It has been four nights since my breakdown caused my realization of becoming Queen. Whether I wanted to be or not.
Rowland set up a night picnic in the same field.
To my utter dismay, I had a lovely time.
He seemed to be nothing like the man I had run from so long ago.
He seemed to be a decent man.
A loving man.
A charismatic man.
“Good morning Annabelle. Tell me, how was your night with the Prince?”
“Yes tell us! Has he asked for your hand?”
“Someone as beautiful as you is the perfect match for our Prince!”
“You will be a great Queen!”
My heart sank, but I managed to keep a smile upon my face.
Even after seeing the look on Joshua’s face as he listened to the gossip.
I have to do something.
I can not just leave things the way they are with Joshua.
He is a good man.
He does not deserve to be treated this way.
“If you’ll excuse me ladies, I need to have a word with Joshua.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Please don’t call me ma’am.
“Joshua, may I have a word?” An uninterested glance was my only response. “I would like to apologize about everything that has happened.
You’re a wonderful man, you-”
“Tell me Annabelle. Why do you even come to the stables now that your Prince is in your clutches?”
“Joshua, it’s not-”
“You need to leave, we have no need for you here anymore.”
Tears prickled my eyes as his words lashed out at me.
I could take all the lashings, all the beatings, all the hatred from Rowland, but I couldn’t take the hurt and disappointment directed at me from Joshua.
With a quick turn I ran.
I ignored the women calling my name, I ignored the pleas, I ignored the looks of the other peasants as I ran past.
My feet took on a mind of their own, running me through the trees, towards the lake.
The lungs in my chest felt as if they would explode at any second, a burning sensation seared through my ribs, and the tears left stains on my reddened cheeks.
Slowly, I stepped into the lake, wading until the water reached my chest.
‘Whenever life feels too hard to handle, just come to this lake, and submerge yourself.
If you’re lucky, it is as if every problem, every hurt feeling, every tear, will be washed away.’
As I immersed myself in the lake, a flash of a man’s smiling face filled my mind.
The man who had said those words of advice.
And somehow, though I’m not sure how, I knew that he was my father.
He loved me.
He loved me so much.
And I loved him more than words could ever describe.
