Annabel took a deep breath, leaning back on the chair.
- Mommy arranged my wedding with one of the lords. - she fired.
- It was taking her a while to come back with that idea. - I mumbled by banging my fists on the table. - Is that why you're so worried about me?
- Yes. - She answered with sadness. - I don't want to leave you here alone. You won't survive.
- I've survived so far, haven't I? I can survive much longer. - he said. - Enjoy your liberation from that uninhibited megera.
- Oh! Aideen! You're only seventeen, but you talk like you have a lot more.
- That's why I know I'll survive much longer, although I don't want my life to go on any longer.
Annabel smiled at me, but her expression was still worried. I sighed because I knew something was still wrong.
- So, who's the lucky guy? - I asked by letting my hands go of hers.
- Prince Alistair!
- What's that? What's that? - said by jumping out of the chair. - He's nine years older than you and he's an ogre! He has been in countless battles and is used to treating everyone without any delicacy. He'll be mean to you! How could Ravenna agree to such an absurdity?
My breakthrough, with a mixture of anger and fear, was so strong that it reached the corridors of the floor we were on. She walked into my room unannounced. She was wearing a dark-colored dress to match her reddish-brown hair. Her eyes were as blue as Annabel's.
- What's going on here? - she asked in an angry voice.
- You... You monster! - I vociferous in anger. - Of all the terrible things she's done to us, marrying Annabel to that butcher was by far the worst of them!
- Lower your tone, miss! - she ordered it cold. - First of all, I'm his mother and you must respect me.
- Mom? You're not my mom! - I retracted. - You're just a being who put us in the world.
My mother smiled with the same coldness that she smiled every time she spoke to me.
- Aideen, do I need to remind you what it's like to have manners? - she asked with her mother at the waist where the short whip was attached.
I rolled up my eyes swallowing dry. She'd been carrying that whip around her waist ever since I tried to hit her with a stab wound. I felt a twinge in the skin of my back and a cold went through my spine. Slowly I breathed to contain the anger and fear that was beginning to take hold of me.
- That won't be necessary. - I whispered looking down at the ground. My hands were so tightly closed that I began to feel my fingernails stick to the skin of my palm. - I know what your level of punishment is.
- Oh, great! - she smiled with satisfaction. - Now can you explain to me what a break that was?
- It was nothing, Mom. - said Annabel in a soft voice. - Aideen is only worried because I will marry Prince Alistair.
- I'm not the one who proposed a wedding ring to Brice. He who sought his father and offered a great dowry for Annabel's hand. - she explained. - That alliance is advantageous to us, so I couldn't refuse.
- You selfish, Machiavellian! - he said between his teeth. - You sold my sister to that pig?
He had never seen Alistair in person, but he knew his reputation as the most cruel warrior on the battlefield, because he had been created for war. In the years he had been away, Alistair dedicated himself even more to this function. I've heard terrible things about your conduct. The way he crushed his opponents' heads with his hands. Not to mention the stories of orgies with his men and various women. A person like that wasn't meant to be my sister's husband. I imagined him tall, full of muscles, with his hair disheveled and with horrendous scars that deformed his face and body. A disgusting being, without any sensitivity.
- You should stop talking nonsense. - Ravenna said by folding her arms. - Annabel, you must prepare for the journey. In fact, you both should.
- A trip? Where to? - I asked confused. Annabel looked down.
- We're going to Dunhill for the engagement tonight. - she responded by turning her back. - Annabel's getting married tomorrow at sunset.
Despair has taken hold of me. The thought of going outside and being among so many people again... My body shook with fear.
- Why can't I stay here? - I asked in a voice full of despair.
- Because it's your sister's wedding and everyone in the family should be there. - she replied with coldness. - Even though you're incompetent and useless!
My eyes were filled with tears. Hate took possession of my body and I trembled. I no longer had any strength and did not know how much longer I would survive that hell, whose wife in front of me, had provided for me on a whim. The union of the MacCalister and MacBride clans would bring Ravenna a great fortune and she would regain the status she so longed for. She would become the mother of the future queen of Scotland.
Unfortunately, Annabel was the most submissive of the three of us. So our mother believed. I knew very well that she only did what Ravenna wanted so it wouldn't be deducted from me. The three of us had quite different personalities.
