In the months that followed, Phelon grew even more detached from his wife and daughter. He would leave on official trips at night without informing his family and would return as he pleased. Alti was not even sure what exactly he was doing.
Why did it take so long to sign one treaty, she would ask. Then would follow the evasions, deflections and even accusations of being controlling. Alti, for all her intelligence was left puzzled. It was as if the man she'd married had died with his mother.
There were many arguments, fighting and screaming. Even the interference of his father did not change Phelon's attitude. He seemed to suddenly grow an underlying anger for his wife, simmering just beneath the surface, ready to explode at a single innocuous statement.
That he was acting this way only towards her only intensified the hurt Alti felt. He was still the generally kind and empathetic king that the people knew.
It was like flipping a coin on his attitude and Alti was at the receiving end of the unpleasant side.
She thought herself to madness, desperate to know if this was her karma, her punishment for tricking her husband and everybody else, for pushing Ifika to escape. But none of it was her fault, she convinced herself. Her sister made her own decisions. So what if she'd actively aided her? In the end, she certainly did not force her to run. She only saw a good opportunity and took it. Nobody could begrudge her that. Didn't she deserve some happiness too?
Maybe she was right, maybe she wasn't but this was irrelevant.
What was relevant was that when Phelon returned from his next trip, an unexpected guest was with him.
A very pregnant Ifika.
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A Tale Of Queens
General FictionAlti is a hard woman. Raised as the scapegoat daughter of two social climbing parents, there is absolutely no other way that she knows how to be. Sa-Alti is named for her mother. In many ways, they are similar. However, the newly crowned Queen find...
