Empire of Dreams

*19*

The morning was a grim one, it had been raining since last night. Mary decided to assemble the ladies of the court for some indoor entertainment. I was to attend too, but my head ached from last night's long conversation with Libitina. We now frequently met in the palace library at night. She was not allowed to roam freely in the morning, but at night, we took our time talking about everything from our childhood to more rights for women.

It had been three nights since I had properly slept. Sia scolded me about it, but then again, what else did she expect when she left me to my own devices?

I forced myself to wake up and washing my face with cold water, asked Sia to help me dress. The golden dress she took out seemed too extravagant to me for a general meeting and the peach gown I chose was rejected by Sia as 'drab'. After many agonizing minutes of back and forth, we both settled on a white gown with minimalistic brown details. I let my hair fall down on my shoulder and taking a book with me, left for the entertainment room.

I had sent a letter to Edward already, explaining my reason for absence. Entering the room, I saw many familiar faces. Other than my mother, Kathyrn, Aunt Catherine and Mary, Marchioness Quilliom, Lady Irem, Faustine and Terewon were also in attendance.

There were many more ladies of the court I did not know but Mary seemed to be the perfect social butterfly. She asked everyone the perfect question - she knew all about each one's family. I took a seat by the window just beside Lady Irem who was busy in conversation with Kathyrn.

One of the older ladies was the first to perform, playing the violin beautifully. It was a comparitively new instrument, but she seemed to have mastered it.

"That is the dowager viscountess. Scary lady, but very interesting" Lady Irem informed with a smile.

Then it was time for Lady Terewon who was applauded kindly though her singing skills were enough to be a nightmare for little kids. She took her seat near Mary who once again began to talk with Lady Faustine.

Lady Irem stood to recite an old ballad next but was interrupted when Elizabeth burst through the door with a small group of young ladies who looked completely out of place.

"I hope you missed me, Mary" she said with a smirk and suddenly everyone shuffled to curtsy.

Mary didn't look happy, judging by her expression, but she masked her surprise quickly, pasting a big fake smile on her face.

"Welcome sister" she said sweetly but Elizabeth simply nodded, making her way towards me.

"Hello there, my favourite cousin" she greeted me with a big smile and brought me into a hug, drawing the attention of the other ladies. Mary loudly cleared her throat, walking to the centre of the room again to capture the attention.

"I apologise for the interruption, Lady Irem. You may continue. After this, we shall all have lunch together" she announced and shared a challenging look with Elizabeth which I was not sure about.

"Sit with me?" Elizabeth offered and looking at my obviously eavesdropping mother nod enthusiastically, I went to sit with her beside Mary.

"Why did you not tell me you were coming?! Do you have any idea how bad this made me look? Insulting me at my own social engagement may not be as amusing as you think it is right now" Mary scolded Elizabeth in whispers, making sure no one noticed.

"Oh really, then why did you not invite me?"  Elizabeth said in a voice which was low but still quite noticable.

"I did not invite you because I had no idea you were in England. What happened to you connecting to your roots? France threw you out with this giggling bunch of ladies?" Mary taunted, glancing darkly at the group of ladies who had arrived with Elizabeth and clearly did not know how easily us Anglicans were offended.

"Do not pretend that you arrived to take care of Edward! I know very well of your schemes to bring Edward to your side and keep the crown for yourself. You will not succeed, because you want the crown to go down the same wrong path as your mother did" Elizabeth rebuked.

"Oh, so you mean to say you want it to play nice?" Mary said and this time, it was quite the opposite of discreet. I noticed just then that Lady Irem had finished her recital but the applause had stopped mid-way due to this argument.

I quickly dragged Mary and Elizabeth with me to my room just a few steps away. The servants scurried away themselves when they saw the look on our faces. I wondered if they were used to seeing all this.

"What do you mean- to play nice? You think I'm plotting against my brother?" Elizabeth accused, her voice now high knowing no one would hear us.

"Don't pretend you care for that ward boy Elizabeth. You think I don't understand what this trip to France was? I know. This is revenge for your cheating scheming mother" Mary spat but Elizabeth was bursting with rage.

"How dare you call my mother scheming? It was the king who fell in love with her. It was not her fault that your mother wasn't enough! She could not hold her position and that was her problem"

"What do you mean she was not enough? She was the true Queen of England! She had given him an heir while your mother promised him a son and failed. She is the reason I'm not the queen instead of that ward boy, because she removed me from the line! She threw my mother out of what was rightfully hers! My mother prayed and my mother basically worshipped the king!"

"Why are you both fighting over such a silly thing? Isn't it obvious? You are fighting over who's mother was better while both of them are dead due to men. It was the King who caused all this.

It was tough to watch my sisters fight when all this was the late king's fault. I was reminded of my dream. I was reminded of how men had used me as a pawn. I would not let it happen again. Not to me, not to anyone else.