Free Web NovelChapter 69: Ruffling feathers (3)
"Scarlet wait!" Madilyn called, getting to her feet to stop the two. Scarlet had just arrived and yet there was this big fight causing the princess to leave. "You don’t need to leave yet before I have the chance to properly speak with you and it’s wrong for you to leave after just arriving."
"I can visit the palace another day to speak with you, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, my mood is already ruined and should I sit back down, my presence will make the others uncomfortable. Your friend looks ready to question me again," Scarlet said, speaking of Holly.
Was Holly just a curious little thing or was she speaking on behalf of the queen?
Though Scarlet didn’t dislike Madilyn, the queen was sometimes a bother. When Madilyn faced troubles with the king, she liked to turn attention from her to someone else. Right now, that someone else was Scarlet and her divorce.
Madilyn looked over her shoulder at Holly. "She won’t speak to you again. No one will make mention of your divorce so please stay. How about this? You can take a walk with the princess and then come back to us. That should be enough time for everyone to cool down and then move on."
"I would like that," Alana answered for Scarlet. Anything to have someone she liked around so she wouldn’t need to sit with Madilyn and her friends.
"Then I will stay a little longer," Scarlet agreed.
Madilyn felt relieved since she wouldn’t have to answer her husband’s questions about what she did to upset Scarlet. After four years of marriage, she failed to see why the Castros were so focused on pleasing the Collins when they were royalty.
If the king would allow her, Madilyn knew she would be able to get Scarlet to show a little more respect and give up the necklace she wore. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
While Madilyn returned to her seat as she had other guests to entertain, Scarlet left with Alana to get away from the women.
"Isn’t it about time your relationship with the queen improves?" Scarlet asked.
"How could it be when she is all for selling me off? She came into the palace trying to order me around long before she was queen. I have long grown tired of being the one she takes her frustration out on when my brother upsets her," Alana answered.
"I apologise for only sending letters during this time. It is hard to leave the palace these days because of the marriage my brother is trying to set up for me. I would have called you here but the palace isn’t anything like it was in our youth. I can’t wait to get out of it but not by marriage," Alana said, taking hold of Scarlet’s hand.
"It is odd that the king won’t listen to you being against an arranged marriage. I am well aware that he doesn’t need to go this far to get that man on his side. He must be angry with you or is he trying to please the queen?" Scarlet wondered.
"I do not know. If he wants me out of the palace, he should just say that. I have always thought he doesn’t see me as his sibling since we have different mothers. Running away is better than being here when they want to sell me off. I don’t know what the man is like," Alana said, worried about her future.
"You can always come to me for protection. I will hide you from the king," Scarlet offered.
Alana didn’t deserve to be married off to some stranger.
"Or better yet, would you be open to taking a wife," Alana joked, but she didn’t get a reaction out of Scarlet. "I would even go as low to be your head maid."
"For my mother to lose her mind? You are welcome as a guest to stay at the estate as long as you need. I’d rather you not waste years in a marriage not suited for you like I did," said Scarlet.
"It pains me to see you still having to defend yourself. This is a time when you should be comforted. You did nothing wrong but the town is seeking pleasure in your divorce. It reaches the palace," Alana revealed, worried about how Scarlet was taking this.
"Recently, I had someone speak on my behalf for a change," Scarlet said, thinking about the garden party.
Looking back on it, Scarlet got to see how relaxing it was to have someone quick to defend her. Ian had dealt with Beth and Jack for her then.
"That’s good to hear. Do you mind me asking who it was?" Alana questioned, wanting to learn more about this person. They would become the best of friends if this person was watching over Scarlet.
"His name is Ian Kingsley. It was nothing," Scarlet changed her mind.
"I don’t believe you, Scarlet. You seemed pleased when thinking about it or him. If there is someone who wants to protect you and you enjoy being near them, don’t be like you normally are and push them away. Have fun," Alana suggested.
’It would only be fun for three months,’ Scarlet thought.
No one was ever going to know of the contract so they would tell her to enjoy being with Ian not knowing he was going to be out of her life by a certain time.
"Is he handsome? Don’t give me that look. I’ve been sulking over news of me possibly getting engaged so let me enjoy your romance. I must say that while I enjoy you moving on, it is unlike you to take a liking to someone so fast. Which is why I think he must be handsome, unlike any other man I have seen."
Scarlet shook her head. Alana was in the palace far too long. "Since when have I fallen just for a handsome face-"
"Fallen? Ha," Alana pointed at Scarlet.
"That is not what I meant and you know it. I am not interested in falling in love with anyone any time soon. I am simply enjoying someone’s company at the moment. I don’t think marriage will ever suit me," Scarlet confessed as she wasn’t the greatest wife. "Perhaps the rumour is true that I fail to open my heart to someone."
"Scarlet, I will not allow you to place blame on yourself," Alana said, wanting to shake Scarlet.
"It is admitting my faults. I can always admit that I was not the best wife. I was never to be looked to as someone to follow in what it means to be a wife. I am better off alone not having to fear someone stabbing me in the back or trying to understand them," said Scarlet.
"I disagree. You’re so concerned about others using you that you like to be alone so you don’t have to face them showing that you were right. I think that there is someone out there to help you move away from that. At least I hope there is. For both of us," Alana added since she had yet to find who she wanted to spend her life with. "I still want to know if he is handsome."
"You- Why is there a tear on your dress?" Scarlet questioned, surprised that a princess would be walking around in a dress in need of mending. "Alana."
"It is nothing," Alana replied, trying to move her shawl to hide it.
