Dream

'It hurts!'

My whole body was burning from the flames as I suffered through the shame and humiliation of thousands of eyes on me. The air was suffocating but I couldn't get away since the ropes around me tightened through every struggle. As I looked up beyond the flames, there sat a woman with her precious white silk wedding dress, gorgeous blond hair and green eyes.

My green eyes! The man seated next to her looked at me with contempt. His blue clear eyes pierced at me as if I were an insect. I couldn't even look at the crowd that either pitied me or encouraged my execution. I felt sharp stabs as the fire began eating away at my skin. I hated my situation, as well as the cowards who cursed at me when I have no real power. But above all, I resented the happy couple that wanted this brutal display for their wedding day.

As the fire continued to engulf my body, the faces in front of me became blurry, and the noises became dull. The pain from the fire subsided as if it was just a dream.

My eyes shot open and I immediately sat up. My bed was covered in sweat. I felt like I ran a marathon. I looked around as my eyes cleared. I was back in my room. The sun seeped in as my maid opened the curtain.

"Good morning, your highness." She seemed almost startled at the state I was in. I tried to reassure myself as I looked around the room. I was definitely in my room at the palace. I flung the cover off to look at my feet. There were no scars, no burns and I could breathe better than in the dream.

My trembling gradually disappeared as the maids got me ready for the day. I looked at my reflection in the mirror while they arranged my hair. My hair was a healthy onyx that felt as soft as silk, unlike in my dream where it was a dark grey and felt like straw. My skin was paler than usual, probably because of that dream. But my eyes were the same colour as that bride in the dream. It almost sent shivers down my spine.

After a while, I was finally ready to start the day. His majesty, the King, was waiting for me at our usual dining room for breakfast. Though we weren't in love with each other, we were married so the least we could do was fulfil some of our necessary duties that made it seem like we were a married couple. I sat opposite him and stared at the buffet of food aligned in front of us. However, I could barely hold the last nights dinner in my stomach.

"Apologies your Highness, I'm not feeling the best this morning."

"One of your maids told me that you suffered from a nightmare last night."

I was about to excuse myself but couldn't since His Majesty continued the conversation. Of course, he would have someone updating him on everything I did.

"Yes, it was just a small dream though, nothing to worry about."

I smiled reassuringly to try to end the conversation quickly. The longer I stayed the more nauseous I became.

"Well, there is something I want to discuss with you. It is about that woman that I helped a while ago who is staying at the side palace. I wanted to tell you first so that you won't be caught off guard from rumours."

"W-What could possibly surprise me so much that you worry like this?"

My breathing became faster and my head became hot and dizzy. I could barely hear what his next words were or even see the expression he wore on his face as my vision blurred. Before I knew it I was back in my bed with a doctor and his Majesty next to me.

"It was morning sickness. Her Highness is pregnant."

It was expected that I would soon get pregnant since we needed an heir, however, the look on his Majesty's face wasn't that of someone who was expecting the news. He wasn't happy, or understanding, or even surprised. Instead, the look on his face was of blatant anger. He hid his obvious disgust in front of the doctor and maids but to me, it was very clear that he didn't want the baby.

"The queen has a weak body so miscarriage will be highly possible compared to other pregnancies. So please look after your health and don't over do it. Rest as much as you can."

Doctors have always told me that my body was weak so I always had to look after my health. Now that I'm pregnant it almost felt like shackles.

His Highness and I were finally left alone with the excuse of me needing rest, but his Highness definitely wanted to discuss something while nobody was around.

"What I wanted to say before... that woman who I told you about, who was staying at the side palace, I have decided that she will permanently move to live in the palace from now on. Do you understand?"

I already knew what this meant without him having to explain any further. I couldn't argue with him about it since our marriage wasn't based on love.

"What about my baby?"

I asked looking down at my stomach since I couldn't even look at him considering the situation.

"We'll decide on what to do with it when it's born."

With those last words, he left my room. I couldn't help but assume that I would lose my baby regardless of whether it's before it's born or after. I couldn't let anything happen to the baby, especially when it's my firstborn.

After a few days went by since the announcement of my pregnancy, I finally got to meet the concubine his Majesty allowed into the palace. She had long auburn hair which almost seemed like a deep red under the sun's rays. Her eyes were an emerald green while her cheeks were dyed red like roses. Though it was a coincidence that we met in the rose garden, the concubine didn't seem that surprised.

"Queen Katharina, you look well!" She exclaimed as if we were friends, I was obviously shocked but even if it was a concubine I had to keep my composure.

"Who might you be?" I tried to make it obvious that I wasn't welcoming her.

"I guess Oscar hasn't told you about me, yet."

I was caught off guard when she just casually mentioned his Majesty's name. I wanted to correct her, scold her, make her regret entering the palace, however, if his Majesty truly favoured her then there was nothing I could do.

"My name is Beatrice, but you can call me Bea since we stay under the same roof and share a husband." Her innocent smile infuriated me.

'How dare she talk to me about sharing a husband! I never agreed to her living in the palace, yet she roams around as if it was her birth right.'

I could hear my lady's-in-waiting whisper. I knew it was not to insult me but it still made me feel inferior towards that concubine in some way.

"My name is Katharina Cordelia Von Zameria, it's a pleasure to finally meet his Majesty's concubine."

I emphasized my surname since it was a name she could never own as a concubine. Calling her a concubine almost pushed her position down in the hierarchy regardless of whether she was favored more or not.

An awkward silence hung in the air after what I said. I wasn't expecting her to cry but it didn't seem like she was reacting at all. Well, my point came across so there was no reason to stay.

"Well, Lady Beatrice, I'm not feeling well right now so I'll excuse myself first." I turned around so that I could swiftly leave and not continue the conversation, but suddenly the concubine stopped me from walking off by grabbing onto my dress. With one tug the sash that wrapped around my waist came undone and landed on the concubine's lap, as she fell to the ground from the sudden force. I was almost afraid to touch my stomach because of the pressure that I felt from the pull. As I looked back to see the damage, the concubine's eyes began to water as she held onto the sash with trembling hands.

"I-I'm sorry your Majesty! I'll pay you back, I didn't mean to!" She began sobbing as if I had a dagger at her throat. "I just wanted to stop you from walking towards the rose thorns."

I looked in the direction I was headed. There were indeed roses up ahead-considering we were in a rose garden, however, I would have been able to avoid those flowers anyway. It wasn't like I was blind.

Just then I heard a pair of footsteps approaching. It was his Majesty. I could only imagine what he thought happened when looking at us.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

He immediately picked up the concubine and doted on her as if she were his actual wife. She still clung to the sash with dear life.

"I-It was my fault. I made her Highness uncomfortable. Please forgive me."

She looked at me with desperation while his Highness looked at me with sharp eyes.

"Shouldn't you be resting now that you're pregnant? You can just buy a new dress. You should be careful where you go from now on."

Translation: Stay inside and don't make any more contact with Beatrice.

Of course, he would care more about the concubine's well being than his own child's.

I excused myself and made my way back inside. I took a peek at the couple that remained in the rose garden.

It was a picture-perfect scene of a doting lover wiping away the tears of his wife with a loving gaze. I felt miserable at the sight. But instead of acting on those feelings, I ignored them and lived as if the two that caused my misery never existed.

With that mindset, I lived nine months rarely encountering his Highness and hardly ever encountering the concubine. But that lifestyle came crashing down when I was ready to finally give birth to the next heir.