Ch-58 An Announcement Of Rage

                                    

                                          
"I present to you Princess Claudette of Dominicia and King Marcassius of Ceryscathia."
                          
Fenix announced at the entrance of the dining room, everyone fell silent as the advisors and other nobles of Dominicia bore holes into the new arrivals.
                          
Most looks were of curiosity others of jealousy, confusion and most of all disgust from the head table, there Queen Castella of Dominicia sat.
                          
Claudia wanted to laugh at her mother's face of horror when she noticed what her daughter was wearing.
                          
She could picture the horns on her mother's head, only a pitchfork was missing, really. 
                          
This was a huge blow on the Queen's reputation or as she calls it, the future of their kingdom.
                          
"I have a lingering feeling that your mother will retaliate for this." Marcus whispered beside her.
                          
"Oh, let her, she doesn't know who she's messing with." She grinned.
                          
Claudia glanced at Fenix, though his face was covered by a helmet, she knew that he too was snickering underneath it.
                          
Marcus led Claudia towards the dining table with poise and elegance and surprisingly Claudia too was playing along with it.
                          
Dean and Hela lingered behind them, the knight, a bit closer to his king for protection and Felix did the same with Claudia.
                          
All eyes were on them as Marcus went to pull the chair for Claudia but Fenix beat him to it, giving the king a smug look before moving back.
                          
Dean pulled out a seat for Marcus beside the princess, and was thanked by the king as he pushed it in.
                          
"Well, Claudia, dear. I thought I made it quite clear what my instructions were for you to dress."
                          
Castella spoke almost too sweetly, a venomous smile on her face that only the closest sitting to her, Claudia and Marcus could see right through it.
                          
"Well mother dearest, you did make it quite clear but I chose to ignore it just like your voice." Claudia retorted equally as sweet.
                          
Castella put on a smile for the other guests before turning to her daughter, glaring at her and receiving an equally fierce one by her, turned to her many guests.
                          
It was no doubt that everyone in the table knew about the Queen's act, they were just afraid to speak up, no matter how beautiful this kingdom looked from the outside, what happened inside the castle walls was indescribable.
                          
Ever since King Arthur had left, the Queen had gotten considerably more cruel to her advisors and even her citizens.
                          
The only reason she kept Claudia out of her wrath was because she looked every bit of her father minus the hair, his personality and all. Maybe it was the last ounce of mercy left in the foul woman that made her hesitate about her daughter.
                          
With her smile still on her face, she stood up from her head seat with a pitcher in her hand.
                          
"Members of our court, noble families and other guests, I welcome you to this feast for a special occasion. My daughter...."
                          
No, No, No. Not here. Claudia prayed that she would not announce about the engagement right now, if the entire kingdom knew, she would have no choice but to marry him.
                          
Sensing her discomfort, Marcus looked at Castella, surprising Claudia with his angry expression, something she hadn't seen before.
                          
With a warning glare, he muttered. "Castella, no. That's enough."
                          
The woman downright ignored his words, smiling down at him.
                          
"My daughter-
                          
"Castella..."
                          
"-is engaged to King Marcassius."
                          
Cheers erupted from all around them, all were in rejoice at their princess getting engaged but a few people didn't feel the same.
                          
Marcus and Fenix were enraged at the woman, Hela sensed Claudia's sadness and understood she wasn't ready for this.
                          
What added more fuel to the fire were the Queen's next words.
                          
"The wedding will be in a weeks time. All are invited from the nobles to the citizens."
                          
Claudia, who was gripping her gold pitcher hard enough to bend the metal had enough of this foolery and threw it at her mother in rage.
                          
The room fell silent again, shock covered the faces of the guests present for the lunch as they stared at the princess who threw a pitcher at her own mother.
                          
Castella looked at her daughter, looking ready to murder the girl if not for the number of people in the room.
                          
The Queen expected the king to get angry at Claudia for causing a scene like this but all he did was bore a hole of fire into her too, obviously angry for announcing it without her daughter's consent.
                          
Claudia jumped up from her chair, with still a glower at the wretched woman she had to call mother, spoke her next words that were sharp as a knife slicing through paper.
                          
"I will not be marrying ANYONE in a week, be it a king or a peasant. You may be my Queen but you are not my mother. 
                          
You're nothing but a two-faced bitch who cares about your prestige and glory and wouldn't hesitate to even sell your own kingdom to the devil if it meant you could live in riches."
                          
Marcus saw Castella's hand twitch and immediately knew what she would do next, he wasn't stupid enough to not notice the mark on Claudia's cheek.
                          
Castella raised her palm in the air ready to hit her daughter once more not caring of the many spectators.
                          
But before she could even touch Claudia, Marcus sprang up from his pulling the princess away from the mad woman and grabbed her hand, stopping her.
                          
The crowd felt as if they were watching a play, a far more dramatic play where all the events that were put in as an exaggeration were actually true.
                          
The evil mother going to slap the innocent daughter but the lover stops the woman from hurting his life, that was what was going on.
                          
Queen Castella's jaw was on the floor looking at the king in dumbfounded wondering why in the hell would he want to protect her daughter.
                          
"Don't you dare touch her again." He growled.
                          
"She is my daughter, and I will do what I want with her. You have no right to say in this personal matter."
                          
"And wasn't she the woman you made my fiancee infront of all these people? I think I do have a right to protect her from people like you." He retorted.
                          
Marcus gaze was drawn away from the woman to Claudia who looked so close to crying, trying to keep her strong composure infront of him and everyone else.
                          
"I..I need to go." She croaked and looked at Fenix and Hela which surprised him.
                          
Fenix nodded and took her by the hand leading her away from the dining room.
                          
Castella went to stop them."Guards! St-
                          
"You will let her go, remember Castella, I have an army that is five times the size of yours and your daughter is the only reason that they are fighting alongside your kingdom.
                          
Don't make me call them back."
                          
He turned to look at Hela.
                          
"Go with them."
                          
The young woman didn't waste any time but left to follow the princess and her knight.
                          
Marcus let go of Castella staring at the entrance from where she left.
                          
He didn't care about this proposal.
                          
Marcus was ready to break it if it meant that Claudia would be happy.