Free Web NovelChapter 349: Chapter 349
Elka’s diary entries.
It has come. Despite my endless prayers and trips to the temple, the day I have dreaded is finally upon me. The day my father, Halric Nereth, intends to hand me off to the royal family like a cattle for slaughter. Tomorrow is my wedding and I will be the unhappiest bride. Mother says I should be happy. She says that it is a great privilege to wed a prince and that I should be grateful. But I don’t feel joy or any pleasant emotions when I think of getting married. Instead, all I feel is dread in the pit of my stomach. Mother calls this a privilege but she is wrong. What kind of life awaits me, tied to a man that cannot stand the sight of me? A man that doesn’t conceal how much he loaths my existence.
Three days ago, I tried to run away and leave this cruel fate behind. I had everything planned for my smooth departure but I made a huge misstep. I miscalculated my odds of fleeing my father’s clutches. A guard spotted me before I could make it over the wall. He did not listen to any of my protests as he dragged me back inside to father’s study. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Father didn’t even have to hear what the guard had to say. One look at me and he could already tell that I had done the unthinkable. Father is a prideful man and there was no greater sin in his eyes than bringing shame to our family name and that was what I had done by trying to escape my obligations.
He made me strip down to my shift and had me whipped in front of mother with the cat o’ nine tails he kept for his disobedient children. I screamed as the whip came down on my back. I cried. I bled. He did not stop. He told me he would kill me if I didn’t go along with the wedding and I believe him. I believe he will follow through with the threat if I don’t comply with his demands.
I have been locked in my chambers for days and I am frightened. I am very scared.
***
The entire Nereth family arrived together early at the palace in four grand carriages, each member dressed impeccably for the day’s momentous occasion, an event that would no doubt go down in history as the most lavish royal celebration ever hosted.
The carriages rolled across the courtyard in a stately procession, their polished exteriors gleaming beneath the morning sun, their crests glinting like silent declarations of power. Liveried footmen hurried forward the moment the wheels ground to a halt.
When the door to Elka’s carriage was pulled open, she lifted her gaze from where it had been fixed on her clasped hands. Her older brother stood before her, framed by the bright daylight, his hand outstretched to help her down.
Without a word, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to guide her from the carriage. The deep welts and gashes across her back from the flogging had yet to properly heal, and every movement sent a sharp wave of agony through her body.
The heavy material of her dress dragged against her skin and the stiff bodice pressed mercilessly against tender flesh. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from wincing whenever her back brushed against anything, which, in the enormous dress her lady’s maids had squeezed her into that morning, was nearly constant.
They had tried not to fasten her corset too tightly, hoping to offer her a sliver of relief, but their efforts proved futile. She still felt the rigid whalebone pressing against her wounds, each step a reminder of the punishment she had endured. It felt as though heated iron rods were being forced against her spine. Each breath she took was shallow, careful to avoid worsening the pain.
Her brother glanced at her and offered a small, pleased smile, as though he were escorting her to a celebration rather than walking her straight into her worst fear made real. As though he had not heard her cries and screams reverberating through the walls only days before.
She wanted to slap him across the face for taking satisfaction in her suffering, for finding pride where there should have been shame.
As the rest of her family moved ahead toward the grand entrance of the palace, her brother leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear as he whispered, "Today you become a princess. Prince Hairan has been known to be a bit temperamental, so it is your duty from now on to keep him happy. However it takes."
Elka felt a wave of disgust wash over her, cold and suffocating. The courtyard around them seemed to blur for a moment. She wanted to scream until her throat burned raw and her voice turned hoarse. The urge to flee surged within her once more but she crushed it as quickly as it rose. Giving in would only land her in greater trouble, consequences she was not yet prepared to face. freёwebnoѵel.com
Seconds passed, and she offered no response. Her silence seemed to please him just as much. He stepped back slightly and extended the crook of his arm. As before, she accepted without protest, slipping her arm into his and allowing him to lead her forward like a dutiful offering.
As they walked arm in arm toward the guarded entrance, she clung to a fragile consolation: after today, she would no longer be beholden to her father. She would no longer live under his roof or endure his cruelty firsthand. Whether she was escaping one prison only to enter another remained to be seen. But one truth rang painfully clear within her.
She was not free.
Freedom was an illusion she had chased for years, always shimmering just beyond her reach, only to dissolve the moment she believed she might finally grasp it.
People stopped what they were doing to gawk at her, their gazes lingering openly.
Elka cut a stunning figure in her beautiful gown. The rich crimson fabric flowed around her, embroidered with delicate gold threading that caught the light at every movement. Her black hair was swept into an elegant updo, intricate braids woven seamlessly into the arrangement. Her face was lightly dusted with cosmetics, her lips painted a deep rose.
She looked every inch a princess, elegant, and poised, yet there was something in her bearing that hinted at the striking authority of a queen.
The seamstress had made three gowns for the occasion. Elka suspected her mother had chosen this one for its color so that if her wounds were to reopen, no one would notice the blood.
