i c e | F i v e

F i v e

❝Anxiously the woman would wait;

the time Lady spent away was great.❞

LILITH HAD ASKED ME TO LEAVE shortly after I made the promise, deciding not to teach me anything. But I was to come back soon so she could begin the first lesson.

I didn't have any spare time as of late. The day after the promise was made I was kept busy by my mother. She was insufferably nosy, and although she was right in her suspicions, I would never tell her so. And now, today, I still was not going to be able to visit Lilith unless I wanted to face the wrath of the entire kingdom.

Today was the day we would dine with the royal family. Mother and I wouldn't likely be sitting anywhere near the actual royal family, but Father might. I wasn't sure how many people had been invited to the dinner, but Mother wanted to be at the castle early.

I was asked to wear my finest dress and coat. My family was not the wealthiest family in the kingdom, but certainly not the poorest, so my dress was nice and made of silky material. Mother wore all of the fancy jewels father had bestowed upon her and dolled herself up with her powder and lip stain. I was forced to wear makeup as well, but not as heavily as she had.

"Are the Trills dining as well?" I queried as I waited by the door for my parents.

"A few of them, I believe," my father nodded as he and Mother entered the room. "Check for the carriage, Cerise, please."

Opening the door a crack, I peeked outside. "It's here," I announced, opening the door. Father and Mother pulled on their coats before walking outside. I went out behind them and closed the front door.

We all got into the carriage with me sitting at the far end. The entire way to the castle Mother and Father were arguing and belittling each other. They were both obviously stressed out. They always did this whenever they were nervous about something, otherwise they were both very loving of each other.

Our kingdom was small, only made up of about five towns in all, but our land was large due to all of the forests surrounding us. The town I lived in was closest to the castle, yet somehow on the outskirts of the kingdom. All over forests surrounded the town, barricading us from the rest of the kingdom.

The lycanthropes had hit our town the hardest of them all because of this.

Still, the carriage ride seemed to drone on for longer than I had anticipated.

The sky had visibly darkened by the time we arrived at the front gates of the castle. Mother, Father, and I all stepped out. Father thanked our escort before leading Mother and I up the many steps to the doors of the castle, where a seneschal stood.

"Your name?" the seneschal asked to no one in particular. He hadn't even looked at us. He was staring down at a list.

"Victoire." My father responded with his head held high.

"Victoire," the butler murmured as his eyes roamed his list. "Of course. Here you are, right at the top." He nodded, shutting his list and turning to look at us. He nodded. "Marquise and Marquis Ralph Victoire." His gaze landed on me. "Mademoiselle. Follow me."

We did as we were asked. "You are early," the seneschal observed. "While you wait for the other guests, would you like to visit the Honor Hall?"

"The Honor Hall?" I echoed with a raised eyebrow. Mother glanced over her shoulder and glared at me, but I ignored her.