“Have you swallowed a toad?” Zulu mocks. I ignore her.
“You have no manners?” I snap. She smirks.
“I have no idea what he sees in you,” she mutters, and tears prick down my cheeks as I pass her.
Before my very eyes is a very naked Trisha. Her nonexistent tits bounce from the motion of Dante’s violent thrust into her behind.
I gape at them in shock, observing how their treacherous eyeswiden in horror. They rush to cover themselves, Dante’s private snake slips from her ass, hanging offensively in my sight, slick with her juices.
“Sels, it was an accident! Sels, I am sorry!” they cry in unison.
Something wicked stirs inside me.
Glass shatters around us. Pain and rage collide, forcing me out of the room. My tears fall freely.
“I want to be alone,” I sob. The storm inside me grows uncontrollably. Suddenly, I am no longer in the castle corridor. I am in a dense, dark forest. Despite the darkness, the space feels welcoming. A huge tree towers before me. Its roots form a natural seat. I sink into the moss, and it holds me, comforting me. I cry. Hard. The forest seems to respond, soothing me and empathising with my heartbreak. Eventually sleep claims me, providing peace.
I am awakened by two guards shaking me. The forest has lost its magic. They pull me towards a portal shimmering between the trees, its light cold and unwelcoming. My feet drag through the dirt as the last traces of sleep slip away.
“Our apologies, Your Royal Highness,” Sir Nicolas says. “The Queen is livid. She has ordered you to be brought to the throne room immediately.”
I swallow, worry rising. I missed the ceremony. Gram must be furious.
We step into the room, and I’m shocked to see that just about everyone who lives in the castle is gathered. My heart sinks. I pass Trisha without acknowledgement, but Dante is absent.
“Seleste?”
I stop before my Grandparents and bow.
“I am s— ”
“Seleste Berigander, for disobeying my direct order, you are stripped of your duty as Heir. Trishiana assumes your position.” Gram’s words send a cold terror through me.
“But Grandma, you have no idea what she did!” I plead, raising my voice, desperately wanting to explain what happened as soon as possible.
“Seleste, child, I am your High Queen; you will not talk back to me,” she growls, rising to her feet.
I hear more than a few gasps beside me.
“Grandpa, please, make her listen!” I pivot to him; he always helps me when she loses her temper. I beg, but his expression stays hard and uncaring, unlike him at all.
“No love, I’ve indulged you long enough. That’s not the case anymore. You’ve disappointed me. Your privileges end now. I hope some hunger and a good beating will make you understand,” Grandpa says, and I weep in response. His blasé demeanour hurts me even more than Trisha’s betrayal.
How can he say something like that? I am so furious, I can’t breathe normally.
“That’s so unfair. That bitch fucked Dante!” I hiccup, losing control. I have never been so upset in my entire life. The wicked force wakes up again and pours into my veins. Highlighting my anger, overshadowing other emotions.
I am nothing but wrath.
“I did no such things!” She lies.
I will peel the skin from that monster of a sister. I look around the throne room, but no one is sympathetic; all of them look down, even my fucking friends. No one helps.
I am alone.
“I won’t be hearing any more lies. Guards, take her,” my Grandma orders.
Guards approach me, but I fight them back, in desperate need to punish the cockroach.
