Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Hathor!”
We both jumped, looking to where Mary and Amity were now marching toward me. I let out a groan, because I did not have energy for this. I turned to Clementina, but she shifted farther away from me. I gave her a look; she just shrugged.
“I knew you were lying, Hathor.”
“Well, hello, Mary. How was your hunt?” I asked, my head held high. “Catch anything worth noting?”
“You said you were not interested in Prince Wilhelm.” Amity crossed her arms. “We asked you over and over again, and you were lying to our faces.”
“I was not lying. I wasn’t interested, then. Now I am.”
“What changed?” Mary questioned.
Good question. I wished I had the answer. “I need not explain myself to you, and so I will not. Though I am rather confused as to why you are both so upset. Were you planning on sharing him between you? What would the church say?”
They gasped at the hint of indecency, and Clementina tried not to laugh, opening her book once more.
“Very well.” Mary held her head up high. “My mama says nothing is over until the church bells ring.”
“Good luck.” My indifference only angered them more. They both spun away just as quickly as they had come.
“This has been the most entertaining of weeks,” Clementina said.
“I’m glad you’re having fun, at least. I—”
“Lady Hathor?”
My name was apparently going to be called all day. I turned back to see…the queen’s lady-in-waiting. My shoulders dropped.
“Her Majesty has sent for you. Please follow me.”
I sucked in as much air as I could before rising from my seat, nodding goodbye to Clementina before following the tall, slender woman. And of course, everyone watched as I was led back into the castle by the queen’s lady. The other mamas whispered among themselves, looking me up and down. It was quite obvious that the queen would only need to speak to me privately for one thing, and so my heart began to race with each step and turn we took, until we stood outside the double doors of the most opulent of the castle’s drawing rooms. It was never to be used for anything or anyone other than the most noble of guests. So, essentially, it was only opened when a royal or archbishop visited us. We called it the chapel room because, in either case, we’d need a prayer in order to enter.
I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and lifted my head, saying the first small prayer that entered my mind.
The queen’s lady-in-waiting opened the doors and stepped in first. “Your Majesty, Lady Hathor Du Bell.”
Immediately, I curtsied low and kept my head down. “Your Majesty.”
I did not hear her say anything, and thus I did not move to rise. But I was aware that her attendant had now left the room.
“Do you know what I find most perplexing in the world, Lady Hathor?” she finally spoke. Only then did I rise to see her standing at the gilded window, looking out at the guests who stalked about the garden maze below.
“No, ma’am.”
“Men,” she answered.
“Men?”
“Yes, those infernal creatures. They own all the world, all of this, even us, and yet they still have the audacity to rage, whine, bicker, and complain. When they are not doing that, they are fighting a war to own more things or places they do not know what to do with.” She turned to me, her face stern, a furrow in her brow. “Perplexing, is it not?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why do you believe they do that?”
“If it perplexes you, ma’am, I doubt I would know,” I answered softly.
“Smart. You know how to answer without answering, and how not to seem foolish in doing so,” she said, moving to sit in the bright red chair with gold-embroidered arms closest to the fireplace, waving for me to sit down before her. There was hot tea already waiting. “Your elder sister was quite skilled in that.”
Again, I took in air and forced myself to smile. “Yes, Aphrodite is quite good at a lot of things.”
“Her demeanor makes her a perfect duchess. Yours makes you perfect to be a princess,” she stated, lifting her tea cup.
“What? I mean…I do not understand. You believe me to be better than my sister?”
“Do not put your words in my mouth,” she sternly stated, giving me a harsh look. “You are suited for something. That does not make you better or worse than anyone.”
“But why do you believe I am suited to being a princess?”
“Because you have just the right amount of boldness and rashness to argue, as well as to question a queen. Had your sister been sitting before me now, she would merely nod and thank me.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh. Despite what many others may think, women in a royal house are not meant to be merely pretty and able to produce children. They must also be quick in wit, stubborn, and persevering. Why? Because men are perplexing, and left to their own devices they are prone to self-destruction, taking everything they own, us included, down with them. As women, we cannot allow that.”