The Dark Queen -- Chapter 4

Chapter 4

All of the kingdom, both distant and near, were required to attend the King's wedding.  All of my sisters in-law and brothers in-law's wives prepared for the most grand event of their lifetime.  Only I dreaded returning to the place I vowed never to set eyes upon again.  I was a wife, and a noble, and I had promised before God to obey my husband.  With an empty heart I packed.  I took little part in the conversations on the road to Bucharest.  I ate even less.

On the day we arrived at the palace, my husband was taken ill.  We were shown to our room, but I refused to go in.  The King, in a sick act of cruelty, specifically ordered we be shown to the same room I once occupied for over a year near my cousin's chamber.  The nightmares returned that evening.  I slept in the garden.  The next morning I was introduced to the bride to be.  She was a gorgeous young Princess from the city of Venice.  The marriage was made to strengthen the bonds between the two countries.  I recognized the look of hope and dreams fulfilled in her eyes.  It was the same one Debra had the day before her wedding.  Even though I tried to smile, I could feel nothing but sorrow for the girl.

The day of the wedding was like none anyone could remember.  The sun was bright, but the breeze was cool, and smelled of fragrant flowers.  The attendees filed into the cathedral in the early evening for the ceremony was to begin at dusk.  As the bride made her way down the aisle, tears started streaming from my eyes.  I couldn't look at the young woman holding her train.  I was told the event was spectacular, but I did not see it.  I told everyone I needed to check on my husband, but I never made it beyond the cemetery.  I spent the two hours of the King's wedding at my cousin's grave.  

The King and his new Queen led the procession through the streets on white majestic horses, where the commoners could get a rare glimpse.  Forty minutes it took us to arrive at the palace where the evening festivities would begin.  The King waited for the stable hand to take his horse, but none came.  A soldier finally took the horse and the King dismounted.  He helped his new Queen down himself.  The two of them walked up to the doors, but they did not open.  Two more guards rushed up the steps to open them for him.  The King stormed into the palace and shouted, but there was no there to answer him.  He personally threw open the doors to the grand room, and witnessed one of the bloodiest sights he has ever beheld.  The servants, and guards, and stable hands, and cooks, were slaughtered and placed in the chairs around the tables reserved for the guests.  But that is not what frightened the King.  Sitting upon her throne was Queen Debra.  She was just as beautiful as I remembered her, except her skin had turned pale white, and her stare was ice cold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZF5m-vmDzM

The Dark Queen -- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The palace buzzed with the news of the revolution ending.  Romania would finally be at peace, and guarded by Ottoman protection, no one would dare invade.  Families would be able to heal and no more sons would be lost.  The arrangements were made to host the leader of the rebellion.  He had always remained nameless, supposedly a Lord of a remote kingdom within the borders of Romania, but his actions on the battlefield were legendary.  It was announced both the King and Queen would welcome him, and I wept.

I waited in the great room from earliest light, not wanting to miss a second of my cousin's presence.  It had been so long since Debra sat upon her throne, I wondered if anyone remembered what she looked like.  I was nervous she would be unrecognizable even if they did.  The hours passed, preparations were put into action, and I continued to wait anxiously.  An hour after sunset the Captain of the Guards announced the stranger had arrived.  The King was escorted to his throne, and I held my breath.  Debra followed behind him.  She walked slowly, but looked just as regal as the first day she claimed her seat within the palace.  My cousin was thinner, but her golden locks still shined brilliantly, and her hazel eyes still glowed.  I doubt anyone even noticed the dark circles under her eyes or how uncomfortable she looked upon the seat.  Even with the flaws, Debra was still the most beautiful woman within the kingdom, and every bit a Queen.

The man, the Lord of the revolution, was escorted in by two soldiers.  He cast an aura of night itself.  A cloud seemed to hover over the room with his entrance.  The King stood, but Debra remained seated.  The Lord bowed, and the soldiers left his side.  The King made a speech about friendship and peace, and the Lord replied with similar kind words.  In front of the entire room of noblemen and warriors, the King asked the stranger to name anything and he would give it to him to seal the pact of peace.  The Lord looked at Debra, and requested a night with the Queen of Romania.  Silence filled the room, and only the King laughed.  His response was "Anything for Romania."

The Queen rose to her feet, for she was no harlot.  Through all of her suffering, she had never felt so wronged than she did at that very moment.  The King could take her body and her youth, but he could not take her dignity.  The Queen protested, but the King's word was law.  He ordered his guards to escort my cousin to the Lord's chamber, but the Queen ordered them to stop.  She walked out on her own with her head held high.  All in attendance witnessed how magnificent my cousin was, even in her darkest moment.  That was the last time I saw her living face.

My cousin Debra, the Queen of Romania,  was found dead the next morning.  The Lord who took her honor was never seen again, but the revolution did end.  I helped to prepare the body for burial, and used my own scarf to cover the fatal wounds on her neck.  She was laid to rest in the cemetery next to the cathedral.  I cried over her grave until I was forced to leave by the oncoming night.  The next morning I left for home, and two months later I was married to my betrothed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS3p05KX9L0

The Dark Queen -- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The years passed, and my cousin the Queen lived a life of what most outsiders would envy.  I was not an outsider and I knew the truth.  It began early in the marriage.  I would notice on my visits the bruises and marks on Debra's skin.  I would ask, but she always had an answer to explain them away.  My Queen began only wearing sleeves that would cover her wrists.  The chaffing was getting so bad she could no longer hide it.  When the King would entertain, Debra would just sit and not partake in any of the customary dancing.  She sometimes needed help to walk.  Distraught over my cousin's ill health, I had begged to delay my arranged marriage.  At age eighteen my wish was granted, and I moved into the palace in Bucharest.

My husband to be was the second son of a rich nobleman.  Having my cousin as Queen had improved my prospects and made me a more desirable match.  The marriage was delayed for one year.  What should have been my happiest days, turned into an endless cycle of horror and sympathy.  My room in the palace was close to my Queen's, and I heard the things no one in the castle dared speak about.  Sleep was impossible at nights, and if I did happen to drift, the noises would bring me back.  When it got to the point I could no longer withstand the drumming and tears, I would creep out into the gardens and sleep underneath the stars.  In the mornings I would visit Debra's chamber and tremble, but I never shed tears.  Debra had warned me, "Never let him see you cry.  Some men get aroused by such acts."  I always wondered how many tears certain men needed.  I stopped asking the first morning I had to sew my cousin because she had been so badly torn.  

The months passed and Debra began leaving her room less.  The welts and scars were getting impossible to conceal.  I spent most days in her room reading her poetry and singing.  We no longer played the game of telling stories, for I did not want to hear the ones she might tell.  Debra never did say anything about her nights, not even in the mornings when I had to wash the blood off of her because she could not get from the bed to the tub.  In fact, Debra's voice became more infrequent as the months rolled on.  A month before my wedding, I asked for another postponement.  It was granted, but only by order of the Queen herself.

It was an Autumn morning when I was first denied entrance into my cousin's chambers.  The guard stated it was by order of the King himself.  Every morning I tried, but I was always turned away.  I tried in the afternoons and evenings as well, but with the same disheartening results.  My room was moved to a more remote end of the castle, and it took me longer to reach Debra's room.  That's when I began writing notes and asking the servants to hide them in the Queen's dinner trays...when she was allowed dinner.  They were always scared, but some did as I asked.  It was rumored the King would punish the servants by bringing them to his room where Debra was forced to watch.  I had hoped my words would bring my cousin some hope, but never did I receive a response in return.  I resorted to sneaking across the palace in the middle of the night to my old room just to hear her screams.  It was the only way I knew Debra was still alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcUdT6mz5s

The Dark Queen -- Chapter 1

The Dark Queen

Chapter 1

She was my queen and my cousin.  Our families lived close to one another, and not having any sisters of my own, she became mine.  Our parents often visited each other, which allowed Debra and I plenty of time to get into trouble.  Of course, most of our days were spent learning manners, court customs, studying the bible, and doing all of the things a proper lady should know how to do.  At night, Debra and I would stay up late, telling each other scary stories, and seeing who could frighten who the most.  Sometimes our conversations would turn towards boys and princes, the number of children we wanted, the kingdoms we wanted to rule, as if we had a choice.  We both already knew Debra's future.

Debra, they said, was a gift from the angels themselves.  A bright girl with radiant blond hair and hazel eyes born in a land of shadows.  The gypsies had declared she would bring great fortune to the one who married her.  We all assumed her husband would be a king, and she was trained for such from the moment she was born.  I was intended for a lesser lord, but that did not matter to me.  There were many good strong families in Romania, and with very rich histories.  The only question I had was which side of Romanian allegiance would I be married into.

The Ottomans had invaded when my father was still young.  By the time he grew into a warrior, the country was lost.  Romania became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, but still retained it's royalty and the right to govern it's own people.  Many houses were still divided.  Some chose to fight the Ottomans in an open act of rebellion.  Those, I was taught, were our enemies.  Debra's father and mine were loyal to the Romanian King, who had knelt down before the muslim invaders.  It was this same King who arrived at Debra's father's castle when we were only sixteen.  When he left, it was announced Debra would marry the King's eldest son and one day become Queen of Romania.  Our houses' celebration was short lived.  The King died two months later.

The King's eldest son decided to honor his father's agreement, and why wouldn't he?  Debra was a gift from the angels.  Arrangements for the wedding were hastily made, and our families traveled together to Bucharest.  On the day of the wedding, I saw splendor I have never witnessed before.  All of the loyal Romanian families were in attendance, as well as several powerful Ottomans.  I held Debra's train that day, and marveled at the magnificence of the cathedral.  Debra remained calm throughout the ceremony even though I knew she was a bundle of nerves.  With the Bishop's final words, my cousin Debra became Queen of Romania at age sixteen.  Everyone celebrated that night.  It would be the last night Debra ever spent happy while she still drew a living breath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNQAUsX7U1E