Chosen

Chapter 29

Six more days passed with hardly anything to do. I read nearly eight books and discovered it might be my favorite thing in the world. Especially romance novels. I loved how everyone actually had their perfect ending in these books.

Well other than one where they both died and I hated it and we will never speak of it again.

Everyone in the palace was preparing for the funeral of the king and I stayed in my room for most of it. Anywhere else I went I felt like I was in the way.

Noblemen and women from all over the Kingdom arrived to pay their respects. I greeted so many people with a simple curtsy and they paid me their condolences. Which felt wrong. I didn't know the king. Honestly, I hated him, I came to realize. The image of him hitting Finn all those years ago and hearing it was not an uncommon behavior... But they didn't know that. I met over two hundred faces and couldn't remember one of them.

The night of the funeral we all dressed in black and stood in the throne room. I had never been there and it was every bit as breathtaking as I thought it would be. Even with everything covered in dark flowers and black ribbons, it was gorgeous. The ceilings were higher than I thought possible with stained glass windows all the way up. Gold accented everything from the wall tracing to the white marble floor making it sparkle.

After two hours of sitting and hearing a priest speak, the Royal family stood upfront as every person made their way to them and knelt and paid respects. Lacey and I remained seated on the front row.

The Queen looked the very picture of sophistication and perfection. She looked sad, yes, but still absolutely in control of her demeanor.

Could I ever be like that?

I freaking cried into the arms of a man whose father just died. No way. I'm helpless.

After the funeral, it took two whole days for everyone to clear out and the palace to go back to some kind of normal.

On the seventh day of me spending no time with anyone other than my maids in passing I received a letter from Cedric.

My lovely Rowan,

Please join me, my brother, and Lady Lacey for a family dinner tonight in the great hall.

Yours always and forever,

Cedric.

Um... what?

Can I refuse?

This was my actual nightmare.

But then again... This would be our new normal.

This is what was expected of us.

To be a family.

I dreaded the dinner all day, which only made it come that much quicker.

Picking out a red dress, maybe it would piss Lacey off to see me in her color, I asked Martha to pin my hair up with little pearls. It was beautiful.

Walking down to the great hall my pulse elevated.

Just a family dinner, just a normal perfectly happy family dinner. I told myself over and over.

When I arrived, only Lacey sat with her back to me, drinking a dark red glass of wine at a smaller table set for four.

With as much confidence as I could, I crossed the room and took the seat next to her.

She glared over to me but made no further acknowledgment.

Taking another long drink from her glass she huffed.