Chapter 5
1123 Words
The maid left me there without a word and I stood like an i***t in front of the door pondering what to do next.
Suddenly I heard loud voices behind me. Two men were arguing as they walked towards the dining hall. They looked similar, like they could be brothers. I quickly realized that they were Lord Regan’s sons. They had his dark curly hair and dark brown eyes with a sharp nose. They almost looked like twins.
They completely ignored me as the pushed past and opened the doors to the dining hall. They were still bickering as they entered and took their places at the table. I bit my lip, still not sure if I should follow them in.
“Well, well, well…” I heard a high pitched voice behind me. I turned to see Lady Talia walking towards me. I quickly curtsied to her as she approached.
She laughed and said “At least you know your place. I’m sure father will be less than pleased to see you, but your presence is unfortunately required for the wedding ceremony.”
I nodded and quietly followed her into the dining hall. She took a seat at the long table and I decided that a safe place would be directly across from her. No one seemed to care as I sat down so I felt like it was fine for me to sit here.
Suddenly Lord Regan entered and everyone leapt to their feet, myself included. Lord Regan paused ever so slightly as he passed my chair, but continued to his place at the head of the table without a word.
We all sat after him and he snapped his fingers to signal to the servants to bring the food. A plate of meat and vegetables was placed in front of me. I waited patiently for Lord Regan to begin eating. I glanced over to the head of the table and noticed Lord Regan staring at me.
He had a smirk on his face and finally began cutting his meat. We all followed suit and I ate as quietly and quickly as possible. The silence felt heavy, as if I was being tested somehow.
“Well at least you learned some manners from those nuns. I half expected you to not know how to use a knife and fork.” Lord Regan said.
I kept my gaze down and nodded. Lord Regan grunted and I couldn’t tell if he was displeased with me.
“You know why you’re here girl?” He said abruptly.
I nodded “Yes Lord Regan. I’m here to be married.”
“Good. At least my message was relayed properly. Yes, you’re here to be married. And do you know to whom?”
I shook my head “No Lord Regan.”
He chuckled and said “Well consider yourself lucky girl. Because you are to marry a king.”
A king? My eyes shot up to Lady Talia sitting across from me. She had a sly smirk on her face. This couldn’t be good. If it were any normal king, Lady Talia would have been offered the match, or she would have at least been angry at me for marrying a king and before she had been married no less.
I glanced over to Lord Regan, who also had an evil expression on his face.
“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make an alliance with one of the most formidable kingdoms closest to ours. Our own king would have made the alliance with one of his daughters had it not been for the fact that the match was so undesirable.”
Who could it be? A kingdom who would be a good alliance but a poor match for the daughter? I racked my brain to try and think of a kingdom that matched that description. Oh no. It couldn’t be the barbarian kingdom to the north could it?
Lord Regan laughed. “I can see that you still don’t know who it is. Well I’ll go ahead and tell you so you can get your crying out of the way before the wedding.” Lady Talia and her brothers snickered at Lord Regan’s words.
“You are to marry King Halvor, barbarian king of the Northern Kingdom. We need their armies and they need our resources. King Henry called a special counsel and offered an enormous sum of money to the nobleman who was willing to wed their daughter to the barbarian horde. Naturally I immediately thought of you, and luckily no one else was willing to sacrifice their daughter to the cause. You should really feel happy knowing that every nobleman in our kingdom is indebted to you.”
I swallowed and managed to say “Thank you Lord Regan for thinking of me.” This earned another round of laughter from my so called family.
I sadly wasn’t surprised that I was to be wed to someone less than desirable. I knew this was my fate from the time I was seven. But I never thought I would be wed to the barbarian king. So many horrible rumors about that kingdom swirled around that I had no way of knowing what was true.
As if reading my thoughts, Lady Talia began voicing some of the rumors.
“I hear that King Halvor is so disfigured by battle that he looks like a scarred mutant bear.”
Lord Tristan chuckled and said “I hear that he also keeps a strange but beautiful woman by him so that that he can bed her whenever the mood strikes him.”
Good. The more women around him the better. They can keep him occupied in bed and away from me.
Lord Timothy chimed in “Father, have you never met this barbarian king?”
“No son, all of our communication has been done via written correspondence. But I can assure you that we’re getting the better end of this deal.” Everyone roared with laughter again.
“It is fortuitous that you arrived today my dear daughter, because I have had word that King Halvor will also arrive this evening. So luckily you will be here to greet him. We should move up the wedding as well. No need for much ceremony.”
I nodded and continued to eat my food mindlessly while my fake family gossiped around me. Soon our plates were cleared and a butler scurried in and murmured something to Lord Regan.
“Ah excellent, we will greet them in the main hall. Come children, the king awaits.”
I gulped as I rose with everyone and followed Lord Regan and his real children out to the main hall.
- Writer
