Court of Snakes: This Desert Cage

Of Age - The Palace | January of the Third Year

"You are of age to be married, and that is final. Lord Guildenhart is a suitable man to be married to, and I do not see why you are being so obstinate!"

"But on my birthday?" Parisa spat in a tone that should not have been used with her father, let alone the Sovereign. For months she fought with all her being to control her temper and keep her resentment buried deep inside her, but this obscenity was the final straw.

"You are dismissed," Talbot finished, and when his eyes met hers, they showed no sympathy. If anyone asked how Parisa felt at that moment, she would not be able to give a straight answer. Disgust, perhaps, or betrayal. Her father must not have cared for her at all, and all the love he had ever shown her had been a lie.

Lord Guildenhart stood next to Talbot's chair, slim hand on marble. She hated them both, and if she had to marry him, she knew she would loath him for the rest of her life. And yet, the things he said... had they been lies, too?

As she left the hall, she took a deep breath to try and calm her temper, but it did not work. When she arrived at her room, she took a pillow from her bed and screamed into it. She tried to let all her anger out in the form of air, shouts that turned to sobs.

Ever since the night of the party, her father had been out to get her. She and Perseus had failed to catch The King, and Talbot punished them for it. He had given Perseus a black eye, and Parisa was thankful that she did not have to see him get hit. Perseus wandered into her room after his meeting, eye swollen and purple, and they sat in silence together while she dabbed his face with ice.

She had been so naïve. How could she think her father was so good? And did The King mean what he had said? Had Talbot really had something to do with her mother's disappearance? She was led to believe that her mother left her father for another man and died in the desert. Was it true? The only person she could turn to was Esmond, but she did not have the strength to talk to him. As far as she was concerned, her fifteenth birthday was ruined.