"SORROWS, PRAYERS"

The room is monotone, almost black, completely somber as the royal family continues in silence, except for the eldest son, who cries out loud in a pathetic way for the loss of his only daughter.

Queen Charlotte instead is in a rather tense situation. Her grief is disguised by a mask of duty and responsibility that falls above her shoulders, realizing that now she has no eligible successors within her 16 heirs to continue the king's legacy.

Her gaze was diligent, analyzing within the family the obnoxious situation she found herself. Her children were a bunch of single morons who'd never leave her home or either marry someday, they became too comfortable, too immature to even think about their duties.

But she couldn't allow that matter to persist, after all, that was not only an issue about romance, no, she didn't care if they loved their suitors or not, she cared about the problem that grew and became the newest gossip in her peasants mouths, including the vexing and notorious Lady Whistledown.

Speaking of the subject was never easy, none of her children were open to succumbing to the sacrifice to marry to pay the price of a legacy, they were rather selfish and would do anything within their reach to never attend to their mother's wishes.

"The only heir to the throne is dead." The Queen speaks to her offspring, as her eldest, George, sobs even harder, and she helplessly and effortlessly comforts him with taps on his shoulders. "Children, this is a crisis. I've heard from the Prime Minister on the topic. Worse, Lady Whistledown is talking about it, which means everyone will be talking about it."

"There she goes again..."Edward, one of Charlotte's sons rolled his eyes."Mother, I believe you are a bit obsessed about Lady Whitledown."

"I am obsessed with keeping your father's legacy alive, you bunch of ungrateful children," Charlotte spoke through her teeth but didn't lose her composure. "You must marry. There is no excuse for your behavior."

"Mother, I think you are being a bit zealous. Perhaps the grief..."

"No! It is time to find husbands." She interrupted Augustus. "It is time to trade in the mistresses for respectable wives." She pointed to her sons. "Get started." She looked fiercely at them. "One of you had better produce the next ruler of the United Kingdom, or your father's line dies with him." Charlotte then turned to her youngest daughter in the room. "Bellatrix." The young girl widened her brown eyes as she heard her name.

One of her brothers chuckled while whispering to another. Bellatrix glanced furiously at them. They stopped immediately. The black girl smiled again at her mother. "Yes, mama?"

Charlotte contained her laugh at Bellatrix's behavior, she had an attitude similar to her own. "You will debut in this season." The siblings gasped amused, but also relieved. Maybe if their sister succeded in finding a husband, they wouldn't need to follow their mother's wishes. "I do not expect anything less than perfection, my dear."

"Debut?" Augusta spoke in advance "Are you willing to pair our sister with a commoner of lower rank?" The other sisters disapproved as well.

Charlotte sighed again, god, her children were almost impossible to deal with. "Most of the princes and dukes are either engaged or abroad, and we don't have time to wait for them to come back," Charlotte remarked. "Bellatrix is already of age to make her debut, delaying her showcase in society would be imprudent due to the urgent circumstances, so yes, I will pair her with someone from lower rank if needed to, but, of course, with a worthy title." She explained meticulously, shutting down her daughters' complaints. "Bellatrix, do you understand?" Charlotte looked at her daughter.

The chestnut brown-haired girl looked at her mother a bit surprised, after she had almost forgotten about her upcoming debut in society, she expected like the others, that someday, the queen announce an arranged marriage to another member of royalty, not make her select a candidate among the kingdom. That is, besides the responsibility to grant her an heir.

The youngest daughter felt her heart fill up with anxiety but also a quiet and subtle excitement that led her to only nod her head in approval of her mother's words. From all the others, she was by far the most comprehensive and well-behaved of them, she wouldn't go against her mother's wishes.

"As for you all, that doesn't exclude you from your duties either." Charlotte looked at them with a powerful voice. "Make me a royal baby." And with those words, she started to exit the room.

The chaos was installed immediately as all the siblings started to gossip desperate about their lack of will to attend to their mother's demands.

Charlotte sighed and turned around to them once again. "It is not a difficult task." She tried to speak above their voices. "Your father and I made 16 royal babies all by ourselves. I do not see why the whole lot of you cannot make just one." Once again, she turned around, and this time, finally left the room, followed by Brimsley, her loyal servant and maybe, most intimate friend.

Once her mother finally left the room, Bellatriz began to breathe again. Her heart raced with the possibility of joining the season, and everything seemed to be speeding around her.

"Did you hear that Trixie?" Ernest looked at Bellatrix, ready to mock her as always. "Time to find a boy and make a baby, chop-chop." The other men laughed with him.

"At least I will have suitors at my display, unlike you Ernest." She looked down at him. "Do enlighten me, when was the last time a lady set her eyes on you?"

"Oh, she got you there, Ernest." Adolphos teased.

Ernest felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "For your knowledge my dearest sister, I've recently brought a fine lady into my chambers."

"Probably a poor servant attempting to assemble to royalty." Bellatrix snapped back again and the others laughed. "Did you also show her your collection of toys?"

Ernest closed his fists annoyed and refused to speak. Meanwhile, the other sisters couldn't help but chatter about the upcoming future.

"Mama, can't understand," Elizabeth complained. "I am trying." One of the only married of them spoke. "But of course, she can only think of results, not about how I'm suffering."

"Suffering?" Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "How is making a baby possibly painful?" This time William laughed out loud in his armchair at her words. "What are you laughing about? It is a genuine question."

"Unfortunately we can not answer that question, dear sister, that would ruin your innocence." Adolphus teased.

"But I must know," Bellatrix said a bit annoyed. "How do you expect me to grant a child if I do not know how is the process of producing one?"

"Oh my, Trixie, do you have to be so candid and explicit about that subject?" Augusta widened her eyes with a blush. "That is not appropriate for a lady to ask."

"But-" Her words were cut off by George's loud crying due to his daughter's loss. They almost forgot that the occasion was still a funeral. Bellatrix approached her eldest brother, tapping on his shoulder. "Sorrows, prayers."

"Trixie is just as insensitive as our mother, do you really believe she could possibly charm a gentleman?" Ernest spoke unconvinced.

"Her status as a princess will most certainly help in it," Augustus explained. "But I am not so sure if a gentleman can stand her behavior."

"I should be the one to stand in someone's presence," Bellatrix spoke annoyed. "Are you truly concerned about the man and not your own sister?"

"Well, yes, hence we know you, and he doesn't yet." Frederick chuckled by the fireplace.

Bellatrix sighed having enough of the situation. She stepped fiercely and lectured the room, while the chattering continued inside. Her silhouette crossed the hallways as she tried to avoid the many thoughts about the future and the concerning situation she found herself in.

She was, even not wanting to, her mother's last hope. She needed to be perfect, nothing less, and succeed in finding a considerably good match to marry, granting the crown an heir. The thought of her son possibly taking her father's place made her even more nervous, she couldn't even imagine a kingdom as that.

She walked so rapidly that she realized she had found herself in the gardens, where a familiar man worked on the land. His white hair strands made her smile.

"Farmer George!" She chuckled and waved at the old man across the garden.

When his eyes met her, they lit up, and Bellatrix immediately felt happiness for her father recognizing her this time. It was one of the good days it seems. "Bella!" He shot back as he approached her. "My dearest star, what are you doing here?"

The news of the death of his granddaughter probably didn't reach his ears yet, and Bella would certainly not be the one to tell him them either. She instead focused on the plants he buried on the ground and the dirty gloves he wore. She has always admired her father's talent in farming, he felt genuinely happy in doing it, and that felt comfort to see it.

"Just admiring the sun." She told him instead. "Isn't it a pleasant day?"

He nodded with a sweet smile. "Isn't it wonderful? Such a huge lightness miles and miles away from us burning in the sky and proving us warmness." He spoke mesmerized, trying to cover his sight so he could watch a bit the huge star. But then he glanced at his precious daughter. "But you do not seem so radiant as you always are, Bella."

Bella sighed, her father knew her too well, actually, maybe he was the person who knew her best in this whole galaxy. Since young she could never keep secrets from him, they had a good relationship, as close as possible when he was sane, and even when unstable, she'd help her mother to stabilize him. Charlotte was his Venus, while Bella was one of the most shining stars in the constellation of Orion, the origin of her name, Bellatrix.

"Papa..."She muttered a bit timidly. "Is my behavior so... unbearable?"

George furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean, my dear?"

"Could a gentleman fall for me for the person I am, and not for my title?"

Her father looked into her brown eyes for a deep second, a second that lasted too long in her nonstop-working mind. "Of course, my dear." He answered. "Why the sudden question?"

"My siblings doubt about that," Bellatrix said as she sat on a stone bench watching as her father dug a hole in the ground.

George chuckled a bit as he observed the ground and heard his daughter's words. "They were probably just teasing you."

"Didn't seem like it." She sighed.

He stopped digging for a moment and observed the blue sky on the horizon, the clear day didn't match his daughter's mood, and that was a deep frustration to him, he despised seeing her sad.

"Alright, you may be...a bit challenging to deal with." He admitted and she gasped. "But that does not mean it is a bad thing!" He quickly tried to explain. "You see, you remind me of your mother."

"Oh, God." She covered her face. "I am lost then."

George laughed. "That is not true. Even as challenging as she is, look at me. I've fallen for her immediately from the moment I saw her." He smiled. "Do you know that-"

"You met her while she tried to go over the wall." She finished his sentence. "Yes, you've told me that story plenty of times."

"So you must know that even as risky as it seemed, we still chose to be together."

Bella sighed at his words. She truly loved her parents' love story, she did, but she almost believed that they were one of a kind. The way her father loved her mother seemed completely out of this world, and after witnessing her siblings' lack of siblings for their mistresses, she believed that most men weren't like King George.

"Still, papa." She looked at him. "You two are special. As if you were designed to be with one another."

"And why wouldn't you be designed for someone as well?" He raised an eyebrow stubbornly. "My dearest, whoever is presented with the opportunity to love will surely be blessed, trust me." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Now, why are you asking me all those things so suddenly?"

Charlotte probably didn't tell him about her plans yet, great, now Bella would have to tell it to him herself.

"Mama wishes for me to debut this season."

George widened his eyes instantly and dropped the hoe in his hands in shock.

"What do you mean?!" He asked surprised. "B-But aren't you too young to marry?" George already felt a pain in his chest at the thought of his little girl marrying.

"I'm already an age to participate in the season papa." She said softly careful not to cause a crisis. "And..." she sighed. "I..I want to participate." That just made George even more surprised. "Paoa, it is my duty as your daughter to provide a legacy, I can't back away from my responsibility."

"Bella..." He got up from the ground and held her hands, making them dirty with the soil. "I am very glad you think that way, but I know the burden of being a king, and I do not wish that burden to pass upon you." He whispered softly. "If you wish to participate in the season, I shall support your decision, but if only you seek your true love," George said in a considerate tone. "I could never forgive myself for seeing you marry someone you do not love only to maintain the heritage alive"

"I...I understand papa." Bella nodded. She did not wish to discuss that matter further not to stress him, but she knew that deep down her father did not make the final choices, but her mother did. And Charlotte was determined enough not to care about true love bonds and overcome the no-heir crisis. "Thank you." Bella smiled and hugged him tenderly, trying her best not to appear sad in front of him.

"Just please remember what I told you, alright?" He said sweetly as they both looked at the garden. "Now, would you be so kind as to help me plant some tomatoes?"

⚜️

"Your Highness, the queen requests your presence at her chambers immediately." A servant approached Bellatrix when she was about to go to sleep.

"Did something happen?" The princess asked a bit concerned, probably expecting another crisis from her father.

"Your Majesty requests your presence to speak about the matter, your highness, I am not allowed to speak about the subject."

Bella sighed but followed the servant down the hallways of the palace until where she was required to. Once the doors to the Queen's chambers are open she visualizes her mother already in a grand robe, always in style, her hair already tied up, prepared for her night care routine.

"Mother." She bowed politely before entering and closing the doors behind her. "Did you request me?"

Queen Charlotte observed the cold night through the windows before addressing her daughter, the fireplace remained still, warming the large room, where the silence prevailed.

"Do you know what your father told me before I sent him back to Kew this morning?" Charlotte said in that subtle passive-aggressive tone of hers. She turned to the girl. "He had another episode, but this time explained that the Astros should remain their distance from Earth, the sun, for example, can't remain too close, or else he will burn our world." She said at last. "Why did you tell your father about your debut?"

Bellatrix frowned her eyebrows, of course, George wouldn't be able to contain his feelings and would express his refusal of having his young daughter marry so suddenly.

"I...I didn't know he'd have an episode because of this mama, he seemed fine-"

"You know your father isn't fine," Charlotte said at once with no pity. "Which is why I am the one who addresses certain issues with him first concerning the kingdom or the family. That includes your marriage." She looked straight into her eyes. "Or else situations as these happen."

Bellatrix didn't move, she knew that acting emotionally would never work against her mother's fearless and well-built wall she created around herself all these years. She needed to remain at the same level.

"My apologies, mother." She only muttered.

"I understand the connection you have with your father, you are the closest to him and most comprehensive about his condition within your siblings," Charlotte spoke calmly. "Which is why your future departure as a bride-to-be may affect him deeply."

"I understand, Mother."

Charlotte looked into her daughter's eyes which resembled so much her own. Of course, George wasn't the only one affected by taking such a hushed measure, but what other choice did she have? She needed to maintain the legacy and keep the kingdom in their hands. She dedicated her whole life to her king, how could she abdicate on that cause now?

"Tomorrow we will begin the preparations for your debut. You may leave now."

Bellatrix thought about saying something, maybe attempting to break into her mother's heart covered by that ice capsule she kept all those years. But instead, she only nodded, remained in silence, and left the room.

The silence always prevailed in that house.

⚜️

"Have you seen the princess?" Her powerful voice echoed through the palace.

No one dared to answer the queen's pertinent question as she walked at a fast tempo with her dog and Brimsley 5 feet behind her. Charlotte's temper wasn't one of the best and her patience was reaching its' limit when a servant told her the news that the youngest princess wasn't in her chambers that morning.

"Have any one of you seen your sister?" Charlotte asked in a thunderous voice to her children gathered in a recreation saloon, where they all did, as she used to say, useless and time-wasting activities, such as chattering, and drinking.

"What happened, mother?" Adolphos chuckled. "Did the debutant escape before her grand release to society's market?" He joked

"Yes, she did," Charlotte answered shortly.

At the confirmation all of them gasped in union, and, the once heartless appearing brothers and sisters, now began to worry about their youngest diamond.

"What?" Augusta asked scared. "How did it happen? Did someone rapture her?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Charlotte hissed. "You know your sister all too well to know that she would escape by herself. Now, does any of you know where she could've gone to?" She explained, already aware that this wasn't the first time such an occasion happened.

"How are we supposed to know? We have our own lives to care of, mother." Ernest said, lying on the sofa in a lazy posture while smoking.

"Oh, yes I can see." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Elizabeth? Augustus? William?" All of them shook their heads. Charlotte sighed. "Of course, you don't know, she would never be stupid enough to tell any of you about her plans." She concluded correctly and without any words or answers to her heirs, she left the room. "Brimsley." She asked her servant in an imponent voice.

"Yes, your majesty?" He replied, already prompt to follow her orders.

"Reinforce the security around the palace, make them search through every corner and every spot." She walked fast as the sun defied her presence in the sky.

A servant approached Brimsley and whispered fastly in his ear, the older one raised his eyebrows with the news. "Your majesty, the stables staff just informed me that the princess' horse is missing."

Charlotte stopped promptly and turned to him in an almost automatic machine movement. "Search through the palace surroundings, send guards to the fields, she must not be too far." She continued walking again, holding the dog in her hands with regained strength and a loud voice. "Find my daughter."

⚜️

The wind in her hair brushed away all concerns and possible worries regarding the future. All responsibilities seemed to disappear at that instant as she smiled at the sky and rode her horse through the forest.

There were signs of an upcoming storm by the grey clouds, but she couldn't care less. She just wished to be there and enjoy the moment before she'd be stuck again in a life full of duties and a loveless marriage where she couldn't speak her mind.

Jumping through obstacles and riding through the forest was an easy hobby for Bellatrix, who became a fan of horses when she was younger when she received that horse as a present from her father, they called it "Comet", and since then she has been her favorite even after he became a bit lame over the years.

She could freeze time and remain in that moment forever if she wanted to, but she knew that could never be possible. She knew that even if her father attempted to help her, he was still distant, not only physically in his residence in Kew, but also even more emotionally over the years. She knew that her mother had the best of intentions concerning the kingdom, and knew that borning as a princess and marrying for her duties was a sacrifice she was already fated to since the day she was born.

So she tried to embrace that destiny and take in the overwhelming information in that ride, affirming to herself that once she returned to that palace she would do as she was told and would do it in the most perfect way possible.

That is if the rain didn't fall. If her horse didn't become scared of the water. And if she didn't fall on the muddy ground at the same time a thunder crashed into the now dark atmosphere.

The fall hurt on a moderate scale, and the animal companion ran faster than ever when the storm began to shake the trees with its furious wind.

When Bella realized, she was on the ground, her loosen ride dress was covered in dirtiness and grass, and her muscles were sore by the sudden fall.

She tried to call the horse but it was in vain, he was already gone, and now she was left at her own mercy to the brutal weather that could crash one of those trees above her at any second.

That was until she heard noises through the chaos, the sound of a voice telling an animal to stop, and eyes landing on her silhouette on the ground.

"Now that was a very gracious landing, I must say." A male voice grinned at her situation, followed by a hand that was standing in her direction, making Bella widen her eyes. "Are you in need of assistance, my lady?"