"Do not disgust me more with your weakness, Ardelle. If you want respect, earn it." He ripped his arm from mine. The women smirked.
Everyone saw the way he discarded me in the room where all eyes followed our movements like predators.
His reputation was the least he cared about. All he needed was to get rid of the 'eyesore' next to me and begin to walk away.
"Learn to speak for yourself, or stay in the shadows and be silent. I will not fight a war of words for a woman who cannot even find her own tongue."
The rejection was a painful sting I hadn't experienced in my miserable life. It was an entirely new kind of pain that carved a scar in my soul.
I stood there, I wondered: If I had married another beggar, he would have respected me more.
Stung by his cruelty, a reckless spark of defiance lit in my chest. Speak for yourself, he had said.
I turned toward the group of noblewomen, my chin trembling as I tried to mimic their haughty posture.
"I... I am the Lady Dawnstride," I stammered, my voice thin and high, lacking the iron of the court.
"You should not speak of me so. The King himself ordered the betrothal. It is... it is a matter of honor."
The women fell silent for a heartbeat. Then, the Duchess let out a peal of mocking laughter that rang through the hall.
My heart sank, my energy was drained, leaving me more insulted than before.
"Honor? Oh, darling, you speak of honor as if you know what the word means." she cooed, stepping closer to inspect my lace.
"You were found in a stable, weren't you? Scrambling for scraps?" Tell me, does the Commander's bed feel as cold as the stone floor you're used to?"
I opened my mouth, but no words came. I looked like a fool and mindlessly, my gaze again shifted to my unbothered husband.
Desperate for a save, but he simply took a sip of his wine, his face completely indifferent to my public drowning.
"Perhaps she can't answer," the younger girl snickered.
"Perhaps she's forgotten how to speak now that her mouth is full of the King's food."
"That is quite enough."
The voice was like a cool breeze in a stifling room.
Sir Aldwin stepped into the circle, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword, a charming but dangerous smile on his lips.
"Ladies, I believe the Duchess is calling for her attendants," Aldwin said, his eyes twinkling with a warning.
"And while your wit is... legendary, I find it pales in comparison to Lady Ardelle's grace. After all, it takes a very special woman to capture the heart of the most stoic man in Emberspear, wouldn't you agree?"
He stepped beside me, offering a sturdy arm. The women stiffened, their smiles turning brittle before they bowed and scurried away.
I looked down, biting down my lips.
"I.. I.."
"You were doing well for your first time, My Lady," Aldwin whispered, leaning down so only I could hear.
"But the women here require different methods to get rid of. Come, let's get you some wine before the delight of your first feast falters"
I took his arm, my legs feeling weak but to have someone beside me to help me win a battle of words was relieving. I was new to all this, I was used to keeping quiet, looking down and walking away.
I didn't even know how to unlock my tongue, to find a remarkable mock was an entirely different matter.
I glanced back at Lord Kaldric with nothing but disappointment he couldn't care less about. All he saw was the woman- sorry, Solider, he left to wolves had 'cheated'.
He was watching us now, his grip tightening on his goblet that made my heart skip a beat. My whole being stopped when he stepped forward.
He had told me to speak for myself. I had failed. And yet, the look in his eyes wasn't just disgust anymore.
It was… hatred.
Was my failure this infuriating? What exactly about me made him glare at me like this?
"Ornstein, leave." He ordered, his eyes falling on my hand on his forearm. I instantly let go, lowering my gaze.
"But, Sir, I–"
"I said leave."
His grip on my upper arm was an iron shackle, pulling me away from the bright lights of the hall and the lingering comfort of Sir Aldwin's presence.
He threw me inside a side chamber, cutting us off from the gathering, shutting the door with a boom that echoed in the small space.
"You are a pathetic creature, Ardelle," he spat. Before I could stumble and fall, he twisted my arm to which I whimpered in pain.
"Do you enjoy it? Making a spectacle of yourself? Inviting the pity of my men because you cannot hold your head up for five minutes?"
"I tried!" I cried out, my voice echoing off the cold stone walls. "But, they laughed! They are cruel, My Lord. I have been silent my entire life. How could I have done anything?"
"You stood there trembling, waiting for a savior. And Aldwin—that fool—was only too happy to play the part." He hissed, features hardening that only enhanced my fear.
My breaths hastened, body quivering as I fought a tear, not daring to enrage him further and experience harsh punishment for my actions.
"Do you realize how that looks? The Commander's wife, a charity case for his lieutenant?"
"He was being kind," I whispered, my eyes brimming with the tears I was desperately attempting to hold back.
"Something you wouldn't understand, Lord Kaldric."
"Kindness is a weakness in my world," he growled, lifting my arm that it brushed against his muscular chest, forcing me to greet his silver fury.
"And moreover women like you who live upon the mercy of men, who act fragile to lure them, are nothing but an…. Eyesore." His eyes narrowed with pure hate I didn't deserve.
Before my mind could register, he pushed me back.
"The merest sight of you infuriates me."
I barely managed to save myself from not falling yet a tear of powerlessness rolled down my cheek. I quickly looked down to conceal it else it would invite further anguish.
He reached out, his large hands grabbing the brim of my hat. I prepared for a blow, but instead, he pulled the hat down with a violent jerk.
He adjusted the ties under my chin, his knuckles brushing against my neck and wiped the tear that escaped roughly, sending a shiver of fear and confusion through my veins.
He tugged the brim so low that my vision was cut off, leaving me in a dark, velvet world of my own.
"Hide that face," he ordered, leaning down to stare dead into my eyes with a command that demanded obedience.
"If you cannot fight them with your tongue, then do not give them the satisfaction of seeing you weep. You do not speak, you do not smile, and you do not look at Aldwin or any other man."
He stepped back, the cold air rushing in to fill the space where his heat had been.
"Stay here until you can compose yourself."
He turned on his heel and marched out, leaving me all alone in my misery.
I stood where Lord Kaldric had left me, the brim of the hat pulled low. As I stood lifeless, I was questioning my life where my prayer of experiencing luxury was completed in the worst way possible.
The emptiness, the negligence was far more heartbreaking. The more I sought his heart, his shadows, the more he abandoned me.
Amid my sobbing in the loneliness, I didn't hear the side door open. My heart consumed my gloom to notice anything else.
The soft movement, the clothes was the only warning I had before a scent of expensive spices and aged wine filled the air.
A soft, melodic resonance arrived, "A tragedy."