However, as promised, I bite down and lock my jaw on his tiny sausage.
It takes him a few moments before he howls, attempting to pry me off by pushing against my forehead. But I only bite down harder.
“Sigrith!” he manages to scream out.
She comes into the room, and even upside down, the humor on her face is evident. She doesn’t respect this cockroach. But she sides with him because she does not wish to fight, and for that, she is a traitor.
“Get her off!”
Sigrith’s smirk is wiped clean before she grips my jaw between her thumb and finger. She pinches my nose, and with no other choice, I have to breathe in through my mouth, letting Aethelbald go.
The moment he’s free, he slaps my cheek. “You want to behave like an animal, then I shall treat you like one.”
He storms from the room, leaving me alone with Sigrith.
She is unmoved as we stare at one another—once friends, now foes.
“I hope to wake from this nightmare, but I am not that lucky. You hate your brother and me this much that you turn your back on us, on what is right? Your nephews are held hostage to this maniac. How can you do his bidding?
“What happened to the woman I fought alongside?”
“That woman was sick of losing a battle she could not win. And this obsession that Ulf has for you must end.”
“So this is spawned from jealousy? Love does not care for one’s feelings. But I am not sorry that I love your brother. And that I love Ulf as well.”
“Their loyalty to you is the reason we are here! And you play them both.”
“I do nothing of the sort. I hold no one prisoner. The love I receive and give is not forced. Love is love, something which I thought you understood. You love Ulf. You love your brother. You knew what this would do to them. Yet you fight for a corrupt coward. Why?”
Sigrith’s stance unwavers, for she isn’t the sentimental type. “Because you are not fit to be queen.”
“And you are?”
However, the moment the words leave my lips, I realize that is exactly what she wants.
Power and greed know no bounds.
“Skarth was right, you are exactly like your mother, the woman you killed, remember? You killed her for betraying her people. And here you are, doing the same thing.”
I’ve struck a nerve because the truth hurts.
Aethelbald enters with a scold’s bridle in hand. I don’t bother fighting when he and Sigrith attach the device to my head. The iron part fixed in my mouth renders me speechless and unable to bite off pathetic appendages.
“I do not need your voice. Do that again, and I will cut out your tongue and feed it to your sons. Tomorrow, you will be more cooperative as we have a coronation to attend.”
I am left alone in the darkness, and as always, it’s in the shadows where I plan my revenge because once I am done, I will destroy this kingdom and leave nothing behind.
Twelve
Queen Emeline
“We knew you’d come to your senses,” says the weasel Lord Rufus as I sit at my desk, my ealdormen and soldiers gathered closely around me.
They are all on guard, waiting for me to retaliate.
The stack of paperwork that sits before me has been drawn up in Aethelbald’s favor. Although I am still queen, I am merely a puppet, an ornament to sit and not speak.
Speaking, however, won’t come any time soon, as I still wear the scold’s bridle. Just another way to humiliate me.
