AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yet here we are,” Idalia cut in.
Her mother nodded, allowing her father to finish. “Death was so peaceful, none of this can compare.”
This was the first time that Idalia had gotten a good look at her father since he’d been brought back. His face sported the same slender wrinkles around his eyes and only the faintest amount of gray speckled his black hair. The beard he had once had when she was young had been shaved clean. She noted how it made him look a few years younger.
A server with a tray of delicately made finger foods walked through the crowd. Idalia couldn’t know the cravings her siblings were having but the way she watched them stare at the food told her they were hungry for something. Something they themselves hadn’t really figured out yet.
“I think this conversation needs some wine.” With a snap of her fingers, the servant waiting with their drinks in hand rushed forward, careful not to spill a single drop.
“My queens,” the woman whispered as she handed a glass to each of them, her parents included but skipped Idalia.
Only Ambrose took the time to sniff the drink before bringing it to her lips. Thick scarlet liquid poured over the rim and into their waiting mouths. Sienna finished with a gasp, staring into the now empty cup.
“This isreallygood. What is it?” Ambrose asked, her head still on that swivel searching through the crowd.
“Something I had especially made here in the castle.” Idalia shrugged, smiling to herself.
“I’ll have to get more of that tonight but I’ll need to pace myself.”
Idalia nodded.
Farah tilted forward in her seat, only the slightest bit of wine still in her cup. “Why did you not drink any?” An eyebrow was lifted.
“I had a rough afternoon. And I already drank more than I should have before arriving. Only water for me the rest of the day.” She wiped her sweaty palm down her skirt. “Go on now, family, go out and enjoy this party I’ve thrown in your honor. Find men that will suit you and dance until your feet go numb.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Flipping her long brown locks over her shoulder, Sienna stood, set her glass to balance on the side of the throne, and fixed her gown around her legs. Several curious gazes fixed themselves upon her as she descended the dais and submerged herself into the crowd.
“Ambrose?” Farah asked.
“Where is Burke?” Ambrose asked, the question not aimed anywhere in particular.
Growing cold on my bedroom floor, his blood filling the wine you drank so feverishly,Idalia thought.
Instead, she let herself look over the room, attention skimming the sea of faces that came and went from the room. “I was wondering the same thing. He was supposed to escort me but never showed up.”
Ambrose’s face went a little slack before she nodded, and handed off her wine to a passing servant. “Farah, want to go meet some people? There’s a whole new world out there.”
Then the two were off, leaving the last queen with her parents. The rushing bliss of Burke’s death had almost made her sober again. Warming her limbs, clearing her mind, that feeling still gave her the strength to stand. There were men out there who she’d need to reacquaint herself with. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to keep an eye on her sisters, particularly Farah who gave her a suspicious glance before she and Ambrose became one with the crowd.
“Idalia.” Her mother’s voice held that familiar tone of disapproval. “We are worried about you.”
“Me?” She laughed, balancing herself with a hand on the throne. “There is no need to be concerned.”
“The gods do not give without taking away,” her father said. “What have you given up?”
“Nothing of true consequence.”
The smell of the lavender oils they’d cleaned with was still strong on their skin as they moved closer. A muscle ticked above her mother’s eye, a sign of rising annoyance.
Before either of them could get another word out, Idalia continued. “I thought after all this that I might be good enough for the two of you. How wrong was I to think that for once my mother might be proud of me? I did exactly as you wanted. I’ve made our family whole again. We’re powerful, rich, and adored. I must be a fool then.”
“Perhaps,” her mother wrinkled her nose.
“If you two do not wish to be here, then go. Hide away in your rooms. Find a way to get back to your peaceful deaths. Do whatever, because I no longer care,” Idalia growled, turning away from them. Even as she said it she knew it was not the truth. Not really. No matter how she told herself not to care, she couldn’t turn it off regardless of how much she wanted to.
***
Queen Farah
