Invictus || Book 1

C.08 - Cora

"Stop chewing so loud."

"No! Move your elbow."

Cora hides a sigh by shovelling spoonfuls of soup into her mouth. It does the trick and it's not as if the food is a chore to get through, especially when Cora's tastebuds are treated to a chilled mixture of chilli and mango; a combination the guests had been informed all came from the same plant, something that had been referred to as unaka kachukili. She thinks it's meant to be dessert, but Cora can't be sure after five courses.

It's not bad, and normally Cora would appreciate the tropical hints of flavour but she isn't eating because she enjoys it, she's eating to stop herself from snapping at the twins who had bickered with each other the minute they'd woken up from their nap and not even the promise of food three hours later had shut them up. 

Now Cora eats her meal, eyes constantly moving from the bowl to the large open doors of an overly advantageous dining room, waiting for Hestia to burst into the room and announce to the crowd that she's managed to find a way back home. But as each minute passes and Cora's bowl empties, her quiet composure slowly chips away.

"Why are you eating like that?" Lyra screws her nose up as Naomi slurps obnoxiously and Francis, having noticed Lyra's annoyance, joins Naomi in slurping down the soup; eyes alight with mischief that might've been funny on one of Cora's good days, but only serves as yet another inconvenience.

"Everyone shut up," Cora hisses, blatantly ignoring Nakoa's offended gaze and the glares from her sisters. 

I need Panadol...and my bed. Cora massages the tender sides of her head and takes three deep breaths as she visualises her bed.

The beds in the castle had been nice, softer and more luxurious than anything Cora had owned back home, but on the wrong side of the room. Cora doesn't think she was someone who could feel so out of place due to something as small as the positioning of a bed but after several attempts to sleep off her worry, she accepts that tonight won't be one for sleep.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cora catches the swift movement of the Queen as she taps a pale pearl fork delicately against her glass. "I'm sure you're all still rather exhausted from today's events, so if you've had your fill of food I suggest retiring to your rooms for an early night. There will be much to discuss and plan tomorrow."

A murmur breaks out amongst several people along the table but the general topic of discussion seems to be an agreeance of the queen's suggestion. 

Her siblings grumble as their bowls are taken from them, but Cora keeps her gaze trained on the doors. 

When the last of the crowd has dispersed Cora's stomach drops in dread. She finds herself looking at the Queen, who is already eyeing her with a piteous expression on her face.

Cora's shoulder sags, but she nods to the Queen before she follows the rest of her siblings back to their rooms.

The twins try to include her in their conversations and at one point Francis has softened up enough to ask Cora if she thinks the new clothes suit Francis, but Cora's mind is unhelpfully blank. Save for the sticky feeling of dread she can't seem to shake.

She briefly wonders if this is what Hestia feels like all the time -wonders if maybe it was the reason Hestia had slowly started to slip up, hideaway, leaving it to her siblings to figure life out on their own- but that makes the dread worse and Cora doesn't want to stay stuck there, instead, she tries to find contentment in the sound of the siblings she still does have present, even if they've begun to bicker once more.

Once they reach the floral emerald green doors of the twins and Cora's room the younger girls disappear to change into a separate pair of clothes they'd been told were for sleep. Cora doesn't even change out of the garments she'd been handed after her bath and flops onto the neighbouring bed with a shaky exhale.