Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Legacy

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

When the Duke and Duchess told Angelica that she was bound for the convent she cried, not wanting to leave her home and her family, presenting argument after tearful argument as to why she should not go, but the Duke and Duchess countered only with an explanation of her destiny and finally telling her of the secret adoption and the agreement with the monk. Angelica loved her parents very much and eventually agreed that if that was her destiny, then so be it. Who was she to stand in the way of destiny?

The Duchess and Angelica would travel by carriage to the convent in Madrid. The Duke would not be going as the travel would be too much for his failing health, being nearly 60 years old and suffering from gout and arthritis. He kissed his daughter goodbye and held her so long that the Duchess intervened to separate them. She told Angelica to board the carriage and after she did, the Duchess kissed and hugged the Duke, reminding them that they had 19 wonderfully beautiful years with her, a gift from God no doubt, and it was time for Angelica to fulfill her destiny. When the Duke countered that they hadn't seen the monk for over 18 years the Duchess stopped him and said, "We agreed." The Duke, wiping away tear after tear, nodded his head, begrudgingly, in agreement. The Duchess boarded the carriage and joined Angelica inside.

The carriage was driven by Mr. Reyes, the keeper of the family livery and a favorite of Angelica. She was often found playing with the horses, and much to the chagrin of her mother, would be found bareback riding the horses around the estate. Mr. Reyes was quite fond of Angelica and of her daring spirit, reminding him of the daughter he had lost to illness years before. The Duke watched the carriage drive off the estate and followed it until he could no longer see it in the distance. He turned and walked slowly back into the house, pausing at the threshold and feeling as though all happiness and joy had left the estate along with them.

Angelica and the Duchess barely said a word to each other during the journey. Angelica gazed out the window as she left the boundaries of the estate where she had spent her entire sheltered life. The scenery became strange the further away they traveled but she took it all in – mapping out the journey in her mind, fascinated by the changing countryside. She tracked the passing hours in her mind as well as she knew it would take about three days to complete the journey and they had been traveling for half a day at this point. The Duchess had fallen asleep, her head bobbing with each jolt of the carriage. Angelica found the travel excruciating, stuck in the carriage, nothing to read and she had grown bored of the landscape. Creating that map in her mind was her only escape to fill the monotony of the slowly passing hours and lack of stimulating conversation. She had closed her eyes to better visualize her map, plotting direction and applying topographical aspects to it. Measuring distances between the estate and the points along the way.

She was unprepared for the sharp lurch of the carriage when the front wheel disintegrated, causing the carriage to capsize forward throwing Angelica across the carriage interior in the process. The Duchess screamed as she fell backward with the carriage, thankfully having been seated against the front wall of the carriage minimizing injury to the old Duchess. After lurching forward, the carriage overturned onto its side throwing Mr. Reyes about 20 feet forward into the roadway. The horses began to panic and pull from the carriage, but a bruised and battered Mr. Reyes was able to get to his feet quickly and calm them down before they caused more damage.

The Duchess had fallen on top of Angelica when it rolled and Angelica grabbed her in an effort to prevent further injury to her mother. Angelica felt a sharp pain to her right side where the Duchess had fallen into her, breaking Angelica's ribs. Angelica's right arm had also been broken in the crash. Angelica overcame the pain of her injuries and helped her mother off of her and to her feet inside the capsized carriage. Mr. Reyes was shouting out for them and Angelica shouted back that they were more or less alright. Angelica looked for a foothold inside the carriage and using her left arm, climbed up and out of the carriage, and then alit down to the ground, cradling her broken right arm and damaged ribs. She could feel those broken ribs with every breath she took but she gritted through the pain.