Announcement

Florence placed the cloth on her ankle again. Rilla had just put more ice inside, so it was soothing. She was waiting for the medication to take effect and make the pain diminish a little.

She did not want to go to dinner, many people from her birthday celebration were still around and she did not like the attention that they would give her with everything that was going on. But she had promised Sofia.

Her ankle was not getting any better. In fact, the throbbing had become unbearable without the medication. As soon as it wore off she needed to take more. She gently pushed on the bruised tenderness and hissed.

'Maybe I should tell Richard to let me see the doctor.'

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Florence sighed, reckoning that her mother had sent one of her maids to tell her to hurry.

"Come in," she called. But as soon the door opened, she froze in surprise.

"I am here to escort you to dinner, my lady," Henry uttered.

He did not look very happy about being there. His voice was emotionless and he stood by the door with his hands behind his back.

'Did Lady Flock force him to escort me?'

Florence noticed his eyes shift down as he stared at her exposed leg. She quickly pushed her dress down to cover it.

"I–I did not think I would have an escort." She was looking away now.

"Trust me, I did not know I would escort anyone either." He pressed his lips together. "And I do not wish to either," he added, making his stance clear. "But these days, I find myself doing many things that I don't wish to do."

Henry was mad. His mother had pestered him all afternoon about escorting Lady Kalwen to dinner. He could not believe that she had accepted the marriage deal so easily. She did not even try to defend him. He felt like she was actually happy about the situation.

Florence handed the cloth of ice to Rilla, who then helped her stand. She extended her left arm toward Henry without taking one step further.

"Really?" he scoffed. 'This woman makes me want to strangle her.'

He strode closer to her and grabbed her hand, not as gently as he should have. Florence gasped when he yanked her forward, then winced.

"My lord–" Rilla started.

"Thank you, Rilla. You may retire for the night," Florence interrupted.

The maid hesitated for a moment. "Yes, my lady." She bowed before she left.

Florence glared at Henry. "Can't you be more gentle?"

"With you? Probably not."

She pressed her lips tightly as they made their way out of her room.

Henry took fast steps, he wanted to get there as fast as he could and get away from Florence. He could not stand looking at her. Every time he thought about the chaos she had brought to his life, he wanted to shake her until she told everyone the truth. Until she released him from the ridiculous trap she had set him up for. He still had a small hope that he could get out of it.

"Please," Florence uttered, squeezing his arm.

He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

"You are walking too fast, I–I cannot keep up."

Florence looked pitiful. She was sweating and panting like she could faint at any moment. Her state only made Henry more mad. He grabbed her arm and shook her.

"You need to stop acting like a victim, because you are not," he hissed close to her face. "You are the trickster who made this whole plan, and I will not feel bad for you, however pitiful you try to look."

Florence blinked at him a few times, but her shock passed quickly. She angrily yanked her arm away from him. "I do not 'act' like a victim. I cannot step on my left ankle because I twisted it at the lake, remember?"

Henry remembered what he saw in her room. It did look like her ankle was swollen and bruised. "What are you talking about? That was three days ago."

"And your point is?" Florence had her arms crossed and glared at him.

"Are you telling me that the great Kalwens Castle does not have a doctor?"

Florence shifted immediately. Her shoulders slumped a bit and she swallowed. Henry noticed the change but did not back down.

"Or are you pretending?"

"I am not," she objected, a little louder than she had planned to. "It is my punishment," she mumbled, her face turning a bright shade of red. "My mother forbade anyone from healing me."

Henry studied her for a moment, trying to determine whether she was lying to him.

"Fine," he finally said. "I will walk slower." He offered her his arm again and she took it.

When they entered the room, Florence could finally see how many guests were still around.

'Too many,' she thought.

As soon as they were noticed, many eyes were on them and they could hear whispers even over the soft music that was playing. She unconsciously squeezed Henry's arm and he clenched his jaw at the whole situation.

"Right this way, my lady, my lord," a footman offered. He guided them to their designated seats. They were in the middle of the spread tables, and by one another.

"Henry, Florence," Sofia, whose chair was next to Henry's, greeted them warmly.

"Good evening, Lady Flock," Florence forced a smile, even though she was too uncomfortable under everyone's stares.

Henry did not respond. He pulled the chair for Florence, his movement as stiff as could be, then sat between her and his mother.

Richard sat to Florence's left, which made her feel a bit at ease–even though he had not spoken to her since the meeting with the Flocks. Had she sat next to Hannah, Florence doubted she could handle anything her cousin would throw at her tonight.

As soon as the guests were seated, Richard pushed to his feet and the music stopped. Florence looked at her brother in surprise.

"I have an announcement to make," Richard said, looking around the room.

'Is he–'

Florence heard Henry curse under his breath, and that answered her wondering.

"I am extremely happy to announce my little sister's engagement to my good friend Henry Flock." He raised his glass of wine and looked down at Florence with a wide smile. "To Henry and Florence," he added before the whole room repeated after him.

"To Henry and Florence."

Florence was not expecting this, and from the look of it, neither did Henry. She nodded at a few people, making an effort to smile. Sofia discreetly elbowed her son until he too, smiled and toasted.

People were smiling, but Florence knew that they were also gossiping about the announcement, and the circumstances of it. She did not care though, she had gotten what she wanted. She was not marrying Galley. As soon as she thought of him, her eyes met his.

Marquis Galley did not smile, he did not toast, his eyes were fixated on Florence and she could only feel hostility coming from him. Her body shivered.

"What do you think you are doing?" Henry's voice got her attention. She turned to face him and he noticed how pale she looked. He tilted his head to the side and immediately saw Galley looking. He looked back at Florence. "Would you mind removing your hand?"

Florence's eyes traveled down with confusion, only to find that in her panic, she had placed her hand on Henry's lap unconsciously. She retreated her hand immediately, her eyes were wide and color and heat had returned to her face.

"My apologies…I,I–"

"Just don't touch me again," Henry said with a cold voice.

Florence could only nod. 'What a disaster.'