Fated Eclipse: The Illegitimate Princess And Her Alpha Suitors

Chapter 326: Meetings With The Queen

The palace corridors lay still and silent beneath the weight of night.

Shadows pooled in every corner, stretching long and deep across the polished floors. The candles that lined the walls had burned low, their flames flickering weakly as though they too had grown weary of the hour.

There were hardly any servants about at this time. Most had retired to their quarters, their duties finished until the morning light returned. The few who remained moved quietly, their footsteps muffled by the heavy silence that had settled over the palace like a blanket.

A woman walked through the corridors.

Her steps were measured and unhurried, her gaze fixed ahead with quiet purpose. She did not pause to glance into the shadows or peer into the doorways she passed. She moved as though she knew precisely where she was going, her path certain even in the darkness.

She was dressed in the simple attire of a maid, though there was something about the way she carried herself that set her apart from the others. Her posture was composed, her expression carefully blank.

She arrived before a pair of large doors.

The guards stationed outside asked no questions. They merely stepped aside and opened the doors for her.

She entered without hesitation.

The doors closed behind her with a soft click.

The chamber beyond was warm, the air carrying the faint fragrance of costly perfume and burning candles. A fire crackled quietly within the hearth, casting dancing shadows upon the walls.

Two figures sat within.

The Queen occupied the largest chair, her posture flawless as ever, her gaze sharp and assessing. A delicate porcelain teacup, trimmed in gold, rested lightly between her hands. She did not rise. Nor did she offer the newcomer anything beyond a calm, expectant look.

Beside her sat a younger woman. Her golden hair had been arranged in elegant waves that caught the firelight and seemed almost to glow. Her eyes sparkled with what might have been amusement, though there was a hardness beneath it that suggested otherwise.

The maid bowed deeply.

”Your Majesty,” she said. ”Your Highness.”

The Queen took a slow sip of her tea before setting the cup upon the table beside her.

”Elara,” she said, her voice calm and measured. ”I trust you have something to report.”

Elara kept her gaze lowered.

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

Princess Jacinta leaned forward ever so slightly, a faint smile touching her lips.

”Well?” she said. ”What has the spawn been about?”

Elara hesitated only briefly.

”The other princess—”

Jacinta’s smile disappeared.

”Do not bestow that title upon her,” she said sharply. ”She is no princess. She is a spawn. A demon’s spawn, born of deceit and sin.”

Elara did not so much as flinch.

”Forgive me, Your Highness,” she said with another bow. ”If I may ask... by what name would Your Highness have me address her?”

Jacinta’s eyes narrowed.

”You shall call her precisely what she is,” she replied coolly. ”A spawn. Nothing more.”

Elara inclined her head.

”As Your Highness wishes.”

The Queen observed the exchange with quiet interest but offered no interruption. She merely waited, her fingers tapping lightly against the arm of her chair.

Elara continued.

”As I was saying, the... spawn has done nothing of particular note. She attends the dates arranged for her and spends the remainder of her time within her chambers.”

Jacinta gave a quiet scoff.

”I scarcely believe that,” she said. ”Surely she must be plotting something.”

Elara remained composed.

”I have not yet found evidence of such, Your Highness.”

”Then you have not looked carefully enough,” Jacinta replied. ”Do you imagine she would simply resign herself to failure? I have little doubt she seeks some means of disrupting this selection.”

”I cannot yet say whether that is the case, Your Highness.”

”You cannot say because—”

The Queen raised a hand.

Jacinta fell silent at once.

”You will compose yourself,” the Queen said evenly.

Jacinta pressed her lips together but offered no further protest.

The Queen returned her attention to Elara.

”Are you quite certain,” she asked, ”that this is all she occupies herself with?”

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

Elara paused before continuing.

”She does little else. She eats and she rests.”

She hesitated before adding,

”She has quite the appetite, Your Majesty. I suspect it is simply because she has not known the comfort of proper meals for a very long time.”

Jacinta let out a short laugh.

”Naturally she does,” she said. ”She no longer has to steal for her supper. Food is placed before her now, and she has every intention of making the most of it.”

The Queen did not share her amusement.

Her eyes remained fixed upon Elara.

”Tell me,” she said quietly, ”does the spawn observe the five-minute rule during her meetings with the suitors?”

Elara blinked.

”The... five-minute rule, Your Majesty?”

Jacinta sighed impatiently.

”Do not feign ignorance,” she said. ”The spawn is not to remain alone with any gentleman for longer than five minutes. Surely someone entrusted with watching her ought to know as much.”

Elara bowed her head.

”My apologies, Your Highness. I had not been informed of such a rule. You have my word that I shall see it observed from this moment onward.”

The Queen regarded her in silence for several moments.

”If truth be told,” she said at last, ”I should much prefer that the gentlemen did not court her at all.”

She paused.

A cold smile curved her lips.

”She ought to be rejected... just as Marquess Hale rejected her.”

Elara remained perfectly still.

”I understand, Your Majesty.”

”There is another matter,” the Queen continued.

”If the spawn should presume to meet privately with any gentleman beyond what is permitted, you shall answer for it as well.”

She leaned forward slightly.

”The five-minute rule is to be upheld without exception. Her mother’s life depends upon it.”

The room fell silent.

Then the Queen spoke once more.

”Though, of course, such precautions shall prove unnecessary once every gentleman rejects her as he ought.”

Elara bowed deeply.

”It shall be as Your Majesty commands.”

The Queen gave a slight wave of her hand.

”That will be all.”

Elara bowed first to the Queen, then to Princess Jacinta, before making her way towards the doors.

The guards admitted her passage, and she stepped once more into the dimly lit corridor.

The doors closed quietly behind her.

Her pace remained measured, her expression as unreadable as ever. She passed through corridors cloaked in shadow, her way illuminated only by the fading glow of dying candles.

She was nearing Princess Lyria’s chambers when she noticed another figure waiting ahead.

A woman stood within the shadows.

Elara slowed.

The other maid stepped forward, her face half-lit by candlelight. She spoke no word. Instead, she merely inclined her head.

Elara returned the gesture.

Without another glance, the maid continued past her, her steps swift and purposeful as she made for the Queen’s chambers.

Elara did not look back.

Moments later, the maid reached the doors and was admitted without question.

The Queen smiled the instant she entered.

”Debbie, my dear,” she said, a warmth entering her voice that had been entirely absent moments before. ”There is a small task I should like you to carry out on my behalf.”