Chapter 6.
“Make it a little tighter Else.” the queen commanded the small maid on the morning of the fitting. Edwynn gasped when she felt the laces of the corset draw her last easy breath from out of her aching lungs. Standing upon a small stone podium in her bedchamber, Edwynn looked at herself. The dress that she wore was the dress that she would be wearing in less than a week. White lace and similar to the dress that her mother, the ice queen, had embroidered for her birthday, Edwynn resembled a vision of a true bride to be.
The previous evenings events raced over and over inside the girls mind. Edwynn had thought that she had taken care when she had planned the meetings with her secret lover. Their encounters were usually after dark. There were times when they were meet up in the woods and make love beneath a moonlit sky, the dark haired black smith biting down upon her neck as if he was marking her as one of his own. There were only certain times when she did not meet up with her lover. Before she had met Asher, Edwynn was nothing but a ghost of her former self. Emotionless and grieving, she had felt nothing. But the night that the tall, lean, dark haired man had fallen out of the shadows in Hallow woods, Edwynn had found that she had purpose to live again. She hadn't planned for their relationship to become so complicated. In Edwynn's mind she thought that she had kept the mysterious dark haired man at bay. All the while she had believed that he had been the one who was falling in love with her, but all the time, it had been the other way around. And now another man had entered her life. A man that was soon to be her husband. Lord Morris was very different to the dark haired blacksmith in may ways. Confident and arrogant, lord Morris knew what he desired and he was not afraid to fight for it.
Edwynn stared at her mother's reflection for a long moment as she continued to bark orders at the helpless maid. Edwynn's heart went out to the young girl who was pinning her wedding gown in all sorts of positions with little bobby pins, small cries escaping her lips as she pricked herself with nervous and clumsy fingers. “Mother the dress is tight enough. Any tighter and won't be able to breathe.”
“That is the whole point child.” The queen quipped sharply at her daughter. “The tighter the dress the less protests will escape your infuriating little lips.”
Not once in her twenty years had the queen shown her daughter any kind of affection. When she had been a child, Edwynn had found herself yearning for her mothers touch. She desired to feel loved. It was no surprise that she had turned to the arms of a peasant to feel such things.
“Even if I did protest mother I am sure that you would find a way to make me marry a man that I do not wish to marry.” Edwynn replied rather casually. The look on the queens face suggested that her daughter had over stepped the mark. Again. “I do not see what is such a problem with marrying a man as such as lord Morris.” Her mother commented. “He is rich and he is stable. He will provide for you. You do not know the consequences of remaining unmarried Edwynn if you do not swallow your pride and listen to me for once.”
“Why should I marry a man that I do not love?” Edwynn chided. “I am sick of being told how to live my own life. I was put on this earth to do more than be wed and bare children!”
“Dangerous talk child.” The queen warned her daughter. “From what I hear, your idea of love is spending a night in the arms of a filthy commoner.” Edwynn felt the grip of her mothers hand on her wrist then, forcing her to turn around to stare the ice queen in the eye. Edwynn's heart pounded rapidly inside of her chest at the words that her mother had uttered. “If I find out that what I heard is true, then the pig that has defiled you will be executed without hesitation and without a trial!” For the first time in her life Edwynn felt fear. The thought of losing the man that she desired most made her feel ill. Edwynn swallowed. “If you believe that we betters marry out of love then you are truly deluded my child. We do not marry for love. We marry for power!” At her mothers words a soft knock echoed around the room causing the raven haired girl to jump. The ice queen turned her eyes to the sound. “Come,” She called, signalling for the messenger to enter. Upon seeing the man that entered the room Edwynn's heart began to beat fast. Lord Morris's eyes drank in her beauty, a cold smirk stretched across his face. His hair fell over his shoulders like a golden river. He truly looked beautiful. “Ah, lord Morris.” Queen Andrea cooed as the young lord walked up to the queen and graced her hand with a simple kiss. “Has my husband instructed you with the requirements for the castle guards?”
“Indeed my queen.” The young prince replied, his voice like a trail of honey. Edwynn caught the golden eyes of the lord looking at her in the mirror. Her chest had tightened at the sight of him and she seemed to feel disorientated. “Under orders of King Bahl I am to take my leave into town and find the local blacksmith. Under your husbands order he is to forge a hundred new blades for the wedding ceremony.”
Somewhere in the room, Edwynn could hear the muffled voices of her mother and the golden haired man. She felt like she had fallen into a dream world. Standing upon the podium and listening to the man speak of the blacksmith caused Edwynn's head to spin. Around and around she felt herself moving, almost like as if she was floating. It was then that she felt the welcoming arms of the floor reach out to catch the falling raven haired woman, except the floor did not catch her, she simply fell hard onto the stone and cracked her head.
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