Chapter 3

Esmerelda somehow found out that I was in Nagit's room that night. The next morning Nagit and prince Odon from the neighbouring kingdom of Avaria and some others went on a hunting trip. I was surprised that he'd go since he hated anything that involved hurting animals. It must have been Esmerelda's doing. I noticed Odon's sister, princess Odette, was going with and was sticking close to Nagit's side. I felt another pang of jealousy as I watched them mount their horses and ride off. My fingers touched my lips. I could still vividly recall the sensation of his lips on mine. It tasted like strawberries. He must have had strawberry swirls – he loved those almost as much as he did macaroons. I was musing this when Johnathan's voice suddenly shook me from my daydream.

"Carli!" he shouted and grabbed my arm.

"Wait, Johnathan! What is going on?"

"Just come to the stables, immediately!" he shouted and we ran.

Esmeralda was standing there and some men had brought Denushka out of her stable.

"What are you doing?" I said before I could help myself. One of the men had a gun.

Esmeralda turned to me with a satisfied grin, "I warned you didn't I? Yet you chose to overstep your boundaries once again..."

"Wait...you can't!" I shouted when I realised what she was going to do. She nodded to the man with the gun and he pointed it at Denushka's head.

"No!" I yelled and ran to block the gun. I got grabbed by another man and held back. I screamed and pleaded, but nothing I did could stop the horror I was forced to witness that day. Denushka was shot in the head and left to die. I kept screaming and crying and managed to get loose. I ran to my beloved horse's now still body and embraced her. She had come with me from our family estate. It was my parent's gift to me. I sobbed bitterly. Then I heard Esmeralda ordering that I be taken away to 'pack my things'. Then she scoffed and said, "actually, it's not like she has anything. Just take her away."

I was forced into a hired wooden carriage that stank of vegetables and taken away. My heart ached when I realised that I was going to leave behind my mother's necklace and Nagit's bracelet he had given to me on my 14th birthday. I hid both treasures in a small pouch in my room so that Esmeralda couldn't take it away from me too.

I arrived at my home estate, but it was no longer my family's. It now belonged to Lord and Lady Crompton. They often travelled and weren't at the estate much. They weren't kind or unkind to me, but accepted me into the household. I had to work hard to earn the respect of the others, and eventually they accepted me as well. I found out that Hugo, the gardener and Esme, the housekeeper were still there. They used to work for my parents. When they found out it was me they both hugged me and cried. I knew that I had found at least two friends whom I could rely on.

It was hard to think that almost three months had already passed. I felt sad that Nagit seemed to have forgotten about me. Two weeks after I was taken away we received news that he was engaged to princess Odette. I had cried until I thought I had no tears left. Then I asked Esme and Hugo to help me. I had made a promise to Nagit when we were younger that I would be there for his coronation. I knew it would hurt me to see him with Odette, but felt that I needed to see him happy. If he was happy it would be enough for me. And I wanted to keep my promise. Lord and Lady Crompton set off a day early and would overnight at the palace as did many other guests who were attending the coronation. Esme brought out a dress and shoes that was my mother's. She had hidden some of her other things as well, hoping that one day I would return to the estate. The dress was breathtakingly beautiful. It was of a dark blue satin material and showed off the shoulders and the neckline...I felt myself blush as I saw that I had cleavage. None of my maid dresses flattered my body in any way. They were too big for me and ugly. Esme had helped me put on a corset before the dress was draped over which made me look more voluptuous in certain places...

"You have turned into a beautiful woman my lady, just like your mother," Esme said to me as she was styling my hair. When she was finally done I was allowed to look in the mirror and couldn't believe it was me staring at myself from the mirror. My hair was taken up and the brown curls cascaded softly down my neck like a waterfall. I looked every bit like a princess. As if Esme was reading my mind she brought out a tiara and placed it on my head.

"Tonight you will be introduced as lady Monika from the house of Harp. I spoke to lady Harp, and she does not mind and nor will anyone question you since very little is publicly known about lady Harp."

Lady Harp was our neighbour. She was widowed and lived with her 19 cats and household on Harp estate. She never attended social events. She was pretty much a recluse. Mother used to take me with to visit her sometimes. She was always kind to me and gave me cookies.