Chapter 8

"The princess has been praying for the wellbeing of our warriors so intently. I admire her kindness. It reminds me of her mother."

"Bless her soul. She must be looking down at her daughter proud of how she raised the princess. The king did not deserve Anne."

"Ssh, do you want to be killed? Let us go and stop staring at the princess," one of the villager women said before dragging the other off to look for their children on the outside.

Unaware of the people around her speaking about what she was doing Amelia continued to pray.

'If you let her child be a girl, I promise to give up my sarcastic remarks. No, that won't be easy. It's in my blood for me to be sarcastic. I will give up my comebacks to my father. No, I can't do that either. Forgive me if this comes off as rude. If Annabelle's child is a girl, I will increase the number of funds sent to the orphanage the same day I get the news. Please listen to my words and grant them,' she prayed, bowing over and over.

'Please protect our warriors out at war and send them home to their loved ones safely. Hear their cries and grant their wishes. Thank you for listening,' she kept the promise she told the old man.

Amelia opened her eyes once she was finished praying and looked up at the statue of Gods surrounded by candles in the temple. Hopefully one of them would grant her prayer or they might hurt her for wishing someone had a certain gender baby.

They had not listened to her request for her father to choke and die. Why did the Gods have to be so merciful? Didn't they see how much people had to suffer for keeping one man from dying?

Amelia stood up from the floor with grace and gave one final bow to the statue before turning to leave the temple before she might run into the priest. With her back turned to the statues, Amelia wasn't able to witness candles blowing out around the statue of Eris, Goddess of chaos and discord, before becoming lit by themselves again.

Amelia bowed bidding goodbye to the villagers and townspeople visiting the temple who in return got to their feet to show their feet.

'They deserve a good ruler,' she thought to herself as she started to search for where Cyrus had wandered off to.

"Princess," he suddenly appeared behind her.

Ameilia clutched her aching heart as Cyrus almost sent it into a frenzy for popping up out of nowhere. She couldn't understand how he was so light on his feet that you could hear him approaching you. "Whenever you do that, I am almost certain your plan was to give me a heart attack and watch me die."

"Never," Cyrus replied like the stoic man he always was. "While you were in the temple, I heard that your father is in a meeting with the men of the court talking about war and the funds they will need to cut to provide provisions for the warriors. Your mother's orphanage and the school she built will be brought up."

"Of course, it will be. Each day they take part in a game of how to make a dead woman unable to rest in her grave. Had they not taken the initiative to invade one of the villages in the north, the northerner king wouldn't have called for war. My father should pay out of his pockets for what is happening," said Amelia.

There were peaceful days before this fighting a month ago where the north and the people of the Blackwell kingdom ignored each other. It was through her father's ego that warriors from their side attacked a village in the north. Now the king of the north was slaughtering their men.

"Let's go," she started walking in the direction of the throne room where the meeting would be held.

"Are you sure it is a bright idea to waltz into there when your father will be with all of the court men and his advisors? You must remember the punishment your father gave you last time." Cyrus admired her bravery and determination but going up against the king was not easy. In the castle, nothing angered the king more than seeing women getting involved in things he believed did not concern them.

"Being locked in a room with no interaction from anyone does not compare to cutting the funds from my mother's orphanages and schools. First, his mistress is pregnant, and now this. What a wonderful day," Amelia scowled, wishing she had stayed in bed rather than getting up early because of her father.

Cyrus saw Amelia as a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and either destroy this castle or herself.

"Knock them out for me and wait outside," she instructed Cryus as they approached the throne room but there were three guards stationed at the entrance.

Cyrus did as told without any objections. He picked up his pace walking ahead of Amelia to confront the guards telling her to stop approaching.

Amelia didn't pay any attention to the three guards and Cyrus's little fight. All that mattered was she had gained access to the throne room. She pushed open the large doors and entered the throne room much to the dismay of her father who frowned when he saw her. "Good morning gentlemen. A pleasant start to the day isn't it?"

"Have you no manners child?" Her father banged his fists against the edge of the throne annoyed by her barging in once again.

"How did you arrive at that conclusion when the first thing I did was say good morning and complimented the day? Would you have preferred me to spew words like a drunkard in a bar? That wouldn't be ladylike of me father," Amelia replied ignoring the harsh stares from the men who had their beliefs about how women should act.

If they had a day to spare, she would give them a lesson on how she believed men should act.

Maybe one day wouldn't be enough.