Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 54: Mother (1)
In the palace, Giselle sat on the bed, watching as Joel paced back and forth.
"They were supposed to be dead. The men and I already celebrated in the morning," said Joel.
"You should have waited for news of them being found dead before you went to have a drink. Lord Hastings brought a small army with him to see the king. What if they noticed who you spoke with? Your spies might be exposed," Giselle said, annoyed that the men acted too fast.
"Nonsense. I didn’t see anyone around," Joel said, but he stopped to think if his words were true. "The guards would have alerted us if they witnessed anyone eavesdropping. The king controls the palace, so there isn’t anyone who can slip away without his guards noticing."
Giselle gazed at her nails as she spoke. "You are the one who always says that you must be careful when it comes to Lord Hastings. Why are you so relaxed now and making mistakes?"
"My focus must be on the king and all his demands. He is the one who failed to kill the two of them, and now, he wants Ophelia when this is over. We cannot kill her," said Joel.
Giselle’s mouth fell open in an unladylike manner. "What? What could he possibly want with someone like her? She doesn’t have any use for him."
"Lower your voice," Joel said, looking around the chamber for prying eyes. "You know what it is he wants. If we had brought her to the palace before, she could have been the king’s mistress instead of Lord Hastings. Ophelia still has some use to us."
Giselle knew what would happen if Ophelia were to become the king’s woman, but she was more upset that Ophelia was rising higher than her in status.
"You can’t possibly be thinking of handing her off to him. Think of how Ophelia would behave in his presence. We cannot be fooled by how she acts now with Lord Hastings," Giselle tried to reason with Joel.
"I share your sentiments, but there’s nothing I can do when he has made up his mind. It is likely he will bed her and cast her away just like he did the others. She will be forgotten in no time and eventually killed by the king. This mustn’t be ruined," Joel said.
Giselle still didn’t agree with it, but she knew there was no use continuing to fight.
"The king has granted us the honour of preparing for Freya to meet with a prince. It would be far better if it were the crown prince, but a prince is a prince in my eyes. The crown prince could change one day," Joel said, smiling ear to ear as he thought of Freya becoming queen.
Giselle’s eyes lit up.
Freya’s meeting with a prince was good news for her because it meant she would be the mother of a royal.
"I will oversee it personally. I will oversee the dresses she wears and be careful of who she meets with. Freya must focus only on the prince. It would be wonderful if they could speak tomorrow for the capital to see," Giselle said, thrilled.
"Focus on doing something about your daughter," Joel said, planning to oversee Freya’s time with the prince himself.
Giselle’s smile fell. "Is Freya not my daughter?"
"I didn’t say she wasn’t," Joel replied.
"So why would you rid me of this chance to look after her when it is important? I would never disappoint you, and I would surely do my best to have her impress the prince. What have I done for you to be treating me so poorly? I could not predict Ophelia would behave now," said Giselle.
"I have always done as you asked. I would give away all that I have and walk the roads naked if it meant to keep you safe, but you are always angry. You mustn’t lash out at me when Ophelia misbehaves," Giselle pleaded.
For all that she did for the Valthorns, Giselle wanted to be loved by Joel. She wanted to be spoiled and thanked for her hard work.
It was never an easy task to help raise three children who did not share a drop of blood with Giselle. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Joel pinched the bridge of his nose. He was hardly in the mood for this conversation again when they had bigger matters to deal with.
"I have never raised my hand to you, so why would you think I am angry with you? I am angry that your daughter fooled us, and now, she makes a mockery of us. Make use of that son of yours and get Ophelia alone. I cannot do everything!" Joel yelled out of frustration.
"And you mustn’t. I am here to help you and all the children. I will find a moment tomorrow to speak to Ophelia alone. Lord Hastings cannot keep her from sitting alone with the other ladies. You must trust me," Giselle said, desperate to please Joel.
"I do trust you. It is her I do not trust. Why have they become so close?" Joel wondered, worried about Ophelia’s closeness to Dante.
"Ophelia has been thrown into a world she doesn’t understand. If Lord Hastings throws her a gift and whispers sweet words in her ear, Ophelia will fool herself into thinking he is in love with her. He is likely using her. I don’t believe they are in love."
"You are right that she is easy to fool. You should have long warned her about men, so we wouldn’t have this problem now," said Joel.
"Well, I never thought Ophelia would ever marry. She was doing so well at the castle chores that I thought she would work there forever. We must find a way to break this little act they both have, but how?" Giselle wondered.
Joel didn’t have the answer. Dante wasn’t allowing anyone to speak to him or get close to Ophelia.
"Did Freya speak to Victoria? Was there nothing she found out?"
"Freya had a little spat with Ophelia, and Victoria left the palace with Lord Hastings, so there was little Freya could find out. Since Freya must keep her focus on the prince, I will speak to Victoria. I know she loves Lord Hastings," said Giselle.
Giselle knew Victoria could not be pleased that Dante married, and it was to a woman he didn’t know.
"She was to marry Lord Hastings, wasn’t she?" Giselle asked, smiling ear to ear. She only needed to use Victoria’s jealousy.
"She was, but fortunately, her family didn’t want to rush proposing an engagement, and Dante wasn’t interested. You must find a moment alone with Ophelia tomorrow. I will give you the necklace you asked for if you do," Joel offered, knowing gifts would motivate Giselle.
