Cursed By The Gods Book 1 and 2

Chapter 49

For two days Emilia rode hard to Intavia, tears blinded her eyes at intervals but for the help of the stable boy she would have run headlong into rocks numerous times. Her heart was shriveling from the weight of her sorry, she wanted so much to cry out and vent at the gods, to ask why was being dealt with such cruel blows when she never did anything to deserve it. She cried for the loss of her home, for the birth of a child she didn’t want anything to do with and the death of a governess who was more of a mother than a worker. She couldn’t even stop along the way to eat she feared she would not stomach anything going into her mouth but when the stable boy needed to eat something and relief himself she let him go, giving him some more coins to take care of his needs. They got to the Intavia border in the dead of the night when the city had gone to sleep. The guards at the tower who were half asleep were awoken by the clop of their horses’ hooves.

“Stop!” one of them shouted from the top. There was a weak torch in his hand which he raised to see her clearly. The light barely reached the ground enough to make him see but as they got closer he caught an outline of the horses and the shapes of the people on them. “I said stop.”

The horses came to a stop before the tower.

“Identify yourselves.”

“Emilia Ing Avia,” she responded. She hated that she had to use her old title but that was all the soldiers needed to know not to shoot at her.

The guard grunted. He turned to his right and spoke to someone she couldn’t see, there was a grunt and then shuffling. The gates were pushed open to admit them. The sleepy guard who opened the gate grunted greetings at them.

“Would you like to be escorted, princess?” the guards asked, the one who had opened the gate was scrutinizing them to see if they posed any threat. Once he was done assuring himself that she was who she said she was he climbed back up the ladder to the top where he went back to sleep. .

“No.”

Once they were out of earshot of the guards the stable boy rode his horse beside her and asked. “My lady where do we find an inn to stay at this time of the night?”

“No inn. Follow me.” She led the way to a location that was mapped in her memory even in the dark, she passed the small alley she once passed with Ilena the last time she came to visit her homeland. It brought tears to her eyes again as she thought about the poor old woman, not doubt she must have died of starvation and heartache. She still found it hard to believe that Octavius could imprison the same woman who had helped them both until they both got married, the same woman who loved him like a son.

The moon was bright enough to guide her to the big barn. It was dark but Herman and his wife were nice and she knew they would have no problem with accommodating her. She slid down from her horse and approached the house beside the barn, the wooden door was locked so she knocked on it. There was loud ruffling from the inside, the sound of a grunt that no doubt came from the huge Herman.

“Who is that knocking at my door at this time of the night? I can’t leave my wife’s side.”

Emilia smiled sadly. Herman may be burly and strong but his wife was his major weakness. There was shuffling behind the door soon the door was opened a c***k and Herman’s gruff face appeared. He blinked his eyes several times so he could see clearly, when his eyes had adjusted he opened the door wide with his mouth open in shock.

“Your Majesty?” he pulled a cloak from the wall and covered himself with it. “What are you doing in Intavia by this time, my lady? It’s far too dangerous for a gentle lady like yourself to be out when thieves and drunkards crawl, they could harm you. You should come in.”

Touched by his kindness she entered without a word and gestured for the stable boy to come in too, the boy pulled Emilia’s trunk down and carried it in. Herman furrowed his brow and looked the young scrawny boy up and down.

From a side of the house came Herman’s wife in shift she quickly covered with a wrapper. She shuffled quickly to where Emilia stood and just like her husband it took her a while to recognize Emilia when she did she bowed.

“My lady, what are you doing here so late?”

Emilia pulled the cloak around her tighter but it couldn’t disperse the cold inside her. “I- I left- my…Ilena,” she suddenly fell in the poor woman’s arms and cried bitterly, all the tears that had welled up in her eyes suddenly came to fore and they spilled without control. Herman looked from his wife to Emilia in surprise. When his wife looked at him with c****d brows he shrugged helplessly with concern on his face. The stable boy stood in the shadows.

Emilia realized what she had done and moved back slowly, hiccupping against her tears. Embarrassed she hugged her hands around her waist and mumbled an apology. She was appalled at how she just made herself vulnerable before strangers.

“You shouldn’t apologize for being human, my lady. I never formally introduced myself to you the last time, my name is Ira,” Herman’s wife said. She passed a look to her husband who quickly went to pull a wooden chair from under an equally wooden table. Ira took the chair and offered it to Emilia who gratefully collected and sat with her head bowed. Ira went into what appeared to be a kitchen, from the doorway she mouthed words to Herman, asking him to take the trunk at the boy’s feet. Minutes later Ira came out with a small cup of freshly brewed tea which she pressed into Emilia’s shaky hands.

“You should come let me show you a place to sleep lad, you look like you need a rest,” Herman said to the stable boy who was just on the verge of collapsing with fatigue. Once the both of them were gone Ira took a chair of her own and pulled it a few feet away from Emilia’s and sat looking at the shaking queen. Emilia’s face was drawn, her eyes red rimmed and her hands shook so violently she almost spilled her tea.

Emilia looked up from the rim of her cup and saw Ira looking at her with pity, she hated the pity, hated crying without control but she was powerless against the flood of emotions that brewed in her chest. Not once since she locked herself up at Camelorn to tend her wounds and plan her escape had Octavius sought to visit her. No doubt his guilt ate him up as well as his lies, they were probably choking him so much he couldn’t bear to face her. It hurt even more that he had not sent anyone to come look after her, of course now he would be free to spend as much time as he wanted with his goddess.

“Do you have need of something stronger? We have some wine,” Ira offered.

“No,” Emilia replied with a sad smile. She took a sip of the tea and wished she had accepted the wine offer, she needed something to make her forget, make her mindless until she couldn’t remember her own name. She took a bigger sip and let the heat of it burn her throat. “I am so sorry I had to barge in like this.”

“You don’t have to apologize, my lady. Herman and I have enough room to accommodate you and…” she thought about calling the name of the maid who had accompanied Emilia the other time but for some reason she decided against it. “The young boy,” she said instead.

“Thank you,” Emilia whispered gratefully.

“You don’t have to, my lady. You should sleep in fact, you are too tired to be awake right now,” she stood up and Emilia stood with her. “I will show you to where you can rest for tonight, by tomorrow Herman and I will make a comfortable space for you.”

Emilia followed gratefully. She had no reason, no right to ask anything of Ira and Herman and only on impulse had she decided to come to their home. She entered the room Ira directed her to, it was small and a bit cramped but she accepted it and laid on the uncomfortable straw bed. Ira brought a threadbare blanket and gave it to her, Ira longed to stay with Emilia and comfort her but she retreated and went to the room she shared with Herman.

Emilia laid on the bed staring at the ceilings and the stars outside the small window beside her bed wishing for sleep to come.