Page 88 of Villainess's Redemption
As the crowd reluctantly dispersed, the Queen caught my eye. There was something in her gaze—amusement? Approval? Or was I hallucinating?
Before I could enjoy my newfound freedom my mother’s delicate fingers dug into my arm with surprising strength as she dragged me into what appeared to be an unused sitting room. In the late afternoon sunlight streaming through tall windows, dust motes danced lazily. The room smelled of furniture polish and disuse.
“Stand guard outside, Laurel,” Mother barked. My poor maid shot me a sympathetic glance before closing the heavy oak door.Or am I the poor one here?
Mother whirled on me, her face flushed with fury. Her carefully styled hair was coming loose, wisps escaping to frame her face. I’d never seen her this undone.
Sigh. This is going to be long.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she hissed. “Why even get married if you can’t even handle a little disagreement in marriage?”
“A little disagreement?” I scoffed, “It’s not like you don’t know what we did. You won’t understand anyway. It’s already in the past.”
“Then help me understand! Years of careful planning, alliances, connections - all destroyed because you decided to throw a tantrum in front of the entire court!”
I raised an eyebrow. “A tantrum? Mother, I simply asked for what I wanted. Directly. Like you taught me.”
“I taught you subtlety and grace, not… whatever that display was!” She paced the worn carpet, her skirts swishing. “The Queen may have granted your request, but at what cost? Our reputation—”
“Our reputation was doomed anyway,” I cut in. “At least this way, we control the narrative.”
Mother stopped pacing and stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Control the… Ilyana, have you completely lost your mind?”
Oh right, our downfall hasn’t started yet.
I sigh, “Never mind. What I wanted to—”
“No.” Mother shook her head as she grabbed both my hands, “Come on, let’s go.”
I put my foot down and didn’t move an inch. “Go where?”
“We can still change this. You’ll just apologize and we’ll say—”
“You want me to do what?” I stared at my mother, incredulous.
“Apologize to your husband and the Queen. We can still salvage this situation.” Mother’s lips trembled. “Tell them you were overcome with emotion, that the poison affected your judgment.”
I barked out a laugh. “The poison enhanced my judgment, if anything.”
“Ilyana!” Mother pressed her fingers to her temples. “Think of our family name.”
“I am thinking of our family.”More than you know.“This marriage was a mistake from the start. And you know what we did for this marriage. It’s bound to get out later. We should just save ourselves before it’s too late.”
The musty room felt suffocating, dust motes swirling in the afternoon light like tiny accusers. Mother’s expensive perfume couldn’t mask the stale air.
“A mistake?” Her voice rose. “Marrying into the Stormbourne family was the pinnacle of our social achievements! Doesn’t matter what we had to do. And didn’t you love him? Do you know how many families would kill for such an alliance?”
“Killbeing the operative word here,” I muttered.
Mother’s face turned an interesting shade of purple. “What has gotten into you? First the bizarre behavior at breakfast, then drinking the Queen’s wine, and now this spectacle?”
“Maybe I’m tired of pretending,” I examined my nails, feigning nonchalance. “Maybe I want more than being Noah’s consolation prize.”
“Consolation—” Mother cut herself off, inhaling sharply. “Is this about that Bellrose girl?”
“Among other things.”Like preventing our entire family’s execution, but who’s counting?
“Then we’ll deal with her! There are ways to remove such… obstacles.” Mother’s eyes gleamed with frantic calculation.
