Bittersweet Endings

Chapter Four : Isadora

“Happy birthday to...me.”

Birthdays were always special to me. It meant a new start, a brand new year with new things, good or bad, to come. So I’ve always waited for them, longingly, patiently, hoping that the following year would indeed be a good one.

Unfortunately, my birthdays had passed without much celebration, if any at all. Sometimes, I would live through the day of my birth, not realizing that I had just turned a year older until one of the older maids mentioned the date or something of the sort.

But this year was different. This year was my sixteenth birthday. Today was the day when I will finally meet my mate, when I will finally receive my happily ever after. Today was the day when I can stop wishing, and start living.

Everything seemed easier today. Perfect. The hard cot that I had been sleeping on for years on end seemed softer. The darkness seemed brighter, and even cleaning didn’t feel like such a pain.

Gritting my teeth, I rubbed the last stain on the staircase caused by who-knows-what as hard as I could. Lifting up the damp cloth in my hand and dropping it back into the wooden bucket, I wiped my eyebrows, attempting to dry the sweat off, but instead, smearing the water and sweat across my forehead.

I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity, only to have a blue-blood scold at me for being disrespectful. “Eyes on the ground, you disgraceful girl!”

Stifling a cough, I picked up my cleaning supplies and headed towards the storage room that was near the kitchen, all the while chanting: You get to meet your mate today, Isa!

That sentence alone was enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.

***

“Ah, Your Highness! You’re up quite early, aren’t you today?” I greeted Prince Lewis with a bright smile, who was already up and dressed. “You even dressed yourself!”

Lewis grinned at me. “You’re in an awfully good mood today, Isa. What’s gotten into you?”

The Prince Lewis and I were on good terms. It probably came from the years of serving him as his personal maid, and when I’m in a good mood, I like to entertain the thought that it was I who made him who he was now, instead of an unpleasant bastard like his brother.

“Oh, nothing much. Today just feels like it’ll be a good day, don’t you think, Your Highness?” I spoke cheerfully while tidying up his chambers.

“Whatever you want to believe, Isa,” Lewis spoke in an amused voice. “Now, I don’t believe that I have anything scheduled for today, so, if you could accompany me to the stables...”

***

“So, if you could deliver this message to him, Greenwood, it’d save me lots of trouble.” His Majesty, the King Salah, stared down at me from his throne. I could feel his gaze burning into me. I hadn’t expected him to remember my surname, or to remember me at all, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign if he had remembered where I had originated from.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” I whispered, my eyes burning holes into the carpet that lined the floor. Getting anywhere near the King gave me chills of the bad kind. The incident eight years ago still resided in the deepest corner of my mind, and being near the King only made it worse.

“You are dismissed.”

I hurried down to the west wing of the palace, where Conall’s bedchambers resided. I jerked to a stop when I had reached his doors, and wiped my hands on my apron, making sure they would clean. I wouldn’t want to know what would happen if Conall had found a dirty spot on his doors, no matter how small.

After knocking on the door a few times, I edged it open slowly, assuming that the silence meant that either no one was in the room, or that I was allowed to enter. “Ah, Your Highness, His Majesty wishes to see you in the throne room to discuss something im–” I recited what I was supposed to inform him, before suddenly stopping and gasping in surprise.

My eyes were wide with shock at the scene in front of me, and just for good measure, I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming.

If I could have looked anywhere else, I would’ve, but I couldn’t. “Vi-Vivienne?” I whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

Vivienne sighed, annoyed at my intrusion. “Go away, Isadora,” She spat, “This is none of your business!” She turned her head from Conall to glare at me.

“No!” My voice wavered, “You can’t do…this! You’ll tarnish our family’s reputation and–”

“Why do you care about ‘our family’s reputation’, anyway? You’re a servant, so why does it matter to you anymore?” Vivienne let out a snort, somehow making it sound lady-like, and I couldn’t help but feel a burning hatred for her in that instant.

I opened my mouth to retort to her degrading comment, but quickly shut it when Conall stood. He quickly strode across the room with long, quick strides and as he got closer, I quickly backed into the hallway. I lowered my eyes as he closed the door to his room, and waited for whatever punishment I would receive. Instead, he spoke.

“Look, whatever your name is,” he spoke, his voice soft, and somehow dreamy. I gave myself a mental slap before tuning into what he was saying. “I know that it’s not exactly proper, me fooling around like this, but it’s just a temporary thing until I find my Mate. It doesn’t mean anything, but I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t gossip about this with the other servants,” Conall paused. “Could you do that for me, please?” He placed my hand on my shoulder, and for a second, all I could think was how big his hand was on my shoulders before...well, simply put, before I felt sparks fly.

Everything after that was like a dream. Warmth spread through my body like wildfire, from his fingertips that clutched at my shoulder to the tips of my toe. Slowly, that warmth became fire, and when I raised my eyes to meet his, time stopped.

I felt complete. Whole.

“You can’t be my Mate.” Conall closed his eyes and took deep breath. “I reject you.”

All I could do was stare into his dark green eyes, unable to tear myself away from them, before he turned around to enter back into his chambers, back to my sister, Vivienne. There was a sudden, searing pain in my heart,

And despite everything that had just happened to me, I couldn’t help but choke out a laugh. You get to meet your mate today, Isa! The single line I had chanted throughout this whole day.

I’d been so set on my happy ending that I had never even brushed past the thought that it would all come crashing down on me and turn into ashes.

Today was supposed to be special.