My Treasure (Norman Reedus Pirate)

Twenty Four: Truth Revealed

Queen Annabelle:

I led Norman and my daughter to the throne room briskly. My dark violet dress trailed behind me, while the silver crown on my head dug into my skull. It would soon be Isabelle's, once she had found a suitor. I wasn't going to let a rapist marry my daughter.

I was honestly shocked when I found that Isabelle was in love with the pirate. I can't lie, he is attractive, but still. He isn't royalty! She can't marry him, or else other kingdoms with prince's ready to marry will attack us. But another thing to worry about was that if I married her off to some smaller kingdom, some of the larger ones could attack us for letting her marry someone else. But if she never got married, someone (much like Norman's case) would kidnap her. Or worse, assassinate her. I was between two stone walls with no way out, and they were caving in on me from both sides. I'd never tell Isabelle this, but our kingdom could potentially go to war with the Spaniards. She thought I let her do all the paperwork, but in truth, I dealt with war-like papers. I didn't want to put the stress of war on Isabelle. So when Isabelle went missing, the whole kingdom was in panic. While she was gone, our southern walls were attacked by the Spanish. We lost a small portion of militia, and I was scared that we'd lose more. Luckily, Charles was here, and his men were trained for combat. If he hadn't been here, then the outcome could've been much worse. Unfortunately, if what Isabelle said was true, and he did indeed rape her, then we'd have to banish him. And I couldn't deal with that.

I sat down on my throne, which sat beside my dead husbands. Norman and Isabelle stopped a few feet away from me, gazing up at me. Norman's eyes shone with something, and I recognized it. Respect. He then dropped to one knee, and bowed his head to me. At least he has manners.

"My Lady." He mumbled.

"Rise." I ordered. Norman got back to his feet, and stood beside Isabelle. "Norman, I have every right to behead you. You stole my daughter, the heir to my throne, and you possibly put her in danger. Plus, Charles said that you raped her, and that there was fresh and old blood on the sheets of the bed where you two were naked in." I declared. Norman nodded, but Isabelle spoke up.

"Of course there was blood! You were a virgin at some point too, were you not?" Well, she had a point. But it didn't explain why there was old blood as well.

"Then explain why there was old blood." I ordered.

"Norman was wounded, and we treated it on his bed." She explained.

"Do you have proof of this," I asked, and Isabelle was about to say something. "Norman."

The pirate captain nodded, and took the rim of his shirt, lifting it up. He had a very broad and muscular chest, which I gladly admired. Then he pointed to a faint red line just to the left of his belly button. I nodded, and he lowered his shirt. Well, he didn't rape her. But how did he treat her?

"How was she treated, Norman? And give your honest answer." I demanded.

"At first, she was treated like any other prisoner. But all she did was sleep in a cell for a night. After that, she slept in the captain's quarters with me." He explained. I nodded. It could've been worse, I suppose. "I let her take a walk on the deck, and she liked it, I'm assuming."

"No, I only liked when we fought with swords." Isabelle stated, and my eyes went wide with shock.

"What?" I screeched. My daughter fought with swords!

"Only sticks, My Lady. Not with actual swords." Norman quickly clarified. I nodded again, not very comforted. "But yes, I taught her how to fight with swords for a day, then at night, I requested that she have dinner with me." He said.