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To relieve stress Adeline went shooting.
She first went shooting with her father who at first was reluctant to let her but couldn't say no to her. The king thought her how to shoot and aim and she then learned that it was a great stress reliever, Adeline didn't really fancy the idea of killing innocent animals so she just shot clay disks, she loved to hear the beautiful cracking sound that would resound through the camp when shot at.
Closing her right eye to get a better view with her dominant one, she waited for the familiar swish of the disk when thrown, she heard it and the disk appeared on her vision, she tightened her hand in the shotgun and pulled the trigger, the inertia of the shot pushing her slightly.
The melodic cracking resounded through the camp behind the mansion and she smiled, clapping was heard behind her and turned to see Mary on an elegant chaise longue. "Wonderful, my dear"
She smiled at the woman before the smiled fell when her head started hurting and she remembered yesterday's dream, they were more realistic than they ever were.
"What is it?" Mary questioned seeing her troubled face.
"Do you think my dreams are just dreams?" Adeline asked recharging the shotgun.
"Not all dreams are just dreams" The woman rose a brow.
"The other day when Daphne was talking about Small Heath...I think there's something there for me" She sígnales the disk man for the next disk.
"In small Heath?" The woman said in curiosity.
"Forget it, I'm finally going crazy" Adeline said with a small chuckle aiming at the sky.
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She couldn't sleep, she was much to curious about the dreams in her head, a new dream had appeared one of her mother, all this years she had only remembered the woman's name, and her name only, and not matter how much she prayed as a child to remember at least her mothers face, she couldn't. So the next day she got into the archives, with the little help of having her name. Now With her new information she discovered her mother's name was Cassandra Aston. And that she was dead.
Adeline approached a woman sitting behind a desk. The woman looked at her unemotionally and Adeline tried to smile to her.
"I'm looking for the death of Cassandra Aston, Small Heath" She announced, and the woman behind the desk sighed and stood up, Adeline assumed she was getting the information that they needed and refrained from touching the dusty shelves.
The woman passed past her and maked her a signaled her to follow her, the unknown woman left a big book in the table that sounded with a 'thump'.
"Here is all the deaths from the past twenty years of C's" the woman stated and left to her desk.
"Uh-" She tried to get her attention but the woman had already left. Guess I have to do this myself
She sat on the chair in front of the table, the chair making a creaking sound, and Adeline grimaced, she took out her silk gloves from her purse and put them on.
It was going to be a long day.
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Adeline had taken the enormous book home with a little bribe to the woman and a promise to return it, why did she want to have a book with all the deaths in Small Heath anyway.
She was out in her garden reading through the book how she had done hours prior. Adeline was sat in a picnic on the floor, eating strawberries, she was grateful that her back didn't hurt her anymore like it did with that god awful chair.
She heard steps coming her way and Adeline looked up to see William. She groaned inwardly.
The lady put down the book and hid it in the food basket, she didn't want William to questioned on to why was she looking for dead people.
He stood in front of her with roses in his hand, and until this day he doesn't now that she despises roses, her favorite flowers are white tulips. Not that he knows that.
"Good Afternoon, dear" William greeted.
"I am not your dear, William" she stated, he ignore it and extended the flowers to Adeline which she took with a fake smile and put them besides the basket.
"Have you thought about my offer, dear" William questioned with a smile, ignoring her request.
"You know William, I think I need some more alone time to think about your magnificent offer" Adeline said sarcastically with a smile, but unfortunately for her William did not catch the hint and instead sat besides her, he tried to put his arm around her shoulders which she slapped away. "William I need time to think"
"What's there to think Adeline? if you accept you are going to be a Marquess and I'm sure if you do accept we would have beautiful heirs" He said as if that is the only reasons he needed.
"What if I don't want to be a Marquess?" She questioned ignoring the weird heirs part, Adeline really didn't want to be a Marquess, she was happy and dandy with her current position.
"Ha! Good joke Adeline, anyways think about it, I've got to go, me and some friends are going out" He smiled, kissed her cheek and walked out.
"Ugh" She rubbed her cheek. disgusting
Adeline took out the book and kept on looking.
After the sun had hid and the moon arose, she went back to the manor with the book in hand.
"Would you like us to serve you dinner, Miss?" Patty one of the maids questioned.
"Yes, please" Adeline answered with a smile and directed herself to the dinning room.
It was a large room with a large wooden table, well wasted with it's only two chairs with silk cushions. A bright chandelier shining on the ceiling, a few paintings on the right side of the room along with big windows on the left side.
As always Adeline sat at the head of the table, her favorite place, soon after hey brought her a creamy soup with shrimps.
She didn't stop reading the book; as she was halfway through her soup she passed the page and was surprise to see the name she has been looking for for hours, she was so surprised she almost spat out her soup.
"Oh my god" She whispered reading through the page.
Cassandra Aston
Year of death: 1905
Cause of death: Fever
Place: Small Heath, Birmingham
Living Relatives: Benjamin Aston (brother)
Children: Adeline Cassandra Aston
Adeline was staring shocked at the page in front of her, she touched the ink that wrote her mother's name and unconsciously touched the necklace in her neck. Her name was Aston.
She experienced a lot of emotions in a matter of seconds, sadness for the loss of her mother, happiness because she had a family waiting for her, she was no longer alone in this world ;and then she felt burning anger.
She puzzled everything together, she was seven when her mother died and funnily enough, seven was the age she was when she arrived here. Away from her family.
And she knew who took her away, the man who took her here and the man who gaslighted her into believing her memories were dreams, her father.
A single tear dropped from her eye, as she stood up harshly the chair being pushed behind her as she ran.
She ran outside the room, outside the manor and towards the palace, it was a long way walking but as she ran and ran with fury visible in her face. She didn't felt the ache in her legs or the mud staining the bottom of her dress.
Guards where standing in front of the 'back door' so she took a turn and went inside through the staff door, dinner wasn't over yet so people were still cooking or washing plates, she started to attract attention to her with her crazed eyes, she almost toppled over a table before she gained her bearings once more and running up the stairs.
She ran through the castle her footsteps sounding through the hallway, when she neared the dinning room of the palace two of the guards standing outside tried to stop her only for Adeline to shoot them the most deadly glare she could manage. She pushed the doors open.
The King, Queen and her half siblings looked up at her with wide eyes, but she was looking straight at her father, Adeline knew she was going to regret this tomorrow, but tonight she was drunk on anger and was not thinking through her actions.
The king stood up from his seat and everyone stopped eating, looking between him and his daughter. He walked towards her and took her gently by the arm outside of the room where instantly whispers were let out.
He took her to another room and turned to look at her. "What was so important that you had to interrupt dinner like a crazy woman, Adeline?"
"I remembered" Her voice hard. The kings stern face dissolved into a worried one.
"Remembered what?" The king questioned.
"Why are you still trying to lie to me?" She questioned with narrowed eyes. "I remember everything and I remember you telling me it wasn't real"
"I had a reason"
"What reason would be so bloody important as to separate me from my family?" She asked in an calm voice but you still see the disappointment in her face.
"That family, the one you came from, they don't have a single penny to their name, that's why your mother died, you couldn't even afford medicine for a simple fever" George announced in calm anger "I just wanted to give you a better life, one were you didn't have to a struggle for scraps of food"
"But then why did you lie? why did you tell me I was imagining it, that I was crazy?" She questioned now with a sad face.
"It was better that way" He said sternly.
"It was better than growing up alone? Being hated by half of England?" She questioned with crossed arms.
"You are not hated" He stated and looked at her funny.
"Oh please, get out of your bubble father" She spat last and walked out of the room before the king.
After walking to the manor , she stood in the middle of her room, and remembered the first time she stood here, she was so excited, her young self had thought she was in some kind of fairytale only to find out months later that it was the absolute opposite of it.
If they had given her a choice she would have stayed with her family and not in an old dusty mansion growing up in solitude only with the company of Mary and some maids.
Adeline made an impulsive decision that night, one that would change the course of her life forever.
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She speaks!
Can you guess we're she's going??? 🌚