Chapter 368: A love to kill for (5)
"Please, please let me go," Nessa pleaded.
"When she sent you here, didn’t she warn you that death might greet you? You have been serving her long enough to know that she doesn’t care whether you die or not," Tyrion said, his grip yet to loosen.
Year after year, Tyrion watched many of Tabitha’s servants leave the palace or heard of some dying. They were all disposable to her, yet they thought they were better than the person before them.
"It puzzles me why you would choose to follow my grandmother when the servants who served my mother well are either still in the palace or she helped them to settle down outside the palace," Tyrion said, yet to understand servants like Nessa.
Hazel was far from a horrible queen. She had not ruined the Castros but rather made it safer for her family. Together with the Hensons, she didn’t tolerate any threats toward her family.
Tyrion knew what Tabitha hated most was how Hazel didn’t give in to the old rules, which would have made her children unhappy, and how Hazel didn’t bend to Tabitha’s will.
"P-Prince Tyrion," Nessa said, her eyes rolling back.
Tyrion released Nessa after she fell unconscious due to the lack of air. He was close to breaking her neck.
"Your highness," Aiden greeted Tyrion from the sidelines. "Shall I remove her for you?"
"Kill her," Tyrion said just before walking away.
"Yes, what?" Aiden asked, certain he had misheard.
Tyrion looked over his shoulder and asked, "Was I not loud enough?"
"Yes, you were. Forgive me," Aiden said, realising his mistake.
"For long have we allowed many to live and then they come to stand before me, my wife, or my mother. The same ones who disrespect my mother will do it to Hailey and Penelope. Kill all of my grandmother’s little spies," Tyrion ordered Aiden.
"Right away," Aiden said, going to lift the maid’s body. "I came to inform you that the doctor is settling in, and now that the last of the carriages has entered, no one will be granted permission inside."
Tyrion didn’t respond. He went off in search of Penelope, where he left her with the portraits.
Tyrion entered the space his mother had designated for all of the family portraits and found Penelope standing with Sterling, still looking at his old portraits.
"We must send for the painter while we are here. Your portrait needs to go up on a wall," said Tyrion.
"We have been meaning to have our portraits done, but didn’t have time for it. Why haven’t I noticed that you were a cute, grumpy child? Look at the way you pout," Penelope said, captivated by a portrait of four-year-old Tyrion.
"I asked my mother to get rid of them since they weren’t perfect," Tyrion said.
"I am glad that the queen chose to keep them here in your family home. I quite like them and one day, you shall like that they exist. My father is wrong," Penelope noticed. "A child who looks more like you wouldn’t be too bad."
Tyrion’s lips were folded into a thin line. It didn’t come as a surprise that Edgar was hoping for their children to inherit Penelope’s looks.
Tyrion strolled to where Penelope stood and kissed her cheek. "Then we must have a child who looks identical to me so I may bother your father."
"Though he would be annoyed, you mustn’t underestimate my father. He will love the child regardless and hope their looks will fade to be more like mine. My father doesn’t want the child to look like you because it is the king who shall tease him," said Penelope.
Penelope worried about her father reaching his breaking point with the king.
"I have only now realised the position we are in. Not only are our fathers close, but they are also sometimes at odds, and it is also our brothers. The ladies of both families are the wise ones," Penelope concluded.
"Have I not acted like a wise man?" Tyrion asked, leaving another kiss. He made his intention clear.
"You have your moment of acting like the other men," Penelope said, reaching forward to touch the frame which decorated a portrait. "But you are wise. Has the trouble been taken care of?"
"It has. You need not worry about it," Tyrion said, his arms snaking around Penelope’s waist. "We should go to the garden. The bushes are tall enough for no one to see us."
"We have only just arrived, yet this is what plagues your mind. How wrong the people are to think that you are such an innocent prince. Your shoulder," Penelope said, touching where the bandages were.
"Do you indeed want to sit on my shoulder? Not that I would mind if your legs were to be parted-"
Penelope clamped her hand over Tyrion’s mouth and looked around for Sterling, whom she now noticed had slipped away.
Penelope pulled her hand back after Tyrion was so childish as to bite her.
"Did you send Sterling away?" Penelope asked, searching for Sterling.
"Sterling is a wise man. In fact, he is married to one of the gardeners here, so he knows when to make his presence scarce for a couple. It is time that I convince you that my shoulder is well," Tyrion said, swooping Penelope off her feet.
Penelope was frozen, too afraid to reach for Tyrion’s shoulder to hold onto in case she fell.
"If your wound worsens, you mustn’t blame me," Penelope whispered as though there was someone around to stop a married couple from doing as they wanted.
Tyrion didn’t respond since Penelope would soon sing a different tune.
Elsewhere in the kingdom, Julie found herself in a position she wished to get out of.
Julie sat with Ally in the home owned by her grandmother. Odessa had yet to sit with them, but Julie was already a little nervous.
Ally was calm since she was accustomed to visiting Odessa.
"Why aren’t you eating the cookies?" Ally asked, picking up another.
"I am not hungry, and I don’t want any crumbs to be on my face when she arrives. You know how she scolds us if there is just one crumb," Julie replied.
Ally laughed, thinking Julie was too dramatic. "Grandmother isn’t like that. It is only us here, so she will not think anything of it. She looks forward to hearing of your time inside the palace."
"She spoke of her excitement with you?" Julie questioned, curious when they had time to speak.
"She wrote me a letter and I responded."
"But she didn’t write to me, who was inside the palace. Ally, I need a favour from you. Please pay attention today. Take note of the difference in how we are treated," Julie said, having had enough of Ally not noticing the truth.