THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 17: JEALOUSY

CHAPTER XVII
Jealousy
-

I was summoned by my mother that same day.
When I entered the tea room, I hadn't been expecting to interrupt a gathering of ladies. My mother sat at the center of the table, beside Lady St. Vincent.

Their chatter stopped at the sight of me and the ladies—except for my mother—stood to bow. I adorned a fake smile and promptly took the seat to my mother's left, not realizing who was beside me.

"How beautiful you are today." Aurora greeted, her thick hair falling around her face in waves.

I felt the eyes of the room shift between us. "Thank you." I replied curtly, trying to ignore the side-eyed look coming from my mother. Thankfully, Anais came up to my seat and broke the awkward air.

"Annette! I saw you!" A grin spread across her face, she was almost jumping with excitement.

"Saw me? Of course you're seeing me now, silly girl." I pinched her cheek and she shook her head fervently.

"No, last night!"

A stone might as well have dropped into my gut. I stared at my little sister in shock for a moment before I remembered that we were being watched. Fortunately, Anais was only a child. Nobody believed her words went beyond her imagination.

"Did you? Was she dancing amongst the sugar plum trees with the faeries?" My mother interjected, causing the entire room to laugh politely. I felt a tinge of relief that they all thought she was relaying a dream.

"No, but the faeries told me she was with General Altan."

I had no idea how my little sister had seen us last night. My room was the only one facing the outer-edge of the garden, and even then it would have been too dark to spot us running under the cover of trees.

"Anais!" My mother hissed, beckoning my sister to go back to playing with the other children on the other side of the room. My sister gave me one last look—a strangely knowing one–before she ran back to the other children.

"Those faeries are certainly imaginative." Aurora laughed. I managed to plant an amused smile on my face as I watched the servants set the table with tea and cakes.

The other ladies regarded me with conspiratorial glances. I knew they would whisper to each other about how Anais's words were not from her imagination. Let them, a soft voice whispered. They will soon see you rise beside him.

Everything in me stilled. The motherly voice.

Are you Keranis? I asked, waiting for the voice inside my mind to reply. At first I thought she had gone silent but then a chorus of a resounding yes surfaced in my mind.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,yesssssss, the word yes was repeated at a rapid and louder rate, making it sounds like multiple voices were speaking. It sounded like the hiss of a snake by the end of it, making me wince in pain. The sound was unbearable.

"Are you well?" Aurora's voice came from beside me. The voices went silent.

"Yes." It felt more like repetition than a response.

"You look ill. Annette, are you well? Truly?" The concern in Aurora's voice caught me off guard. When I turned to look at her I found that her haughty facade was gone. Anyone could have believed by the look on her face that she was expressing real sisterly worry.

"I'm fine." I took my first sip of tea, not caring that it scalded my tongue. Aurora was still looking at me with an unexplainable expression.

I decided to breach the obvious subject. "Prince Calden seems enamoured by you." I made sure my whisper was low enough that my mother wouldn't hear. Thankfully, she was in an animated conversation with a noble lady I could not remember the name of.