As Isabelle was calmer now, she let Jane get on with whatever she had to do as dictated by Matilda and then she proceeded to go and hide in the greenhouse where she tended to the sprouting herbs. This calmed her down and she was able to gather her thoughts again. Initial upset dissipated as she realised that what she said to Samuel was true. She only hoped that she still could maintain a life in a castle and otherwise she only wished that Cassian was happy in his life. She only wished that he smiled more. His smile somehow made him seem more handsome and much less cold and distant. And much more like Atlas.
Isabelle let out a long sigh as she watered the sprouting herbs.
The greenhouse became her escape in the past days and only a few knew of it, so it was a place of a quiet solitude.
It wasn't long before she returned to the castle and found her way to the library where she noticed a new stack of books. Their new covers and perfectly sharp backs that haven't been bend or creased yet, and their smell. There was no doubt that they were very new, almost straight out of the print shop.
Isabelle looked at the beautiful binding, seeing novels on adventures, history of Ariadna, and most surprisingly new books on botany. Although she tried to resist the urge, she picked up the book about pirates hunting for gold and started reading it with insatiable hunger for new thrilling story.
She finished it not long before dinner. It was even more horrible to sit quietly at the table and watching Annette's increasingly open flirting with Cassian. Being engrossed in the fantasy seemed like a much better place to be. It was much less bleak than the reality.
Isabelle bit her lip reminding herself that she can withstand the mockery - as long as she's safe, not banished from the castle or send back to Galbore, and as long as Cassian is happy.
She looked up at Cassian trying to work him out. He didn't smile. His face was calm. Emotionless even. He didn't look unhappy though.
If anything, he seemed distant and somewhere in his own world, miles away from the conversation.
He looked up and the weakest smile flashed on his face. Or perhaps a frown.
Isabelle looked away again. She didn't have much appetite as her imagination quickly reminded her of the potential of Annette and Cassian being together in the afternoon. It almost made Isabelle sick to think about this. She didn't know why. All she wanted was… to not be send back to Galbore. And for Cassian to be happy. She shit down that thought very quickly.
"Ahem." Cassian's slight cough attracted Isabelle's and Annette's attention.
"What's the matter, Cassian?" Annette was quick to speak up, again.
"I only wish to let you know that the king, my father, will be coming soon."
"How soon?" Annette answered. Isabelle instead went pale in worry.
"Within five days. Likely sooner."
"Five days?!" Annette was clearly unhappy. "But we have so much yet to cover!" Annette looked at Isabelle for the first time. "Adeline, say something!" She almost demanded. Isabelle opened her mouth and her eyes widened.
"I certainly hope that I will make a good impression on his majesty and I am looking forward to meet your family, your highness." Isabelle uttered quietly, her cheeks turning crimson red.
"Aren't you worried about how little you know?"
"I am, your grace."
"What is she going to speak of with your father?" Annette didn't get what she wanted from Isabelle so she turned back and moaned at Cassian. "His majesty won't know the Galborian writers that her highness knows of. She doesn't know enough of literature and customs to entertain your father. Cassian."
"She doesn't have to entertain my father." Cassian said calmly. "But I understand that this is sooner than expected, and that it is causing you concern. Unfortunately, it has been already decided. And if you have an issue with it, you are more than welcome to raise it with the king himself." His voice showed a slight agitation which Isabelle misinterpreted as his annoyance at the fact that she still wasn't ready. She bit her lip and looked down in shame, remembering the mocking laugh at her inadequacies just a night before.
She gulped as if she tried to swallow all of the big emotions. She tried to remind herself that all will be okay as long as she doesn't go back to Galbore. And as long as Cassian is happy. She glanced up again and looked at Cassian's ruffled hair and his long eyelashes as he leaned to eat.
She forgot sometimes that he wasn't Atlas. He was a beast. She heard the stories. She heard of what he was like in the battle. She forgot sometimes that he killed without a blink of an eye. He didn't take prisoners. That's what Galborian knights have said after seeing him as their ally. They were glad that they weren't on the opposing side, kingdom of Merin.
She didn't know much about kingdom of Merin. No one spoke to her about it. She didn't even truly understand the war that was between Merin and Galbore. She only knew that it took countless lives and it sieved through the numbers of Galborian army before Cassian came as an ally.
It wasn't hard to envision him being a cold-blooded killer. His eyes had darkness in them, like someone who saw some horrible things in his life and he was never going to leave them behind.
It was the first time that she truly gave it a thought. This man fought in the worst battle of the century as an ally to her kingdom. It was true that there were concerns that the war were to spread through the continent. But it was hardly at the stage to affect Ariadna directly.
He CHOSE to be a part of that war.
Cassian drank his wine not noticing Isabelle's gaze, giving her more time to contemplate on him and his secretive nature. She didn't know much about him. He worked most days from the moment he woke up to the time he was readying for bed.
He met officials, wrote letters, influenced regulations. He was in his study or in the gathering hall, barely coming down to the dining room for their meals. That was their only contact. They always sat apart. They barely spoke. He was quiet. It could have been his nature. The quietness until he boiled over and exploded. Even with Annette he didn't speak much. Isabelle wasn't even sure if he truly listened to Annette. He nodded occasionally but his eyes seemed distant.
"Adeline, tomorrow we must learn of the proper welcome and how to address his majesty and his court." Annette's voice snapped Isabelle out of her thoughts.
"As you wish, your grace." Isabelle answered as she tried to redirect her own mind to the conversation.
"Also, maybe you should read a few books and poems of Ariadna writers?"
"Oh, I've read today a book by Horace." Isabelle said proudly.
"Horace?" Annette frowned. "That's a hardly appropriate read. I doubt his majesty will be interested to discuss books by Horace."
"Could you please recommend something appropriate, your grace? I will try my best to read it prior to his majesty's arrival."
"I'll have a look in the library, but if not, I'm sure I can get something from my personal collection."
"Thank you." Isabelle looked back at her plate which was filled with similar dinner to what they had every night recently. Anthony did his best to make it as appetising as he could, but it was no huge roast with plate filled in abundance.
After dinner Isabelle hid away in her chamber, reading more of the new books that she found earlier in the library. If she couldn't read them under Annette's watchful eye, she was going to read them in privacy of her room.
Jane appeared not long later, keen to help Isabelle in getting ready for bed, as if Isabelle was ever going to allow her.
"Adeline, I hope you don't mind but the maid who attended to his highness's found these in his chamber. I thought it best to return it to you." Jane said as Isabelle sat down and started taking the hairpins out. Isabelle looked over to see that Jane held a pair of earrings. Not hers but Annette's. She instantly remembered Annette going into Cassian's chamber not long after lunch.
Her stomach twisted as she stared at the jewellery. "You do not have to feel embarrassed." Jane smiled. "It is perfectly normal for a couple to… attend to each other. But I was rather worried that they may get lost. I am not too sure if his highness would have been diligent enough with them so I have decided to give them back to you directly."
"Thank you, Jane." Isabelle forced a smile upon her face.
"Do you have a box for them?" Jane started searching for one.
"I'm afraid I cannot remember which box they were in. Could you be so kind to find me a new box?" Isabelle asked kindly and Jane obliged.
As Isabelle was left alone by Jane and laid down in her bed, wearing the old nightdress from Galbore which was not nearly as soft and comfortable as what she was given in Ariadna, she couldn't stop thinking about Annette and Cassian. It bothered her much more than it should.