The Broken Crown

Chapter 58

Jeffroy

 “I want her to leave,” Lucretia hissed. There was poison in her words. “She is not supposed to be here, not supposed to be here!”

 “She will leave soon enough,” Jeffroy whispered and sat beside her. Sometimes it calmed her. “She will want to go north. No one wants her here.”

 Caterina had just visited. Lucretia was no long able to leave her bed and so the future lady of Wolfsbane had visited her on her own to swear her oaths to the Queen Dowager. She had been kind, silent and respectful, but that did not change the fact that she was also the daughter of the Bad Family.

 “Did you see her dress?” Lucretia coughed into her hand. “The colours were ghastly and cut my eyes and her cut was low enough that a whore would pale at the sight of it.”

 “Scandalous,” Jeffroy agreed.

 The past few months had been hard on her. The ever so proud Queen Dowager had withered away as her sickness spread from her legs. It was only a matter of time until she was gone from this world – and with her gone, so would his protection be, both from others who would remove him from his position and from himself, his mind, which only grew darker with every day that brought him closer to his Queen’s death.

 A door opened and they both turned to see who entered. A servant made his appearance and Jeffroy quickly stood.

 “A guest for the Queen Dowager,” he announced and opened the door further.

 Adrianne was wearing a bright green dress, as far from mourning as possible. That could have been a sign of disrespect but Jeffroy knew that in this instance, it was a sign of deep respect; Adrianne was not showing that she would not mourn Lucretia’s death. She was showing that she acknowledged Lucretia’s power, even as she lay dying.

 “Your Majesty,” she said and gave deep curtsey, much deeper than courtesies told her to.

 “Queen Adrianne,” Lucretia said. “Please, sit.”

 While Adrianne sat, Jeffroy quickly moved into the shadows in the corner of the room. If he was not noticed, perhaps he would not be dismissed.

 “I came to pay my respects,” Adrianne said. “I know this marriage was not with your good will. We are all thankful for your acceptance.”

 Lucretia’s eyes closed. “Why did you really come?” she asked, not unkindly.

 “I told you,” Adrianne insisted.

 “Any breath could be my last.” Jeffroy felt something tug at his insides at Lucretia’s words. “Please, don’t waste my time.”

 “Of course not,” Adrianne promised in a rush of breath. It took her a second to compose herself. “I am sorry – sorry that you’re dying. I am not sorry for you,” she quickly ensured her predecessor, and Jeffroy could not help but marvel at how well the Queen knew Lucretia. “I am… frightened, I think.”

 “Frightened?”

 “That you should die,” she elaborated.

 “Why?” Lucretia seemed surprised.

 “Because…” She furrowed in confusion. “Because you have always seemed so constant, I suppose. I always though that you would die before letting go of your crown, but I never imagined that you would actually die – not before I was very old and very mature. I do not feel very old or very mature. I feel very young, and very stupid.”

 Lucretia’s eyes became strangely sympathetic. “I felt the same way, when Clement’s mother died.”

 Jeffroy watched as Adrianne blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry, I just…” She cleared her throat. “I wonder if I will be a good Queen at all. I look at you and – well, I realize you never loved me and I always feared you, but – I see a woman so strong and independent. I do not know what I would do if Raphael died the way Clement died from you. I do not know if I would be capable of being a queen the way you were.”