Chapter 3.

The King and Queen were seated at their throne, with their baby in the Queen’s hands.

Guests filed in to pay a courtesy greeting to the new born princess. The queen smiled happily, feeling a sense of fulfilment for once.

For the McLeod Clan had finally gotten a princess.

Gifts were brought before the Queen to congratulate her and the beautiful baby. But the king, was acting unusual. The queen thought he didn't have a good sleep with all the preparations. She gave him a smile, but he tore his eyes away.

As she gave her dear husband a sidelong gaze, she discovered he was detached. Ever since he woke up earlier that morning, the Queen had observed that he wasn’t as happy as he had been, before he had gone down to the council room the previous night. The matters of the Kingdom of Elywoods and most of the other surrounding kingdoms, was his responsibility.

Now at a ball held in their honor, he was acting all displeased. He hadn’t even requested to hold their little daughter since he woke up that morning.

The Queen was immensely disturbed. Hopefully, she thought, before the end of the ball, he would cheer up.

As the guests danced, everyone turned in awe towards the entrance of the ball room. Whispers were made and the king and queen curiously turned in the direction of the gawking stares. Their anxious eyes, fell on a beautiful lady, dressed in the most beautiful dress. She was wearing the Queen’s crown. Her slow steps, purposeful, graceful, she approached the King and Queen.

The Queen was horrified at the woman's audacity.

Who was this woman? And how dare she wear one of her golden crowns?

She instantly turned her angry glare to the woman.

“Who are you? And what are you doing wearing my crown?” Queen Renelda asked, furiously.

The beautiful woman didn’t even flinch at the Queen’s angry outburst, rather she stepped forward and came to stand beside the King, giving him the most charming smile ever. Her seductive wiles, not lost on Queen Renelda.

“Would you tell her, Oh King, or should I be the one to say the words to her?” The woman said to the king.

King Edmund stared blankly at the woman and turned slowly to face Queen Renelda. His eyes were staring unblinking, lifeless as his gaze fell on his anxious wife. Everyone stared at the King, expectantly. The silence stretching thin, as they all watched the scene.

“Renelda.” King Edmund called his wife, quietly, his voice utterly detached. “I present to you my wife and Queen, Queen Neriah of Elywoods.”

At those words from the King, the entire hall went into gasps of utter shock.

Queen Renelda stared at the king, incredulously.

“Your majesty, what are you saying?” Queen Renelda asked, confused.

She clutched her baby tightly in her arms and rushed to stand beside the king, holding his elbow, softly. The King stared unemotionally at her. There was no life in his eyes.

Then the baby cried and he turned a sharp gaze to the bundle in Queen Renelda’s arms. He reached a shaky hand and grabbed the baby, pain in his eyes. Then the strange woman beside him, whispered in his ears. And he reluctantly released the crying baby into the Queen’s hands. Pushing her violently against her mother, as if she scorched him.

Anger suddenly flared in his eyes as he barked.

“Guards! Who is this peasant and her child that have come to disturb my Queen’s coronation?!”

Queen Renelda gaped in bewilderment.

“Edmund,” she cried softly. The King turned a furious gaze to her. Instantly, the dukes of the Kingdom rushed to the King’s side.

One of them asked, worriedly.

“Your majesty, this is your beloved wife, Queen Renelda, the mother to your new baby. P…Please, your majesty, what are you saying?”

The king turned to him in anger, “Ask the guards to get this peasant out of my sight and out of my castle. I have nothing to do with her.”

“But…But...”

“Am I now to be questioned?!” The King roared.

Everyone trembled at his thunderous voice that echoed through the great hall. Grudgingly, the Duke asked the King’s guards to escort the helpless Queen Renelda and her baby out of the great hall.

The Queen badly wished to protest, but she was unable to because the King’s orders were law. Feared by most, King Edmund never tolerated disobedience. A punishable offence in Elmwood Kingdom.

And so, defeated, Queen Renelda was stripped of her crown and regal jewels. Wordlessly, she was escorted out of the kingdom, with only the clothes that they had on them, to fight off the biting cold, outside the castle walls.

The guards that escorted Queen Renelda and her daughter out of the castle, through the servant’s entrance, were kind gentle souls. They had once found favor in the good Queen’s eyes. Seeing her suffering, one of them had stopped by a home of one of the villagers, on their way out of the Kingdom.

He had grabbed a cloak, a warm blanket, some clothes for her and the baby. He had equally added some food.

In payment, the Queen had given up her expensive ball gown and quickly changed into peasant clothes.

For what else could she be named, after her dear King had named her a peasant?

She was no longer a Queen, but an ordinary woman in Elywoods. A woman of low status, despite descending from a long line of nobility. She had felt so hollow as she walked the streets with the guards. Her tears fell endlessly. Her sorrow, deep. She never knew pain this great, until this very moment.

The Queen had no family to go to. King Edmund had conquered her late father in war, years ago. As a truce, her father had offered her hand in marriage to King Edmund. Never to see her beautiful home in Asalia again. Nor the people.

On the day she departed her birth home, years ago, she had said good bye to that life forever.

Now, she was saying goodbye to another life.

Ashamed, Queen Renelda followed the guards out of the kingdom.