As The Storm Crashes
The thunder clouds had finally settled in over the stone castle and they threw down their lightening bolts mercilessly, but all things considered, Nicolette doubted the storm outside could even begin to hold a candle to her only daughter's fury.
She had known that Christine was not going to be pleased with that she had done. Did she think that it did not break her heart as well? "Oh, Bayard, are you sure that this was for the best?" Nicolette moaned as she massaged her aching temples, trying to ignore the banging and screaming coming from Christine's room down the corridor.
"Your Highness, Nothvale knew we had no other options. I just cannot imagine as to why that their only demand be the Princess..." Bayard mused as he paced the queen's private chambers.
The Queen also mused over this, although she did not voice her thoughts aloud. Instead she simply bade Bayard to leave her to her private thoughts for the night, and instructed him to inform Cook that she would not be down for dinner that evening. Bayard bowed deeply and left the room, off to do the bidding of his queen.
When Meg entered the room that was the royal sleeping chambers of Flerin's Princess Christine, she was amazed at what she saw. The delicate decorations where broken to pieces on the floor, the beautiful curtains and blankets and pillows were strewn about and even shredded, and the priceless gowns were flung about like dirty rags. But the destruction of the room was nothing compared to what the actual girl herself looked like.
She was a pathetic, sobbing heap in the center of the floor. Meg carefully tip-toed over to her friend and sat next to her, allowing her to pick up her tear-stained head and place it on her shoulder, "Shh, shh, tell me what's going on." Meg was only a few months older than Christine, she had just turned eighteen, but she had always been the more motherly and down to earth of the pair, and this was not the first time she had come to comfort Christine, albeit this was definitely the worst she had ever seen her dear friend.
Christine tried to tell Meg what had happened, the betrayal and the role her mother had played in it, but her throat was raw from the screaming and crying. After a moment, she gulped in some air she managed to squawk out what happened, "I'm to marry the Prince of Nothvale. In a week."
This was all the princess could managed to get out, because she was soon overcome with sobs once again and collapsed into a stunned Meg's embrace.
The Prince burst out of the castle, pushing open the heavy wooden doors like they were gossamer curtains. His golden eyes were narrowed down to slits as he continued on his way. They resembled very much of a cobra's eyes before it lashed out with its' deadly strike. His anger was nearly tangible, and his chest rose and fell heavily with the exertion of his flight and from the rage he barely kept contained. Several servants had peaked their heads out of doors and stopped in their work to examine the man as he passed, but they soon quickly turned back to what they were doing. They had all at least heard rumors of their prince's foul moods, and none of them wanted to be an outlet for such a vicious humor as he was now in.
He would make her pay for what she had done. Isn't she making you pay? Don't you deserve her tortuous games? His mind sneered at him. But he had reached his destination at this point, the royal stables. The warm smell of horseflesh and leather calmed him slightly, and an agitated grunt of his steed made him remember that although his mother may deserve his rage, his animal did not. He gulped in air as if to extinguish the fires that burned in his veins and once he felt as calm as he possibly could, he readied his mount.
The weather wreaked its havoc through out the night, and Nicolette couldn't ignore its raging anymore than she could ignore the stabbing pain she felt in her chest. Despite the heavy blankets covering her aging form, she felt like she had just been dipped in ice water. Christine had locked herself in her room immediately upon learning of her new fate. For a while Nicolette had listened to her sobs and rantings, she heard every crash and scream, but she could not be angry for her daughter's reaction. In fact, she would have been worried had Christine not reacted in such a manner. As storm set in more heavily and the cloud-blocked sun started to descend into the horizon, Christine's crying started to fade, and Nicolette no longer heard the furniture and decorations hitting the floor and walls. Now, in the dead of night she heard nothing coming from Christine's room. She needed to go talk to her daughter. She flung the covers off of her body and slowly got up from her grand bed to go visit her daughter.
The prince rode his stallion hard and fast, but no matter what speed his horse reached, it would not outrun what his mother had done. People think I am the monster? They know nothing of monsters! He fumed. He ran his horse across the royal grounds until the sun started to set before he showed mercy for the poor beast and slowed to a stop near a shallow creek that meandered by. The storm that was no doubt on its way had brought in a cold front and his golden eyes watched as the steam rose up from his horse's body. He had ridden the animal far too hard, and he cursed himself silently. The stallion was not just a random one from the stables, he was his own, picked out as just an awkward looking colt many years ago. What of your mount's brother? There was his mind again, refusing to allow him to forget, even for a moment, the horrors that were his past. The black clouds that settled in over his mind had lifted slightly during the ride, he would not idle now and give them reentry, so now with the moon casting a silvery light over the wood he mounted up the stallion again and rode back, slower so he would not kill his mount, towards the castle.
"Christine, I know you're angry with me, but please..." Nicolette coaxed through the door that led to Christine's chambers. She had knocked several times, but her daughter was either too deep in sleep to hear her, or was purposely ignoring her. Knowing that her daughter had never been a light sleeper, she believed that it was more than latter of the two options, so with greatest care she gently pushed open the door.
Servants had since cleaned up the destruction that Christine had caused, and although the room was much more barren than it had ever been, it was orderly and neat again. Nicolette was surprised at the chill in the room, until she saw that a window had been opened and rain was happily entering the room, staining the deep red carpet, making it appear nearly black in the dim light from the moon and the candle held in Nicolette's shaking hand.
"Christine? Christine!" Nicolette called, no longer whispering. She rushed over to the grand bed and threw back the covers, not at all surprised to find that there was nothing beneath them. "Christine!!" Nicolette screeched and the candle fell from her hand as she ran over to the window, ignoring the rain and wind hitting her head on. "Christine!!" Nicolette shouted over and over again, her eyes wildly searching for signs of her daughter in the weather's onslaught. The last thing she felt was the sting of the cold and rain on her cheeks and the feel of hands pulling her away from the window, then everything went black and she fainted into the arms of the guard behind her.
Author's Note: I know it has been far too long between this update and the last, but I promise it's not because I simply forget about all of you reading this, or the story itself. It's because this couple of chapters coming up have been the hardest to actually sit down and write. I have so many things that I need to get in here, but I don't always know the best way to do it. Anyway, all I can do is apologize and promise to try harder to get my muse to cooperate with me.