A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 7-8

Anor 14th,3330 A.G

    Krea laughed so hard that she snorted and inhaled the rest of her potato. Much to her mother in law's annoyance- she, her husband, and her sister in law had gotten to talking about their bedroom experiences over a late breakfast and Ysabelle had plenty of stories. Andrew were very quiet while she talked, but Krea had learned his subtle que's quickly and he were as alright as he could be- laughing along with the others.

It may just have been how strongly she loved him, but she couldn't understand how the others seemed not to notice when he were having flashbacks. How his own mother didn't sense what happened to him, or-

Krea caught herself spiraling into anger again and stopped her thoughts then and there. It would do them no good now, and they were having fun.

"..so anyways, I'd just come back to my chambers from a feast and one of the servants- I think her name was Collin, had decided it would be a good time to do her cleanings since she thought I wouldn't be in her way then. She were in the middle of scrubbing the floors and I'm still...not sure how it got to the point it did but we were both very drunk- me from the wine and her from her father's brewed ale... and just as we'd undressed each other I vomited all over her and her bed and-" Before Ysabelle could finish that story her mother had abruptly risen and stalked off.

She would never understand her children. She'd raised them to be proper lords and ladies, yet their conversation topics were often anything but. Krea were just as confusing, pregnant yet still eating potatoes and sausage as her only living daughter spoke of bodily excretions.

When she left, Ysabelle and Andrew couldn't help but chuckle. This wasn't a new thing for her. They were usually doing something wrong. There were still a knife mark in the middle of their baobab table from where he'd carved a roast one time and accidentally slipped; and Andrew still hadn't heard the end of it.

Krea's eyes flickered between the siblings, then to Chen Jade across from her. She were content. She missed her own brother and sisters at times, but it didn't cause her any sadness. Her thoughts were too consumed by parenthood, the duties of a lady, keeping her husband's flashbacks and panic attacks to a minimum- and on getting as much time alone with him as possible.

There wasn't much room for anything else in her stomach either, so she set her fork down and fully turned to him.

"I hear there's a trade ship captain arriving from Cralon in a few hours. I know you were just going to send a high ranking soldier to meet with him but I figured we should both at least greet him so I went ahead and-"

"My lady." A servant said, walking through the propped open doors. Once he were closer to her chair he stopped and bowed, then handed her the scroll he were holding so carefully."Forgive me for the intrusion. You have a letter from your father. It.... I believe it may be urgent."

She turned the scroll over in her hands, immediately understanding what he meant. The wax around the seal were warped as if her father hadn't taken time to let excess drip off and pressed it with a shaky hand.

He hadn't bothered to send one letter since she left either, so this would be urgent. He weren't the type to check up on his children just because.

She broke the seal and used her and Andrew's wine glasses to pin the parchment down, her heart thumping at the first words alone.

My dear daughter,

I am deeply sorry that my first letter since you left is one of this manner. I did mean to write to you about the situation many times, but I couldn't find the right words. Do not be angry with your siblings for also not informing you- they were all paralyzed by fear.