And They All Fell Down

Chapter Five

Christopher did as he was told and waited five minutes before making his way to the library. The library was down a massive hallway and the inside looked like nobody had gone in there in years, even thought it had a caretaker and was relatively well kept. He saw her standing in front of the fire place that looked like it had not been touched by a flame in many years. He approached her and she turned to look at him, a gentle smile on her face but her eyes were glossy from all the alcohol. She held a small candle, with wax dripping down the chamber-stick. 

"I have something very important to show you." She took his hand and led him all the way to the back of the library. She felt around at the books on the last shelf and pulled at one of the books, revealing a door. She pushed the bookcase just to the point where they could both push their bodies through and she closed it quickly behind them. The room that the door led to was small and had a smell of dust and rotting furniture. 

"Why did you bring me here?" He had seen a lot of secret passageways in his time as a diplomat but this one was one of the more interesting. 

"My husband's mother showed me this room right before our wedding." She lifted to candle to reveal a portrait of a beautiful young woman with long black hair and striking features. "This woman is Fredrick's aunt. Her name was Cassandra." 

"Why are you showing me this painting?" He looked at the color in the woman's eyes and saw how much life she must have had once upon a time. 

"She was married when she was fifteen years old to a man twice her age and though tried to remain true, her desire to be unconditionally loved overwhelmed her. Queen Mother told me just before our wedding that no marriage is easy when you are arranged to be...but that every fate is better than the one her sister suffered." She paused and looked at the painting for a moment, as if she had forgotten what it looked like and was taking it in again for the first time. "She met a man and began an affair. She wrote in her diary that he was the love of her life and she wished to run away with him and leave everything behind to be with the man she considered to be her soulmate. Her husband found out and she was beheaded for adultery and even though she begged for her life, her husband said the treachery could not be undone. The diary was found and the man she loved was revealed and was publicly tortured to death. Her body is buried near the place she was born in a grave with no name and the body of her lover was burnt and thrown into the sea. Her husband ordered for the portrait as well as all her belongings to be removed but Fredrick's mother kept a small chest of keep sakes and this picture. She hid them away in this room to remind her of her older sister and what she promised herself she would never become. All Cassandra remains to be is a cautionary tale." 

He reached out for her but she pulled away from him, "I'm sorry, my sweet but I don't understand why you are showing me this." 

She turned to him, "I will not be a cautionary tale, Christopher! I will not be another unfaithful Queen with her head taken by an axemen! You believe a kiss makes us lovers but it simply does not! We are not lovers! We are nothing! If you wish to have your body made a mockery of and have your ashes scattered to the winds to forever be forgotten by time, be my guest! I want you to listen to me very carefully, Degory and I want you to understand what I am trying to say to you because I only intend to say it once. I will not be a disgraced woman with a nameless grave...not for you...not for anyone." 

He felt this pain in his chest and a lump in his throat. He watched as she shoved past him and he could hear the hidden door being pushed open and closed once more. He was left in total darkness but somehow he could still see the outline of Cassandra's face and he wondered if she died with regrets. 

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It had been a week since he last saw her. Seven days since he laid eyes on the Queen but her ladies assured him that she was well and just 'didn't want to be seen'. He knew that meant she just didn't want to see him. Was it so wrong that he had felt a connection between them? He knew it could be treason but perhaps in this world he was living in, death wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to a person.