Forgotten Wife

CHAPTER 1: I DON'T WANT TO DIE

Rebecca was sitting on the bed hugging her knees, the cold winter was piercing her bones like sharp thorns, she tried to cover her small and delicate body as best she could, but that abandoned part of the palace where she had been sent to live did not give her the shelter she needed.

Rebecca was the first daughter of King Quin, a cruel and merciless man who saw all his children as mere tools.

In the kingdom of Baldoyle, the heir to the throne was always the firstborn, no matter the gender of the child, yet the king did not want a sickly little girl as his heir, so he sent her to the innermost part of the palace to die. But Rebecca had clung to life, even though she received only one meal a day and had inadequate conditions to survive she did not give up and clung to life admirably.

Silently and in tears she repeated to herself over and over again, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, God, if you are listening to me please help me, I don't want to die".

Rebecca repeated those words every day, over and over again. No one could understand why such a weak and unfortunate being as she was still clinging to life, one day one of the maids who brought her only meal of the day asked her.

-Why do you still want to live? Wouldn't it be easier to let yourself die? Then all the pain and suffering you are feeling would disappear.

Rebecca was 14 years old, at that young age she had already been living that hell of a life for almost ten years, but she did not give in to the claws of death that every day whispered in her ear to stop fighting. As she ate the thick soup that the maid had brought her with a voracious hunger, Rebecca answered her.

-Why don't you throw yourself off the highest tower of the castle?

-You're crazy! If I did, I would die.

- You see, just as your life is valuable to you, my life is valuable to me, so stop asking me to die, because I won't do it.

She continued to eat in silence, when she finished the maid took the tray with the empty plates, Rebecca had eaten it all, she hadn't left a crumb.

After the maid left, Rebecca looked out of the window, outside the snow had begun to accumulate, she raised her eyes to the sky and said her little prayer again, putting her two hands together.

-Please God, don't let her die.

Rebecca continued to say the same prayer for four more winters, in the spring after her eighteenth birthday that maid who always brought her food brought her a beautiful dress, beautiful jewelry and ornaments to decorate her hair.

-Why did you bring all this?- She asked curiously.

-His majesty asked me to bring all this, to make her beautiful, he wants to see her.

It had been 12 years since Rebecca had last seen her father, she still remembered the cruel words he had spat at her with rejection the last time she had seen him, "I don't need a useless daughter as my heir, so die at once".

-Do you know why he wants to see me?- She asked the maid.

-No, he just told me to hurry.

That maid gave her a cold water bath, Rebecca's whole body shivered as she felt the cold water pouring down her slender body, she wished it would be over quickly, but it wasn't, it was long and tortuous, as she had to be very clean. After bathing the maid helped her get dressed, she put on a beautiful neat white dress, next she placed some beautiful flower ornaments in her long reddish hair, applied a light make-up and finally, adorned her neck with a small necklace with a sapphire in the shape of a teardrop. The maid made her look at herself in a broken mirror that was in a corner of the room, she looked beautiful, despite not having lived in proper conditions Rebecca had become a beautiful young woman with reddish hair, with white skin and pale as flour, because she almost never received the sun's rays since she was always locked up in that cold palace. Her eyes as golden as the sun shone and her lips as red as mistletoe looked beautiful and delicate.

While Rebecca was looking at herself in the mirror the maid put the last ornament in her hair that was at the bottom of the box she had brought, it was a fine veil, when Rebecca saw it she realized what was happening, she was going to get married, as death never came into her life her father wanted to get rid of her in another way, with marriage.

Rebecca said nothing, she just wished that whatever place she was sent to was a better place to live.

-Everything is ready, please follow me, his majesty is waiting for you.

Rebecca walked with a relaxed pace through the corridors of the palace, everyone who saw her murmured as she passed wondering who she was and where she had come from.

She had red hair, a trait unique to the Quin royal family, which is why everyone had been so surprised to see her since no one remembered that she was the first princess of the kingdom of Baldoyle.

Rebecca continued walking, completely ignoring the murmurs of the people, she was taken to the throne room, she did not bow, nor did she greet the man who looked at her with coldness and contempt sitting from his chair, he said to her:

-My dear daughter, I see that you have grown beautifully.

Although the king's words seemed sweet to Rebecca, they seemed like an insult, and her father smiled mischievously and said to her:

-This day you will be sent to the kingdom of Davenport, because of the constant wars I have decided to send my most beloved daughter to form an alliance of peace.

Rebecca did not complain, nor did she say anything, she simply stood there listening to her father's words and wishing that it would all be over soon, that dress she was wearing was heavy and uncomfortable, the shoes she was not used to wearing were tight and made her feet hurt.

-Dear daughter, I hope you have a good life with your husband.

The king beckoned to some guards in white uniforms, who were supposed to be the soldiers of the kingdom of Davenport, and said to them:

-Escolten carefully my precious daughter.

The guards approached Rebecca and said:

-Please follow us, a carriage is waiting for her.

Rebecca did not say goodbye to her father or bow before leaving, she just turned around and followed the guards. As she watched their back her father said to her:

-May the light of Airon be with you.

Those last words seemed affectionate to the Guradias who escorted her, only those who belonged to the Baldoyle kingdom knew what those words really meant, "May death come soon to visit you."

Although Rebecca had lived her entire life in lockdown without receiving any education, she had learned to read before she was locked up, so she spent all her time reading, so she knew that her father's last words were a death wish for her.

Rebecca didn't turn around, she walked with her head held high ignoring everything around her. As she left the palace she saw a huge white carriage with gold decorations waiting for her at the entrance, one of the guards helped her into the carriage. Abril looked out the window, from there she watched as they left the palace behind, she thought she would feel something when she left her place of origin, however she felt nothing, there was no sorrow, no joy, no sadness, no emotion overwhelmed her.

She closed the curtain of the carriage window and said to herself.

"I hope my life in the kingdom of Davenport will be better than it was in this place".