Trish had never met the queen, Katryna realised. She must have been feeling rather anxious.
“Mother… I-”
“Save it.” The queen rose, dropping the soft toy in the cushion of the armchair. “Not another word.”
Queen Mira seemed to hover like a spectre towards the girls in her long, wrinkled dress. Her hair was unbrushed, hanging over her face, and her dull eyes were bloodshot. She stood before them in such a way that Katryna could only view her as some crone. Trish averted her gaze and stared down at her feet, trembling.
“What were you doing?” Mira asked in a soft voice.
“I was just having a look around,” Katryna said.
Mira grabbed her daughter firmly by the face, pressing her cheeks hard enough that it became uncomfortable.
“Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not lying, mother. I’ve never seen inside the war room before. I wanted to see inside, that’s all.”
Mira squeezed harder.
“Mother, you’re hurting me!”
“She’s telling the truth, my queen!” Trish interjected. “We were just curious is all.”
Mira released her daughter’s face, sneering at Trish. “You are a beauty, aren’t you?”
The queen brushed a few strands of Trish’s blonde hair out from her face before staring her down. “You must be my daughter’s new handmaiden I’ve heard so much about.”
“Yes, my queen. I’m T-Trish, from Frostcliff. The king hired me into your f-family’s service.”
“Pfft, my husband hires a filthy northerner to wait on my filthy daughter? Indeed, how very fitting.” Queen Mira reeked of old wine and unwashed clothes as she got into Trish’s face.
“Mother, please, we we’re doing anything wrong-”
“I said shut up!” the queen snapped, backhanding Katryna in the face so hard that it knocked her to the floor. Katryna stayed down, holding her burning cheek and glaring up as her mother continued to lurk around Trish.
“Tell me, Trish,” Mira said, “what experience do you have of being a handmaiden?”
“N-none, my queen.”
“Which lords or ladies have you served before becoming a handmaiden to the princess of Camridia?”
“None, my queen.”
“What knowledge do you possess on Camridian culture and law? Do you know that it is strictly forbidden for outsiders to enter the war room without permission? And that women are barred from such affairs of state?”
“I wasn’t aware of that, my queen. I’m sorry.”
The queen smirked. “Tell me, what work did you do before entering into my husband’s service?”
Trish maintained her downward stare, too afraid to look up at the wide-eyed woman grimacing in her face. “My father was a trader,” Trish mumbled.
The queen wrapped a lock of Trish’s hair around her fingers and began to pull, snapping Trish’s head backwards awkwardly and painfully.
“Did I ask what your father did? What did you do for work?!”
“I…I…”
“Mother, please, she did nothing wrong,” Katryna begged.
“Silence, you wretched bitch.” Mira pulled on Trish’s hair even harder until her eyes were teary. “Who are you? What did you do for work?”
“I…I…” Trish was in too much agony to speak. “Please, let go.”
“You were a whore, weren’t you? You sold your body to men.”
“My queen please!”
A single drop of blood ran down Trish’s face as the hair began ripping from her scalp.
“You let those disgusting old sailors have their way with you for a few marks each night, didn’t you? Probably without daddy’s knowledge.”
“Mother, stop!”
Trish cried. “Yes, yes, yes, my queen. But he made me! Please, let go.”
“Your father joined in every now and then, didn’t he?”
Trish was a bubbling mess, tears and blood rolling down her face. She was unable to resist screaming in pain, having her ability to talk taken away.
Mira tugged so hard that it ripped out the lock of hair. Trish doubled over, shrieking in pain as blood leaked from her torn scalp.
Katryna cried out, covering her mouth with her hands. But there was nothing she could do.
“Hmm,” Queen Mira said, completely unphased by what she had just done. She threw Trish’s golden lock aside, a piece of skin still attached at the end. The handmaiden fell to her knees, pressing her hands against her bleeding scalp and shaking.
“I knew it. I could smell it on you.” Mira grimaced at Katryna. “You try to bring dishonour to my family by allowing a pathetic whore to be your handmaiden?”
“No, mother, not at all. She isn’t a whore.”
Trish was cowering, whimpering like an injured animal.
“As if I would believe any word you say. You are no daughter of mine.”
The words stung like a wasp sting.
The queen circled around the girls. Katryna tried leaning over to comfort Trish, but Queen Mira pushed her away to keep them separated.
“Let this be a reminder to you,” Mira said, staring down at her daughter. Queen Mira grabbed the letter opener from the side table and slashed at Trish’s face in one smooth swipe. The handmaiden cried out as blood streamed from the ugly, open gash that ran down the length of her soft, elegant face.
Katryna cried, holding her fists over her face, filled with rage. Why hurt Trish? Why not hurt Katryna, if she hated her so damn much?
Trish ran her bloody fingers across the side of her face and screamed upon realising how deep the cut was.
“Guards!” the queen screamed, promptly followed by the two guards entering. “Find a cell for this whore to stay in. I want her out of my sight. And take the princess to her quarters- she is confined there until I say otherwise.
Chapter 26 - Ashes
“You are an insolent fool!” King Tobius Seynard shouted at the top of his lungs. His croaky voice echoed hauntingly through the Chateau Cardell throne room. “No, you are worse than a fool! You are… you
