Trip to the Holy Church

The carriage of House Del Montague was boarded and ready to leave, except for the two missing passengers. Alexander and Felicia had now become joined at the hip. Everyone in the manor knew it. They spent all day, every day together. Even when Alex met with his instructor for heirship training, Felicia was there.

So it was no surprise that the only ones seated in the carriage were the Duke, Duchess and Helena. The siblings would either come together or not at all. The Duke didn't think much about it. He still believed that Alex was simply shaping up Felicia to become a proper lady. And he was clearly succeeding. The Duke did not have to hear of Felicia bullying Helena at all. 

I've failed to discipline Felicia, but Alexander has done it. I will leave her to him entirely. Once she gets married, she will no longer be my burden to bear.

Tyren was tempted to ask the Duke to simply leave and attend the church as just the three of them, but Alex was his heir. He didn't care about leaving Felicia behind, but Alex was important. So as long as that witch had a grasp on him, they had no choice but to tolerate her.

A moment later, the sisters appeared. They were chatting happily and dressed in matching colors. 

"What took you so long?" Roelle inquired.

"I was having a hard time choosing what to wear, your grace. This is the first time in 5 years I've been able to attend mass; I wanted to ensure I wasn't dressed inappropriately." Dixie replied sweetly.

The Duke nodded. "Very well, get in." 

Bonnie helped Dixie into the carriage before taking a seat beside her. A servant closed the door and hit the carriage two times signaling for the coachman to go.

Helena eyes flared with jealousy. Alex was sitting too close to Felicia. Not only that, the bitch looked too pretty for her liking. Even dressed in a simple brown dress with no jewelry and her hair hanging freely, Felicia's beauty shined.

Looking down at herself, Helena knew that despite having dressed up more she still did not look better than Felicia. In fact, she only looked better than Felicia when the latter wasn't getting enough to eat. 

Has she always been this beautiful? I hate her so much!

Tyren too was vexed that her once faithful dog was no longer under her control. Alex had taken such a liking to Felicia that he was even dressing in the same color as her. Surely this was witchcraft!

Unbeknownst to Tyren and Helena, Bonnie and Dixie had the same fashion sense. Instinctively, they would always find themselves dressing similarly.

There was no conversation during the entire ride. At one point, Bonnie dozed off. Chuckling, Dixie adjusted her sister and placed her head on her lap.

Helena was simply too furious to look. She determinedly kept her gaze out the window.

Even the Duke was a bit shocked. These two really had grown close in such a short period of time.

Once the Cathedral came into view, Dixie gasped and nudged Bonnie awake. "Dude, wake up! This place is so beautiful!"

Tyren was confused. Dude?

The carriage came to a halt and the family alighted it, Dixie and Bonnie jumping out first. Both of them had only read a description of the Cathedral, so for them this was truly the first time seeing it. They could not hide their awe. The entire place was built like a palace. The architecture was beautiful! The stone carvings were exquisite! There were so many colorful crystals displayed all over.

Dixie fanned her skirt and spun in a circle, feeling like a princess attending Barbie Princess Charm School. She walked over to the nearest flower assortment and took a sniff of the bright yellow petals. Laughing she continued to spin and dance around.

Unbeknownst to her, a lot of eyes were watching her. They were mesmerized by this beautiful, fair skinned lady with fire like hair dancing around so playfully. 

Who was she? They recognized the Del Montague family. But who was this new lady with them?

Tyren disapproved, believing Felicia's mannerisms to be embarrassing. She glanced at her husband thinking he would chastise her, but the Duke's expression was lost as he watched his daughter.

He felt a stirring in his heart watching Felicia dance around the flowers. It reminded him of his beloved Moniqua. She was also playful like this. And apart from her red hair, Felicia looked exactly like his dead wife. Under the sunlight, the resemblance triggered a longing. He wanted to grab her and give her a hug.

"Felicia, enough dancing. We need to head inside." The Duke's tone was soft.

Helena noticed it immediately. What?! Just because that bitch was dancing around the flowers like an idiot, he goes soft?! First, Alex with his dream and now this?!

"Mother!" Helena hugged her mother and buried her face in her chest.

Tyren was a bit surprised. "What's wrong, my love?"

Helena said nothing, just kept holding onto her mother as they all walked inside.

Once they were all seated on the long bench situated to the left of the statue of Kartara, three priests approached them and bowed.

"Greeting, Grand Duke! May the Goddess bless you and your family!"

The Duked nodded his head in acknowledgement.

One of the priests looked at Helena and smiled. "We were ordered by the Pope to bring the Saintess with us. She will be leading the prayer today."

Helena's sullen face suddenly beamed with happiness. She got up and bowed. "I would be honored to lead the prayer!"

Tyren smiled. "Go girl, make me proud!"

Bonnie and Dixie were only half aware of the exchange. Their eyes were glued to the statue of the Goddess. It was hypnotic!