Scorn and Devotion

Chapter 9

Warnings - arguing, mentions of injuries, fighting

Timothée and I had not spoken since his outburst in the Hospital Wing. It had been a fortnight, and thankfully, I was healing fast. The myriad of bruises on my face were fading to green and yellow.

I looked awful, but at least I didn't feel like a broken doll anymore. Nataline had moved the exam final for mine and Gwyneria's sake. Gwyneria seemed to have healed up extremely quickly. Perhaps the cuts were not as deep as the Healers had thought, because she was absolutely fine the next day after the event.

When the exam did happen, it went well. I received an 89%, and Natalie seemed happy with that. Unfortunately, it seemed there was a surprise second portion to the exam. Us six would appear at a gathering of the King's council and representatives from the six provinces. We would be answering questions about how we would rule the kingdom.

We were all given the same simple grey gown. We filed into the room with solemn importance. This was real. No matter why the other girls were here, they were now dealing with something serious. This wasn't wooing the prince in close quarters, this wasn't impressing a dignitary or two. The people of the kingdom would be there. They could revolt, they could storm the castle. Maybe my imagination was getting out of control, but this seemed incredibly important, and I didn't even want to marry Timothée.

There was a seat for each of us. I sat on the stool and looked out over the crowd. I knew the council and representatives, but there were villagers there I didn't know. I knew for certain, I would not be the next Queen. At the same time, I didn't want to disappoint the people.

I glanced at the council and saw nine people I recognized. Ellery, Martha, Maude, Warren, Franklin, Mackenzie, Silas, and Aaron. They all were nearly ancient. They had been part of the Council forever. I remember Timothée and I used to prank them when we were very young. I had put a fake spider on Councilwoman Martha's chair. Timothée had once put hot peppers in Councilman Mackenzie's food after he had called the two of us wild misfits for playing tag indoors.

"Ladies, we will be asking you different questions. This is not a debate, so you may not make counterpoints. We just simply want to hear your opinions."

The questions were of little consequence in the beginning. Small questions, like, should the castle treasure be divided by type of treasure or worth, how many balls would be held per year, and opinions on whether knight training should take one year or two. As time went on, I began to tune out what the others were saying. I had not been asked many questions. The ones I had been asked had been easy to answer.

"Lady Hawthorn, since you have come to the castle, have you seen anything that immediately needs improving?"

Gwyneria looked nearly as blank-faced as me. She seemed to go numb whenever Timothée was not around. She did not speak to us much, which would not be so odd if she did other things. She did not read, or draw, or engage in any type of hobby.

"I think that there has been some fraud in the council. Lady Starfell has an unfair advantage, she already knew Prince Timothée before this. I just do not see how it is possible she was chosen."

I stared at Gwyneria in disbelief. I had saved her damn life! Not only had she not thanked me, but she was also accusing me of being here under false pretenses. I could hardly hold in my anger.

"Objection," Timothée said without even looking at me. "I had nothing to do with the choosing process. My father made sure I was not involved with any of it, this was not even my idea."

All the girls looked at Timothée in shock. It was not as if he had been acting overjoyed during this process, but to see him dismiss it so easily, probably didn't feel good. I saw that Katherine and Juliet looked especially hurt.