Chapter 101 - Waiting For The Bomb To Drop (1/2)

I was thrilled that the resolution passed but spent the next few weeks waiting for the bomb to drop. As expected, the king died. What wasn't expected was that Sigmund didn't immediately take his place like in the novel.

Mariela was about eight months along at this point and most of the nobility wanted to wait and see if her child would be a boy before making a decision on who the king should be. After that news got out, Rosenia came to breakfast the next day covered in barely-concealed bruises.

I actually felt a little sorry for her. She was petty but not scheming and hadn't done anything truly wrong aside from letting her power as crown princess inflate her ego.

It was a good thing Al and I hadn't visited the Kanta since I warned him because security at the palace tightened considerably. We couldn't even leave our chambers without being monitored.

The nation wasn't supposed to operate without a king so court ended up being suspended indefinitely. The nobles weren't happy about being stuck here and wanted to return to their estates but they had to wait for the royal baby to be born so a decision could be made.

Mariela was much more stressed than usual because of all the pressure. Her tea had already been poisoned once by one of Sigmund's people but was caught in time because of a silver spoon.

All of that security and someone still slipped passed it. After that she didn't want to eat or drink anything.

Franz tried to convince her she needed to take care of the baby and she went into hysterics. It hurt to watch because she was normally so composed. I quietly left the room as her husband tried to comfort her through her sobs.

”Poor Mariela,” I said sympathetically once I returned to Al.

He blew out a frustrated breath. ”Poor all of us. I feel like we are under house arrest. We haven't even been able to go riding out on the grounds because Sigmund's spies are everywhere. I can't even send word to Ayana or Nyla about why we aren't visiting for fear someone will intercept it.”

His fingers tapped anxiously on the arm rest of the couch. ”I am about to lose my mind. The weather is too nice to be stuck inside like this.”

I was far more used to staying inside from all the years I spent chronically ill but Al wasn't like that. He preferred spending time outside. Even when he had been largely trapped in the palace growing up, most of his time was spent out on the grounds somewhere.

He would probably love living in the mountains with all of that fresh air, provided we were ever able to get out of here. With the way things weren't now, I wasn't sure if that would be happening.