LOGINShare
Chapter 12 Choices
Last Updated:
2021-08-10 02:02:28*Ana*
We are escorted to a set of guest rooms that are freshly cleaned with flowers in every vase. The rooms smell sweet and airy. And it feels bright with the yellow wallpaper and soft cream-colored furniture. It was more than adequate for anyone staying in the castle. But I feel odd about having to use it.
Why can't I use my old bedroom? I remember having one of my own. Though I can’t say exactly what that looked like. But I did.
So why not just let me use that?
Unless someone else uses it now. It strikes me that they might not be free anymore.
It might be his now. I smile when I think of him.
If that's the case...
I don’t mind the room change. It’s insignificant to me.
"What you smiling about?"Maddie is in the middle of unpacking. She opens trunks to pull out packed clothes.
"I was thinking that this isn't my room."
"Oh? You remember that?" Maddie pauses to roll a pair of socks.
"I'm surprised you can. You were so young when you left."
I lessen my smile a little at that fact.
"Oh," Maddie gasps.
"I didn't mean- what I was saying was that it was some years ago..." But It doesn’t help. My smile is dying on the vine.
"Ah! How about we go see it then? Come on-" Maddie pumps up her voice to sound eager.
"We'll go see it. Maybe it's the same as before?"
"No, Maddie." I shake my head.
"I...it's not necessary."
Because it's being used. The thought does bring a smile back to my face. I hope he likes the room. I can’t remember if I did or not.
“Ana?” Maddie looks at me confused. I must look odd- just smiling to myself. I wave my head to turn to look down in the trunk. It’s here that we hear a knock at the door.
"Coming," Maddie’s up. She flies across the room to pull back the door. It’s one of the queen's maids.
"Her majesty is waiting to take tea with Empress Anastasia down in the garden." She speaks with utter politeness.
The tea! I raise with excitement but Maddie throws back a hand to me. She furrows her brow at the maid.
“Well, she's still not dressed,” Maddie quickly objects with a nod to the trunks.
“We only just started unpacking.”
“Queen Belinda is known for her hospitality. She is the queen among queens when it comes to etiquette. She wouldn’t make such a faux pas. You must be mistaken.”
“We need more time to prepare.” Maddie sounds a little annoyed for some reason.
“It’ll be fine.” I come over. There is no reason to wait.
My stepmother is just eager to see me. I smile at the idea.
“Tell my mother I will join her shortly,”
The maid nods and leaves down the hall before I see Maddie. She is frowning as if she doesn't agree.
“But the temperature- Ana, it will be growing colder tonight. I planned to change you into something with more layers.” Maddie pulls up a thicker dress with long sleeves. It’s still cut in the Nochten fashion but it’s hardier.
But I frown upon seeing it. It looks ugly. I don’t want to look bad in front of my stepmother. And besides, if I start changing now- it will be past dark.
I don’t want to make her wait that long.
“I’ll just throw another shawl on.” I move to retrieve the gift box. It fits into my pocket easily.
“It’s too cold for just that. Look at how darker it already is. The weather here isn't like how it is in Nochten. Dawny's autumn nights are much colder.” Maddie demonstrates the sleeves of the dress.
"Look here. See how thicker the sleeves are. You'll be warmer in this." Maddie points the contrast out.
“You’re not going to last long in what you have on.”
“I’ll be fine.” I can’t bring myself to change. I just want to go. I’m just tired of sitting around when I could be doing something.
“I’ll put on three shawls, then.” I pull out three from the trunks. Each is woven with intricate designs.
I make a show of wrapping them around me. They puff up nice and thick around my shoulders. So I finish with a ‘see, I know what I’m doing’ look.
“Ana, THAT. WON’T. BE. ENOUGH.” Maddie speaks slowly.
“Come here so I may dress you.” Maddie shakes the dress with a snap.
But I narrowed my eyes. Being told what to do- it’s not something I am used to.
“It’s not like this is Almony or something. It’s not that cold. I’m going to be fine.” I rebuke but Maddie shook her head.
“Just let me dress you, Ana.”
“ENOUGH.”
Maddie steps back stunned for a moment. And so do I. I’ve never had to yell at her before. It feels…terrible.
But Mother is waiting. I can only think and feel that I do not want to waste more time.
They could both be waiting for me. That’s right. She might not be alone.
The queen did mention it was only a fever. He might be better now.
“I am going. Mother is waiting.” I lower my voice but don’t mince words.
"I'll see you when I come back."
"Ana-"
"I'll tell you how it went."
And I turn on my heel to march out of the room. I keep my eyes forward though I feel her watch me. Her warm eyes seem to burn my back.
No, don’t feel bad. I try to reason. I can’t keep Mother waiting.
Or Nicoli.
A maid waiting in the hall leads me out. I don’t look back. I’m scared too.
Maddie will understand.
Latest chapter
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 90 Shape of the Heart
*Ana*“No,” I whisper, the word a razor's edge against the burning silence filling my head."It isn’t true.” The confession slides from my lips—trembling, fragile as blown glass slipping from desperate fingers. Falling. Slipping. Too thin. Too delicate to catch. They shatter in the stillness, each fragment cutting deeper than the last."I can't be in love with Nicoli—" But the sentence splinters off in my throat. It dies half-born, smothered beneath the weight pressing in from every side. Because the room is shifting. Subtly. Menacingly. But it will not stop like a pebble rolling down a great hill, gaining momentum with every stretched moment.The air bends first—then the walls. Stone walls seem to breathe, pressing closer like a closing jaw. Carved molding above the hearth liquefies, candlelight blurring into molten halos that pulse and writhe. Each breath becomes a razor—sharp, shallow, scraping against the inside of my throat.I cannot breathe.The sound that leaves me is half ga
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 89 Eye Opening
*Anastasia*“I thought you could use a friend, just about now.”The word—friend—hangs over me, almost mockingly, slicing through the stillness of the room. It catches in my throat, sharp and bitter, a shard of glass impossible to swallow. Behind me, the fire in the grate sputters and hisses, a dying serpent casting its last embers across stone-gray walls. Each spark feels like a taunting whisper, a brittle laugh echoing the fractures of the day.Not because his words were untrue—but because they laid bare the raw, bleeding wound of what had transpired between Hidi and me. The memory burns like a brand, fresh and searing, leaving no room for excuse because the fight is still too fresh, no time yet to heal or balm.My fingers curl around the door knob, knuckles bleaching white, tendons straining beneath skin pulled taut with tension. I should close the door right now. Dismiss him. Do anything but stand here, suspended between the hollow emptiness of the hallway and the dangerous promise
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 88 Finders Reapers
*Mykhol*The high vaulted ceiling still trembled with the aftermath of her voice. It clung to the carved stone like smoke after a fire—sharp, commanding, impossible to ignore.The resonance hung thicker than the firepits still crackling hungrily into the woodpiles, the scent of burning oak and pine mixing with the heady perfumes of the nobility. Even now, the echo of it shivered down his spine, raising the fine hairs on his arms beneath layers of silk and velvet.Gods, that voice. He’d nearly trembled at the sound of it.He hadn’t known Ana could raise her voice like that—clean and precise, like a sword drawn just before the strike. The raw power of it had rippled through the court, causing silks to flutter and jewels to shiver against throats. And though her words hadn't been aimed at him, they'd slipped under his skin just the same, igniting a slow, molten ache beneath his ribs that spread downward like liquid fire.His fingers twitched at his side, the leather of his gloves creakin
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 87 Crows and Crowns
*Anastasia*The echo of the court doors sealing shut behind me brings instant relief—until it doesn’t. The sound is soft and clean on it hinges as it clicks behind me, a whisper of finality rather than the slam my trembling hands wanted to deliver. But somehow, that gentle sound feels heavier than any thunderous crash could have been.As if I had to will the doors closed with more than force—with all my spine, with silence, with the last shreds of composure I can manage to scrape together against the turbulence raging inside. For an instant, the sound feels final. Solid. Like the world has agreed to stop pressing against my skull, to grant me a single moment of mercy.For a breathless moment, the corridor offers stillness. No voices clamoring over mine. No red eyes mercilessly looking at me as if daring to see the first sign of weakness. No judgment hanging in the air like a blade waiting to fall.Just cold air scented with the faint lingering ghosts of wax and candle smoke, the subtl
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 86 The Center Tilts
*Ana*“Riots in Pave. Fourteen Nochten citizens dead.”The words strike the court like an executioner's axe meeting stone—sharp, final, reverberating over the crackle of the fire pits, the bitter wind outside, across the arched ceiling and through the marble floor until I feel them in my teeth. The vibration climbs through my slippers, past silk stockings, into the marrow of my bones where it settles like frozen glass.I blink, and read them again, willing the ink to reshape itself into something that makes sense. It doesn’t. The ink remains unchanged, stubborn in its terrible clarity.“Bulgeon casualties. Numbers unlisted.” Something inside me lurches—a ship's deck dropping beneath my feet in a storm swell. My knees threaten betrayal, and I catch myself with a micro-adjustment of weight that only Nugen, standing close enough to hear my breathing change, might notice. But I feel it—the way my center tilts like a cup about to spill, the way my breath catches halfway up my throat and
Will Bear the Moon Chapter 85 Echoes of a Battlefiled
*Admiral Nugen The air in the court was too still—dense, like velvet soaked rot festering in shadow, carrying a silence so weighty it pressed against eardrums like delving too deep beneath dark water.Admiral Nugen shifted where he stood near the edge of the chamber, half-sunk into shadow beneath the high-arched entry, the ceremonial weight of his sword hung heavier than usual against his hip, the silver-detailed armor dragging at his frame like iron shackles. It wasn't the metal—it was the wet. Days and days of ceaseless rain had soaked into everything: stone, silk, bone. Even breath felt waterlogged.Movement was like wading through a shallow tide that never receded. The rain had stopped, finally, but only just—the memory of it still clung to the walls, to the air, to the hollow spaces between his ribs.Above, thick gray clouds clogged the sky like wool packed tight against glass pressing down on the palace's ancient towers. They didn't want to rain. They didn't want to snow. They
You may also like
Powerful Papa with Triplet Babies
Pink Dolphin630.7K viewsMy Dad's Bestfriend
Liz Barnet755.7K viewsThe Heartbreak Prescription
Glazed Snow819.3K viewsI Want You Back
Meminger526.1K viewsPregnant For My Best Friend's Formidable Father
F. Prince 233 viewsFive Years of Marriage to Mr. Bradford
Koi Fish499 viewsSeduced By My Fiancee's Older Brother
Authoress Berry Julie455 viewsMira Reckoning: Love, Lies and Inheritance
Rich Pen60 views
