Storm Sisters

Chapter Sixteen

~1~

(present day)

Kara

It had been one of those unusually dreary days, the kind where a mixture of rain and snow combined to form constant sleet outside, where the sky is grey and an unshakable chill lingers in the air.

Kara had spent the better part of the morning hidden away in her chambers, laying in her bed. She just couldn't muster the desire to leave the warmth of her blankets.

'What's even the point?' she thought, when every-one who she knew in court was a conniving snake. She wasn't interested in seeing any of them, especially not on a cold miserable day such as this.

Not to mention that the growth of her belly had exceeded her ability to conceal it believably any longer. It now protruded out as a round dome from her midsection which was unmistakably the shape of pregnancy.

Then, the one person who she didn't want to see least of all, King Orgon, came bursting into her chambers unannounced.

"My Dear!" He exclaimed joyfully, "Why haven't you told me the good news?"

Kara attempted to feign ignorance, hoping that the news to which the king referred was anything other then what she feared it to be.

"You are with child, are you not?" The king approached, sitting at the edge of her bed with eyes so earnest he almost seemed human.

His words cut through her, expelling any hopes that she could contain this secret any longer. "I'd wanted to wait until I was certain that the pregnancy would hold," She lied, "I was hoping it would be a surprise."

"What a wonderful surprise it is indeed!" The king exclaimed placing his hand on her belly. Usually he wore gloves, in fact, come to think of it, she'd never seen him without them before this moment, and now she understood why; his hand was horribly disfigured by burn scars.

The king noticed her gaze upon his deformity and quickly withdrew his hand out of embarrassment. "Some battle scars never heal." he explained.

For a moment she felt something almost like sympathy for him, but then she remembered all that he'd done, returning her back to cold hatred.

"Being a father is the greatest honor in life," the king started, "You never had the displeasure of meeting my father, and for that, I envy you.. for he was cruel down to his very core."

He paused, lowering his eyes to the floor as if lost in the memory. "I think that I will be better then he was." He rose now to leave the room, seeming to have forgotten where the exit was for a brief moment.

After that strange encounter, Kara was too anxious to lay in bed any longer. She decided to get-up, get dressed, and face the day.

She called June into her room to help her dress, but instead a different servant girl entered.

"Who are you? Where's June?" Kara didn't mean to sound so harsh, but her patience was already in short supply.

"I apologize my lady... June is out sick today, so I'll be covering her duties."

"Out sick? Is it serious?"

"I don't know.. They only told me that I was assist you in her absence."

"Who told you that?" Kara's tone was still harsher then intended, causing the girl to shrink away fearfully.