Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 296: Violet: Unwelcome Home
The rocking of the carriage over the bumpy roads was making Violet feel even more ill than the day before. She held on to the door handle to try and brace herself from the worst of the movement, eyes tightly shut.
The carriage man had said they’d be arriving at Thierre Manor before sunset. Every time she thought about having to explain what had happened to her mother, Violet’s throat would close up with fear.
She’d occasionally hear Ilse’s belly rumbling with hunger but other than that, her twin made no sound. Violet looked out the window, noticing how the further west they headed, the poorer and more desolate the landscape became.
It was mid-afternoon when Ilse called out to the carriage man to stop for something to eat. When the carriage came to a stop, Violet stuck her head out the window and looked around at the small village they were in.
Hamlet would be a better description, she thought. The inhabitants looked like they were barely scraping above poverty. She could see a small central market square and what looked like a tavern next to it.
Ilse called out to the carriage man that she’d return to the carriage after a quick meal.
"You can’t be serious, Ilse." Violet grimaced. "You can’t really mean to eat there?"
"And why not?"
"You know why. Look at the place! It looks less like a tavern and more like a rotting hovel! And..." Violet squirmed with disgust. "And it’ll be full of..."
"Full of what?"
"You know. Unwashed peasants!" Violet hissed.
Ilse stared at her twin as if she was seeing, really seeing her for the first time. And she didn’t like what she saw at all. "Oh, and you think you’re so much better than them, my lady? Having the prince’s bastard in your belly means you’re putting on superior airs now? I’d rather eat with the lice ridden peasants than with someone like you."
Violet jaw dropped and she shrank back in her seat. Who was this woman in front of her, she asked herself yet again?
"I haven’t had a proper hot meal since your actions drove us from court and I’m hungry. You can eat something or wait here while I eat something, I don’t really care."
Violet sat up and argued. "My actions? My actions drove us from court? I recall you were the one who slapped and shouted at me in front of the entire-"
Her words were cut off by Ilse opening the carriage door so hard it smacked against the carriage side. The next moment, her sister had stepped down onto the ground and was walking towards the tavern.
Violet watched her retreating back, stunned. She’d never thought Ilse was capable of such unkind words. Had heartbreak turned her heart to stone?
Violet was left sitting alone in the carriage as it continued being battered by the winds. She tried to endure the shaking even while her belly protested. After a while though, she couldn’t fight the nausea any longer. Violet swung the door open and stumbled outside. The chilly temperature covered her skin in goosebumps but she didn’t care. The next moment, she was doubled over as sour bile rushed up her throat.
She heaved over and over, tears trickling down her cheeks and her nose starting to run. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop. Her body seemed determined to purge every last drop from her belly, even the few meagre bites of bread from the monastery. All she could do was lean against the side of the carriage and wait it out.
Eventually, the nausea eased off. Violet’s throat felt raw and the muscles in her belly screamed from the effort of being so ill. She slumped quietly against the carriage, trying to ease her pounding head. She was startled by a sound behind her and spun around on trembling legs.
It was Ilse approaching, having clearly finished her meal and ready to continue the journey home. Her eyes scanned Violet’s tear streaked face and said nothing but when she saw the vomit splattered on the ground, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
It was ironic, Violet thought wearily. After all those times she’d secretly chastised Ilse for being a sinner and a whore, it was now Ilse looking down at her as if she were nothing but a filthy creature.
- - -
Violet felt her chest tighten painfully as she saw the familiar old manor house silhouetted against the dusk sky. She wasn’t sure how much detail Queen Celia’s message to her parents would’ve contained. But she knew her parents would insist on knowing every single detail of their daughters’ disgrace.
The carriage followed the the bumpy, poorly paved road leading to the main entry and then rolled to a stop.
Ilse stepped out and Violet reluctantly followed her towards the house, feeling her limbs stiffen with fear when she saw the entry door slowly swing open.
Their parents stood in the doorway and watched in silence as the carriage man and his assistant unloaded the girls’ trunks. The men struggled with the weight of them until they were neatly stacked in the manor’s main hall. They then bowed and quickly clambered back on their horses, as if they couldn’t wait to be off again.
Violet could understand why. Lord and Lady Thierre had just stood there side by side, radiating anger as they watched their daughters’ belongings being unloaded.
It was obvious to all this was far from a joyous homecoming.
The moment the door was shut on the outside world, Lady Thierre marched up to Ilse and slapped her cheek hard.
When Violet watched her mother approach her next, she knew what to expect. Still, it didn’t make the blow any less painful.
Lord, she was sick of having her face slapped by the women in her family. Especially when it was obvious to anyone with eyes and ears that Violet had been struck even harder than Ilse.
"You stupid girls are going to explain yourselves right now." Lady Thierre hissed. "After all the efforts and the funds your father and I have spent on you, this is how you repay us? By squandering the opportunities we’ve fought so hard to provide you with?"
Violet felt her face growing hot and not just because of the slap. "Say whatever you want, Mother, and pretend you did this all for us. But everyone in this room knows better. This was never about us! Sending us to court was only ever about you and how you could use us to fulfill your ambitions."
Lady Thierre’s eyes bulged. "What did you just say? You’ve been sent away from court in great shame and you still think you have the right to speak back to me?"
She lunged forward as if she wanted to strike Violet again, but her husband held her back with a firm grip on her elbow.
Lord Thierre turned to face Violet. "You’ll explain yourself now. And if you dare disrespect your mother that way again, I’ll whip you myself until the blood starts pouring down your back. Have I made myself clear?"
Violet shuddered, then quickly nodded. "Very clear, Father." She knew it was no empty threat.
"Good. Now, tell your mother and me what you did to cause all this. Spare no detail."
Violet ground her teeth at the implication that whatever had happened was her fault, not Ilse’s. "We upset Her Majesty by quarrelling in front of her, Father. I’m afraid it got rather heated."
He snorted. "How pathetic. Fighting and shrieking in front of your queen like a pair of tavern wenches. Still, for her to banish you seems rather extreme. There must be another reason."
"The queen’s letter mentioned unladylike and unchaste behaviour." Lady Thierre said. "Which of you has been unchaste?"
Violet sent a pleading look at Ilse but her sister stood as if frozen in place. There wouldn’t be any help coming from her.
"I, uh..." How was she supposed to explain her actions? "I’d been secretly...seeing the crown prince for a few weeks. Ilse found out and confronted me about it, in the queen’s chambers and in front of all the ladies. I begged her to talk to me in private but she screamed the most awful names at me and struck my face." Violet peeped at her parents and hoped they’d show at least a tiny bit of sympathy for their daughter who’d been insulted and hit.
There was none. Her mother’s face in particular was as blank as a barren woman’s.
"You were romping with the prince, then?" Lady Thierre asked tonelessly.
"Yes." Violet wanted to protest it had only been one time. But the truth was she’d shamed herself before him several times. And the proof of her shameful actions was now growing inside her.
"So what you’re saying is the queen has sent you away from her for being a slut." Lady Thierre’s voice was thick with disgust. "But why was Ilse sent home?"
