Chapter 164: Unedited Chapter Hundred And Sixty Four: Overwhelming Rosemund
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Jamie walked slowly through the hallways like she usually does every morning. She knew that after the walk that she would be going out to talk to some of the wives whose husbands went to war just like hers.
She would console, listen to their fear and worries and reassure them of the victory in sight.
Was she lying? Yes. But a comforting lie was better than the unhelpful truth.
The truth of the brave queen was that each night the war dragged out, she stared at the high ceilings and the feeling of blunt hopelessness intensified by tens of thousands until she was forced to push everything out of her head.
With each day it was becoming less and less easy.
Jamie stumbled into the court Rosemund was sitting in on. She was sure it was the first time she was seeing her sister in law in weeks since the war started.
Rosemund listen with rapt attention at the councilors of villages and lords of the houses on the financial nature of the kingdom.
"No extra supplies to villagers until the war is over, We need to be responsible with distribution" Rosemund responded to one of the problems brought to her attention about the villagers request.
"Are you sure, your royal highness?" One of the councilors asked Rosemund.
Jamie could see how tired the young girl was. The bags under her eyes and the way her posture was slouched gave it away easily.
It was difficult ruling a kingdom when there was no war but doing it when there was a raging war got to leave a toll on anyone including the steel hearted Princess.
"Are you questioning the crown?" Jamie asked the councilor from the back of the hall where she stood, thereby drawing attention to herself.
"No, your majesty…my apologies crown princess" the counselor quickly added.
Rosemund nodded softly in acceptance. Jamie noticed that she could barely keep her eyes open.
"This meeting is adjourned to the next five hours….Go home, be with your family. The crown princess and I, have an important topic to discuss about the kingdom" Jamie dismissed the gathering and she hoped that Rosemund wouldn't fight her on it and thankfully she didn't.
After the king's court cleared out, Rosemund stared at Jamie with tired eyes.
"What do you want us to talk about, Her majesty?" Rosemund asked and rubbed her left eye.
"Not here, can you come with me?" Jamie said and walked out knowing fully well that Rosemund would follow even if it was just out of curiosity.
Jamie walked for a little while before Rosemund finally caught up with her.
"Where are we going?"
"To the queen's chamber" Jamie murmured.
"Why?" Rosemund queried with a hint of irritation.
"I want to show you something important" Jamie said and opened the door to her chamber.
Rosemund walked in after Jamie.
"I am here. What do you want to talk about when you dismiss my councilors?" Rosemund demanded with a high pitched voice that showed just how angry she was.
"Lie on the bed…get some rest, Rose. The kingdom can wait" Jamie pushed her towards the bed.
"I can't do that. I have a million things to do. I have people court in thirty minutes. I have to go over the budget with councilor Jared to know where to take money to buy more weapons…."
Jamie interrupted her.
"Go to bed…"
"And then other ranked women in our society want to have a meeting on how to rebuild…"
Jamie grabbed both her arms and she shook her.
"Rosemund! Stop!"
Rosemund stopped talking and looked at her sister in law. She held Jamie's gaze for a while before she covered her face with both hands and she allowed the sobs rip through her like waves.
"You are exhausted, Rosemund. You need help, little one" Jamie borrowed the endearing word Alexander called her by.
Rosemund took the hands she used to cover her face away for a minute.
"I am exhausted….I..I…need help, Jamie. I need this w-war to be over so I can have my brothers back. I.. don't know how long I can keep this up. I really…really tired…help me" she cried softly as spoke to Jamie
Jamie hugged her briefly to comfort her. Then she led her to the bed and lifted the blanket for her to get in.
"It won't be a good look for me to sleep during the day, Jamie. People would talk" Rosemund complained but she still went ahead to lie down.
Jamie covered her with the blanket.
"Why do you think I am making you sleep here, Rose? Rest, no one will know…I promise"
Rosemund's head barely touched the pillow when she dozed off to sleep.
Jamie made sure she was properly covered before she left the room.
When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't alone in the room. There was a younger girl there watching her.
"Who are you?" Rosemund blinked to keep her eyes open.
"My name is Heavens, I am the Queen's maid. She sent me in with food and I am not allowed to leave until you eat everything in your plate, your royal highness" Heavens said and stood up from where she sat to bring a tray of food closer to the princess.
"It's against the rules of etiquette for royalties to eat in their rooms" Rosemund protested weakly.
God! When was the last time she ate food?
Heavens smiled. She didn't know why she wasn't nervous in the presence of the crown princess. Maybe she was used to speaking freely with Jamie and comfortable around the queen.
"Eat your food, my princess. This bedchamber is for rebels. The queen says there is no judgment in this room"
Heavens said and brought the tray closer to the princess.
Rosemund took the bread and took a bite from it.
"How old are you, Heavens?"
"I am sixteen years old, my princess"
"Aren't you too young to be a maid to such a high ranking monarch?" Rosemund was surprised.
"The Queen doesn't mind. And I am grateful for this position. Remember to drink water…" Heavens remembered quickly that she might have the permission to talk freely to Jamie but the princess was the rebel Queen and she quickly added
"The Queen insisted"
"Where is my sister in law?" Rosemund asked the young maid after she swallowed some water.
"I don't know" Heavens lied through her teeth with a straight face.
"You must be either foolish enough to lie to me or you are too loyal to your lady that I need someone like you, Heavens. Which is it? Are you loyal or stupid?" Rosemund asked her.
"I don't know where the Queen is at this moment and that is the truth, my princess" Heavens bowed to the princess.
"What time is it now, Heavens?" Rosemund asked as she cut her boiled potatoes into pieces for easy chewing.
"It's evening, my princess"
Rosemund jerked up from the bed almost knocking over the tray of food on the bed.
"How long did I sleep for?" Rosemund adjusted her clothes in a desperate attempt to look presentable.
"It's been hours, Princess Rosemund"
"Why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"The Queen instructed me not to" Heavens answered sincerely.
That witch! Rosemund thought in her mind. How could she believe that Jamie had her best interest at her? The concern and the attempt to get her to sleep was just a way for the eastern hag to make her look bad.
She just missed a thousand meetings with important men because of her trickery.
Rosemund stormed out of the room. She needed to get herself to the king's court and savage a few things.
How could she be so stupid?
She walked faster, only using her whole self control to stop herself from picking the helm of her dress and racing to her destination.
She was so close to the court that she almost bumped into councilor Jared on her way.
"Your Royal highness, the declaration you made about taxes in this time of war is genius! Declaring a slight reduction in pennies in exchange of one hour of labor to build something that could help us defeat our enemies is…pure genius. The people will be grateful and production for the war will triple…you came up with an idea that could revolutionize everything" Jared smiled from tooth to tooth as he walked away.
Rosemund blinked severally, she doesn't remember giving that particular declaration.
She opened the king's court and two lords bowed to her on their way out with smiles on their faces. Rosemund doesn't remember the last thing a council and lords meeting ended with a smile.
"What did you do?" Rosemund queried her sister in law as soon as they were alone
"Me? Nothing….you on the other hand attended to everything you needed to do and solved a bunch of problems. It a win-win situation, Rosemund….Relax"
"Don't tell me to relax! You think that I can't do my duties because I am not made out of stone like you?" Rosemund yelled at he
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Jamie walked slowly through the hallways like she usually does every morning. She knew that after the walk that she would be going out to talk to some of the wives whose husbands went to war just like hers.
She would console, listen to their fear and worries and reassure them of the victory in sight.
Was she lying? Yes. But a comforting lie was better than the unhelpful truth.
The truth of the brave queen was that each night the war dragged out, she stared at the high ceilings and the feeling of blunt hopelessness intensified by tens of thousands until she was forced to push everything out of her head.
With each day it was becoming less and less easy.
Jamie stumbled into the court Rosemund was sitting in on. She was sure it was the first time she was seeing her sister in law in weeks since the war started.
Rosemund listen with rapt attention at the councilors of villages and lords of the houses on the financial nature of the kingdom.
"No extra supplies to villagers until the war is over, We need to be responsible with distribution" Rosemund responded to one of the problems brought to her attention about the villagers request.
"Are you sure, your royal highness?" One of the councilors asked Rosemund.
Jamie could see how tired the young girl was. The bags under her eyes and the way her posture was slouched gave it away easily.
It was difficult ruling a kingdom when there was no war but doing it when there was a raging war got to leave a toll on anyone including the steel hearted Princess.
"Are you questioning the crown?" Jamie asked the councilor from the back of the hall where she stood, thereby drawing attention to herself.
"No, your majesty…my apologies crown princess" the counselor quickly added.
Rosemund nodded softly in acceptance. Jamie noticed that she could barely keep her eyes open.
"This meeting is adjourned to the next five hours….Go home, be with your family. The crown princess and I, have an important topic to discuss about the kingdom" Jamie dismissed the gathering and she hoped that Rosemund wouldn't fight her on it and thankfully she didn't.
After the king's court cleared out, Rosemund stared at Jamie with tired eyes.
"What do you want us to talk about, Her majesty?" Rosemund asked and rubbed her left eye.
"Not here, can you come with me?" Jamie said and walked out knowing fully well that Rosemund would follow even if it was just out of curiosity.
Jamie walked for a little while before Rosemund finally caught up with her.
"Where are we going?"
"To the queen's chamber" Jamie murmured.
"Why?" Rosemund queried with a hint of irritation.
"I want to show you something important" Jamie said and opened the door to her chamber.
Rosemund walked in after Jamie.
"I am here. What do you want to talk about when you dismiss my councilors?" Rosemund demanded with a high pitched voice that showed just how angry she was.
"Lie on the bed…get some rest, Rose. The kingdom can wait" Jamie pushed her towards the bed.
"I can't do that. I have a million things to do. I have people court in thirty minutes. I have to go over the budget with councilor Jared to know where to take money to buy more weapons…."
Jamie interrupted her.
"Go to bed…"
"And then other ranked women in our society want to have a meeting on how to rebuild…"
Jamie grabbed both her arms and she shook her.
"Rosemund! Stop!"
Rosemund stopped talking and looked at her sister in law. She held Jamie's gaze for a while before she covered her face with both hands and she allowed the sobs rip through her like waves.
"You are exhausted, Rosemund. You need help, little one" Jamie borrowed the endearing word Alexander called her by.
Rosemund took the hands she used to cover her face away for a minute.
"I am exhausted….I..I…need help, Jamie. I need this w-war to be over so I can have my brothers back. I.. don't know how long I can keep this up. I really…really tired…help me" she cried softly as spoke to Jamie
Jamie hugged her briefly to comfort her. Then she led her to the bed and lifted the blanket for her to get in.
"It won't be a good look for me to sleep during the day, Jamie. People would talk" Rosemund complained but she still went ahead to lie down.
Jamie covered her with the blanket.
"Why do you think I am making you sleep here, Rose? Rest, no one will know…I promise"
Rosemund's head barely touched the pillow when she dozed off to sleep.
Jamie made sure she was properly covered before she left the room.
When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't alone in the room. There was a younger girl there watching her.
"Who are you?" Rosemund blinked to keep her eyes open.
"My name is Heavens, I am the Queen's maid. She sent me in with food and I am not allowed to leave until you eat everything in your plate, your royal highness" Heavens said and stood up from where she sat to bring a tray of food closer to the princess.
"It's against the rules of etiquette for royalties to eat in their rooms" Rosemund protested weakly.
God! When was the last time she ate food?
Heavens smiled. She didn't know why she wasn't nervous in the presence of the crown princess. Maybe she was used to speaking freely with Jamie and comfortable around the queen.
"Eat your food, my princess. This bedchamber is for rebels. The queen says there is no judgment in this room"
Heavens said and brought the tray closer to the princess.
Rosemund took the bread and took a bite from it.
"How old are you, Heavens?"
"I am sixteen years old, my princess"
"Aren't you too young to be a maid to such a high ranking monarch?" Rosemund was surprised.
"The Queen doesn't mind. And I am grateful for this position. Remember to drink water…" Heavens remembered quickly that she might have the permission to talk freely to Jamie but the princess was the rebel Queen and she quickly added
"The Queen insisted"
"Where is my sister in law?" Rosemund asked the young maid after she swallowed some water.
"I don't know" Heavens lied through her teeth with a straight face.
"You must be either foolish enough to lie to me or you are too loyal to your lady that I need someone like you, Heavens. Which is it? Are you loyal or stupid?" Rosemund asked her.
"I don't know where the Queen is at this moment and that is the truth, my princess" Heavens bowed to the princess.
"What time is it now, Heavens?" Rosemund asked as she cut her boiled potatoes into pieces for easy chewing.
"It's evening, my princess"
Rosemund jerked up from the bed almost knocking over the tray of food on the bed.
"How long did I sleep for?" Rosemund adjusted her clothes in a desperate attempt to look presentable.
"It's been hours, Princess Rosemund"
"Why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"The Queen instructed me not to" Heavens answered sincerely.
That witch! Rosemund thought in her mind. How could she believe that Jamie had her best interest at her? The concern and the attempt to get her to sleep was just a way for the eastern hag to make her look bad.
She just missed a thousand meetings with important men because of her trickery.
Rosemund stormed out of the room. She needed to get herself to the king's court and savage a few things.
How could she be so stupid?
She walked faster, only using her whole self control to stop herself from picking the helm of her dress and racing to her destination.
She was so close to the court that she almost bumped into councilor Jared on her way.
"Your Royal highness, the declaration you made about taxes in this time of war is genius! Declaring a slight reduction in pennies in exchange of one hour of labor to build something that could help us defeat our enemies is…pure genius. The people will be grateful and production for the war will triple…you came up with an idea that could revolutionize everything" Jared smiled from tooth to tooth as he walked away.
Rosemund blinked severally, she doesn't remember giving that particular declaration.
She opened the king's court and two lords bowed to her on their way out with smiles on their faces. Rosemund doesn't remember the last thing a council and lords meeting ended with a smile.
"What did you do?" Rosemund queried her sister in law as soon as they were alone
"Me? Nothing….you on the other hand attended to everything you needed to do and solved a bunch of problems. It a win-win situation, Rosemund….Relax"
"Don't tell me to relax! You think that I can't do my duties because I am not made out of stone like you?" Rosemund yelled at he
Jamie walked slowly through the hallways like she usually does every morning. She knew that after the walk that she would be going out to talk to some of the wives whose husbands went to war just like hers.She would console, listen to their fear and worries and reassure them of the victory in sight.Was she lying? Yes. But a comforting lie was better than the unhelpful truth.The truth of the brave queen was that each night the war dragged out, she stared at the high ceilings and the feeling of blunt hopelessness intensified by tens of thousands until she was forced to push everything out of her head.With each day it was becoming less and less easy.Jamie stumbled into the court Rosemund was sitting in on. She was sure it was the first time she was seeing her sister in law in weeks since the war started.Rosemund listen with rapt attention at the councilors of villages and lords of the houses on the financial nature of the kingdom."No extra supplies to villagers until the war is over, We need to be responsible with distribution" Rosemund responded to one of the problems brought to her attention about the villagers request."Are you sure, your royal highness?" One of the councilors asked Rosemund.Jamie could see how tired the young girl was. The bags under her eyes and the way her posture was slouched gave it away easily.It was difficult ruling a kingdom when there was no war but doing it when there was a raging war got to leave a toll on anyone including the steel hearted Princess."Are you questioning the crown?" Jamie asked the councilor from the back of the hall where she stood, thereby drawing attention to herself."No, your majestymy apologies crown princess" the counselor quickly added.Rosemund nodded softly in acceptance. Jamie noticed that she could barely keep her eyes open."This meeting is adjourned to the next five hours.Go home, be with your family. The crown princess and I, have an important topic to discuss about the kingdom" Jamie dismissed the gathering and she hoped that Rosemund wouldn't fight her on it and thankfully she didn't.After the king's court cleared out, Rosemund stared at Jamie with tired eyes."What do you want us to talk about, Her majesty?" Rosemund asked and rubbed her left eye."Not here, can you come with me?" Jamie said and walked out knowing fully well that Rosemund would follow even if it was just out of curiosity.Jamie walked for a little while before Rosemund finally caught up with her."Where are we going?""To the queen's chamber" Jamie murmured."Why?" Rosemund queried with a hint of irritation."I want to show you something important" Jamie said and opened the door to her chamber.Rosemund walked in after Jamie."I am here. What do you want to talk about when you dismiss my councilors?" Rosemund demanded with a high pitched voice that showed just how angry she was."Lie on the bedget some rest, Rose. The kingdom can wait" Jamie pushed her towards the bed."I can't do that. I have a million things to do. I have people court in thirty minutes. I have to go over the budget with councilor Jared to know where to take money to buy more weapons."Jamie interrupted her."Go to bed""And then other ranked women in our society want to have a meeting on how to rebuild"Jamie grabbed both her arms and she shook her."Rosemund! Stop!"Rosemund stopped talking and looked at her sister in law. She held Jamie's gaze for a while before she covered her face with both hands and she allowed the sobs rip through her like waves."You are exhausted, Rosemund. You need help, little one" Jamie borrowed the endearing word Alexander called her by.Rosemund took the hands she used to cover her face away for a minute."I am exhausted.I..Ineed help, Jamie. I need this w-war to be over so I can have my brothers back. I.. don't know how long I can keep this up. I reallyreally tiredhelp me" she cried softly as spoke to JamieJamie hugged her briefly to comfort her. Then she led her to the bed and lifted the blanket for her to get in."It won't be a good look for me to sleep during the day, Jamie. People would talk" Rosemund complained but she still went ahead to lie down.Jamie covered her with the blanket."Why do you think I am making you sleep here, Rose? Rest, no one will knowI promise"Rosemund's head barely touched the pillow when she dozed off to sleep.Jamie made sure she was properly covered before she left the room.When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't alone in the room. There was a younger girl there watching her."Who are you?" Rosemund blinked to keep her eyes open."My name is Heavens, I am the Queen's maid. She sent me in with food and I am not allowed to leave until you eat everything in your plate, your royal highness" Heavens said and stood up from where she sat to bring a tray of food closer to the princess."It's against the rules of etiquette for royalties to eat in their rooms" Rosemund protested weakly.God! When was the last time she ate food?Heavens smiled. She didn't know why she wasn't nervous in the presence of the crown princess. Maybe she was used to speaking freely with Jamie and comfortable around the queen."Eat your food, my princess. This bedchamber is for rebels. The queen says there is no judgment in this room"Heavens said and brought the tray closer to the princess.Rosemund took the bread and took a bite from it."How old are you, Heavens?""I am sixteen years old, my princess""Aren't you too young to be a maid to such a high ranking monarch?" Rosemund was surprised."The Queen doesn't mind. And I am grateful for this position. Remember to drink water" Heavens remembered quickly that she might have the permission to talk freely to Jamie but the princess was the rebel Queen and she quickly added"The Queen insisted""Where is my sister in law?" Rosemund asked the young maid after she swallowed some water."I don't know" Heavens lied through her teeth with a straight face."You must be either foolish enough to lie to me or you are too loyal to your lady that I need someone like you, Heavens. Which is it? Are you loyal or stupid?" Rosemund asked her."I don't know where the Queen is at this moment and that is the truth, my princess" Heavens bowed to the princess."What time is it now, Heavens?" Rosemund asked as she cut her boiled potatoes into pieces for easy chewing."It's evening, my princess"Rosemund jerked up from the bed almost knocking over the tray of food on the bed."How long did I sleep for?" Rosemund adjusted her clothes in a desperate attempt to look presentable."It's been hours, Princess Rosemund""Why didn't anyone wake me up?""The Queen instructed me not to" Heavens answered sincerely.That witch! Rosemund thought in her mind. How could she believe that Jamie had her best interest at her? The concern and the attempt to get her to sleep was just a way for the eastern hag to make her look bad.She just missed a thousand meetings with important men because of her trickery.Rosemund stormed out of the room. She needed to get herself to the king's court and savage a few things.How could she be so stupid?She walked faster, only using her whole self control to stop herself from picking the helm of her dress and racing to her destination.She was so close to the court that she almost bumped into councilor Jared on her way."Your Royal highness, the declaration you made about taxes in this time of war is genius! Declaring a slight reduction in pennies in exchange of one hour of labor to build something that could help us defeat our enemies ispure genius. The people will be grateful and production for the war will tripleyou came up with an idea that could revolutionize everything" Jared smiled from tooth to tooth as he walked away.Rosemund blinked severally, she doesn't remember giving that particular declaration.She opened the king's court and two lords bowed to her on their way out with smiles on their faces. Rosemund doesn't remember the last thing a council and lords meeting ended with a smile."What did you do?" Rosemund queried her sister in law as soon as they were alone"Me? Nothing.you on the other hand attended to everything you needed to do and solved a bunch of problems. It a win-win situation, Rosemund.Relax""Don't tell me to relax! You think that I can't do my duties because I am not made out of stone like you?" Rosemund yelled at he
