Page 62 of Glass Hearts
“Victor, finally! I was growing tired of seeing that unsightly Hendrickson’s face. I take it the boys are fully subdued?” She looks at us menacingly with a smirk.
“That’s fucking Victor, I am going to fucking kill him.” Grayer’s voice is pure venom as we all realize that this was the same man that has repeatedly abused our woman. The same man who also apparently infiltrated the council.
“Don’t worry, boys, your precious councilman felt no pain as he was sacrificed for the cause.”
“Why?” Archer grounds out.
“Why do you think?” Bernice removes our glass heart pendants. She notices the orb on Gray’s necklace and shrugs. Thankfully, not realizing that it belongs to The Shadow, she puts our necklaces in a velvet pouch, handing it to Victor, who locks it in his desk’s top drawer.
“This is how it is going to go.” Bernice joins Victor on the other side of the desk, placing her hand on his shoulder as he sits back in his chair. “You are now engaged to my daughters. Congratulations. You will forget about Arabella. You will be under our control with this spell with everything you say and do, up until your wedding night. You will appear in love and excited at the prospect of marrying my gorgeous daughters, who are frankly too good for the cheating lot of you. Inside, you may be warring, but frankly, I don’t care. You all ruined everything by going after my whore of a stepdaughter. Why am I not surprised she has been opening her legs for all of you? Your spell will only be removed once you have accepted your fates and are faithful, loving husbands to my daughters.”
“What. About. Arabella,” I struggle to get out. My body is progressively feeling so heavy. My mind gets fuzzy at the edges.
“Knowing her, this will devastate her. She will get more lashings for being such a whore and trying to steal what is owed to her stepsisters. Then she will be shipped off to a farmer who is willing to pay a pretty copper for her. Too bad he is a leech who killed his previous two wives. Hope for her sake he doesn’t hurt her pretty face too badly before he forces her to make babies.”
“No!” Koi screams, almost getting up, but he crashes back down.
I have never felt scared in my whole life, yet right now… I am terrified as the edges of my vision begin to blur into darkness.
Arabella
I awaken back in the bedroom suite. My heart is heavy with the weight of being fully seen by my men. They had whispered sweet words with delicate touches. They didn’t seem disgusted, nor did they request to end things right then and there. Perhaps I have been too hard on myself, that they could look past my scars and really see me. Could it really be possible?
Lo and Winona sit outside on the balcony deck, still in their pyjamas, as I pad over to the open doorway. Bri is nowhere to be found.
“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Lo gets up from her chair to bring me into a comforting hug.
“I take it the princes dropped me off?”
“Yes, they said they had to deal with the council.”
“I hope they don’t do something stupid and confront Bernice. I just know it won’t end up good for anyone.”
“I am sorry about the abuse you suffered.” Winona joins us back in the room, still looking like a regal beauty queen.
I exhale sharply. “I am just shocked that they seemed to… Be okay with my scars? They didn’t seem to look at me as if I were less beautiful to them. So I suppose that is something. Where did Bri go?”
“I’m here!” Bri runs into the room, already in her uniform, and tosses me a spare. “We’ve gotta go—it’s chaos in the kitchens!”
“Why?”
“Apparently, there is going to be an impromptu dinner with an announcement, so everyone is all hands on deck to get the dinner service ready. Arabella, you are helping me set up the room today.”
Anxiety twists in my gut, but I am not sure why. I quickly get ready in the bathroom, hugging Lo and Winona before I leave with Bri. We hurry to the dining room, and it’s already a flurry of colours of black and red tapestries. Boxes of dinnerware and decor lay on the floor. We get to work immediately, helping the others.
After many hours, the dining room looks like it came straight from a catalogue for entertaining. Strangely, the dinner setting was only to be set up for ten people, meaning it couldn’t be for the courting events.
“Thanks for your help, Ella. Feel free to head back to your room and relax a bit. We may need your help later. For now, I am going to go check on Mother and see if she has any ideas what this is all about.” Bri leaves as I take in the elegant room once more.
There is an eerie stillness in the air, and I am surprised, as I walk around the castle, not to have run into any of the princes or council members. As I walk past the great hall, I hear a commotion happening a few hallways down. Curiosity leads me to the castle entrance. That’s when I notice the rustling silk of all the selected court ladies’ daytime gowns. My stepsisters missing from the collection. Some are crying, and others look pissed off.
“How could they?!”
“They can’t even face us!”
“What a joke!” I hear a few random ladies sob out.
I spot Winona with her bags packed at her feet, looking annoyed with her arms crossed.
