THE FORBIDDEN QUEEN

Elara's POV

“Eighteen years! My father, King Aldric roared, shi rage barely concealed. "For eighteen years, Isolde, not a single boy! “

"Please, my King," my mother، Queen Isolde mumbled weakly.

“Tsh!" he scowled. "All the hundreds of pounds of gold I made your father give you just to take you off of his hands when you were just fourteen? The gold I sow Dr on the wedding? The slaves I presented to your parents just to get you married into my house? And all that for what?”

My stomach churned as he humiliated my mother publicly. The councilors shuffled restlessly in their seats, but not one of them was brave enough to speak whilst he spoke, for his rage knew no bounds.

"I spent so long," he continued. "What did I get for it” He waved his hand at me. “This!” He frowned as his gaze fell upon me, like I was a sore to the eye.

At that moment, every single pair of eyes in the room turned to face me.

"A female!" he spat. "Eighteen years of marriage. Not one boy born! You failed me, Isolde."

 My mother fell on her knees, hands clasped together as she cried and begged. "Please, my King, one more chance. Please. Perhaps the gods will bless us with a male child.”

He snorted a cold, terrible laugh that caused my blood to freeze in my veins. "One more chance? I've worked harder than any man in the bedroom for eighteen years, you woman... Eighteen years! All you gave me was this worthless girl."

I wanted to speak, wanted to say something, but my mouth stayed firmly sealed.

His eyes, turned back to the council. "Go to her father’s land and send my word to him, bring back every single gold coin I have spent on her. I don't want her as my wife anymore."

Mother was sobbing, with shoulders quaking and muscus running down her nose.

“Father..." I managed to say, but the whisper was too small.

With an even more furious tone than before, he turned his glare upon me. "Shut up! Women should not speak while a man is talking! You do not talk when men are talking!”

I froze.

"You women," he sneered, "you are all worthless aside from the kitchen-- warming a husband's bed and pushing out son after son. You were born to serve, not to speak."

Somewhere inside me, something snapped, I itched to talk back , but I kept my mouth shut. I'm not getting killed for opening my stupid trap.

Then he pointed at me once again. "And this one-this thing-isn't my daughter. She's a witch! She ate all the sons her mother was supposed to have. That's why none of them lived!"

It was deadly silent in the room. The torches themselves seemed to stop moving.

Blinking twice, his words echoed in my head Did he actually accuse me of eating unborn brothers?

I looked at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or just plain crazy, judging by his clenched jaw, it's probably both.

"I didn't do anything like that!" I spat out before I could stop myself.

"Be silent!" he boomed, banging his hand on the table. "You are only allowed to speak for what is said to you. You are a disgrace to the royal house. That is why I have kept you hidden these long years. How would it look for a king to show to the world that his firstborn is a girl?"

He spat to his side.

"You think I hid you because I cared for you? No. I hid you because you're proof of my shame. The gods cursed me with you. For the past 4 years I’ve tried to find a man who would marry you but no one wanted you!”

I just wanted to disappear right now. My skin was burning, my ears were ringing, and I could hardly breathe.

The King turned back to the council. 'They're both witches. Hang them now!'

Gasps filled the hall, while my mother screamed, "Please! We're no witches, my King! You surely know that!"

An old wrinkled man with not much teeth, one of the council elders, claimed, "Your Majesty, respectfully, we already put them on trial months ago. The royal court and priests said they were innocent. It is not correct to execute them now."

The King glared at him. "So what are you suggesting, Elder?"

"If you punish them again, it will start a rebellion," the elder said carefully. "Queen Isolde's parents rule another important house, and that will destroy the peace between Taranth and their land."

"So we just let them go?" the King snapped.

The elder hesitated. "Take away their titles. Strip them of their rights to the throne."

For a moment, the room was silent. Then the King smirked. "Fine. If I can't kill them, I'll just erase them."

My mother raised her head from the floor, tears streaming down her face. "Please, no..."

"Guards!" the King yelled. "Take away every royal symbol. Everything."

My heart sank as two guards stepped forward. They didn't even look at us. They started by taking off my mother's crown and necklace, her bracelets, her rings, even the brooch on her robe.

Then they came for me.

"Don't touch her," my mother screamed back, trying to pull free, but another guard had already secured her from her escape.

I stood frozen as harsh hands tugged at the belt around my waist. The heavy royal cloak fell to the floor. They removed the pin within my sleeves, my robe--anything with a Taranth crest.

Soon, we would both be standing in only our undergarments. My face burned hot with the whispers of courtiers and servants about us.

My father-no, the King-looked at us with disgust.

""Look," he said, "the disgrace of Taranth. The barren queen and her useless daughter. From today, you are naught. You have no title, no power, no rights to this house."

He raised his hand like the gods were watching. "I, King Aldric of Taranth, say that Isolde and her daughter Elara are no longer royal. They're stripped of everything, and banished from this castle now!"