The First Betrayal

Chapter 2

My entire body felt as if a million bricks were being placed on it. Everything hurt, everything felt heavy. My eyes refused to open even though I felt someone calling me back to the real world. It wasn't just for the fact that my body hurt. My heart hurt, so incredibly badly. How could the one person I love most in the world do this to me? I thought he loved me; thought he wanted me to help run his kingdom. My mistake was trusting a man I had just met.

I could see the pearly gates right in front of me. Waiting for me. I was ready to go into them when I was smacked in the face by a bucket full of water. Startled, I sprang up out of, well, death. My lungs felt full of water, and I just kept coughing and slowly looked around me to see who dared to throw water at me. When I finally made eye contact with him all of my anger went away. He was a handsome man. Tall, beautiful brown eyes, very muscular, and beautiful curly hair.

"Finally, you are awake. I was afraid we lost you there for a second." He smiled gently down at me.

I finally registered that I was fully awake and rotated to face him. "Lost me? What happened? The last thing I remember was-" Getting pushed, "falling. My mistake: I am extremely clumsy for being a lady. How I survived the fall is a miracle in itself. Having someone save me is even luckier. Thank you for saving me..."

"Jonas. Just call me Jonas. And you, my lady?"

If he offered to take me in, then he must not know who I really am. Now would be a good time to reinvent myself. "Emilie. It truly is wonderful to meet you."

He laughed hysterically for a good thirty seconds before setting down, "Apologies. But, you failed your first test, Queen Blair." My mouth must have been hanging open because he had to stifle a laugh again. "By the look on your face I can tell you weren't expecting me to know who you are. Actually, you have failed honesty twice now. Lady Blair, if you thought I didn't know who you were then you must have a reason for hiding your identity." He leaned closer to me, his mouth mere inches from mine, "Did you really fall off that cliff?"

I swallowed hard. If he already knew who I was then there was no use lying to him now. "Fine. No, I did not fall off the cliff. I was pushed."

His eyes widened and now it was his turn to have his mouth hanging open. "Pushed? Who would want to push you? I bet it's that group that has been running around crazy lately. Rumor has it they were going to go for the royal family next."

I stopped his rambling, "No, Jonas it was not someone I did not know. It was my own husband, the king."

He nearly fell backwards at that statement. "The king? My Lady no offense but are you sure that you saw correctly. There is no way the king could be capable of such actions."

I sighed, "Sorry to disappoint but he is. We were taking a stroll in between the party. We normally did when things got too stressful; when suddenly he just pushed me off the edge." By this point I was crying, "I do not know what I did wrong for him to try and kill me."

Jonas reached out and grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "My Lady, I am truly sorry that this happened to you. I'm sorry to have accused you of lying. It's just you two always seemed so happy. There was no sign that the king was even capable of such a thing."

I laughed, not because it was funny but because it's laughable how unpredictable it was. "Trust me, I know. I should have known to run away from a man who was naked on our first encounter."

"Interesting so the rumors were true." He smiled.

I smiled back, nodding to him.

"Jonas, may I ask you something?"

He nods.

"Why help me if you knew who I was. Why not take me back to the palace and have a physician take care of me?"

He studied me for a moment. Carefully he answered, "Because I knew something was wrong. I don't know how, but I had a feeling that this wasn't a normal fall. What I did not know is that it was the king's fault. But regardless I'm glad that I brought you back here."

I was puzzled. A citizen took me in. Knowing the consequences of harboring the queen were punishable by death. He knew all of this, yet he still took me in.

"Thank you, Jonas. A kindness like this has not been shown to me in my twenty years on this Earth."

"Of course, My Lady."

"Just, Blair. I mean you did save my life. I think we can skip the formalities and use our real names. It makes what happened easier. Especially since I'm technically not royalty at the moment. I am dead. Well, dead to the king."

His face hardened and he thought a long moment before saying the next words out loud. "Blair, what if we got revenge on the king? The kingdom must know of the injustice he did to you. He is not fit as a ruler. He is cruel and who knows how far he will take things. How many people's lives will he put in danger for his own selfish gain."

Down to my core I was shocked. Defy the king, is he mad? "Jonas, we cannot do that. We have not the manpower nor the weapons to face him. It would be a suicide mission."

"I'm not talking about fighting him directly, Blair. I'm talking about letting the people know of his wrongdoings."

I laughed a sarcastic laugh, "Yes, Jonas. The people are sure to believe my word over the kings. The reality of this is that people in this kingdom do not respect me as a leader. They see me as a pretty object to stand beside the king. If I were to try and speak out against the king, I would be killed for treason. Then he wins and all of it would be for nothing."

He considers for a moment, "Fair point. However, what if we make an army? Find those willing to listen. If we have enough people to take our side, then surely the kingdom will listen. You are correct they will not listen to the opinion of one. But they will listen to the option of the masses."

He made a good point. A great one even. If we found enough people to fight against this then maybe we would stand a chance. It has only happened, successfully, once in history. The king was dethroned, and the queen took position of power and remarried. It was a great plan. Was I ready to face the consequences, no. But was I ready to fight for what was right and die trying, yes. The people of this kingdom deserved that much.

"Alright, Jonas. Let's do your plan. I'll follow your lead. I assume you already have people in mind to join our little rebellion?"

He smiled brightly, "Of course I do, Blair. Trust me they will hop on this opportunity the second I mention what has happened. Hell, they might even just agree to join me because they are bored. But every and any person counts right now."

My heart felt a little less broken and a little more hopeful. There was plenty of hatred left in my heart for my so-called husband; but there was also a part of me that still loves him. A part of me that I hate as well. Why still love a man who tried to kill me? I do not have the answer to that question. I'm sure with time that love will disappear, and I will move on.

After finally coming to I took a good look at my surroundings. It was a tiny cottage where inside of his bedroom I could see both the kitchen and the living area. It was a modest home, smaller than my own bedroom. But it brought about peace and comfort that I had never known. The palace was always too big, too suffocating. This is a place I always imagined myself being in. A place that I could only ever dream of because I thought I knew what the rest of my life was going to look like.

I didn't realize how beautiful a simple small life could be until now. Jonas saving me feels like fate. Him wanting to help get revenge on my account felt like fate. Now all we had to do was come up with a plan. And fast if we wanted to save our people.