Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,144

going on?” Fear laced my voice.

Mona had just changed those sheets.

“Don’t worry, you just have something to prove, is all,” the queen replied.

I looked at Mona with questioning eyes, but hers were as confused as mine. Even the Queen Mother had the same look we did, though I wasn’t sure if it was because we were speaking in a language that was foreign to her, or because, just like us, she didn’t know what was going on.

“What t-thing?” My lips started to tremble as a disgusting thought came to my mind, terror filling me just thinking about the possibility of it being what the queen was talking about.

The queen didn’t reply. She offered her hand to a woman who was still standing beside her and that woman gave her a small piece of white cloth, and my eyes widened. She gave it to the Queen Mother, who frowned at the material in her hand, asking the queen a question which she replied to with an answer that made Mona gasp, the Queen Mother’s mouth drop, and a tear fall from my eyes even before hearing her response.

“Your virginity.”

My heart dropped to my feet.

“My w-what?” Another tear left my eyes.

The queen looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Do you have any idea how much your brother and that slut’s mistake has cost us?” she asked, not really looking for an answer, but rather informing me. “Do you have any idea how much my son had to go through to take care of it?”

My eyes welled up with more tears as I listened to her, scared and feeling so helpless, not knowing what was to come for me in a few minutes when she would finish her speech.

“A lot,” she answered her own questions, and I felt my throat tightening. “The very least thing he should get in return is a pure wife, not a skank who only God knows whom she’s been with before.”

My tears flowed, and my legs started to shake. “I’ve never been with anyone. I swear,” I tried with a quiet voice.

“Hmph!” the queen smiled snidely. “We’ll see about that,” she said, and then looked at the women behind me, apparently to see if they had finished. She spoke to the Queen Mother who, from her tone and disapproving frown, I knew didn’t like what was happening.

They exchanged words back and forth and the Queen Mother’s voice started to rise. A slight ray of hope found its way to my heart as I thought that maybe the Queen Mother would prevent what the queen wanted to do to me from happening.

“My Queen,” Mona spoke, getting the queen’s attention. “If you’d allow me to speak. Prince Mazen bedded Princess Marie last night; I saw the evidence on the sheets this morning.”

I sucked my trembling lips into my mouth as I heard Mona lying for my sake. My knees were about to give up on carrying my weight and my heart was about to stop beating out of fear.

“Is that true, Mona?” the queen asked her, folding her hands in front of her chest. “Because the way my son looked earlier didn’t look like someone who’d just enjoyed a first night, but rather like a miserable person whose marriage has cost him a lot.”

God!

“Or maybe the look on his face was because he found out she wasn’t what she’d claimed to be all along,” she said, then sighed. “One way or the other, we will see about that.”

“The prince wouldn’t allow this to happen,” I said confidently, but with a shaky voice.

“The prince and the king do what I say,” she said with a loud voice. “If you think this kingdom has ever been ruled by a man then you are highly mistaken. Any king is forever a figurehead, nothing more. Queens rule!” Her voice filled the room and her last two words were louder than the rest, causing me to flinch.

“You have to keep in mind that the prince’s heart will always love any beautiful woman,” she said sternly, “but his loyalty and devotion will only be for two: his kingdom and his mother,” and then she emphasized, “Me!”

I started having a hard time controlling my breaths. My head was spinning and my chest was heaving, my chin quivering and my heart beating faster than ever.

A woman spoke behind me, and I figured she was saying they were finished spreading the white sheets on the bed, because the queen started to speak to the Queen Mother again. It