The Vault

TrustMe

Blurb and Author's notes:

Lady Aurora Shawcross had a reputation for being a perfect lady. Her lifelong ambition was to improve her family's social status enough to grant them an invitation to attend the royal court.

But she also had a secret.

A secret that could ruin all her meticulously prepared plans.

🥇1st Place ~ Stars and Short Stories Monthly Competition - Oct. Prompt 1

This short story is a prequel to my story Till Death Do Us Part. However, you don't have to know the main story to enjoy this little tale. It's more like adding an additional point of view from one of the side characters.

A beautiful cover was made by amazingly talented @Shreya_VA

 Please go and check out her profile if you are interested in cover art!

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Lady Aurora Shawcross had a reputation for being a perfect lady. She looked in the mirror as a maid brushed her shiny, chocolate-colour hair. Her skin was flawless and fair, her lips full and pink. She resembled her mother mostly, and the only difference was the blue eyes inherited from her father.

Aurora let her mouth form a slight pout. Her younger sister had her mother's beautiful, dark eyes, and she was strangely annoyed by this. Skylar was nothing like her. Yet, every time Aurora looked into those big, dark eyes, she was reminded of her mother, that was long gone.

"It's too loose on the right side," she said to the maid, who was pinning her hair in a sophisticated crown.

"I'll fix it right away, my lady."

Some people would say that a noble lady should be already married and bear children at the age of twenty-five, but Aurora was not bothered by those insolent whispers. Everything was going according to plan.

Aurora didn't have many memories of her mother, as she died while giving birth to her sister. Rori was just five at the time. But what she did remember best was when her mother told her stories about this marvellous place called the royal court, where all the ladies were beautiful and all the men handsome and kind. The Royal Palace was a magnificent building carved into a mountain and reigned high over the city. All those worth attending were treated like gods.

The sad reality was the Shawcross lands were on the easternmost end of Lamyria, and they hardly ever visited the capital. Even as a child, Aurora could see that her mother was glowing the brightest when she recalled her time at the court. That's where she was the happiest.

The day her mother died, Aurora made a promise to herself. She would find a way to get her family to the royal court. She would make sure that they'd be respected and treated like the finest members of society. Other nobles would beg them to grace their social events with their presence.

Now, twenty years later, her plan was almost fulfilled. Some might say that so many years is too long. People were gossiping when Aurora refused marriage offers from the most prominent nobles in the kingdom, one after another. Even her father got worried at some point, asking her if she was absolutely sure of that course of action.

But Aurora always had the same answer. Just two simple words.

Trust me.

She was nothing but patient. To make her plans work, she couldn't marry just any noble, even if they were far higher in social circles than her. She had to aim for the highest possible rank.