Bellona (Part 1.5 of The Saskia Trilogy) by Aoife Marie Sheridan Read Free Book Online Page A

breathing. The flickering pulse in the side of her neck and the tremble of her body confirms that she is very much alive. “Isn’t she beautiful?” my mother questions, looking at me directly in the eye now.
    “She’s pretty,” I answer and my mother laughs while laying a hand on the maid’s shoulder.
    “She thinks you are pretty. Well we shall ignore Bellona as she wasn’t graced with looks, no she is quite plain, sometimes even ugly.” Her words hurt me deeply but I try to keep the pain from my face. I don’t succeed. I can see the pity in the maid’s eyes as she stares directly at me; I look away from her and back to my mother. I don’t want her pity.
    “I think you are beautiful,” my mother tells her and kisses her tenderly on the cheek like a mother would do to a daughter she loved. I look away, digging my nails into the palms of my hands.
    “Bellona don’t sulk, you look terrible when you sulk.” My mother’s words make me look back at her and I loosen my hands. I don’t want to be here, I want to go back to my chambers, but I force all emotions from my face.
    “That’s better,” my mother says, moving away from the maid and back beside me.
    “Men are proud and hate showing their weakness to anyone. A weakness to a man is in his arms, not his head and also how he performs behind closed doors.” My face is aflame, but my mother smiles. “So I know Nierra is a virgin and I don’t want him to hate you, with awkward love making… so I have decided that this beauty shall be flesh that he can practice on. Now I can’t imagine him objecting.” My heart pounds and I fight for control. “I have heard from some very reliable sources that they already know each other on an …intimate level. So it won’t be awkward. Don’t you agree, Bellona?”
    I swallow the saliva that is pooling in my mouth and stare at the maid with hatred. “No, I don’t,” I answer sharply. My heart rate escalates.
    “Really?” My mother’s question is made to sound surprised but she is enjoying this and knows my response already. “What do you suggest, Bellona?”
    I look at my mother, and I hate her so much, but I speak. “Send her to the dungeons, she is beneath Nierra.” My words cause my mother to laugh.
    “Oh, Bellona, you are so naïve. The servants are not beneath us when it comes to love making, they are the ones that share our beds, not kings or queens, not princess or prince. It is a guard, a maid, who will warm our beds and keep the magic alive between the covers.” I feel disgusted by my mother’s words, I would not share Nierra and I most certainly would not allow a guard or servant to touch me. Once again, I bite my tongue, not voicing how I feel. Whatever will happen here today, my mother has preplanned it and no matter what I say it won’t make a difference. So I remain silent. Waiting.
    “Or I could dispose of this maid; she would be forever out of your life. I would grant you this favor, but in return you would do something for me.”
    My hope surges. “Or you could kill her and let that be the end of it.” My mind screams at me that this is a trap. One I know I shouldn’t fall into.
    “So which is it Bellona?”
    The maid cries silently, killing her would be easy, but what price would I pay? I don’t want to owe my mother a favor, I know it would haunt me forever. At least killing the girl would be my decision and I could control how she is killed.
    “I will kill her,” I say, and a sob escapes the maid’s lips. I don’t have it in me to do it now, so I will send her to the dungeons and let someone else do it. I am waiting to be dismissed, but my mother stands still, one finger tipping against her lips as if she really has to put a lot of thought into her next words.
    “It’s just such a shame, her beauty is no doubt mesmerizing.” My mother’s words end on a smile just as the door opens. A servant walks in, hate burns in his one good eye, the other eye socket no longer working,