Alexia
"Where were you?" asked Soraya in the corridor, and I stopped to look at her face.
"Soraya, your husband is the king of Olimper, not me" I replied sharply and continued walking.
"You know it's only been a month since the rumors about you running off with a man have been going around the castle"
I turned to her with a frown, already irritated by her words.
"Soraya, I thought we'd been through this"
"I'm not saying you're cheating on him, but if you disappear all day in the afternoon and only show up again at night, the rumors will grow again and I'm more likely to believe you're plotting against Olimper than cheating on my son, you sewer rat!" She said in an offensive tone "But since you're still considered a princess, I need you to act like one"
"Not sit around, knit and gossip"
"You should, just as you should have gotten pregnant by now. Have you ever thought that your child could be considered illegitimate? There have been princesses and queens who have been overthrown for less!"
"Estevan isn't here and I'm not doing anything, so tell everyone that the princess is bored without her prince and that she spends her afternoons in the library reading and moaning about how much she misses him." I spoke in a mocking tone that seemed to offend her.
I turned around and kept walking, feeling my blood boil. Soraya had the pleasure of irritating me in some way every day, ever since Estevan's departure she had been asking about a baby because I hadn't shown any signs of pregnancy yet, and now she was raising impertinent questions that I knew the eyes of the castle were on the royal family.
I wasn't coping well with the pressure of always being watched, commented on and criticized once I came out of the shadows, I didn't want to be in the spotlight, but everyone asked about me, wanted to sit with me and talk to me in the corridors after the episode of the dragon attack, they had even made up songs with my name and looked at me differently.
I looked out of the window, I missed Estevan, I could reach him in a matter of minutes and I'd be on the other side, near the shore where he was, but I knew exactly what he was doing and I didn't want to see it.
A week, that was the furthest we had gone without each other since we met, and I didn't know what I would do when I saw him, whether I would jump into his lap or fly into his neck, but love it or hate it, I still felt a great tightness as he continued to be present in my mind every hour of the day.
Things in Olimper seemed calm, but spies had been sent to Torrem, I still had the letters from the king and queen, but I didn't answer any of them, but I knew that the fame of the lady of fire would reach them from a sea away as she bore Charlotte's name, they would study her chest and say that her daughter had made history and my fear was that their euphoria at the news would be cause for a visit.
Every day I thought about leaving, but there was something holding me back, a single person whose honey-colored eyes never left my mind, someone I couldn't just give up, even if I knew it could cost me my life.
I needed a shower before dinner, so I headed up to my room to change my clothes and get the salt off my body when I saw Mariah's sweet face at the beginning of the corridor.
Hardly believing it, I blinked and stared for a moment until it dawned on me that she really was back in the castle, I smiled and walked towards her, she raised her arms and I didn't hesitate to receive her tight hug.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, stepping back. "Don't tell me you're back because of the attack we had."
"Yes, Lorenzo and I thought it best to suspend the trip, after all, none of our businesses would survive if Olimper was destroyed or taken, we came to see how things were going, we brought supplies for the people and also to find out how you were."
"We're fine, the city had few losses, the lives that were lost... The funeral was the next day and the mourning flags are still in the city!" I said as I walked towards my room, Mariah following in my footsteps "Have you seen Estevan?"
I opened the bedroom door and we went in, and I locked it.
"I've seen him, he looked haggard. It must be because of the dragon."
"I don't know, I don't understand him..."
"I saw it" Mariah said, making me turn to her "I don't know what to say about it, it's what the kingdom needs"
I nodded, Estevan hadn't done anything wrong, but he had opened the door to an idea that could be used all over the world and I doubt that other kings had thought of just using the skin and scales of dragons already killed in battle, I had known enough of kings to know that they would do anything for power.
"Let's talk about good things like your dragon," she said and smiled.
"Can I talk while I shower?" I asked and she shook her head, so I took a shower while Mariah stood in the doorway listening to all the crazy stories about how it all happened, leaving only to ask questions when I'd finished talking.
" It's okay that you're Queen Soraya and you hate each other, but poisoning? For what? I don't see her going that far because of a feud with no reason, just a silly suspicion with no proof, that's just her nature, to be suspicious of everyone and that's not why I see her trying to kill her daughters-in-law."
"She and I have gone to extremes," I said, leaving out my origin and my name. To Mariah I was still Charlotte, Princess of Torrem, as I was to the entire kingdom of Olimper and the nobles of the court.
We went down to dinner, the table full, the nobles in their animated conversations, King Acacius whom I hadn't even seen during the day while Soraya was on my side and Mariah on the other.
I took a piece of steak and cut into it, all the flavor exploding in my mouth, I had quickly gotten used to court food, once I had approved it was impossible not to love it.
I noticed that I'd gained a few extra kilos, which was great for me as I'd only looked skin and bones before, I didn't feel ugly anymore, on the contrary.
Even my breasts looked bigger, as did my hips; everything about me seemed to have improved in recent weeks.
I took a piece of red fruit kistique and popped it in my mouth, the cake seemed to fall apart in my mouth, but I still chewed.
At the third bite I felt something harder and I frowned, throwing it to the corner of my mouth and putting my napkin in front of me to excuse me, I got up and left the room.
When I got to the corridor, I put my hand to my mouth and took out the object and saw that it was a very small piece of paper wrapped in plastic, I looked at it without understanding and opened it quickly, the words "I know your secret" were written in arrangements, I looked around without understanding where it came from, but with fear.
I put the note back in my mouth and chewed it forcing myself to swallow it, the paper went down hurting my throat and making my eyes water, I looked sideways and walked steadily down the corridor certain that there was someone in the court who knew who I was and that I needed to know who I was before this became a big problem.