Free Web NovelChapter 74: Chapter 74
The girls headed back to the palace with a sulking Hera who hadn’t stopped crying since they left the theatre.
"Hera, stop this already," Penelope groaned, "everyone keeps staring at our carriage. They probably think we kidnapped you."
"Don’t be ridiculous, Pen," Iris Chided. "The poor girl just got her heart broken, and you want her to, what, turn to stone?" freewebnøvel.coɱ
"No, no, I didn’t mean that, but she could adjust the pitch, make it a little lower so that we’re the only ones hearing it," Penelope replied.
Iris slapped her forehead lightly and shook her head. "Hera, forget everything she just said. If you wish to climb onto the carriage and cry, then do it."
Hera shook her head and wiped some of her tears. "I’m sorry," she said, "there’s just so much going on in my mind that I can hardly comprehend anything else."
"I understand." Iris rubbed her back. "Look towards the future, Hera, a broken heart should not stop you from being who you are."
Hera’s shoulders slumped. Her eyes were bloodshot, and snot dripped from her nose. "Do you think I’ll ever stop thinking about him? What if this pain never goes away? It feels like my chest is caved in."
Penelope rolled her eyes. "The world isn’t coming to an end, princess. You’ll find better people sooner than you know it," she said. "And then all of this would become ancient history.
Hera stared at her, listening with rapt attention as she clutched her chest. "You really think these feelings will go away? That I’ll love someone again this much?"
"You will, princess," Penelope chuckled. "However, what we should be bothered about right now is that baby in your stomach. What do you plan to do with it?"
"I don’t know," she whimpered. "I don’t know?"
Penelope glared at Iris and raised at eyes brow.
"We’ll think about all of that later," Iris said immediately. There’s still a lot of time to decide. "
Penelope sighed, "If you say so. But I would highly advise that you think fast."
As soon as they reached the palace, Hera headed straight to her room and locked the door.
"We need to talk about your attitude today, Penelope," Iris said. She’d stopped her from walking up to her own room. "You weren’t helpful at all back at the theatre, or even on the ride home. Why can’t you just be nicer?"
"A prerequisite condition for my niceness is that you have to be a little smart. Hera doesn’t fit into that category just yet." She said pointedly.
Iris’ mouth hung slightly open, and her eyes widened. "Did you just call her stupid?"
"Yes, I did."
"Pen... Don’t be so cruel. The poor girl was just in love."
"Why did she have to get pregnant, though?"
"Shhhhhh." Iris rushed to cover Penelope’s mouth and scanned the hallway. Then she dragged Penelope into her room. "Don’t be so loud!"
Penelope shrugged.
Iris sighed. "You’re being too harsh, and you know it."
"Of course I know it. I warned her countless times, and you warned her as well. And what did she do with all that warning? Nothing. She claimed I was jealous and out to destroy her relationship. Yet here we are."
Iris lay on her bed with her feet dangling over the edge. "It’s done now, isn’t it? Everything happened just as you had predicted. Now what?"
Penelope folded her arms and scowled, then looked up and gritted her teeth. "What type of person courts a man who cheated on me with my sister?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at Iris.
"After all our warnings? She really wanted to try and act like some sort of engineer, isn’t that right? If she stayed long enough, she could fix his faults?" Penelope scoffed. "You can’t fix an opportunist and a manipulator at heart, I’ll tell you now."
Iris propped herself up with her elbows to look at Penelope. "That’s what this is about, isn’t it?" She asked. "This whole thing reminds you that two people whom you once trusted without doubt or fear unforgivably broke you?"
Penelope looked away, and her eyes began to glisten with tears.
"I will never truly understand the kind of betrayal you had to go through, and I am sorry. But you cannot misplace that anger. Hera was stupid in dealing with a man like that, even after numerous warnings, but that is her only fault. You need to sort out your pain."
Tears threatened to fall from Penelope’s eyes.
Iris took one look at her and shook her head, stood up, and went to pull her in for a hug. "It’s alright," she whispered, patting her gently on the back, "it’s alright."
They stayed that way for a while, until Penelope pulled away. "I’ll meet you later," she said and took a deep breath.
A few minutes after she had left, Penelope burst into her room with a range of emotions sprawled all over her face. "She’s back."
"Who’s back?" Iris asked, a little startled.
"Octavia."
Iris stood rooted to a spot, every hair on her body at high alert. "Just her? What about her brother?"
"It’s just her and her troops."
"Where are they right now?"
"They’re coming up from the harbour, the streets are just buzzing with love for her," her voice dripped with scorn.
Iris slowly let out a breath. "We shouldn’t miss her triumphant march into the city then. Let’s go and meet your sister."
They trod out of the room and down the stairs and headed towards the gate. A crowd had already formed to watch her march into the city.
The soldiers behind her carried trunk after trunk of stolen loot, grinning and laughing behind her. It’s made Iris sick thinking of all the carnage they had caused to get them. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Her eyes searched among the throng of bodies for any sign of her sisters.
"I hope you’re all safe," Iris mumbled and said a quick prayer.
"Make way for princess Octavia!" Someone shouted, and the crowd parted.
Besides Iris, Penelope seethed with rage and hate, the person she knew slowly disappearing.
