I was thrilled that the resolution passed but spent the next few weeks waiting for the bomb to drop. As expected, the king died. What wasn't expected was that Sigmund didn't imdiately take his place like in the novel.
Mariela was about eight months along at this point and most of the nobility wanted to wait and see if her child would be a boy before making a decision on who the king should be. After that news got out, Rosenia ca to breakfast the next day covered in barely-concealed bruises.
I actually felt a little sorry for her. She was petty but not scheming and hadn't done anything truly wrong aside from letting her power as crown princess inflate her ego.
It was a good thing Al and I hadn't visited the Kanta since I warned him because security at the palace tightened considerably. We couldn't even leave our chambers without being monitored.
The nation wasn't supposed to operate without a king so court ended up being suspended indefinitely. The nobles weren't happy about being stuck here and wanted to return to their estates but they had to wait for the royal baby to be born so a decision could be made.
Mariela was much more stressed than usual because of all the pressure. Her tea had already been poisoned once by one of Sigmund's people but was caught in ti because of a silver spoon.
All of that security and soone still slipped passed it. After that she didn't want to eat or drink anything.
Franz tried to convince her she needed to take care of the baby and she went into hysterics. It hurt to watch because she was normally so composed. I quietly left the room as her husband tried to comfort her through her sobs.
"Poor Mariela," I said sympathetically once I returned to Al.
He blew out a frustrated breath. "Poor all of us. I feel like we are under house arrest. We haven't even been able to go riding out on the grounds because Sigmund's spies are everywhere. I can't even send word to Ayana or Nyla about why we aren't visiting for fear soone will intercept it."
His fingers tapped anxiously on the arm rest of the couch. "I am about to lose my mind. The weather is too nice to be stuck inside like this."
I was far more used to staying inside from all the years I spent chronically ill but Al wasn't like that. He preferred spending ti outside. Even when he had been largely trapped in the palace growing up most of his ti was spent out on the grounds sowhere.
He would probably love living in the mountains with all of that fresh air, provided we were ever able to get out of here. With the way things were now I wasn't sure if that would be happening.
Of course it would be great if Franz was chosen to be king right away but I worried about what that would an for us. The power struggle would likely continue even if we left and we would have no way to know if Sigmund would sabotage our attempts to rebuild.
I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the palace until he was dead. But you can't kill a royal for no reason.
He would have to be caught in the middle of doing sothing horrible with multiple indisputable witnesses for that. Like straight up murdering a mber of the nobility. I wanted him to die but I didn't want him to kill anyone for that to happen.
I sighed. Al and I were equally antsy right now and the only comfort we had was each other. I scooted closer to him before snuggling up against his chest. He imperceptibly relaxed from my touch as usual.
"Just think about all the fresh air we'll be able to enjoy once we get out of here," I encouraged. "I bet it's especially nice in the mountains."
"Have you ever been to the mountains before?"
"Obviously not herebut back ho we took a road trip to Yosemite National Park once to go camping. We hiked and swam and so on and that was in the mountains. There were a lot of squirrels and they had absolutely no fear. After hiking to the top of a waterfall one snatched a bag of potato chips right out of my hand."
Al, who had never seen a squirrel despite hearing about them, thought it was hilarious. He wanted to know more about what mountains were like so I told him as much about the trip as I could.
The trees. The giant rocks perfect for climbing. The rivers and waterfalls. That was my only experience with mountains; I had absolutely no idea what the Kanta region was like and I told him so.
He didn't seem bothered by it. "Even if it is different, imagining our new ho is nice."
Our new ho. I liked the sound of that. A place we could stake out and call our own. Living in the palace with all of these rules and etiquette and people didn't suit either of us. Having your own house was a lot different than having a set of rooms within a giant place like this.
The only thing I would really miss here was the food. The thought of getting out of here and starting over sowhere else with the man I loved by my side was the only thing that kept going in this crazy place.
"Yeah," I agreed. "It is."
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