𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒜𝓁𝒾𝑔𝓃

Chapter 7

My mother's eyes begin to go wide as she stares back and forth between the guards and me. "W- what is wrong with you all," She yells to the guards and they jump back a little, "Get those out of here!"

I shake my head as my father goes to her side to comfort her. I turn to the guards, "Thank you. You can go now." I give them a smile and the captain of the guards smiles back.

Elizabeth is standing next to Aidan with her arm resting on his shoulder in a weird position due to him being much taller, Jacob is seated with his chair pushed a little far from the table, and Louise and Anne are still sitting with their eyebrows raised in shock. Across the room, a door is opened and you could see the same man standing there, shock shown clear on his face and when he notices me looking, he smiles awkwardly and closes the door with a loud bang, making everyone jump since they didn't notice him standing there.

I smile at the guests and tell them that I was just going to chill outside for a while, mostly because I felt sick to my stomach and needed some air. Kaiser and Thea follow and as I walk towards the door, I turn back and quickly make my way to the table to get a slice of bacon, then grabbed a few more. As I make my way back to the door, I give one to Kaiser and Thea then head outside through the back.

A beautiful arch stood right in the center of the entire backyard leading into a beautiful open field and behind it is a large garden with tall spruces making passageways throughout the entire thing, kind of like a maze. Beautiful bushes are lined against the edges of the woods and benches sit in front of them. 

I sit down on one of the benches and minutes fly by as I think about what had happened earlier. I was expecting them to keep walking towards the dogs but instead they stopped and followed my orders. It was definitely going to be embarrassing if they didn't stop though. 

Elizabeth makes her way over to me with her hands behind her back. She walks gracefully until she trips over her own foot and I die of laughter. "Oh, shut it," She says as she makes her way to me and slaps my arm gently as she sits down.

"Bet that felt great," She states smiling to me.

"It did. I definitely felt powerful. Like for the first time I'm actually in control over myself and not my parents." I sigh, smiling as I lay my head on the back of the bench.

"So, Jacob is being a dick today," She blurts out cautiously and stares at a bush.

"Are you seriously just now realizing that? He's always been a dick. A bigger dick then his own!" I shake my head as Elizabeth continues to laugh.

We talk for a while until she excuses herself. I go inside a few minutes after her with the dogs and take them upstairs, not having to hide them anymore. Passing by the hallways and up the many stairs, the dogs didn't bark nor jump at the maidens and guards. They just watched for a few minutes until they passed by.

When we get to the front of the room, I let open the door and walk in with my hands on my hips, observing. It was too big with little to no furniture and they wouldn't feel comfortable.

I pick up their dog beds and carry them to my room, setting them down on the right side of my bed. 

They follow and cautiously walk into my room, observing their surroundings. They walk around the room a while and bark at the tall mirror hanging off my wall. I cover the mirror up trying to avoid it falling onto them.

After exploring the entire room, including the bathroom, they get bored and head to bed. 

Minutes pass by and I lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling. It was comforting knowing that I had power over the guards too. Those poor men always get bossed around for the littlest things.

It was getting dark already when I heard a small knock at the door. Sarah walks in slowly looking past my bed at the dogs but they were fast asleep. She walks in but remains close to the door, most likely to run out just in case they wake up.

"Is there anything you would prefer at dinner," She says to me, still looking at the dogs, "The Donovan's are leaving after they eat. Your mother insisted they stay a little longer." 

I sit up and run my hands through my hair, "That's alright, there's nothing specific. Whatever works for the others," I offer her a smile.

She nods her head, "You did good today, Victoria. I'm proud of you," She gives me a smile but it fades as if something else was on her mind.

"Are you alright, Sarah," I ask walking over to her laying my hands on her shoulders.

"They're going to do something horrid, Victoria. I tried to stop them, I did, but they wouldn't listen. I'm so sorry!" She blurts out quickly before disappearing out of the room.

I was confused but upset, fore I knew my parents were up to something. 

--

I had changed before leaving the room and I didn't know what was in store for me when I walked into the dining hall but I walk slowly, knowing that I'm probably not ready for the next horrible thing my parents were thinking of doing. 

I take a deep breath before entering the room. 

Anne looks worried and Louise is holding her hand in a comforting manner. Elizabeth, Aidan, and Jacob look confused, as do I. 

I take a seat silently as I stare at everyone in the room. The food comes in and Sarah walks in the room after with a jug of cold water.

My mother clears her throat and fills her plate after Anne and Louise, "Victoria, where do you want to hold your engagement party," She asks softly.

"Enga- engagement party," I whisper as I look at Sarah with confusion. She shrugs her shoulders, defeated.

"Yes, child. Engagement party," She says shaking her head as if I should've known already, "It's about time you marry Jacob," She remarks calmly.

"Did you approve of this, Mother," Elizabeth asks Anne, pushing her chair away from the table to get up and when Anne just shrugs her shoulders in deject, she looks behind her, "Father, you can't be in on this too." 

"Elizabeth-," Louise starts as he removes his glasses and rubs his temples before she walks over to me and grabs my hand.

My father sat there covering his eyes with one of his hands and the other, holding a chalice filled with wine while my mother stares at me walking out of the room with Elizabeth. I look back at her, shaking my head but she continues to put on an evil grin.

***

Authors Note - Hey, loves! Next chapter will also be from Aidan's POV. My inbox is always open to suggestions about what you want to see happen in the future. And also, I'm sorry for the late chapter! I wonder what'll happen in the next chapter 👀!