A Kingdom's Expectations & A Shocking Revelation {Sequel}

Chapter 6

A.N. I've had writer's block for awhile now (as you might have noticed by the lack of any kind of suitable update). I'll try and actually update properly from now on seeing as I seem to be actually going okay with the writing thing. Hope you enjoy the update.

The night was dark and I could barely see the ground before me. My dress was tattered, the dark red torn down the side so that the wind assaulted my bare skin cruelly. One of the long sleeves had been ripped off and the other was sweeping down and dragging along the ground. 

All I knew about what was happening was how scared I was. The fear was metallic inside my mouth and I knew that there was blood slowly dripping down my shoulder. I didn't know why. 

"Come out, come out," a voice called out to me, decidedly male. It was low and rich - rich in enjoyment. I absently realised he was enjoying my fear. He knew I was afraid.

"Where-ever you are," another voice continued drawing out terror. This one was a woman's: sweet yet sour and entirely recognisable. In the shadows before me, one that had merged into the others slipped out and bloomed into life before me. The woman laughed as she saw me in all my pathetic glory.

Lady Grace. She was gorgeous and glorious, her black hair cascading down into curls that reached her waist unbound. Her dress was a deep green, the kind of green you might see in fields of grass. Her sleeves brushed the dew-kissed ground and her smile was effortless. Digging those dark eyes into me, I suddenly felt pain strike out althroughout my head.

I screamed as I was forced to the ground as if pain were a physical weight. It drove me to my knees and I cried out, sobs hacking through me as I pressed my head to the wet grass, the cool dew not presenting me with any kind of relief. It was like shards of glass were slicing through my mind, unbiased in where it cut. 

"This is your punishment," she whispered to me, her voice slickly sweet, almost caring. The scent of crisp flowers trailed towards me as Lady Grace knelt down, the soft material of her dress pooling all around her. The tresses of her hair caressed the side of her face but it only served to increase my pain and I cringed away from her, falling to my side.

"You aimed so high," Lady Grace continued. "For a prince. For a kingdom. And now... you'll fall."

"No," I sobbed through the pain, my fingers still pressing down on my temple. "No, no, I didn't know. I didn't know he was a prince. I didn't know anything. I never aimed for anything. Nothing - nothing but happiness. That's all I wanted."

"Yet that's not all you're going to get," she told me. "Not by a long while, Princess."

The pain stopped as another figure stepped near. I gasped in sudden relief, rolling onto my back. The curvature of the dress dipped low there and I could feel the grass caress my my neck with its glistening blades. I didn't care. Anything was better than that pain. 

"Now, now," he chided her. I could barely make out their figures but only knew their bodies were entwined: the dark green of her dress pressing against the darkness of the man. "Too much pain at once will result in less of pleasure. The Princess must feel her pain - but not yet. She deserves all that she will get - but it is not her that we care about." 

"Understood," Lady Grace said, her voice barely above a sensual whisper. "It is the Prince. I want him. This slattern has him for now but in the end, I'll be the one with him. Like I was meant to be from the start. Not this ridiculous little girl: so unprepared for life, for Court life especially. But like we agreed... in the end, he will be mine." 

The threat of Lady Grace stealing what was mine made my hands dig deep inside the ground, pressing aside blades of grass and the crush of mud. But the memory of pain kept me quiet.