A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 9 - Buds of Love

In the years that came after, Melinda's empire was not challenged. Of course, there were some revolutions here and there, but she could hardly call that a challenge. There were no signs that her true intentions would be exposed to the public any time soon, let alone that her reign would crumble, but she still awaited the day it would happen with bated breath, thinking of what was the best to do if such things happened. Most of the states within Iuvat, which now called itself the Xarian Empire, had little to no chances of finding a way to break themselves free from her, and only one of them had the capability of doing so in the near future.

It was Eade, for even though it was not as militant as the state she ruled from, it was doing better, which was to be expected thanks to the consequences of the fire, which could still be seen. Attempting to marry George again would have been a fool's errand at this point, so she came up with a scheme that no one could have expected, but which was not convoluted either. No matter what happened, when Anthony Maguire, the child Hilde had with George a while ago, came of age, he would marry her daughter, and if the family did not comply with those terms, she would unleash her wrath on them somehow. Obviously, not all of it was clear yet, but at least it did not involve assumptions, as it would have shattered quickly otherwise, and it could adapt itself to whatever she needed at the time, according to all that which would unfold afterwards. 

So far, phase one of the plan was over. Griselda and Anthony had already talked to each other a couple of times, and she would forever remember the first time they met. It was shortly after her coronation, and she was slightly sad that it could not occur earlier. The Maguires naturally refused to let their child be near someone like her, which was why he never visited the palace, but one day, through pure happenstance, they met in a forest. She hid behind a tree before the boy could see her, away from the blinding sun that enveloped the area, yet not far enough to not be able to see nor hear everything from nearby. The boy appeared to have been looking for someone to play with, smiling immediately after encountering her daughter, who smiled at him as well. They placed the things they had been previously holding, his figure of a soldier and her porcelain doll, onto the ground, sitting beside them. Shortly after, the conversation began.

The boy spoke first, right after he was done stuttering. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Anthony Maguire. What is your name?"

The girl laughed merrily before answering. "That's a good name. My mother named me Griselda Melantha Bellerose, and I'm surprised that names like mine aren't as popular as I thought they were. My father didn't participate in my naming process because I never had one. By the way, I'd heard of your parents before. How are they doing?"

In the middle of listening to her, Anthony's face went pale and his eyes widened. He noticed that she raised an eyebrow, which he had been expecting. His parents had told him everything in recent history, and he could only wonder how much she had been told, and how much of it was altered in some way. However, since he had barely lived yet and thus did not quite comprehend the world, he stated the following, noticing no issue with it:

"They're doing fine, but before I move on, I want you to tell me what you know about the life of your father."

Griselda frowned. "He died before I was born. I will never know what it is like to have a father. I don't know anything about what my father was like because my mother refuses to mention him and has only told me one thing. There was a traitor called Amanda who wanted revenge on my mother. It's a good thing that she executed her, or else our kingdom would've been doomed easily by the further consequences of her revenge."

Anthony was so shocked by the blatant lies she had absorbed that he choked on thin air. Griselda sat still for a few seconds, thinking that it would stop soon, but after it went on for a while and she saw that his face became blue, she ran over to him, shivers crawling down her spine. She went behind him and hit him in the back repeatedly, returning to her former position after he took a deep breath, gasping for air for some time.