The Lost Heiress Of Ladin

“Did he leave?” A beautiful middle-aged woman sat in front of a gold-rimmed mirror while behind her stood three younger women dressed in a light blue gown. One of them combed her hair very attentively as if the hair of the woman sitting before her was the only thing she could see. The middle-aged woman sitting before the mirror had a blank expression on her face, her eyes however were cold and unfeeling like there was nothing in the world that could break the layer of ice she seemed to have in her heart. She was wearing a long brown gown and her golden-colored hair stretched beautifully as the maid behind her combed. The room had a strange solemn atmosphere in it, despite the high status of this woman, there were no female guards around her as a person of her status would normally have. While her room was clean and a little fancy, it’s dullness was very obvious to the eyes. She had no fancy jewelry which made her natural beauty stand out even more. The only note worthy thing in the room was the mirror, the woman sitting before it and the three maids behind her. Like their mistress, their expression was blank, unlike their mistress, their eyes were not cold but dead. Below their long gowns by the ankle of their feet was evidence that they had trousers below their gown, it stuck to their skin but was only visible by the ankle of their legs as their long gowns covered the rest of it. On their feet however was another oddity. They were maids, but instead of wearing sandals or being barefooted like a normal maid should, they had boots on, combat boots like the kinds for soldiers but theirs was delicately designed the sewing showing great attention to detail. On hearing the question from the golden haired woman, one of the two idle maids nodded knowing that she could see her through the mirror. “Then everything is in place?” the golden haired woman’s sweet voice sounded a second time. “Yes my Lady” this time the maid replied in words giving a light bow. “Then let’s get back ten years of suffering” the golden haired woman smiled. Her face changed completely once she smiled, there was no coldness in her eyes nor was her expression blank anymore. Instead, she had a warm radiating smile on her face that seemed to brighten the entire dull room. Her name was Nevaeh and she was the first Queen of the Kingdom of Ladin. Her husband was King Edward from the prestigious family of Chrome, he was a very good King loved by his people but he had a very major flaw, a flaw that would cause strife to his kingdom. The kingdom of Ladin was fairly powerful, compared to other surrounding kingdoms it was slightly above average. To further strengthen the kingdom and avoid wars, they needed allies and so, he took a wife from the Kingdom of Idor, Princess Nevaeh, he took her as a wife and she became his Queen. But later on, he met another woman, a merchant daughter of the Kingdom of Icar named Rowan , and he took her as his second wife because he loved her. Since then, nothing Queen Nevaeh did was pleasing to his eyes and while he did not mistreat her, he neglected her. He was King and his actions and attitude determined that of his people. Seeing how differently he treated his two wives, the guards and maids of the Palace began to treat Queen Nevaeh unkindly. The maids would not serve her, they would gossip and insult her sometimes even when she could hear them. The guards would not listen to her and they would mock her and openly ogle at her body. When she made a request for something, she either received defected items or nothing at all. Aside from that, Queen Rowan who the king loved dearly never seized a moment to mock her in anyway she could, in private or in public. All of this Queen Nevaeh endured and ignored. She never made a report to her father who was still king because her kingdom was a warring kingdom and she knew they would not tolerate her sufferings. She loved her people and war was never kind no matter which side claimed righteousness, she also did not think she was worth a war. But Queen Nevaeh had been involved in royal politics since the day of her birth. The schemes and tricks of nobility was something she had witnessed and learned. To every problem she showed a smile, to every mistreatment and mockery but her heart got colder and more determined as time passed. She was not saint, she was a Queen. To insult royalty was to incur bloodshed everyone involved in the Royal circle knew this. Unfortunately for Queen Rowan, she was a merchant’s daughter. The extent of her knowledge in a conflict was to insult the other person and sully their reputation which was what she had been doing all this time with the goal of solidifying her power, she was no on the same page or train of thought as Queen Nevaeh. Queen Nevaeh rose from her seat and walked towards the door with her three maids following behind her. “Are we making a move now?” the maid who was brushing the Queen’s hair a moment ago asked. “Not yet. I want to see first just how difficult it can be to claim the life of a King” Queen Nevaeh replied, her words were cold but her eyes was warm. A terrifying combination. Far away, in the Kingdom of Icar, a young woman sat by the side of a pool with her toes dipped in it. Some distance behind her under the shade of a wide branched tree was another woman, but her aged could not be determined by her looks as she had a veil covering her face. From her figure though, it could be inferred that she was young and beautiful. Her long silk gown swayed with the wind as she wrote in a beautiful slanted writing on the paper held by a male servant. “Tell Ariella to get out of the water” she ordered a maid by the side but before the maid could give the order, the younger woman with her feet in the pool turned around to her with a wink and all of a sudden, the maid became confused. “Ari!” the veiled woman scolded and grudgingly Ariella, the younger lady supported herself with her hand by the pool side and stepped out of it. “I heard about Rowan, what are you doing about it?” Ariella asked her older sister. “Nothing” the veiled woman replied in an impassive tone. She was the older sister of Ariella and they were both Princesses of the kingdom of Icar. Nayeli was the crown princess, heir to the throne. She was also the most mysterious member of the Icar Royal family, from her appearance to her personality, little to nothing was known about her. Ariella on the other hand, the second daughter and younger sister of Nayeli was more proactive and sometimes rash, she was very well understood by the intelligence forces of other kingdoms. “Nothing? Why nothing?” Ariella asked in annoyance. “Because supporting a person who challenges Royal blood is the most irresponsible and reckless thing anyone could do” Hearing her sister’s response, Ariella lowered her head to stare at her bare feet for a moment. Nayeli looked up at her sister and a sigh escaped her lips. “Come” she said handing the brush she was writing with to the maid by the side. With a gesture she ordered the maid and guards who were about to follow to remain behind and taking Ariella’s hand in hers she led her away. They reached a quiet part of the castle, a green lush garden with a small irrigation system adding to the beautify of the place. “Queen Rowan has offended too many people. Regardless of King Edwards efforts, your friend will not have a good ending and if we support her now, we lose the friendship of all nobility and that’s too much of a price to pay for a brainless woman” Princess Nayeli was blunt with her words. Ariella frowned at her sisters reference for her friend but she didn’t disagree with her. She too knew that Queen Rowan had gone too far. She completely threw the noble culture out of the window, Queen Nevaeh was not only a First Queen of Ladin, she was also born into Royalty in Idor, her blood was legitimate but Rowan’s was not. If Queen Nevaeh were the one mistreating Queen Rowan, it would be a matter of course and even though no one would like it, they wouldn’t take offence since it had nothing to do with them. But when Queen Rowan did it and the other party, Nevaeh tolerated silently, it offended Royalty everywhere even enemies of Ladin! If the daughter of a merchant was allowed to insult the Royal heritage, how would the monarchy continue to subdue and rule the people? It threatened the system that the Continent had developed over the course of thousands of years. “So do I just let her die?” Princess Ariella asked, biting her bottom lip. “We could send people to protect her in secret but you must deny offering any assistance if ever asked about it.” Nayeli sighed. She knew her younger sister wouldn’t be able to drop this matter. Princess Ariella nodded and decisively walked away. Nayeli watched her go, hidden behind her veil was an expression of defeat! She could tell that Ariella would not listen to her instructions. “I will protect you to the extent I am capable of. If you die due to your own recklessness after that, then you die” she muttered to herself. Her voice was loud enough to make it’s way to Ariella’s ears though causing her to stop. She glanced at her elder sister over her shoulders and continued onwards without turning back. Such was the cruelty of Royal life, each one was responsible for themselves. They looked out for each other, but first they had the responsibility to consider the big picture first before personal matters. Princess Nayeli was heir to the throne, with her parents aging, that day was not far off. As a woman, there were already too much obstacles to face, she could not afford to offend all the surrounding countries at this time.