Author's Note:
This chapter has been extremely difficult to write. I have tried my hardest to give a good understanding of the situation and the characters. There are still some blank spots, but that's because I couldn't reveal everything ;)
Love you guys for your support!
Chapter 10:
|| Events that Define Us ||
25th February, 620 Common Era
xxx
'May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future.'
- Unknown Author
When Lady Caroline was younger, she had been told how to act and who to talk to. In her Kingdom of Hibernia, she had been mistreated and abused mentally. Growing up had been harsh, probably because of her idealistic nature.
When she learned that there were countries such as Araluen and Arrida, who weren't patriarchal, she dreamed of a time where she could be equal to men.
Unfortunately this obsession grew to be much stronger than a dream and Caroline desperately sought to leave Hibernia for the shores of Araluen. But she needed a reason to do so.
When Lord Robert, the brother of Queen Angeline of Araluen, arrived on her soil for a meeting between countries, she tried her hardest to meet him. On chance, he had bumped into her as she was on her way to see her father. Despite her ambitions and dreams of becoming an Araluen Lady, she fell in love with Robert. He was kind and gentle and so much different to the men who had tried to court her at home. She didn't even have to coerce him into loving her, it just happened.
Lady Caroline moved to Araluen and lived with Robert, in some of her happiest days.
She watched the young Princess Cassandra grow up in the absence of her mother, and took on the role of guardian under Duncan's watchful eye. For whatever reason, Caroline had never been able to bear a child with Robert, and came to see the Crown Princess as her own.
But Caroline recognised the power Cassandra was beginning to receive, despite her gender.
Although by marriage she was Araluen, many of the nobles at court regarded her as a foreigner. She wasn't given a vote at court and was looked down upon by other women. Granted, King Duncan had treated her with reasonable respect, but her loathe for the other nobles outweighed any loyalty she held.
As the young Princess began to see her aunt as a very important person in her life, Caroline's animosity slowly abated.
But it was one night when she had just tucked Cassandra into bed, when on her way back to her chambers; she was caught off guard by one of the Lords. In the absence of guards, he had abused her and used her to his own ends, making her generate a fear towards him and other's with the same attitude. Too scared to report the incident, she had become mentally unstable. Thankfully, he had been killed in a hunting accident before the war and she had begun to feel slightly safer.
However the damage had been done and there were only a few people that Caroline trusted since that incident.
Knowing her dreams of being better off in Araluen had been shattered, she vowed to make a change, mostly for herself, brought on by her once innocent desire to create a world where she were equal.
Caroline hadn't truly wanted to kill King Duncan, and she hadn't wished for her husband to die either.
The choice was taken away from her, when a person out of revenge killed Lord Robert.
She cried for days, deeply affected by his death.
A week later, in her chambers before bed, she was confronted by the man who had murdered her husband. He was going to kill her due to association. Learning the reason behind his revenge, Caroline saw a way to save herself.
He was going to depose King Duncan and afterwards she promised to help him.
Lady Caroline sighed deeply as she leant over the balcony. The breeze didn't seem to ease her guilt or pain due to her fly-away memories.
She wondered where Cassandra was.
She had been deeply hurt that he had tried to murder her. She hadn't found a way to make her wish come true without killing her niece. But the thought hadn't been finalised.
In a way, it was much better knowing Cassandra was potentially safe away from Castle Araluen and out of the way for Caroline's plans. In her own way, she loved the girl.
A quiet knock aroused her from her thoughts.
"Lady?"
She turned to see Anthony standing at the doorway.
"Yes?"
"The Court of Nobles will be in session shortly. Despite you're grieving for the Princess, we need you. We need to elect a temporary monarch in Cassandra's absence." He announced.
Despite the fact that she generally loathed the Court and wanted to mull over her thoughts, she knew it was vital for her to attend and try and sway the Court in her favour. Besides it wouldn't do well to appear weak.
"I will be there shortly." She promised.
With a small bow, Anthony left.
The debate lasted for the whole afternoon, with the result finally decided upon in the last minutes of sunlight.
Lord Anthony stood up. Although he was a highly respected noble, he declined a vote for temporary monarch due to his loyalty towards the real monarchy, which he firmly believed was fully capable of returning.
"With much deliberation we have come to a conclusion. In the absence of our Crown Princess Cassandra, we have decided that the Lady Caroline will take her place as temporary Queen of Araluen."
Various responses arose from this announcement.
Anthony cleared his throat and continued on. "This decision was made due to numerous factors. She has been declared a noble of Araluen by the late King Duncan himself, may he rest in peace. And due to this, is the closest person to the royal blood line. Lady Caroline has been noted for her skills in diplomacy and logical mind. Furthermore..."
Caroline quickly tuned out, knowing it wasn't really for her benefit to listen to the reasons that elected her to be Queen. She wasn't truly elated since she had still to find a way to bypass Cassandra's existence. Even if the Princess stayed in hiding forever (theoretically), Caroline would only ever be a 'temporary Queen'.
But she was even less to finding a solution and less enthusiastic about signing her niece's death warrant.
Besides; she quickly cast a small glance towards the corner of the room, where Ranger Crowley stood partially hidden by the shadows.
The Ranger's wouldn't stop until they found evidence that their Princess was gone. If there was any chance that Cassandra was able to return, they would help. The same went for the Diplomatic Service. Unless she wanted them suspicious of her, she had to order patrols and search parties to see where Cassandra fled to.
It was a gamble.
The Ranger's could find Cassandra and fully crown her, making Caroline's dreams impossible unless she came to the decision of killing her niece. If she didn't seem to try enough to 'find' the Princess, they could dethrone her.
She began to tune back into Anthony's announcement.
"Since the decision has been made here in the Court of Nobles in the absence of a monarch, the decision is binding," he was saying. "My Lady, please step forward."
Standing delicately, Caroline made her way down until she was bade to kneel.
With a mixture of eagerness and nervousness, she waited for the royal crown to set upon her head.
Halt's fist fell to the table with a resounding thump.
"This is ridiculous!" He snarled. "Anthony didn't even mention this to us. Those damn nobles!"
Crowley sighed as he leant against the room's wall, his mind deep in thought.
Geldon sat on a chair, his arms resting quietly upon the very table Halt had almost broken. "We're not nobles Halt." He answered calmly.
The statement sat in the air as both Halt and Crowley fought back a response. In truth, if the Kingdom knew of Halt's heritage, perhaps he would have been able to find a better temporary solution. But it was too late to begin new claims to royalty.
"Geldon's right. Our Kingdom has waited too long for a new monarch. Be glad that we know Cassandra is still around. This can and will be rectified. We simply need to secure the Castle and make sure the threat to her life has subsided so she can return and bring order back to Araluen." Crowley stated sagely.
"And what do you say of Caroline becoming Queen?" Halt asked angrily.
Crowley shrugged. "She has yet to do anything to draw our attention. This situation is very delicate. Obviously she is a key suspect; she has been involved or connected to everything. But the woman is not a killer, she doesn't even know any sort of weaponry."
"It doesn't mean she didn't associate with anyone else." Geldon murmured.
Crowley shot the elder Ranger a quick glance. "No, you're right. But when she has as much of the garrison as she can out searching for Cassandra and the rest guarding her life, the suspicion falls flat."
"And if her 'search parties' find the Princess and instead of bringing her back, kill her? What then?" Halt asked coldly.
Crowley flashed an annoyed glance at his friend. "Do you doubt Horace so much Halt? And Cassandra won't come back obediently after fleeing her own home. If it was mostly her decision to leave, she will decide when to return by her own hand. She's a strong girl."
"Hopefully we can get word of their location from a trusted source so we can redirect the search parties just in case." Geldon offered.
Crowley nodded. "That's exactly right."
"I don't like it." Halt growled.
"You don't have to like it." Crowley sighed.
His eyes misted over as he glanced out the nearby window.
"For now, we can only watch and react."
A/N:
I will say that since this is my interpretation, I have invented the existence of the Court of Nobles. This might seem out of character, but I have stressed the 'temporary' part so it doesn't seem so ridiculous that they just casually replaced Cassie. I've also made note that obviously the Ranger's didn't have a choice in it.
I know, where's Cassie? We shall find out soon... (Lol depending on how fast I can update).
A note about Caroline:
Yes she's the villain (ish), but I hate characters that are just like, "I'm totally evil." They have to have a tragic background, they need a true reason for being the way they are. I also tried very hard for you to be able to sympathise or at least pity her in some way.
Oh yeah the 'guy' is deliberately unnamed and unknown.
- Love Mae.
