By Order of the King

Chapter 12

Skye returned to her chamber, but no one was there to share her rejoicing.

She closed the door and leaned against it. The broad smile on her lips was pinned there, and her palm pressed against her deliriously beating heart.

She still couldn't believe that she had been worried these two days for no reason. Why hadn't she known earlier that her uncle had just gone hunting?

She started laughing, jumping, and dancing, spinning around until her legs felt like they couldn't hold her anymore, and she collapsed on her bed. She felt the tension leave her body, leaving her relaxed and calm. A gentle breeze came in from the open window, cooling her glowing cheeks. Skye closed her eyes, and without realizing it, sleep took her sweetly in its arms.

Soft knocks on Skye's door failed to wake her up.

The banging became more intense, and a voice was heard. "Lady Skye? Can I come in?" it was Maysie.

Skye forced her eyes open and sat up on the bed.

She grabbed her head, still dazed from her deep sleep.

"Lady Skye?" Maysie said again. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, come in," Skye managed to say, and Maysie entered.

Skye was still in her bed.

"Were you asleep?" Maysie asked.

"Yes. It seems I have fallen asleep without realizing it. Last night I didn't sleep very well because anxiety overwhelmed me," she answered and rubbed her eyes, still sleepy.

Maysie brought her some water. "I have just finished my chores and I came at once to tell me if you learned anything from your uncle. Where was he during the days he was absent? All those hours I had to be in the kitchen performing my duties, my heart was pounding. Look, it's still beating," she said, walking over to Skye, sitting down next to her on the bed, taking Skye's hand, and placing it over her heart.

Skye did feel Maysie's heart kick her palm and laughed softly.

"You can calm down, Maysie. My uncle told me where he had gone. He had gone hunting with a friend of his somewhere near Bundalloch.'

Maysie jerked off the bed and took a step back. She began to bite her bottom lip, and her hands at the sides of her body opened and closed, gathering and releasing her skirt, crumpling the fabric where she clutched it in her fists. "A-are you sure?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Skye slowly climbed down from the bed and walked over to her.

"What's wrong Maysie?" she asked. "Why do you have that face?"

"A– are you sure he was out hunting?" Maysie asked again.

"Yes, at least that was what he told me. Why?"

Maysie licked her lips before speaking. "Because I was in the kitchen until now and saw no hunting prey. Nothing".

Skye felt paralyzed, and her body went rigid looking at Maysie.

"Skye? Are you okay?" Maysie asked and laid her hand on her shoulder. Skye's eyelids fluttered.

She swallowed hard before speaking again.

"A- and that means anything? They might not have killed anything."

Maysie pursed her lips. "Yes, it might, if – although I don't think it's likely. Lord Malcolm never returns without some prey. It's a matter of ego and dignity, as I once heard him say."

Skye started pacing up and down. "Now you mention it, you're right. I've heard him say that too", she turned and looked at Maysie.

"So uncle lied to me? But what for?"

"Probably to catch you off guard. Like the last one he brought you," Maysie replied and bowed her head. "I'm sorry to spoil your joy."

Skye touched her shoulder. "Don't be sorry Maysie. You did well to tell me. That way I won't be in the dark. I'll know what to expect. And you know something?" her voice became steadier. Full of will and self-confidence.

"I don't care. Let him do what he wants. Let him bring me as many grooms as he wants. I will take them all out one by one. At some point, he will get bored, tired, and stop. Or even better, I will grow up enough for nobody to want me as his wife. I will be known as a spinster and all this will come to an end once and for all."

The next day Skye didn't come down for breakfast. After Maysie's revelation, she didn't want to face her uncle. She was sure that she would not be able to control herself and would speak ill of him, thus betraying that she knew about his lie.

She preferred not to reveal it to him. At least not yet.

After all, her uncle was playing dirty, but she was determined to find a way to fend him off.

No one had come to bring her breakfast, and she was sure her uncle would not allow it. But that's okay; she wasn't hungry anyway.

"Don't you dare take her breakfast!"

Fiona's words still echoed in Maysie's mind.

She had prepared a tray of food intending to take to Skye but was arrested by Fiona standing at the base of the stairs. As if she knew and was waiting for her. She looked at Maysie wide-eyed and grabbed the tray from her hands. "Don't you dare take her breakfast. If she wanted breakfast, she could come to the dining room." she spat out the words, took the tray with her, and headed to the dining room.

Maysie bowed her head and returned to the kitchen defeated.

Hours passed. It was late noon, and Maysie was still there. The cook had loaded her with a load of chores, and as Maysie worried about Skye, she made enough mistakes that the cook s*****d her several times, but this time she didn't care.

She was bent over a large wooden bowl bathed in sweat, cleaning potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables.

At some point, she lifted her head and wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand when suddenly the kitchen door to the yard side opened, and some men entered. They spoke loudly, grumbling about the suffering they had endured.

Maysie didn't recognize any of the voices and looked up curiously to see who had come. She looked at them; they didn't belong to the men of the castle. But when she noticed what they were carrying, her eyes lit up, and a big smile appeared on her face.

She immediately dropped the sweet potato she was cleaning and ran to the other door that led inside the castle.

"Hey! Where are you going? You have not done yet!" came the angry voice of the cook.

"I'll be back. Don't worry. It'll only take five minutes," Maysie called over her shoulder.

She immediately ran to Skye's chamber and rushed in without knocking.

"They have just arrived, Lady Skye!" she announced, breathing heavily. Her cheeks were flushed. "They came, they're here!"

Skye rose from her armchair. Her eyebrows drew together. "I don't understand, Maysie. Who just arrived?' she asked, puzzled.

"The prey, Skye, has just arrived at the castle! A little while ago, some men entered the kitchen laden with large prayers. A deer, hares, geese, grouse, pheasants. So many! That's why the Lord didn't carry them himself. He left them for these men to carry for him. They are probably his partner's men who had gone hunting together because their faces are completely unknown to me. If they belonged to the men of the castle, I would recognize them."

Maysie's unrestrained chatter amused Skye, who laughed softly.

She looked into Maysie's twinkling eyes and smiled.

"That means Lord Malcolm told you the truth," Maysie continued irresistibly. "Isn't that amazing news? As soon as I saw them come in loaded with all of this I immediately ran to let you know, and…" Maysie suddenly stopped and looked at Skye. "Isn't that wonderful news?" Her eyes blinked fast.

"I don't understand," Maysie said, scratching at her temple. "Aren't you glad? You haven't reacted at all," she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Skye smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, I'm glad, but I told you yesterday, Maysie. I've decided I'll deal with whatever backstab uncle gives me, but yes, I'm glad I won't have to deal with it for now. It would be indulgently naive of me to believe that my uncle has given up trying to marry me off. If it is not now, it will certainly be very soon in the near future. Anyway, thank you for coming to inform me."

Two days have passed.

It was noon, and Skye went to the dining room for lunch. Lord Malcolm and Lady Fiona were already there.

Surprised, she recognized some of the prey Maysie had mentioned on the table and stopped on her traces.

"Come, Skye," her uncle urged. "We know you don't like eating hunting prey. We asked the cook to prepare something for you to eat."

"That's very kind" She smiled awkwardly at the uncle's amiable demeanor. "Thank you, uncle," she whispered, and went to her seat, where she saw the plate of chicken and vegetables. She smiled faintly.

"Also," Uncle said, asking for her attention, and Sky looked at him.

The uncle picked up a rolled-up papyrus next to his plate that Sky hadn't noticed before.

Lord Malcolm picked it up and waved it in the air. "Early this morning, a decree came from the King," he announced to her.