“If you are not able to show a modicum of decorum at my table, you might as well leave now.” She seethes.
I’m ready to throw my napkin onto the table and rise to my feet, but no. I deserve to be here just as much as my siblings. I grit my teeth and plant a fake smile on my face. My sister has to be wrong about the princess. This had better be a swift betrothal, because I am more than ready to get out of the manor.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this invitation to dinner?” I ask, feigning pleasantness.
Erika chokes on her drink, and I turn my gaze to her. Will it ever stop hurting? That my siblings so callously aligned themselves with Stepmother?
“Ah yes.” Stepmother clears her throat. “I just wanted to inform you that you will need to move out of your room by the end of tomorrow.”
“Excuse me, but did I hear that correctly?” My eyes dart around the table, and neither one of my sisters nor my brother will meet my eyes.
“Don’t play dumb, Raelyn,” Stepmother chides. “It’s unbecoming.”
I flinch. “Surely, I misheard you. Why in the realms must I leave my room?”
“I have need of it,” she replies matter-of-factly.
“Where am I supposed to go?” I ask, fighting to stay calm.
“You can make up one of the rooms in the servants’ quarters.”
“That is utterly absurd,” I say, no longer caring about decorum. Rising to my feet, I point a finger at my horrible stepmother. “Father will not stand for this.”
“Oh, sweet child, he’s not here, is he?” She smirks.
“You have no right!”
“I have every right,” she says with a sneer. “I am the lady of this manor, and you will do as I say, or, quite simply, you will leave.”
Tears prick my eyes. I glance around the table once more at my traitorous siblings. Still, none of them will look at me. Rage builds inside me, and my hands burn with heat.
“You are dismissed. And Raelyn? I am aware of your laziness and refusal to complete your chores today. The staff have been informed not to feed you tonight as your punishment.”
So my invitation to dinner was a complete farce. Got it.
I rush from the room, and as much as I desperately want to fight the injustice, I cannot. How much more can she take from me? I withhold my sobs as I race up the stairs toward my room . . . well, my room for the night.
How did I get here?
Collapsing onto my bed, I let the sobs overtake me. I’m alone. So incredibly alone. My heart is shredded inside my chest.
I have no one. Father, the only one who might have stood up for me, is no longer here. My siblings have abandoned me. For all I know, the prince will abandon me too, his plan forgotten now that a better option has presented itself.
A gnawing sensation eats at me from the inside, and I double over in pain. My jaw aches, perhaps from clenching my teeth, but there is no relief.
Chapter Seventeen
KIAN
“Well that all went to shit,” Alex grumbles as he runs a hand through his muddied hair.
“You’re telling me,” I agree.
We had hardly any time to prepare for the night’s raid after my disastrous meeting with Father and Colin.
Things did not go to plan, and we barely escaped capture. Though if Alex hadn’t been with me, I probably wouldn’t have made it out at all.
“I fear my father is getting smarter,” I say. “There were definitely more guards than usual.”
