- I don't get it! Protect her from what? Whose? - I asked curiously.
- Just promise me, Your Highness! - she asked for evasiveness.
I took a deep breath and then I nodded.
- You have my word that I will protect Aideen with my life if necessary.
- Thank you so much! - she said standing up. - It makes me feel better knowing she'll be safe here.
- One more thing! - said before she walked in the direction she had come from. Annabel was putting her hood over her head and stared at mine. - Why does Ravenna treat you so badly?
- Ah! So you get it? - she sighed, tying her hood. - That's a long story, Your Highness, which I'm not allowed to reveal. All I can say is it was something that went wrong.
She turned and grabbed the end of the tapestry that covered the wall next to the fireplace.
- Take care of her, Your Highness! - she said by making a reminder. - If I hurt you, I'll kill you myself in a very painful way.
With that, Annabel disappeared walking through a door that I didn't even know was in my room. I stood without action while the tapestry returned to its place. What did she mean by those words? Why was there a passage to my room? The most important thing was, why didn't I know it existed?
I breathed through my hands through my hair. Going to the balcony of the small balcony in my room, I contemplated the rain, which now falls more gently on the lake. A few hours later I'd be going into a chapel to get married.
Chapter 06
Aideen
I looked at the wall of the room with a boring look. My sister was finishing attaching the bodice ties to my wedding dress. I had not spoken to her since the night before when I discovered that she herself had supported Prince Alistair's decision to marry me. I barely slept through the night because of the nightmares, which got a lot worse. I kept my fists clenched and my gaze indifferent as Annabel snorted trying to improve my mood. She turned me towards the big mirror of the wall and our eyes met through the reflection.
- Please, Aideen! - asked Annabel in a tone of supplication. - Don't look at me like that.
- In what way? Like I'm looking at a traitor? - I said in a debauched way. - No, of course not!
- I'm not a traitor, Aideen.
- No. He just helped Mommy sell me out. - she said and sighed. - Again, by the way.
- Don't say that! - she said in a hurtful tone. - If I had known what our mother was up to, I would never have left you alone.
I snorted by folding my arms. Annabel was right and I felt terrible about saying those words.
- I'm so sorry! - he said. - I know it wasn't your fault. Can you forgive me for what I said?
Annabel smiled hugging me.
- Of course it is! - she answered. - I only went to the prince to make sure he took care of you and protected you. I was just trying to help her not to go back to that hell she lived in.
- Yeah, but you know that was useless, right? - I responded by walking away. - Sooner or later he'll find out and everything will get worse than it already was.
I turned my back on her.
- I appreciate your concern, but there's no hope for me.
- Aideen? What if you told Alistair what happened to her? Maybe the prince could consider it when the time came, after all, it wasn't his fault.
- Yes, it was! - I fired hard. - If I hadn't been so stubborn, maybe none of that would have happened, Aila wouldn't have had to go to a convent and you wouldn't have had to defend me all the time.
I paused to let the tears roll over my face.
- It's my fault! - I emphasized. - Mine and nobody else's. It hurts me to know that you're stuck with me and that, once again, you're no longer free.
Annabel approached me and made me turn around. She dried the tears from my face.
- You're my sister, Aideen. I'd do anything not to see her suffer the way she does. - she sighed, grabbing my wrists. - You shouldn't do that. You know it's a sin to take your own life.
- You know I don't believe in God!
- Yeah, but he believes you!
I pulled my wrists hard hiding them under the loose sleeve of the dress I was wearing. They were wrapped in a bandage of white fabric, adorned with a silver bracelet and rubies that belonged to my grandmother, and that were to be worn by Aila. His intention was not to adorn my wrists, but to hide the newly opened wounds with the knife he had hidden.
After announcing my marriage to Prince Alistair, I ran into the room and, with the knife I stole from the dining table, I slit my wrists. Annabel found me making the cuts and, at great cost, managed to disarm me. She reworked the bandages and reprimanded me.
- I don't understand why our mother agreed with Alistair, knowing that as soon as he finds out, I'll be beheaded and you'll have a tarnished reputation. - I said thoughtfully. - She doesn't care about
