Kingdom of Alba…
Ethera's pov;
I am still standing there in shocks as the physicians and other servants tend to the Queen's injury. No one seems to pay attention to me until the door bangs opens.
I see the king entering with visible worry and confusion on his face as he looks straight at the Queen's condition.
"What is going on here?" He asks the physician as he reaches out to hold his Queen.
The physician explains to him the cause of the injury which was glass from the vase and they continue talking about prescription until the Queen points at me and that is when I become visible to everyone all of a sudden.
"What is it Thelma?" The king asks her as she continues to point at me with a look of horror on her face.
"It was her my love. She- she attacked me !" She yells the last part and everyone looks at me weird. Why is she lying. I didn't do it! If anything she is the one who raised her hand on me.
"I didn't do anything my king, I can swear on that" I plead as we lock eyes. He can't possibly believe that I did it , he knows me well by now , he should know I wouldn't hurt a fly.
"She is lying . She is evil!!! She came in here faking a visit just so she could hurt me!" She continued to accuse me while pointing fingers.
"Why would I want to hurt you? I am not like that" I say trying to defend myself , the king has been quiet , just looking at me with a look I can't understand.
"Because you wanted revenge! You didn't like that you were not invited at my brunch and you probably also hold other grudges against me!" She yells even more.
What? I would never . I don't even hold grudges.
"I came here with a sincere heart you grace and you know it . I never did any of what you are accusing me of"
"Oh so now I am a liar. How much more are you going to slander me in front of my husband and servants? Don't you think you have caused me enough pain? If it wasn't for you making me agitated all the time, my baby would have still been alive. YOU ARE A MURDERER AND A LIAR" she screams and cries in the king's shoulder .
He holds her in his arms trying to comfort her and telling her sweet words while I am just standing here baffled by the accusation and the lack of intervention from the king on my side.
Is this really how it is going to end? I am guilty and that is it? Why doesn't he just say something?
"Your grace . This is a misunderstanding. You must believe me" I plead with him one last time.
He looks at me and then calls for the guards.
"Take her back to her quarters and no one from her house is allowed in or out of there until the investigation period is over" he orders them without sparing me a glance.
I look at him one last time not believing what is happening.
He doesn't believe me.
"Come on let's go miss Ethera , we wouldn't want to use force on you" the guard tells me and I follow them obediently with my face looking down because I don't want anyone seeing the tears forming in my eyes right now , especially the king.
Just like Avery would say , he doesn't deserve them right now.
What hurts me is not even the fact that I am being falsely accused because I was prepared for that to happen eventually as long as I am in the harem . What makes me sad and disappointed is the fact that the one other person apart from Heizel and Avery who knows me best didn't believe me and didn't even try to see things from my perspective.
I understand she is the Queen and his first wife so she comes first but does that mean we are all liars if she says so? Murders even?
How low does he think of me? How could he believe I would want an innocent child and the mom harmed? Plus no one knew of the pregnancy before she lost it so it would have been impossible for someone to plot against her .
Ugh I am so frustrated , I am going to be punished along with my whole house for something I am completely innocent of .
And we talk about trust? Ridiculous . All the improvement I thought was happening with the king and I's relationship was all an illusion .
It didn't matter once I was face to face with the Queen.
At least now I now my place around here.
After all who was I kidding ? Did I really believe I could be trusted when it is the Queen I am facing? Me a mere consort , considered just a womb for his highness.
I guess they were all right . In the harem , power is everything. Position is what gets you justice among all other things one May desire and unfortunately I have none of those.
The guards escort me to my house in the harem and remain outside to guard the place as instructed by the king.
Heizel runs up to me from the inside of the house and starts asking questions. I better be brave so that she doesn't worry too much about this.
"Ethera , what happened? Why are you wounded?" I look down at my arms that were scratched by the Queen , I didn't even see them . I mean who cares anyways? Even the king didn't feel pity on me so why should I?
"It's just scratches don't worry , I will take the herbs you recommend, they will heal" Only my body will heal unfortunately because the memories of this day will stay eternally.
"What exactly happened out there? What did the Queen do this time?" She asks , we sit on couch in the living area and the other maids bring in ointments for my bruises.
"I went there to visit just like all the other consorts did . Of course she was mad I went there and she insisted I go . I first gave her my condolences and I was going to go , but then she started accusing me of killing her baby because I was the cause of her anger and frustrations concerning the king and she kept insulting me and attacking me at some point by grabbing my hair and hitting me all over , when I wanted to defend myself I pushed her gently and stood up . At that moment she smiled weirdly at me then grabbed the glass vase that was on her night stand , she looked at me and broke it on her arm and then started laughing saying that my image would be destroyed from then on. She proceeded to scream for help and that's when things got bad" I pause for a second remembering the sad part in all of this.
I hiss because of the pain from the herbs they were applying and Heizel holds my hands to calm me down.
I then continue "The king arrived with the physician and the Queen kept accusing me of all sorts of things , slandering my name in front of everyone there. The king of course took her side and didn't say anything other than comfort her. He then ordered for me to be brought back here and he said no one could enter or go out of my house until the investigation of this case is over"
Heizel stands up "This is unbelievable, the Queen has really gone too far. And the king has a part to play in this too . How can he just stay there and not be fair? He made it a big deal that she was hurt while you are visibly hurt badly as well . This is not right ! Just because she is Queen doesn't mean she is a saint!"
"There is no need to be angry Heizel , after all position is power right? We are her subordinates so whatever we say or believe doesn't hold any value in their eyes . Better we just lay low and not tire ourselves futilely" I say sadly smiling to myself.
"Oh my poor Ethera . Things have been so hard on you lately . You don't deserve this" she hugs me and I bask in her comfort , hiding from the vile ways of the outside world.
Helton's pov;
"Master , your plan worked . The child is gone" my servant apprentice reports to me.
"This is very good news! At least one of us is happy today dear Tobias" I laugh .
"As I said before , slowly but surely . I will take everything away from that pathetic king. I will be the winner sitting on that throne one day and if it means eliminating all his heirs I will do so without blinking an eye" I chuckle darkly .
"Master . There seems to be something strange going on in the spirit world . Some disturbance of some sort" he says from the pit.
I walk towards it and whisk my magic stick in it.
Red smoke comes out suddenly.
"This is strange indeed , seems like we have external interference in our world . I wonder what it is"
Who could be messing with the spirit realm's balance?