Chapter 6

The castle is eerily quiet today, no one says anything, and no one asks if the two want to have lunch together. It's almost as if they knew that their marriage was bound to end up that way. The two spend their time as far apart as possible. Crecylla avoids the eastern half of the palace like the plague, and Cyrus doesn't leave the study at all.

Crecylla reflects back upon the words that Rigel had told her. Did Cyrus really love her? Or was she just another pawn in his game that he needed to sacrifice to win? She knew that marriage in the royal life always had underlying motives, there was never a clear image of love in it. Even if there was love in the beginning, it was always fleeting.

Cyrus spends his time in his study reviewing the treaty that came with the marriage. He checks to see if there were any loopholes for the princess to slither through. He checks if there were any things that spoke about mistresses. At the end of the treaty, he rereads the words he had read hundreds of times.

If any party were to break any rules, an immediate divorce is to be delivered.

Crecylla ponders over the words at the end of the treaty. An immediate divorce huh? She was sure that there were no rules as to whether or not mistresses were allowed in the marriage. She knows that once they got married, he would announce his old lover as his official mistress, and he would eliminate anyone against it.

Luna's at home for once. She wanders through the garder watering her plants, and wonders if her sister was doing well. She would see her in 2 days but she wanted to spend the last of her time with her. The poison had gotten rather bad, and she wasn't sure as to whether or not she would be able to survive any longer. Her breathing is heavy, and she has to sleep sitting up in order to not cut down on her heart rate.

Crecylla hates the castle. There's a bitter feeling that settled in on her tongue yesterday night, and she detests it. It tastes like the bitterness of the herbs she grew up taking. The bitterness lingers even after you rinse and repeat, and it stays there until one day you get used to it.

Cyrus feels a migraine coming up, and he hates it. The buzzing of his head plus the leftover symptoms from yesterday's shift is harsh, and he wants nothing less than to rest in his lover's lap while she takes care of him. He doesn't expect anyone to know, so when the door opens slightly, he's confused.

The first thing the King and Queen realize is how tense the two young ones had become. Crecylla's smiles were growing more forced, and Cyrus hadn't locked himself in since they kicked his lover out. The King is aware of him wanting to take in a mistress, and the Queen knows how it feels to be side by side with a mistress. So when they find that their son had come down with a fever, they aren't surprised.

Crecylla receives news that the prince had fallen sick rather quickly. She rushes to his room, and offers to help the servants in healing him. Regardless of whether or not she had a choice in the matter though, was another story. Her hands are quick to help him out, and she almost forgets that they were just platonic lovers. She thinks that makes no sense but who is she to talk about it?

Cyrus doesn't recognize the hands that are helping him out. He knows they feel soft, and different from the ones he was used to, and he knows that he should probably get used to them helping him out, but he refuses to comply. He hears a soft sigh, and then the closing of his room's door. The royal doctor is called in, and only then does he open his eyes. He notices a fleeting figure, and for a second, he actually considers if it was his lover who had treated him with such care.

Crecylla nods to the doctor that comes in, and she leaves the room. She spends the rest of the night in her room playing the piano. Her feelings don't take over, so it feels a little underwhelming, but she knows that it was fine. There's a certain characteristic of her playing that the Queen notices isn't there today. Her final notes aren't held, and it sounds like she hated playing. She's forcing herself to vent through an instrument and she fears that it might not work on her.

Crecylla hears the opening of her door, and is half expecting a servant to be there. Who would visit her at this hour anyways? So she's surprised to see that the queen herself was visiting her. She bows hastily and apologizes for not being in the proper attire. The Queen only laughs. She was there to talk with her, it must've been difficult surviving with no sister to help her in the castle.

The King and Cyrus both know that the Queen and Crecylla are chatting at the time. There's a certain sense of understanding that floats through the air. The Queen knows that it feels like, so she offers some tips to the girl. She would have to work her way through it. The position of queen could only be held by someone deserving of it, and there was no way she wasn't deserving of it. One or two mistresses never threatened the position of the queen anyways.

So when the piano resumes again that night, there's a liveliness to it, and the sense to dread seemed to have disappeared. So just as all the nights before, the castle goes to bed with a sense of peace. The calm before the storm was always unheard of though. There would be far more issues that would arise from this than expected.