Chapter 9
Ariadne was led to her chamber by the king's third wife, Amara. Amara wasn't permitted to enter the castle that often, and amongst the King's wives she often felt like an outcast. Which is why, when she got the offer to lead the new queen to her room, she agreed in a breath. She was also tasked with showing the queen around, something Queen Amara was looking forward to. In a funny way, it was quite ironic.
"I guess since we are sister wives, I'll refer to you as my elder sister then" Ariadne smiled at her escort.
"You can call me Queen Amara. I might not be of royal heritage, but I know enough not to trust anyone in this castle, yourself included." She snorted. Needless to say, Ariadne was taken aback by the sudden hostility. She knew that the king had many wives, and that there would be competition for his affection, but never did she expect such a blatant expression of aversion towards herself. "I suggest you do the same," Amara added.
The new Queen, Queen Ariadne didn't dare say anything else, and simply let her sister wive lead her the way. One of the maids accompanying them opened the door, only to reveal two more women, that is Ariadne's other sister wives decorating the room. "This is beautiful" Ariadne blurted out involuntarily.
"I am glad someone likes it" Queen Myra prompted with the snide comment.
"I am sure the king will love this too" Ariadne interjected, trying to be nice.
"That is, if he shows up. Oh girl, no matter how beautiful you look or how much you woo the King, he will always belong to the Queen consort, Antiope."Queen Myra scoffed.
Recalling how diverted the king's attention was towards the said queen, Ariadne's face fell. After all, her fears were confirmed. "If he loves his first bride so much, why did he marry so many times"? Ariadne couldn't help but ask. Ariadne, for some reason assumed that the king was bored with his current wives, that he wanted to be with someone better, more beautiful, more royally suited, like Ariadne, but upon hearing this, all she felt was a tinge of betrayal in her heart.
"Because the queen consort refuses to look at him," Queen Myra scoffed.
"How can she"? Ariadne was shocked. "To have all the attention of her husband, and still not want it? Has she lost her mind"? Ariadne asked, then quickly added. "I beg your pardon for crossing my boundaries"
"It's okay. We sisters call her the Mad Queen. She is not only unaffectionate towards her husband, she has done other terrible things too" Queen Myra scoffed. "For instance…"Queen Myra trailed off, rolling up her sleeve revealing an old scar.
"The queen did this"? Ariadne was shocked, scared for her dear life. As a younger wife, would she be subjected to a similar torture, she wondered. "Why wasn't she convicted? This cannot be legal in this country"
"How can something be illegal when the country belongs to you"? Amara added. "Her father passed down this kingdom to her, but as a woman she was forced to take a husband so that someone could rule it."
"She can get away with anything"? Trembling, Ariadne asked.
"In a manner of speaking. Let's just say she didn't inflict this scar on me directly. She made me fetch the warm water for her bath on my first week here, and ensured that I fell by putting a hurdle in my way. This is not the only scar I have, but I am too ashamed to show the rest even to the king himself" Queen Myra gulped, recalling her agonising memory.
It took Ariadne a moment to realise that the burn probably would have spread to her body as well, to the areas Queen Myra must keep concealed. And yet, this can easily be mistaken for an accident, which means if Queen Antiope really did it, she wouldn't be spared as well.
"If you want to survive, you must avoid the Queen Consort, but you must also avoid the king. We learnt it the hard way". Queen Eliana spoke softly.
"I am the princess of Calidon, she cannot do this to me"
"You really think Calidon has a chance with Scarpetia, especially with the unhinged support of the King"? Myra scoffed. "You foolish little girl". The second queen mocked. Queen Ariadne went quiet upon hearing it.
"Don't be an idiot, don't wait up. We all thought that the king would come, that maybe he'll be different towards us, but we were all just fooling ourselves" Queen Myra snorted.
"Then why put so much effort into decorating this place"? Ariadne asked after a long moment of silence.
"To show off" Queen Amara snapped. "No matter what, we must decorate everything, just in case the king shows up he shouldn't be disappointed. Doesn't matter if it's the King disappointing others".
"Amara"! Eliana hushed. "The King might not be warm towards us, but he is still our husband. We shall not speak about him like that" Eliana sighed.
"Apart from the ring I wear, I have nothing else to show for it" Amara rolled her eyes. "Unlike you all, I live by the bayou, remember?"
"Then don't try to be too bold on your rare days here" Queen Myra prompted. "You don't know this castle the way I do. If you are not careful with your words, instead of you your corpse might end up here" Queen Myra warned.
Queen Amara didn't bother to say anything else after that. It was always clear that amongst the Queens, her opinions mattered the least. Being a woman and not hailing from a royal family and yet married to one does that to you.
"Will the king really not come"? Ariadne mumbled, to divert the heat of the situation as she sat down to get changed. The Queens, who were done decorating, turned to her and started to get her into the satin nightgown, that wasn't too revealing, and yet, quite easy to remove, just in case.
"Oh little lamb, how you remind me of my younger days"Queen Myra chuckled. "You are lucky you have us. It's the tradition for us to dress the new bride, but when I came, I didn't receive the same treatment. Queen Antiope not only kept glaring at me, but presented me with the worst robe that she could possibly acquire." Queen Myra reminisced with utter disgust.
"I was lucky, I had her," Queen Eliana prompted, "My husband might have not shown up that night, but Queen Myra ensured I was well prepared."
"I thought the king didn't show up because of how horrible I looked, that he perhaps came by, sneaked a glance and left the chamber. I didn't want dear Eliana to suffer the same, so I ensured she looked prettiest, even prettier than she looked in her wedding gown" a smile crept up the face of Queen Myra.
"I never had a big sister growing up, but I am glad I had her," Queen Eliana smiled. Subconsciously, Ariadne turned her head towards Amara, to hear her side of the story.
It appeared Amara wasn't planning on sharing hers, so her bigger sister wives did that for her.
"When it came to Amara, we even asked the Royal kingsguard, Desmond, to make sure to send the King". Queen Eliana informed Ariadne.
Upon hearing it, Amara's face jerked towards them. Did these two really do that for them? For some reason she felt (back then) that they sabotaged hers and the King's night, until she noticed how coldly he treats all of his wives who are not Antiope.
"Are you being serious"? Amara couldn't help but ask.
"Why not?" Queen Myra shrugged. "I know it seems we don't like you, which is partly true. But we're all women here. We understand the importance of a wedding night. Even if I were to be jealous of other women, I would never sabotage anyone's wedding night." Queen Myra declared, affirming to the fact that the queen deduced the cause of hostility of Queen Amara towards the rest of them.
"I didn't know" is all Queen Amara could tell.
"We all had a bit of a different experience on our wedding night. I remember Queen Amara didn't bother talking to any one of us" Queen Eliana mused. "But we all had one similarity. The king never showed up" She sighed.
Queen Myra pointed Ariadne's face to the mirror. "Look at yourself, any man would feel lucky to have you" Queen Ariadne was definitely flattered upon hearing this, "Too bad you're married to one who can't see what he has, and only chases after what he doesn't". The queen sighed. "We must leave now. The dress you're wearing is comfortable, just go to sleep." She advised and asked the others to follow her, leaving the new queen all by herself.
Despite several warnings, Queen Ariadne found herself staying awake, waiting for the King. No amount of warning was enough to prepare herself for the loneliness she was about to feel .With every passing minute her heart broke until her drowsiness overpowered her grief.