The Woman Who Tried to Be Normal Page 25
“The other day, I had a dream of the Princess too,” she said after a bite of the soft, warm fruit. “How is she?”
“She’s the Princess.” The King was staring at Katherine at last and the annoyance in both his voice and face was all too obvious. “She has everything a person could want and more. Of course she’s fine!”
The Queen smiled at him, as sweetly as she could. “Have you spoken to her lately?”
“Of course! She’s my daughter, I speak to her all the time and it’s none of your—”
“Shouldn’t she be married by now? Perhaps we should take her to Balls with us so she can meet some Princes.”
The King smashed his fork down on his plate.
“What’s gotten into you today?! Since when do you care about what happens with the Princess!”
Katherine could see it would be best if she kept silent now.
“If you would only spend less time on petty gossip and more time figuring out how to be with child,” the King said, right before he slammed his napkin down on his food and stormed out of the chamber.
Two hours early.
Left alone with enough food for thirty people, Katherine put down her fork and stared at her half-eaten boiled apple.
Was it possible that her husband had been lying to her all this time? Her own husband?
She picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth. Then, she replaced it neatly by her side on the table, the way her mother had taught her to.
Of course it was. In this Kingdom, when you had money, anything was possible.
*****
A week later, Katherine crept through the grand, meandering corridors of the castle under the darkness of midnight. She headed towards the East Tower with a red apple in the hand behind her back.
It felt a little heavy, like the weight on her heart. She wondered if she should stop and turn around. After all, she was not yet certain if the person she was going to visit was friend or foe, which made what she wanted to do a little dangerous. What if she was wrong? Then what?
Katherine had no idea. Yet somehow, she could no longer stop herself. The compulsion to visit the East Tower had been eating at her all week and had finally become too strong to resist.
At last, there she was. At the tall double doors that led to the tower. She stopped.
This was her last chance to go back. Her last chance to keep things as they had always been. After this, it would be too late for regrets. She took a deep breath.
And then, she knocked.
“Who is it?” she heard the voice she never forgot say from within.
“Katherine.” Her lips trembled.
“Just a minute.”
Katherine felt herself smile a little, even though she tried her best to remove it as the door opened. Then, she caught sight of the person on the other side of the door and her smile vanished right away.
It was a tall, shaggy-looking male servant. Likely from the King’s Hunt, given the way he was dressed. He bowed the moment he saw her, like all servants were supposed to do. “Good evening, your highness,” he said.
Behind him, by the grand sitting area in front of a lit fireplace, the Princess stood in a dress, pouring wine into two golden chalices studded with diamonds. The same chalice from which Katherine herself had once drunk milk. She smiled warmly when she saw her guest and said, “Hello, Katherine.”
A strange sour feeling crept along Katherine’s skin as she stared at the Princess, then at the huntsman and back at the Princess again.
Only men of intimate relations were allowed into a lady’s chamber. In Katherine’s case, only the King had ever stepped foot into hers. So how did this lowly servant have the audacity to put his feet so deep into the Princess’ private quarters?!
“That’s Philipp,” the Princess said, as if it were nothing much of a matter at all. “We were about to have a drink. Want one?”
Katherine struggled to keep that strange sour feeling from spilling across her face. But despite her best efforts, she felt her eyebrows furrow and her lips curl downwards as an awful plunging sensation gripped her heart.
The smiles on both the Princess and huntsman’s faces faded.
Katherine struggled to get her composure back. “No. I just came to give this to you, to tell you I don’t want it.” She held out the apple as if the sight of it truly offended her.
The Princess’ eyes became large and a look of disappointment appeared in them.
That made Katherine’s heart plunge even further. But she could not do anything about it because that servant stood right between them, watching her every move. And who knew what sort of liberties he had already been allowed!
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” she heard herself saying to the Princess.
The Princess dropped her jaw in response and Katherine decided it might be best for her to shove the apple at the servant and walk away once and for all.
It had become impossible to control herself in the presence of that beautiful woman, she realised. She was too utterly bewitched by her.
*****
Philipp looked at the apple in his hand and then at the Princess with his mouth open.
“Did you see that?” he said. “She was so jealous of you!”
The Princess frowned.
“Is it because you have a man in your room and she... doesn’t?” He grinned.
“Well, you’re not that kind of man, so she shouldn’t be.” She walked to the door and Philipp joined her.
The corridor was empty. Silent and cosy in candlelight.
“I must be really handsome if the Queen would think you want to get fresh with me.”
“Apparently so!” The Princess pushed him out onto the corridor. “Alright handsome, we’ll continue this tomorrow.” She closed the tall doors behind them.
“Where are you going?”
“To look for her.”
“Why? Aren’t you arch enemies or something?”
“Not if I can help it!” the Princess replied, halfway down the corridor.
“So this apple’s mine to eat?”
“I wouldn’t if I were you. It might be poisoned.”
Philipp grimaced and held the apple by its stem instead. He carefully inspected it for holes but found none.
What sort of woman makes a poisoned apple, he wondered as he made his way out via the drab servants’ passageway at the back of the corridor. All the women he had ever met were meek and kind. Until now.
The Queen’s cruel face kept coming to mind. Older than his but in fine form all the same. Her skin was flawless and her body supple where it should be, yet it was the way she held herself that caught his attention. You could tell right away that she was powerful and not afraid to make the most of it.
A silly grin formed on Philipp’s face as he skipped down the dank staircase two steps at a time. The apple jiggled from his fingertips. Dangerous was sexy, he decided. Very, very sexy.
(End of Sample)
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Anna Ferrara.
First published September 2018.
First ebook edition. v1.1
ISBN: 9780463237540 / 9781723829970
ASIN: B07HFX8RSZ
Cover design by Anna Ferrara.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
To acquire the rights to reproduce this book, contact Anna Ferrara via annaferrarabooks.com
o Tried to Be Normal