Chapter 103 Scarlet hair
Catherine's POV
"You have such lovely hair, your highness," one of my maidens cooed as she combed my hair in the hot bath.
Of course, I do. Red hair is a fine specimen nowadays. It's rare to see or find it. I've heard some ladies at the palace tried dying their hair to match my copper locks, but they only look ridiculous.
I smiled, knowing my maidens weren't at least flattering me this time. They always do because they fear for their lives, and they should be because it's their fault I'm always on edge.
For the last few months, I have had 3000 of my maidens fed to the dogs. It only took a slight. A wrong-sounding comment, a reaction I find unfavorable or hostile.
It could be anything, as little as their appearance. I feel the hostility, and I could feel them insulting me without even doing so. So I get them punished.
The last three months in the palace have been hell on earth. First, I heard Amarien had been pregnant for Daevir all this while, and those damned nuns couldn't rip out the child from her womb and feed it dirt.
The news kept me on edge, but I soon got pacified when I heard they did just that, whipping her till they were sure that the baby was dead. But how can we be sure?
Here I am, Queen of the realm, seated on a throne without an heir. The palace, everyone, even my father, deems me barren, unable to produce an heir, when my husband hasn't ever visited my chambers. Or seen my nakedness and obliged to it.
Now my enemies are everywhere. Chief, councilmen, and eunuchs are planning to dethrone me to bring in another queen to produce an heir. Even my own father plans to bring in Rita, my worst sister, among the bunch to take my place.
I swore on my mother's grave that it would never happen.
Laugh!
When has it ever gotten better?!
Daevir now has a son. Plucked from nowhere into the palace. No councilman, chief, or officer dares to question the origin of the child. All they know is that the child came in from the Eastern waters.
A stranger's child now threatens my own unborn child to take the throne!
Seeing my mood grow sullen by the hour, my maiden adjusted their position so they would be next in line to fire the wild dogs. I sat upright, throwing a towel over my chest.
There must be many ways to get Daevir to give me a child. Perhaps I have been limiting myself, and I awfully need to step up my game.
Jana, the concubine who brought Amarien down, the one I have now crowned my right-hand maiden, as suggested ways to crawl my way back to Daevir's heart.
"A love potion, your highness," she suggested as she scrubbed my feet.
"You think I haven't tried a dozen of that?" I rolled my eyes in fatigue.
"Then perhaps a drug portion will do," Jana said with that small, amusing smile that never ceased to tickle her lips.
I wondered at her response for a moment, unsure of what she meant. A drug portion? What does that mean?
"It's an herb that will make his majesty unconscious for an extended period of time." Jana simply continued like she had not just brought the final answers to my pain. "All you need when he is down is get right on with it. He won't feel a thing and won't know a thing when he awakes."
I gasped, grabbing Jana so tight she flinched. "You've got to tell me where to get those!"
Jana never fails on her promise. That girl is as subtle and wise as a snake, and I love her for it. Tonight is the night when I'd finally get my taste of Daevir. My son will be the next heir, not some strange baby from the riverside.
Yet doubts crawled at me. Daevir has sworn to me that the next moment he sees me in his chamber, he will renounce my title as Queen.
"Maybe you do need a replacement," he said to me one day after he had learnt of me killing 3000 of my maids. "I don't want you anywhere near me," he said with so much coldness I shivered.
You need to take what is rightfully yours, Catherine.
My mother's witchy voice blazed in my head. Despite her having been dead decades now, I still feel her spirit in me, talking to me, nudging me on.
Right now, she is doing more than nudging me; she is directing me to the dark side to drink from the goblet of darkness and take her place of power.
I noticed my maidens were now at a cease as they muttered something about the Scarlet Witch hunting the villages on the East side.
I stopped my thoughts to listen to theirs.
"They say she eats children alive."
"No, she poisons them in their sleep."
"I heard she's Theron's mistress."
"Some say she steals children because the gods had branded her with barrenness."
I couldn't help but stifle my laughter at their rumours.
Well, they do say rumours contain some elements of truth. But one thing was certain: the Scarlet Witch was real and a thorn in the Kingdom's flesh, which is a nice distraction for me to get all I want to do done in time.
"Get my robes and ready me for my journey," I finally spoke, making my maiden halt to silence.
"Your highness…you're travelling?" One of the maids said as if I should have written a two-week warrant to explain my travel details to them. I flashed the maiden who spoke a side eye, making her wince and step away from me.
"Get my robes ready," I repeated, turning away.
It is true that I have been sneaking out of the palace for weeks now. My whereabouts aren't known by a single soul.
Such desperate times require desperate measures. The spirit of the witch of the west has been leading me through terrains of power and fortune, like the seat of power in the South, where
Theron resides.
That's right, I might just pay a secret visit to the King of the South tonight.