The Corianders: A Novel

By Mary Jane Hale and Conner Hannon

What would you do if you suddenly lost everything and became a prisoner? What if imprisonment also meant losing your crown? For Abigail, Quinn, Felicity, and Scarlette, this nightmare has become their reality. As the girls are taken captive to the land of Protea, they have to learn how to survive in a foreign land as a coriander or slave to the crown. Along the way, theyll face utter betrayal, loss, friendships, and even some unexpected romance. As these former queens learn their role in Proteas game, theyll have to decide who to trust and what to fight for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546207986

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The year was 2818 in the land of Alstroemeria, formerly known as North America. Nearly seven hundred years ago the world was at war once more. What began as terrorist attacks, ended in almost complete world destruction through nuclear bombs. Years later, when most of the known world was destroyed, a small percent of the population emerged from hiding and started a new continent of what land was left. They called their new land Alstroemeria, which means prosperity. The continent was split up into six kingdoms: Protea, Gladiolus, Zinnia, Lisianthus, Amaranthus, and Tansy, and for nearly eight hundred years, Alstroemeria was at peace.

Many of the people who began the separate kingdoms remembered what war was like, and they wanted to keep peace for their children and future generations, but corruption started to spread and greedy men and women wanted more. In 2800, King Enrick of Protea decided that he wanted to rule not just Protea, but all of Alstroemeria. He began first by overtaking Tansy, the land of his stepbrother’s. The other kingdoms fought back, but Protea was the richest and most powerful nation and eighteen years later, the entire land fell into Protea’s rule and King Enrick became king of the continent.

In October of 2818, Scarlette Redford, Queen of Gladiolus, Quinn Tresslock, Queen of Zinnia, Felicity Dove, Queen of Lisianthus, and Abigail Ryder, Queen of Amaranthus were taken by force to the Poppya Palace in Protea and held in waiting for the king.

PART I

I am a threshold girl

Standing with my toes

Pressed against the place

Where one thing ends

And another begins,

My index finger twirling

My silky hair into knots.

And I’m on the edge,

Always just half the distance

There.

I stand on the precipice, waiting

As my limbs tremble like tree leaves

In a breeze, unconsciously

As if by the wind.

The time has come to cross

From this place to the next

And my mind jumps and twirls

Like a ballerina but less graceful

And more chaotic.

And sometimes I think I’ll always

Be the girl that can’t decide

To stretch out my legs and make the jump

And then there are days that are rare

Like shooting stars when I can say

I am more than this

And I believe every last word.

CHAPTER 1

Scarlette

When Scarlette awoke from the deepest sleep she’d ever known, she sat up so quickly that she began to see stars. She looked around the room in confusion and forced herself to remember what had happened last.

Think, Scarlette, think. She thought to herself.

Scarlette looked around the room, which was the most ornately decorated prison chamber she had ever seen. She lay on a bed of feathers with a comforter embroidered with red roses, and clenched her teeth in disgust as everything came back to her.

King Enrick. The man they’d all feared for so long, reared into her mind.

You have nothing to worry about, her twin brother, Ryan, had told her so many times, but that was before.

She shoved the rose comforter away from her tall frame and kicked the velvety sheets off of her slender legs and stood. The roses were the king’s way of mocking her. The entire kingdom knew the story of her vibrant red hair and lips. She couldn’t help that her mother loved roses or that she’d genetically modified her unborn child to have blood red hair. Though she enjoyed the way her hair made people turn and look twice, now it only reminded her of all the pain she’d endured.

She padded across the plush white carpet to survey the room. She was dressed in a lacy white nightgown. The walls were papered with red roses that matched her bedspread. Scarlette crossed the room to open one of the two wooden doors.

The door opened up to a huge bathroom with a standing shower and bathtub large enough for five people. The towels and rugs were ruby red like the walls, and as she stared at her reflection in the mirror she could only think of her mother’s eyes in the only picture she had of her.

Scarlette had inherited her mother’s eyes. She looked just like her mother, except for her hair. Scarlette brushed a stray lock out of her face. Her pale skin glistened under the illumination of the bathroom lights.

Scarlette turned away from the mirror, unable to bear anymore of the memories that threatened to escape. She walked back out into the room, disgusted with all the mockery. She couldn’t escape it, even as she opened the other door to find a closet full of dresses in her size. The dresses were made of the finest silks, satins, laces. Any girl would delight in the beautiful gowns, but Scarlette immediately noticed that either rose embroidery or deep red dye embellished each dress. She balled her hands into fists and screamed.

I hate you! she screamed to the king, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

She walked back out to the room just as the door opened, and a small woman with brown hair and a white cotton dress walked in.

My lady, the woman said bowing into a curtsey.

What is your name? Scarlette asked her.

I am your lady’s maid. My name is therefore Miss Scarlette as all the maids in the castle are referred to by our mistress’ name.

Scarlette eyed her.

Back in her own country, the lady’s maids were allowed to keep their own names, but it wasn’t that strange of a thing. Scarlette had heard of other countries that had taken on that custom.

Why am I here?

Um…you’ve been brought here by…

I know why I’m in Protea! She snapped, I want to know why I am in this room and not in the prison.

His Majesty never intended on imprisoning you.

The woman looked nice and had a sweet face. She may have responded differently had she not noticed the rose embroidered into the sleeve of her dress.

Leave me! she said, turning away from her in sudden anger.

When she didn’t hear the door open, she turned back around to see her maid staring at the floor with a blush.

Did you hear me? she asked.

My apologies, my lady, but though I am your maid, I answer directly to His Majesty the King. He has instructed that I prepare you for tonight’s dinner and instruct you on your duties and the rules of the castle.

Scarlette felt like screaming. She knew it wasn’t her maid’s fault, but she hated her all the same. So many emotions surged through her at once. Scarlette had always been quick to anger, even as a child. Her brother, Ryan, sometimes called her Red Rage.

Scarlette dismissed the memories of her brother from her mind and forced an emotionless mask upon her face, as she had been doing since the death of her brother and father three years prior.

Of course, Scarlette said and then crossed the room to sit in the cherry wood chair with rose embellished fabric that sat before her vanity.

Do as you must, she said to the maid.

Though, she wanted to cry, she forced herself to remain strong and slam the door on the emotions that raged inside of her.

Quinn

Quinn awoke from a horrible nightmare in a cold sweat. She sat up quickly, and it took her several moments to realize that the screaming sound she heard came from her own lips. She looked around the room, trying to ground herself in reality, but she was in a place that she didn’t know.

She lay in a huge bed, adorned with a royal blue comforter embroidered with stars. Midnight blue paint covered the walls, making the room feel dark like night. On the east wall, a huge window hung, letting in some light, but to Quinn, it seemed like the room was in eternal nighttime.

She got up from the bed to find that she no longer wore one of her beautiful gowns. Instead, a loose white nightgown hung from her petite frame. She ran her little fingers through her ringlet curls, and the mess of voluminous hair entangled and trapped her fingers like the king had done to her.

She ripped her fingers free; yanking several strands of hair from her scalp, and let out a little yelp as she fought the tears in her eyes.

Across from the bed, two doors stood tall and dark. She didn’t care enough to find out what lay behind the doors to walk across the room. As she remembered where she was, hatred filled her once more.

I wonder why I’m not in a prison cell. She thought.

Her head ached, and she used her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Her petite legs trembled as she stood, and she had to sit back down to keep from falling. Dizziness overcame her for several moments. The stars on her bedspread reminded her of the night her sister had died.

Tears immediately filled Quinn’s eyes at the thought of her sister. Her sister had been so beautiful and full of life before the war had stolen her life. Quinn continued to cry even as the door opened, and a woman in a white dress walked in. She wiped her eyes quickly and stood up.

My lady, the woman said.

When Quinn didn’t respond, she said, I am your lady’s maid. You can refer to me as Miss Quinn, because I am in your service.

Quinn still said nothing, so she continued, I am here by order of the king to prepare you for dinner and instruct you of your duties and the rules of the palace.

Quinn didn’t care about the rules, and she had no desire to go to any dinner.

And what if I refuse? she asked.

The maid looked shocked.

You cannot refuse the king, my lady.

Why not?

My lady, you do not want to know what happens to the king’s subjects who refuse his wishes.

Quinn already knew what happened to those who crossed the king. She’d watched it happen to her entire family.

Quinn sighed and stood again.

What am I to know? she asked.

As the maid walked forward Quinn noticed that an embroidered crescent moon embellished the top left corner of her dress like a nameplate, and she bit her full bottom lip to keep from crying at the eternal nighttime that the king had surrounded her.

Felicity

Felicity awoke with a dizzy feeling in her head. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was used to waking up in strange rooms that she didn’t know. Her mother constantly put her through procedures as a child to reverse her albinism, but even modern medicine could not fix her genetic mutation. Felicity had never minded her ivory skin and hair. She had never seen her eyes as any color but gray, though she knew she had been born with bright red eyes.

Felicity sat up slowly, still feeling a little dizzy. She lay in a soft bed with a completely white comforter. The walls were as stark white as her skin. She sighed. Felicity guessed that the king mocked her in this way. Her own mother hated her genetic mutation, what made the king any different? What he didn’t know was that she wasn’t ashamed of it. The more her mother had hated her albinism, the more she’d grown to love it.

The day Felicity had become queen, she scheduled surgery to revert her eye color back to red, but her mother paid off the surgeon, and like always, intervened into her life and choices. As a result, her eyes were changed back to grey instead.

Felicity didn’t mind the grey eyes, but it angered her that her mother had betrayed her wishes. Felicity had the surgeon executed and ordered for another surgery but on the morning of her eye surgery, the kingdom was taken, the war ended, and she was captured.

Thoughts of the past saddened her, so she shook her head and forced herself to forget. She padded her across the floor, her long arms and legs stretching gracefully as she walked. She opened the white door opposite of her bed and entered a large private bathroom. As predicted, the whole room was stark white. She stared at herself in the mirror. It was then that she noticed the string of pearls around her neck. She fingered the cold beads around her throat.

So the king thinks he can mock me? She smiled.

Of course, the king, vain as he was, would assume she’d be ashamed of her skin. She set her jaw and smiled into the mirror.

He could mock her all that he wanted, but he’d never steal her joy. She stretched her long arms backward and flipped over into a backbend and did three back walkovers across the bedroom floor.

Felicity had spent her life dancing and using gymnastics to express herself and escape from her mother’s iron grip. She didn’t intend to stop now.

A gasp sounded at the door, and Felicity turned to see a plain looking woman wearing an all white uniform with pearls sewn around the neckline.

Oh… she said.

Felicity straightened and looked at her.

Hello, Felicity chirped.

My lady, the woman said, curtseying.

You must be my lady’s maid, Felicity observed.

Yes, my lady.

Felicity stepped forward and closed the distance between them.

I supposed you’re here to instruct me of the rules and prepare me for dinner?

Her maid nodded.

She forced a smile to her face, and then extended her hand to the woman.

It’s nice to meet you. I assume that you are in this position because someone has commanded you to be. It looks like the two of us are equals there. I hope not to make things difficult for you. I just hope that we can trust each other, if not be friends.

The maid looked so surprised that Felicity thought she might pass out or run away. Felicity smiled.

I mean it. I don’t intend to be anything like my mother.

Abigail

When Abigail awoke, it took her about three seconds to realize that she was going to be sick. She didn’t have time to do anything but lean over the side of the cloud-like bed as her stomach lurched, and she vomited onto the plush white carpet. She still gagged even as she heard the door open. When her stomach stopped heaving, she leaned back and wiped her mouth on her lacy white sleeve.

She felt so dizzy that she had to close her eyes to steady herself, despite the curiosity she felt over her visitor.

My lady, are you all right? a woman’s voice carried across the room.

Hmm… she said because she wasn’t sure she could speak.

It’s the sleeping gas. It does this to some.

Abigail didn’t care what it was. She hated it here. She hated everything about this palace and the king who ran it.

Would you like something to settle your stomach? the maid asked, as she cleaned the mess on the floor.

Abigail just wanted her to leave, so she nodded.

When the door closed, she opened her eyes. The walls were light blue like the sky and little white birds, doves, were ornately painted in the sky. Tears filled Abigail’s eyes. Everyone knew the rumor that Abigail released doves with messages to her father tied to their leg. Abigail hated the king for mocking her.

She sat up slowly, hoping that the nausea had passed. She stood as slowly as possible and crossed the room to find out what stood behind the two wooden doors. She opened the door to her private bathroom; too sick to wonder why she had such a nice room. She sat down on the toilet, avoiding her face in the mirror. Abigail didn’t want to see herself, not in the king’s mirror. She didn’t want to lie in a bed in his castle or wash in a shower in his kingdom. She wanted nothing to do with the man that had taken everything from her.

My lady, the voice said again.

Abigail turned to see a short woman with brown hair and a plain white dress. She had a bird sewn above her left breast like a nametag.

I am your lady’s maid, and I am at your service.

I don’t require any services, Abigail said.

The king has instructed me to prepare you for dinner and inform you of…

I’m sorry, but I am not feeling well, and I’d like to lie back down, Abigail said because she didn’t think she could listen to anymore of it.

The maid looked at her for a moment, The king will expect to see you at dinner, my lady.

I am feeling ill, she said defiantly.

These are the king’s wishes, and I think you know that what the king wishes, the king receives.

Abigail felt tears filling her eyes. She knew all too well that her maid was right, but she didn’t like the way the maid spoke to her like she sided with the king.

Abigail stood on shaky legs and allowed the maid to escort her across the room to her vanity. Before she could stop it, she caught a reflection of herself in the mirror. Her face was pale and her eyes, one of blue, and one of brown, held none of the sparkle they used to.

You are to wear this every day, the maid said, wrapping a gold chain around her neck.

Abigail could see in the mirror that the necklace had a dove shaped pendant hanging from the chain.

Abigail leaned back in the chair and ignored everything that the maid was instructing her. She didn’t care what the king did to her now. He’d already taken away everything that she loved and as far as the girl in the mirror was concerned, Queen Abigail was dead and gone.

CHAPTER 2

Protea

The dining hall in the south tower of the castle glistened with the light of candles. To celebrate the first dinner with the royal family, it was ornately decorated with flowers and garland. The guards escorted the king and his wife, Genevieve up the tower to dine with the foreign queens.

Genevieve was a beautiful woman with a stern expression on her high cheekbones, and her eyes and hair were as black as night. She was a harsh woman with a laugh that sounded very similar to a scream. Rumor had it that she had poisoned three hundred people in her short twenty-six years.

King Enrick entered the hall. He was bald with dark eyes and a dark beard. Emeralds, diamonds, and rubies decorated the crown that sat upon his head, making it shine in the light. He was a tall man with a very muscular build and he lived up to all the rumors of his strength and commanding presence. He did not smile as he passed by his guests to the head of the table.

I hope that you have adjusted to your chambers and that your maids have instructed you on the rules and regulations of the palace. I hope that your time here will be a pleasant one. I do not ask much of you except that you learn your place here. You are my subjects now, and in time, you will come to marry my sons.

He paused, looking out at the four girls and the look of surprise on their faces. He grinned. They probably imagined he’d imprison them in the tower, but he had greater plans for them.

Though it will be challenging to begin thinking of this land as one kingdom, I will not tolerate talk of the other nations as independent countries, and I will not tolerate talk of your former status. On occasion, you may be in the company of your former subjects, and I expect that you will remember your place in that way. I expect that you will not waste time talking of your former families as they are no longer your family. We are family now, and we will act as such.

Family? someone questioned.

Enrick wasn’t sure who spoke. He chuckled, clenched his fists, cleared his throat and said, Well, you will be corianders until you’ve married my sons.

Several gasps spread across the room.

His five sons and daughter sat on one side of the table while the foreign queens sat on the other. He surveyed them all, silently, taking in their various expressions. Immediately, his eye caught on the fiery-red haired beauty he’d longed to see. Her lips and hair were just as red as he heard, and she held a defiant look on her face that made him curious.

She didn’t look away from his gaze as some of the others had, instead she stared him down as though refusing to submit to him. The king might have slammed his fist into the table and demanded that she respect his authority, but he was intrigued by this girl.

Queen Genevieve noticed the direction of her husband’s gaze and she grew angry. He always had a wandering eye, and she hated it. Her hatred burned against the former queen of Gladiolus, and she immediately began planning her demise.

The king sat down and the others followed. The servants served the most decadent and glorious dinner that anyone had ever seen, and the first night of a new era began.

Scarlette

Scarlette could feel the king’s eyes on her throughout the entire dinner. Inside, she burned with anger, but her face was like stone. She refused to let him know how much she hated it his palace.

She wore a mermaid style dress that hugged her body closely. Rose embellishments and red rubies covered the dress and made her glitter in the light. She hated the dress, because she hated to wear red in the first place.

She wasn’t hungry for dinner, but she refused to let on that she felt upset, so she ate everything that was placed before her. She hated, even more, how good the food tasted because she didn’t want to enjoy anything about this castle.

Sitting to her left was the former queen of Zinnia. Scarlette had never met Queen Quinn, but she’d heard about her voluminous curls and beauty. Scarlette was surprised by how true the rumors were. Quinn was very beautiful with the fullest lips that she’d ever seen. She had not touched her food, and it made Scarlette proud to know that she was doing better at covering her emotions than at least one of the foreign queens. She didn’t want to look curious, so she didn’t look down the table at the other former queens.

We’re supposed to be family? He wants us to marry his sons? Scarlette thought.

Instead, she looked straight ahead at the king’s children. Directly across from her sat a tall man wearing a grey suit. He had dirty blonde hair, and from where she sat, Scarlette could tell he was strong. He looked up at her then, and everything happened so fast after that.

Ryan! Scarlette screamed, leaping from her chair, causing it to clatter to the floor loudly.

A rush of tears filled her eyes, and her heart pounded in her chest. It took her a moment to realize that everyone in the room was staring at her in complete silence.

Lady Scarlette, I think you must be confused… the king began.

Scarlette cocked her head and looked more closely at the man before her. In one crushing moment, she realized the mistake she’d just made and gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.

Lady Scarlette? the king questioned.

She couldn’t answer, not when she suddenly felt like she might become ill.

I’m sorry…I…I must’ve made a mistake… she muttered, backing up, deciding whether or not to run from the room.

Scarlette felt incredibly embarrassed and devastated all at once, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking up at the man who looked so much like her brother. The resemblance was uncanny.

Not only had she made a complete fool of herself, making a scene, screaming out her brother’s name, but then she’d actually believed that her brother could still be alive when she knew that could not be true.

She picked up her chair awkwardly and sat down, deciding against running for her chambers, her eyes to the floor.

My apologies, your Majesty, she said.

The room remained quiet for a long time before someone began a conversation. Scarlette forced herself to regain control of her emotions. She knew what King Enrick was like, and she knew that in order to survive, she could not afford to show weakness like she just had. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look up.

The king’s eyes watched her like a movie-goer.

Why is he staring at me?

She tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in her stomach, but it only grew as she turned to study the man that looked so much like her brother.

If Scarlette had to guess, it only made sense that the man across from her, the man that looked remarkably like her dead brother, would be her betrothed. She looked back to the king, his smug smile, his broad chest.

I hate you! She screamed in her head.

The king must have known somehow about the resemblance. She couldn’t believe it was just a coincidence. It was just one more way the king planned to destroy her. Instead of letting the king win, she forced her face to remain rigid and emotionless, and she turned to the king.

Red, whenever you’re afraid, just pretend. Just be strong.

Ryan’s words echoed in her mind.

The king was, in fact, looking at her, so she smiled the brightest smile she knew. She could pretend, at least for a while, and for a flash of a second, she saw a look of anger in King Enrick’s eyes, but then his face changed and he smiled at her. Everyone in the room seemed to be staring at Scarlette right then, but she didn’t back down because she couldn’t back down, not after the mistake she’d already made. Ryan was right. She had to pretend, even more now than ever. She was already behind, and she’d only just begun.

Quinn

Quinn hadn’t realized how hard it would be to live in this castle. People she never wanted to know surrounded her. Her kingdom had always been kind of an outsider. Even when the continent was at peace, Zinnia had been isolated. Part of that was due to the fact that it was the farthest north and the farthest away from the other countries, but her kingdom had always kept to itself, much like Quinn.

She had only been queen for three years, but she had already grown to be distrustful of the other nations. Now, she was placed in the middle of the other foreign queens like she was expected to speak to them and become friends. These girls had not only excluded her country from many trade benefits and treaties, but they’d betrayed her family by retreating when the king’s men came to attack.

Quinn blamed the others for the death of her family, even though she knew she shouldn’t. She hated them almost as much as she hated the king. She didn’t want to be friends with them. She didn’t want to dine with them anymore than she wanted to dine with the king himself.

I’d rather be imprisoned! She thought. For years she’d feared being captured by Protea, but never in all that time had she imagined this outcome.

Her stomach hurt at the thought of it all. She couldn’t bring herself to eat. This meal was ridiculous. Ever since the king had ransacked her castle, most of her country had lived in poverty. Even she, the queen, had struggled and had to cut back on spending. She’d spent the last three years eating plain food, because they could not afford more. Quinn was sure this meal cost more than a month’s worth of meals back home.

She could feel the girl beside her, Queen Scarlette, looking at her. She didn’t look up at her, but she wished Scarlette would stop staring.

Did the king say I was betrothed?

It all felt too overwhelming that Quinn didn’t want to look up.

She felt the air in the room change, and when she heard Scarlette rustling beside her and yell out,

Ryan!

Quinn felt confused and afraid by the sudden outburst.

What confused her even more was the way that the king was looking directly at Scarlette with an unreadable expression.

Felicity

Felicity smoothed the silky fabric of her white dress. After listening to her maid rattle on about the rules like You must comply to everything the king asks of you and You must not be about the castle unescorted, she’d gone into her closet to see that every single one of the dresses was completely white. Some of the dresses were made of lace and some were made of satin and chiffon and decorated with pearls or embroidered with white thread. None of them had a stitch of color, just like her.

She basically had a closet full of beautiful wedding gowns. This didn’t rattle her. She’d spent her whole life being changed and formed into exactly what other people wanted. It didn’t change who she really was.

Marriage…to the king’s son? She mused to herself.

Felicity looked across the table at the man she assumed was to be her husband. The man had light brown hair and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. He must have noticed that she was looking at him because he met her eyes and smiled. He had a nice smile. His strong jaw-line was dusted with five o’clock shadow.

She smiled back at him, because she didn’t want to be rude. She wasn’t interested in marrying him. She wasn’t interested in marrying anyone, but she knew that she didn’t have much choice. Even before her captivity she knew her marriage would one day be chosen for her.

It’s just another tactic, just like everything else.

The king only chose to let his sons marry the fallen queens because he didn’t want uproars in the other regions. The people had no idea that their queens had been stripped of their titles and been called corianders.

In Lisianthus, the status of corianders was the lowest of the low. They were traitors and murderers and thieves. Corianders were slaves to the crown, only left alive to serve a purpose and then disposed of when that purpose was fulfilled.

Felicity knew that the king was only playing a game. It was the same game he was playing with all of her clothes. He could not fool her by his trickery, but she also didn’t care to indulge him in his games. She planned to submit to him in all of the ways she was required to, but she also planned to use every luxury she could find to escape his rules and his chains.

Felicity was so lost in her thoughts, dreaming about the dances she’d learned in the woods back home, that she didn’t notice the king smiling at Scarlette. Felicity had been queen for only two days, so she hadn’t known the power that the other’s had. This life was no different than the one she’d left, and still her life before this had been full of her own private joys that she planned to continue on in indulging.

Abigail

Abigail’s hands trembled. Fear of getting sick again kept her from eating. Though her maid had seemed kind at first, Abigail had learned differently.

Stop crying! she’d scolded twice.

His Majesty could have done much worse with you, coriander!

Abigail wasn’t surprised when the king spoke the word, the title so treacherous it made her shiver, because her maid had already used it with her.

Coriander? she’d whispered.

You think he’d let you keep your title? her maid question in a condescending tone. Once even, on the way to the dining hall, her maid had slapped her.

I just want to go home.

Abigail felt like crying now. She wanted nothing more than to run away forever. This wasn’t the first time that she’d had to accept something that she wasn’t ready for. Abigail had taken the crown at the age of twelve when her father died in the wars. Her mother had assisted her for a long while, acting almost as her Regent. While Abigail had the title of queen, many of the decisions that had been made were her mother’s.

She often wondered if the people of her nation thought she was weak and childish, but she didn’t have the strength to change. She missed her father with every breath. He had always protected her, loved her, and cared for her. She wished more than anything that he could protect her against this horrible place.

Abigail felt panic rising up inside of her. She felt her heart starting to race and her palms start to sweat. For six years, Abigail had struggled through crippling anxiety. It came at unexpected times and entrapped her. Sometimes, she started hyperventilating and sometimes, she even passed out. When the anxiety came, it overtook her. It stole away all rational thoughts or control and she felt hopeless to the wave of emotion that controlled her.

Breathe Abigail. Just breathe.

This was one of those times. She gripped the table for support, but she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her heart raced so fast that she was afraid it was about to explode out of her chest.

I have to get out of here!

Her thoughts felt frantic, and she felt sick to her stomach and dizzy. Abigail knew that she couldn’t leave this room without the king’s permission, but if she didn’t she felt like she would die.

Without thinking, she stood up, knocking over her glass of water. All of the eyes in the room turned to her, but she ignored them.

Excuse me, she murmured before turning for the door and hurrying from the room.

She heard the complete silence of the room behind her, but she couldn’t focus on any of that. She couldn’t breathe or think. Once outside she collapsed back against the wall, leaning forward and pressing her hands onto the navy satin dress that covered her knees.

Breathe! She commanded herself, but her lungs weren’t working anymore.

My lady, a voice echoed, but she couldn’t look up.

Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.

My lady, are you ill? the voice asked and though she knew it wasn’t her maid, she didn’t know whose voice it was.

She stole a glance at the tall guard who stared intently at her. He had a soft expression on his face and for the first time since she’d entered the castle, she felt as though someone wasn’t out to get her.

I am unwell, she said between shaky breaths.

The guard opened his mouth to speak, but then another voice; a shrill, harsh voice pierced the air. She turned to see her maid rushing forward towards her.

What are you doing! You are not to leave the king’s presence unless excused.

The lady is ill.

Do you think the king cares if she is ill? she snapped.

The guard widened his eyes slightly and stepped back from her like he was afraid this woman was about to slap him or something.

Black dots blurred her vision.

Fight this, Abigail.

Now, you are to go back in there or… the maid started to say, but Abigail didn’t hear the rest because the darkness of her vision, that had been threatening to overtake her, finally won over, and she collapsed to the ground.

CHAPTER 3

Protea

As soon as Abigail stood and left the room, everyone grew silent. Two outbursts in one dinner was an unusual occurrence at the king’s table. All eyes turned to the king to see his reaction. All of the king’s children had seen the king in his fury, and they did not want to see it again, but the king surprised them all by saying,

It appears that the Lady Abigail is ill. Guard, make sure that she is safety escorted to her room, and have one of the nurses tend to her needs.

Queen Genevieve was as surprised at this as the king’s children. She had grown to fear the king’s wrath. He had screamed at her on occasion, though he had never physically hurt her. If she knew anything about the king from their relatively short marriage, she knew that the king expected everyone he met to respect him and to revere him as if he were a god.

The king went