Chapter 230: The Question of Seduction
Chapter 229: The Question of Seduction
Lyria’s POV
The Queen turned her gaze toward Jacinta.
"Calm yourself," she said. "That is not the way to go about matters."
Jacinta’s mouth pressed into a thin line, but she stepped back, her arms folding across her chest once more. Her eyes remained fixed upon me accusingly, but she said nothing further.
The Queen’s attention returned to me.
Her expression had shifted. The annoyance was still there, along with something akin to anger.
"Tell me," she said, her voice soft and pleasant, the way one might speak to a child who had failed a simple lesson, "do you know why I instructed you to step upon the broken porcelain?"
I paused.
Blood had begun to seep from the cuts, warm and sticky against my sole. I could feel it spreading, could feel the dampness soaking into the fabric of my slipper where I had set it aside.
But I did not look down.
I kept my gaze fixed upon the Queen’s face.
"Perhaps," I said carefully, "it is b-because I do not know my p-place, as Your Majesty has s-so clearly stated?"
Someone gasped in shock at my words.
I did not turn to see who. I kept my eyes upon the Queen, my expression blank, my posture as composed as I could manage with blood pooling beneath my foot.
The chamber fell silent for a while, and then the Queen chuckled.
It was a dark sound, devoid of warmth and humour.
"You truly have forgotten your place," she said. "You dare to speak back to me?"
I bowed immediately, lowering my head until my chin nearly touched my chest.
"I merely r-replied to the q-question Your Majesty asked," I said. "I c-cannot afford to offend Your M-majesty by remaining s-silent when I am s-spoken to. I am not so i-insolent as to n-not know my place."
The Queen’s eyes narrowed.
"Really?" she asked.
She leaned back in her chair, studying me with that cold, assessing gaze I had grown to know so well over the years.
"Then tell me where you were," she said, "when I sent someone to fetch you."
I did not hesitate.
"I have b-been in my chambers," I said, "since the d-date with Duke Aurelgrave c-concluded."
From the corner of the room, a voice spoke.
"That is a lie."
Diana.
The Queen turned her head slowly toward her.
"Were you asked to speak?" she asked.
Diana faltered. The confidence drained from her face, replaced by something closer to fear. She bowed quickly.
"I apologise, Your Majesty," she said. "But I could not stand to be accused falsely. Her Highness was not in her chambers when I went to retrieve her."
The Queen’s gaze shifted back to me.
"Well?" she asked. "What have you to say to that?"
I inclined my head.
"I have n-nothing to say," I said, "for I w-was in my chambers. The only t-time I stepped out was to o-obtain fresh bandages and o-ointments for my injuries."
I paused.
"The maids Your Majesty a-assigned to me appear quite d-disgusted by the wounds upon my b-back. They refuse to t-treat them. The injuries were b-beginning to develop a foul o-odour, and I c-could not risk disgracing the r-royal family—especially given that I w-was meeting with s-suitor candidates. I had to e-ensure that the wounds w-were properly treated."
I let the words settle.
"Perhaps," I added, "that was w-when Diana came to my c-chamber."
The room was very quiet.
The Queen’s expression did not change. She sat perfectly still, her hands resting upon the arms of her chair, her gaze fixed upon me with an intensity that might have made a weaker person crumble.
Then she turned, her eyes moving to Diana. To Sally. To Theresa.
"Tell me," she said, her voice soft, "are you disgusted by the wounds upon her back?"
Sally’s face went pale.
Theresa’s hands trembled at her sides.
Diana opened her mouth, but no words emerged.
"Are you," the Queen continued, "so disgusted that you would allow her to disgrace the royal family by failing to perform the duties to which you were assigned?"
Sally dropped to her knees at once.
Theresa followed a heartbeat later.
Diana hesitated—only for a moment—and then she, too, knelt, her head bowed, her hands pressed flat against the floor.
"Forgive us, Your Majesty," Sally said, her voice shaking.
"Please," Theresa added. "We did not mean—"
"Silence."
The Queen’s voice was still soft, but it cut through the room.
The three maids fell silent immediately.
I watched them kneel, their bodies trembling, their faces pale. A few moments ago, they had been standing in the corner, watching me bleed, watching me suffer, watching me endure the Queen’s cruelty with expressions of satisfaction.
Now they begged for their lives.
I almost scoffed at that.
A few words—just a few words—and they were brought to their knees because they feared the Queen, and I had turned her against them.
I had not expected it to work at first, but it had.
The Queen exhaled slowly, a sound of profound disgust.
"Incompetent," she said. "All three of you."
She waved her hand, a gesture of dismissal.
"Step aside. We shall discuss your failings later."
The maids scrambled to their feet and retreated to the corner, their heads bowed, their hands clasped before them.
The Queen turned her attention back to me.
"That matter is resolved," she said. "For now."
She paused.
"Let us return to the true reason I summoned you."
I waited.
The Queen leaned forward slightly.
"Who told you," she asked, "that you could seduce the suitor candidates?"
I just stared at her.
I had expected it. I had known, from the moment Jacinta opened her mouth, that this was what the evening would become. Accusations that made no sense.
"I a-apologise, Your Majesty," I said to her. "B-but perhaps y-you could e-explain what you mean by s-seduce?"
Jacinta scoffed loudly.
"Are you pretending not to know what seduce means?" she asked in anger.
