It has been two days since Melissa went into labour. While I had hoped that the mother and child pair would perish, it seemed as if they refused to die.

I could hear her screams echoing down the hallway, bloodcurdling and raw. As if her body was being torn apart by a pack of rabid wolves.

As I waited outside the birthing chamber, I was reminded of the time when Queen Jane gave birth to Prince Gregory.

       Just like now, I quietly awaited behind closed doors, eagerly anticipating for the worst. Wanting to hear her screams being cut off, wanting to hear the distressful moans of the midwives as they delivered the pale blue baby. But none of that happened.

    Melissa screeched one final time, and I could hear the piercing cry of an infant.

      It was the very last thing that I wanted to hear. Is it a boy or a girl? Has the destroyer of my family's legacy been born? Would he one day take away everything from my daughters?

I decided to go in. Inside, I could see Melissa Hasteburn lying weakly on the bed, her eyes flickering towards the small bundle in the midwife's arms.

         "Is it a boy or a girl ?" I ask calmly, and upon hearing my voice, the midwife hastily lowered her head in greeting.

         "It is a boy, Your Majesty," she told me, holding out the bundle for me to take, ignoring the reaching hands of the boy's mother.

         "Don't you dare touch my son!" she screeched, but no one paid attention to her. I gently took the boy into my arms while his mother watched, her lips trembling with rage.

I pulled away the cloth that obscured the boy's face, and I could see the soft, curly tufts of red hair, the exact shade as my mother in law's. His face resembled that of his half-siblings, and I saw none of Melissa Hasteburn in him.

He was a lovely child, and I could not bear to hurt him. Despite my burning hatred for the boy's mother and her family, I had decided to let him live.

After all, as the King's legitimate wife, I am legally his mother, and what a horrible mother I would be if I let my own son suffer.

            "From this day on, I will take care of him, and I shall raise him under my wing. Just like the King had agreed," I declared.

Melissa stared at me in shock and horror. She immediately changed her violent approach to a more sympathetic one.

              "Your Majesty, at the very least, please let me name him myself. Let him be named Edgar, Your Majesty. It is all I wish for," she pleaded.

      I wanted to laugh upon hearing her words. Just like Lacey Rivers, Melissa too was obsessed with naming her son after the King's father. It was as if their bastards would suddenly become legitimate if they were given a royal name.

               "No," I retort sharply. "He shall be named Caius. Caius de Chauvelot."

The Hasteburns were outraged by the name I chose to give the little boy, and I could not be happier.

      Caius was the name of my ancestor, the very first Earl of Rhyland. He was a brilliant and glib tongued minister at court, and if it were not for his talent in business, House Winterbourne could have never reached this height today.

        It was not a bad name, and in fact, there were thousands of boys in Rhyland alone named Caius.

The Hasteburns' rage was linked to the fact that Caius Winterbourne was the man who led to the south breaking away from the Arrinella Cordesane. They called him a demon, the Devil's incarnate, but nothing could join the two factions back together.

    And now I, his direct descendant, had named their grandson after him. The Marquis of Hasteburn must have coughed up blood once he found out.

For the past two days, I had been preoccupied with the birth of this boy, but now that it is over, I am met with an even more precarious situation.

    If Edmund were indeed to die, then the Hasteburns could overthrow me with ease and put this boy on the throne. It was a terrifying thought, and I knew that any other person in my place would instantly think of getting rid of this boy.

But I could not. His pale green eyes, the same shade as Edmund's stare up at me, twinkling as he burst out laughing. I could never hurt this little boy.

      I have guarded the news of Edmund's injury well, but suspicions have begun to grow in the past week. The King had retreated from the battlefield along with the Queen's brother, and no news were heard from them since.

People would ask, what had happened to them?

     In truth, I had begun to prepare for the worst. The crown jewels had all been hidden away, and the throne room had been cleaned and tidied up. One by one, the servants at court were replaced with those loyal to the House of Winterbourne, and even if the Marquis wanted to go against me, he would have no power here whatsoever.

      As I struggled to hold on to my fragile power, I had shut down my own feelings and worries. It was a cold winter night, exactly a week after I first received the letter that I finally broke down.
Elisabeth, Verena and Caius were all asleep in the Royal Nursery, and I was all alone in my chambers.

     It was so cold, and there was little light in the room,  save for the dim, flickering embers in the fireplace.

During these cold months, Edmund would pull me into his warm embrace, and he would hold on to me so tightly that I could hear his heartbeat, and his soft breaths would tickle my ear.

      I subconsciously reach for his side of the bed, hoping to find warmth, but found nothing but coldness. As I sunk onto the mattress, I closed my eyes tight, envisioning him in front of me, holding his arms out, waiting for me.

      I imagined him safe and sound, his cheeks tinted pink with health. I clenched my eyes shut, forcing myself to go to sleep, and that when I woke up, my Edmund would come home.

      And my wish was fulfilled, much earlier than I thought it would. Just before I fell asleep, I could hear the sound of horse hooves pounding against the stone floors of the palace compounds, and the guard at the gate hastily rang the bell, awaking everyone in the palace.

I jolted up from my bed and rushed towards the window. There, from far away I could recognise my brother's banner. He has returned. My brother has returned, and he has brought Edmund with him.

       Without a second thought, I burst out of my chambers, dressed in nothing but my nightgown. I sprinted down the hallway, then towards the receiving hall, where I saw the doors flung wide open.

        "Gilbert!" I called out as soon as I caught glimpse of him. He looked exhausted and travel-worn, but he seemed healthy, thank god.

       "Where is Edmund, Gil ?" I asked him impatiently. "Where is my husband? Is he alright?"

       "Anne, calm down!" he urged, placing his hands on either side of my shoulders.

I seethed as I pushed him away, his attempts to placate me appearing to be futile. "No! Tell me Gilbert! Where is he ?"

However, before he could answer, a familiar voice, one that I yearned to hear for months now, finally appeared.

       "It is alright, Annie," I could hear him say as he gently held me. "It's all fine now.."

After forcing myself to appear cold and emotionless for weeks and months on end, I finally broke down into tears.

      Edmund's injuries were as bad as I thought they would be. As expected, the amenities up north were not advanced enough to fully cure him, but they did manage to make him fit enough to travel down south. And for that, I owe them my gratitude.

          "How did this happen, Edmund ?" I asked him as I gently removed the bandages that covered his wounds. The long, narrow wound was a sickening blood red, and against his pale skin, it looked as if it were a carmine serpent who would strangle my husband in his sleep.

           "We were ambushed, Annie," he answered, his voice weak and slight. "The battle was to begin at dawn, but they attacked our camp late at night while the soldiers were asleep."

           "They are cowards. Cheaters. They are worse than pigs," I cursed under my breath. I loathed the entirety of this situation. My husband was ill and dying while the Terrawinnians rejoice at their stolen success.

If anything were to happen to Edmund, Phoenicia would not be able to endure another attack.

             "You will be alright," I assured him. "Sir Pattesley is working on your medicine as we speak. Soon, you will be up and about in no time."

Edmund sighed softly. "Will you lay beside me, Annie ?"

I nodded as I laid down next to him, my body warmly nestled in the crook of his arm. With difficulty, he turned on his side so that he could face me, and his other hand stroked my hair softly.

              "Annie, if I were to die-"

              "Don't say that," I interjected sharply.

              "Listen to me, Anne. If anything were to happen to me, I want you to put our daughter on the throne, but you will rule on her behalf until she is of age. Surround yourself with people you can trust, and if anyone makes you feel threatened, dispose of them. Do you understand, Anne ?"

I remained silent, not wanting to look into his eyes. Then, I could feel him lifting my hand close to his cold lips, kissing it ever so softly.

                "I understand. But let us hope that the plan never needs to be utilised," I murmured as I buried my face in his chest.

My prayers were answered when his condition began to rapidly improve, thanks to Sir Pattesley's expertise. Within two weeks of returning here, his wounds had dried up and healed, and he began to walk around again as if nothing had happened.

       I felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders following his recovery, but in the north, the battle rages on.

      Margaret was hell-bent on retrieving the territories she had lost, but we were not about to let her win so easily. After all, those territories would have not fallen into our hands had she not initiated the war first. She had no one but herself to blame for this matter.

           "What do you suggest we do, Lord Winterbourne?" the King questioned my father during the council's meeting.

          "I would suggest that we propose for a peace treaty. The battles have been going on long enough, and the chances of Phoenicia's victory are slim," my father replied with a frown.

           "So all our efforts have been all for naught? We are so close to victory anyway, so we should keep on fighting!" the Marquis of Hasteburn rebuked ignorantly.

            "Our men are dropping dead like fleas! Even if they don't get slaughtered by the Terrawinnians, the environment will finish them off first!" my father retorted, and that seemed to silence the Marquis for a while.

              "But for a peace treaty to happen, Margaret will want us to return the territories. If we give in, then the Terrawinnians will become even stronger. We can't afford to lose them, Father," I voiced out.

My father nodded. "I am aware of that, Your Majesty. And that is why I constructed a plan to ensure that the Terrawinnians agree to the treaty without much hassle. Of course, the plan cannot go forward if I do not have both of your blessings."

I glanced at my husband, whose head was lowered down in deep thought.

              "Tell us your plan, and we shall decide," he eventually said.

              "You will know, but not now," my father answered, his eyes discreetly gesturing towards the other lords in the room, keenly waiting to hear even a sliver of information.

My husband had dozens of spies in the Terrawinnian court. Who knows how many spies Margaret has planted in his court? After all, she is the daughter of King Edward, and quite a few people in the kingdom still supported her.

                "Good," Edmund said. "We shall end the meeting here."

He stood up from his chair and held out his hand, waiting for me to grasp onto it. However, I could not help but notice the short, blond-haired lord with bulging, bug-like blue eyes at the other end of the council table.

He seemed to be unnaturally alert, and those unsettling eyes of his darted from left to right at the slightest noise.

                "Husband," I whispered. "Who is that lord with the bulging eyes? I don't think I've ever seen him here before."

Edmund frowned. "Bulging eyes? Oh, do you mean Lord Ingram? The blond one?"

       Lord Ingram... The Ingrams were not particularly affluent, so I knew little to none about them. But there was something about this Lord Ingram that unnerved me and made me feel uneasy.

                  "Anne, is something wrong ?" Edmund asked upon noticing my silence.

                  "No, everything is fine," I murmured in reply. I can't destroy someone's life just because I find him a bit unnerving, could I?
           

That afternoon, I brought Edmund to the Royal Nursery with me. He has yet to meet his newborn son.

               "Come and look at him, Edmund," I whispered as I treaded on the floor gently as to not make a single sound.

               "You treat him very well, Annie," Edmund said, gesturing to the gold plated cradle that the boy slept in.

A thin smile formed on my lips. "Of course, I will. Legally, he is my son, and I will place him anywhere I see fit."

        Every now and then, I had to remind Edmund of that promise he made one year ago.

Edmund was not the type of person who broke promises, but upon seeing Melissa Hasteburn shrieking like a madwoman and having to listen to the Marquis's pleads every day, I fear that his resolution would begin to crumble.

       I had made a cruel compromise, I know. I had torn a mother away from her child, but if I let the child grow in her care, he would someday become a thorn in my side. So I took him away from her.

             "Will you not let her see him once in a while?"

             " She will see him, of course," I retorted. "But only during feasts and functions, the only occasion where the king's concubine and the king's son should be seen in one place."

            "Well, as long as you treat him well, I have no objections."

            "You don't need to worry. I chose to raise him as my own son, and as such, I will never let anyone or anything harm him. But if he were raised by those Hasteburns, he shall be my enemy. I believe I don't need to say more."

Edmund looked down into the cradle coldly, as slowly he said, "Forgive me for making you do this. If I had not sought for the Marquis's help, then none of this would have happened. I've hurt you, Anne."

             "Without the Marquis's help, we wouldn't be where we are today. I suppose that these little sacrifices must be made for a greater purpose.."

             "Still, I wish that I had done things differently. I've realised that if I hadn't driven you to such a state, you didn't need to do all those things you did."

I could only smile as I quietly listened. It's not as if those corpses would suddenly reanimate and come back to life, would they?

     Several days after the council meeting, a letter from my father detailing the plan he had made finally arrived at the palace.

To the King,

Regarding the matter of the peace treaty, I am fully aware of the consequences that we might suffer if we were to proceed down that route. However, I have found a way for us to proceed without losing any of those territories that we have won. It does involve a bit of trickery, but most important of all, intimidation.

We are running out of soldiers, but Margaret does not know that yet. I plan to assign my men to the north, where they will spread rumours of a new secret army being trained deep inside the Cantergarrian mountains. This new army is far more powerful, more bloodthirsty than the Terrawinnians could ever fathom. We shall make them believe in the existence of this secret army, and we shall intimidate them into accepting the treaty. The peace will likely not last very long, but there will be enough time for us to actually build the army in real life. Then, we will finish them off for good.

Your humble and obedient servant,

Cassian Winterbourne
Earl of Rhyland