Consequences

Like every rumor, it quickly took on a life of its own, mutating after every re-telling. King Cyrus could only gnash his teeth in anger as the streets gossiped about his favorite daughter. 

Hazelle did her best — or so the king thought — to stop it, but her powers were limited. With her husband's sway of the crowd dwindling, there wasn't much she could do. But on the other hand, there wasn't much she wanted to do as well. She had worked hard for the Molinero sisters to fall and now that one had taken the bait, Hazelle wasn't prepared to save her from her own blunder.

More importantly, Queen Anette made sure news of Drusilla's disgraceful affair was spread far and wide, so much so that everyone, from young infants at their mother's breasts to the old and penniless beggars living in the slums, knew about Drusilla's wanton behavior.

And everyone had an opinion about it.