The King's Lover
Chapter 105: Refused The Queen

Chapter 105: Refused The Queen

Edna narrowed her eyes. What Lily was essentially saying was that she had told the Queen Edna was here. She was the Queen’s personal maid—her orders were above that of the crown prince’s. Edna had to go or face the wrath of the Queen. However, experience told her that the crown prince tended to do a better job calming down his mother than otherwise.

"Take one of the girls with you. Tell her the crown prince gave me strict orders. She might not even notice if I’m not there," Edna tried to explain. "The Queen is more forgiving, the crown prince is not."

Lily looked like she wanted to argue, then sighed, turned around, and started to leave. "Whatever happens won’t be my fault."

"Thank you, Lily," she called out to her.

"Don’t thank me. Better pray the Queen is in a good mood."

Edna closed the door and retreated into the room. She walked to the bed where Rose looked at her with concern. "Are you sure about that? I’m fine enough to stay on my own, and the crown prince won’t even notice you were away."

"I’m fine. We get called the Queen’s personal attendants, but we all know her real attendants are the three court ladies you always see with her. I don’t think she needs me particularly. As long as Lily doesn’t say anything, I should be fine." Edna smiled and walked closer to Rose. This time, she sat on the rug, as she wasn’t about to take any chances about being found. free we\bnove(l).com

Rose envied Edna’s nonchalant attitude, but she couldn’t help but worry—not because of what Edna did but because it had something to do with her. She had no doubt Edna might have been able to bypass something like this, but if the Queen found out it was because of her, it might not end well.

However, she had no way of convincing Edna, because it would mean that she knew about the Queen. So, she just said a silent prayer to the gods that Edna wouldn’t be punished because of this.

———

Martha stood in front of the West Wing, where the king and queen resided, her nails to her mouth as she chewed like a rabid dog. She couldn’t believe she wasn’t allowed to step any further. The guards had apparently been told to keep her away.

She had tried to see the Queen last night but had been told the Queen had retired early, and Edna didn’t suspect foul play. Occasionally, especially after a long day, the Queen tended to go to bed early. However, this time around, she was certain the Queen was awake, but she wasn’t allowed to see her still.

Martha had been a little confused, wondering if the Queen didn’t want to be bothered so early, but when the guards wouldn’t even let her into the wing, she knew immediately that something was wrong.

Suddenly, Lily appeared. She wasn’t alone—she was with two other girls, one she didn’t recognize, the other one often attended to the Queen with her. They didn’t slow down when they saw Martha standing by the path, and it was pretty clear they intended to ignore her.

"Didn’t the Queen ask for me?" Martha asked, determined not to be ignored. She had to see the Queen. It was a miracle she had survived the night before. However, if she didn’t get the Queen’s protection, Martha didn’t want to think about what would happen to her.

"No," Lily said stiffly and went past her. At this point, a rumor had already started that Martha might have had some dealings with the Queen and failed. Now, the Queen wanted nothing to do with her.

"Please tell the Queen to let me see her. It’s urgent. She’ll understand once you tell her that, I promise."

Lily looked at Martha pathetically. She never really liked her, but her uncle was the steward, and every servant was under him. Everyone was worried Martha might mess with their jobs and had done her bidding. It was easier than having to take the chance that you might get kicked out of the castle.

She didn’t respond to this—rather, she just turned her gaze away and walked further into the castle until they came upon the Queen’s bedchambers. They were let in by the guards, and before she could say anything, the Queen asked a question as she looked at the girls.

"Where is Edna?" she asked.

"With Rose," Lily said with a bow. "The crown prince has given strict orders that she shouldn’t leave the room nor the wing."

Lily might have exaggerated a little bit. She knew the Queen’s guards weren’t allowed to barge into the crown prince’s section and take anyone out—only the crown prince and the king were allowed to do that.

It wasn’t much, but it was something. Hopefully, Edna would not be dumb enough to venture out of the wing while the Queen was still mad.

"Did you just say she refused my orders for that whore?" Queen Violeta asked darkly.

"Your Majesty," the ladies-in-waiting cooed. "Please don’t raise your voice. She isn’t worth getting angry over."

Queen Violeta had not found out about Rose’s arrival at the castle and the commotion she had caused as soon as she appeared. She had indeed retired early, and it wasn’t until this morning that her ladies-in-waiting had told her almost all that had happened—especially how the crown prince’s best physician and one of her personal attendants had taken care of Rose all night.

She had been furious. None of the people had been able to get their job done. She had tried to find out how Caius found her, but no one had that information for her yet.

She had immediately requested Edna, partially because she didn’t like that she was attending to Rose, and mostly to find out information. Being that close, she was sure Edna must have heard something.

However, all she got was nothing—and a useless wench who wouldn’t leave her alone. Martha was lucky she was Henry’s niece. Otherwise, she would have tossed her into the dungeons and charged her with a crime, which would end with her getting thrown out of the castle.

However, right now, she wanted to distance herself from the young girl as soon as possible. Even if she didn’t do it herself, she knew Caius would. Martha better keep her mouth shut.