Louisa Hendraki

Chapter Thirteen: A bad morning

The next morning, Louisa stood in front of the mirror and sighed. She wondered if Nora meant what she had said. She even wondered if she remembered saying those words.

The words she had been waiting to hear without realizing it. Fear gripped her as she thought more about it. She didn't even know how to bring it up to Nora. She kept thinking about it even after eating her breakfast.

Zara interrupted her train of thoughts. "Are you alright, Louisa? You seem quiet today. Are you ill?" Louisa looked up and was about to say no but ended up saying yes. In reality, she had been feeling nauseous lately. She also felt tired easily but she hadn't complained to anybody...until now.

Zara felt her forehead. "Your forehead is warm. I'll call a physician for you." Louisa stopped her. "Don't bother, Zara. I'm fine." Then she proceeded to take a walk for breath of fresh air. She sat on a swing in the garden and watched the servants going back and forth.

"Good morning!" she jerked and turned. Nora!

Her heart skipped for a moment and stopped. The other girl sat next to her on the swing and they both stared ahead for a while before Nora said, "Thank you for your help last night. Silly of me to think I could handle enough wine." Louisa giggled and bit her lower lip.

"I.. I hope I didn't embarass myself last night?" she asked cautiously. Louisa looked at her for a while and said, "No. Not at all" and Nora sighed relieved.

Then Louisa added, "That's if you don't see confessing of feelings as an embarrassing thing of course". It took a moment before Nora realised what Louisa meant.

"What?"

Louisa said, "It may come as a shock but you told me... you love me..."

She could see the shock written all over Nora's face. "No",Nora countered in disbelief.

"Yes, you did" Louisa said matter-of-factly but inside, her brain was thumping. Did Nora really not like her? Was she just drunk and blabbing?

"It's okay if you don't remember. I don't mind at all..." But Nora had already stood up. "I'm sorry. I must go" Louisa didn't blame her. She was surprised herself.

What Louisa didn't know was that Nora remembered everything. She had just thought it was a dream until Louisa said it out loud. She wondered how Louisa felt about what had happened.

Now I've done it! she scolded herself.

Louisa watched her go and stood up disappointed. What did she expect? Did she want Nora to confess out loud? Afterall, she had been drunk that night.

She headed back to her room. She was going to sleep her worries away along with this slight headache she was having on one side of her head. She met Tristan on the way.

"Your majesty..." He said with a slight bow. Louisa rolled her eyes, "It's Louisa, you half deaf sorcerer." He smirked. "Where were you last night? I didn't see you last night after the dance." She asked.

Tristan raised a brow, "You mean the one where you were dancing in a merry state with Roman and forgot about us all? I was with Zara" he replied and Louisa frowned. "Are you sure? Because she said she didn't see you and wasn't with you."

Tristan looked amused. Zara, really? Then he said, "Maybe she didn't want you to know of the GREAT time we spent together". Louisa smiled and shrugged, "Whatever..."

He stretched a letter to her. "What's this?" she asked. "A letter" he replied amused and she laughed. "I know, silly. I meant who is it from? What does it say?"

"It's from Nadia... and it's not hate mail, trust me. She said she wishes you both could forget the past and bond..."

"Tell her the only time we're going to 'bond' is if we are ever tied together and buried alive in the same coffin." She replied in sudden fury. Tristan raised a brow, "Louisa..."

"...Don't, please. If you want me to stop being so feisty. Tell me, Where is my mother? What happened to her?" she asked.

"I swear I would tell you anything at all if I knew about her whereabouts but I don't know, neither does Roman. That night, she was in the dungeons and by the next morning, she was gone. Achan refused to tell us anything because he knows we will tell you." Louisa looked at him and looked away. Tears formed in her eyes but she hid them.

"Don't be mad at me please. I was only passing a message. I didn't mean to ruin your mood". Tristan said and she replied, "I'm not mad at you." Then she walked away.

"What should I tell her then?" Tristan shouted after he and she just said, "I lost my stickiness. We can't bond" without looking back.

Tristan smiled at her humour and walked away.

****

Just as she was almost at her room, she came face to face with Roman and Nadia. Nadia gave her a sour look and she ignored her. "Louisa?" Roman called and she glared at him. He walked up to her, leaving Nadia waiting.

"You seem to be in a sour mood, Majesty" he said and she was annoyed. "My name is Louisa. Did you just forget it?" He frowned. "I'm sorry, Louisa..."

"Isn't it time for you to tell that woman to leave you alone? oh wait... you actually like her and all the attention she offers..." she said haughtily.

"Louisa don't be like that... She's the queen. You're accusing me of treason." he replied in surprise.

"You know what's treason? Treason is gallivanting with the queen while the king is making war plans. Aren't you a General?"

Roman sighed, "It may interest you to know that the king has put me in charge of her affairs and security."

Louisa scoffed. "You really do not know the kind of information that interests me and the ones that want me to pull my eyes out. Tell me, did he put you in charge of bedroom affairs too?"

Roman laughed instead which greatly annoyed her. "Louisa you're speaking like a pregnant woman in a bad mood."

That sentence stopped Louisa from saying more. "Pregnant?" Did she just nag like a pregnant woman?

She breathed. "I'm sorry I exploded. I need to be alone." Then she walked past them. Nadia gave her an annoyed look but she ignored her and left to her room.