Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 100: Misunderstood (3)
"If you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you be careful about what you say about my wife. I would kill you right here and feel no remorse," Dante said, tightening his hold on the collar of Alistair’s shirt.
"Please accept the apology of a foolish old man who knew no better. I only meant to speak highly of your wife for getting the king to notice her," Alistair said, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. "I meant no harm."
"I don’t believe you. Since you present yourself as a wise man, you know the hidden message beneath your words. I am not close to the king, despite what you have heard. You are here to speak to your niece, so I suggest you do so," said Ophelia.
Ophelia got the feeling that Alistair came here with an agenda, and it wasn’t one for Victoria.
"Lord Hastings, might I speak to my uncle alone? It can be an open space where you can watch us from afar," Victoria said, knowing her talk would end short with too many people around. "I will be fine. I am prepared."
Dante reluctantly released Alistair.
"It was a wise decision from you to let me go, Lord Hastings. No blood has to be spilt today, and neither one of us wants to be captured by palace guards and placed in a dungeon," Alistair said as he tidied his shirt.
"You make it sound like you could be the one to end up in the dungeon. Thread lightly," Dante advised Alistair.
Alistair cleared his throat. "Come, Victoria. I have to make this quick."
Victoria led the way to the drawing room to speak to Alistair. She was confident she could speak to him alone and not trouble Dante.
"I wish you could have killed him. He’s upsetting," said Ophelia.
"He has always been that way. His brother had bravery and sense, whilst he was left with greed and a lack of sense." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Ophelia chuckled. "Thank you for stopping him. I don’t like hearing anyone claim that the king has taken notice of me. It only makes me think of his uncomfortable gaze. I don’t like it even more that the king is speaking of me to his peers."
"We will soon be leaving the capital, and I will turn away any invitations to the palace. We could leave in the morning if you wish," said Dante.
"That would be lovely, but I know others would claim you are rude and use it against you. I don’t want to do anything to upset the king before Theo is within our hands. We will be leaving the day after tomorrow, so we can hold out. Though," Ophelia said, having second thoughts.
"Does anyone know when you are planning to leave? I fear they would plan to ambush us," said Ophelia.
"I only share with Rick and my knights when we are to leave. We’ll be moving early in the day to have a full day of light to see if anyone is following us. I truly need to give you a position in my army," Dante said, seriously contemplating it.
"I am your wife. I already have a position, but if there is a fancy one like lady commander, I would take it. I swear I would take your army to victory. You must make sure nothing happens to you while we are still married. I would hate to have to fight your relatives," Ophelia said, watching as Victoria sat with Alistair.
"Besides my mother, there isn’t anyone to fight you. My other relatives wouldn’t bother themselves."
"They say that now because you are alive and well. Death changes people. If anything were to happen to you, I would gather my things and leave the castle. I don’t want to be in a fight with greedy people," Ophelia said, tired of fighting battles she didn’t care for.
"No one can chase you out of the castle, and should I be so unfortunate as to die while we are still married, you will get what you are entitled to. I will make an order that cannot be overturned and place it in your hands for safekeeping," Dante promised.
"How thoughtful of you. Speaking to you and seeing the man you are makes me wish Alistair would drop dead even more. Have you never thought of creating an unfortunate incident to kill him? One that could not be tied back to you? I would do it," Ophelia offered.
"You despise him quite a lot already," Dante said, thinking it was best he kept Ophelia from around Alistair.
"I don’t like men who think like him, and there are many. All I have been hearing since we came here is that women must be seen and not heard. When the king does it, surely everyone will follow. Women are not weak. We simply aren’t given the opportunities to learn and succeed. It is upsetting," said Ophelia.
"You should have hit him at least once," Ophelia said, still wishing Dante did more. "The king cannot punish you for hitting a rude guest once."
"Should I hit him on his way out?"
Ophelia nodded. "You must."
Unaware of plans for her uncle, Victoria sat alone with Alistair, awaiting the moment to speak up.
Victoria opened her mouth to finally say what was on her mind, but Alistair raised his hand to stop her.
"Enough of these silly games. Do you not find yourself embarrassed to be living with a man who is now married? It was insulting for you to live with him when you two were not married, but look at you now. You don’t know what is best for you," said Alistair.
"And you somehow know what is best for me? You took all that belonged to me-"
"No, it belonged to your father, and when he passed, it rightfully went to the next male in the family. I have always been misunderstood by you. I came in and prepared to marry you off as my brother would have wanted. You could have been married by now," Alistair said,
"Why would I accept the proposals of those men you pushed forward? I was well desired at the start of my season. Tell me, why would it ever make sense to accept being engaged to a man with a son or a man who cannot afford a roof over his head?" Victoria questioned, then stopped to take a deep breath.
"Well, after the name you have given yourself, it is all you can settle for. You were his mistress, his whore. Now he has married and left you to the side. Do you not regret turning my hand away?" Alistair asked, confident Victoria wasn’t happy.
Victoria was just angry with him and acting like a child.
