He's my King and I'm his Queen

Chapter 30

Azalea's POV: 

          I looked at the book that held the title of the parchment Christopher held. The Fire Ruby- it sounded so familiar, yet at the same time, it was so foreign. The book was small and held only a few pages with some pictures- clearly a child’s book or something of the sort. I sighed, frustrated, as I tried thinking of any clues of how this was linked to Sir Hector’s death. I heard a knock at the door and allowed entrance to my visitor.

            “I am sorry your majesty, but may I bother you for a moment?”

Mariana poked her head through the small opening of the doors. I nodded and she bounced right in and stood next to me.

            “Are you not supposed to be with Lady Jamille right now?”

She started shifting her feet.

            “I,” She stuttered, “I feel uncomfortable being with her. It is my fault that Sir Garrett was taken away after all. It is my fault she is crying so much. It is my fault that His Majesty is blamed.”

            “No,” I stroked her head, “It is not your fault.”

I thought back to the night Jamille found out the news.

I led her to her suite and tried my best comforting her, no matter how uncomfortable and awkward it was.

            “I know you feel very hurt, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive Christopher. It is not his fault; he tried his best…”

            “I know it is not his fault.” She cut in sharply.

I was confused.

            “If you know that, then why…?”

            “Azalea,” she did not care using formalities with me. “You may not understand this, but I just lost someone very important to me. You probably never lost anyone so important to you in your life. When I heard that my brother’s life was taken, I felt such great pain and sadness, so much that I felt like I would die. Why do I blame Christopher you say? Because he is my scapegoat; when I blame him, my sadness feels lifted a little. Hatred takes over my sadness. I know this may sound vile and wicked in your mind, but this is how life is. Why do you think revenge exists?”

I felt so astonished and speechless after her explanation but my mouth talked anyway.           

            “You must have been incredibly close to your brother for you to make even Christopher your scapegoat.”   

She let out a deep, annoyed sigh before looking at me with that look of hers.

            “Since I am explaining things to you, maybe if I told you about my past, you would understand the situation a little better.

            “Unlike you, my childhood was not all riches and royalty. In truth, I am not a native Cardinian. Garrett and I were born in Kerton to one of the lord’s family. Our life was happy, for that time. When I was six years old, Garrett ran into my room one night and told me we had to run away. Our father had been murdered and the murderers were looking for us. We had to live on the streets for a period of time but Garrett was strong, and was able to take care of me even though he was only ten at the time. Finally, we were adopted by the Lord of the Ruba household of Cardinia- whose wife died before giving birth to an heir.”

She looked at me.

            “If it were not for Garrett, death would have taken me a long time ago. In that world, we only had each other. Do you understand my desperation now? The most important person in the world to me was murdered. I need hatred to fill the void, or else I will completely collapse. So, Azalea, allow me to continue blaming him, for that is all I can do.”