Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 455: Turmoil in the Inner Chambers I

Chapter 455: Turmoil in the Inner Chambers I

"How can you ask Daphne to leave the inner chambers? Nesrin, have you lost your mind?" Cordelia demanded, all but shouting at her younger cousin. Her younger cousin stared back at her, refusing to back down.

"Yes, I have! Cousin, it has been hours. We don’t have enough food or water for all of us. Why should we be sharing it with a stranger like her, especially when it was she and her husband who brought this trouble to us?"

"You felt the earth shake so many times― buildings are falling again and again," Cordelia argued back. "Sending Daphne out would be nothing less than sending her out to her death!"

"In that case, she can die then! Why should I care!" Nesrin roared out, her eyes wet with tears. "I have not heard heads nor tails of Father, and as you said, buildings are falling again and again. If he was fine, he would never allow Xahan to be demolished so terribly. He loves this country. And if he cannot stop the destruction... that must mean..." Nesrin’s voice broke as she choked out a sob.

"Mother, you know it too! Father hasn’t sent us even a single message! He could be dead by now!"

Queen Lavinia closed her eyes, her shoulders sagging with grief. The young twins began to cry as they understood the meaning of their sister’s words. Princess Bianca could not understand the words, but she sensed the unhappiness of her family and eagerly joined in, adding her own discontented wails to the symphony.

Through it all, Daphne watched on at the side like a bystander. Time had moved as slowly as molasses. In the past few hours, Daphne had been fraught with worry for Atticus and Jonah, and she hoped that Sirona had somehow found a way to safety.

Queen Lavinia was a bastion of calm as she tried to keep everyone’s spirits up, but even Daphne could tell she was getting exhausted― the burden of maintaining an image of serenity while the love of her life was battling for his life outside was slowly but surely taking a toll on her.

Yet, she remained gracefully poised, handling the panicked castle staff with an expert hand, soothing her disgruntled children who couldn’t seem to understand why they couldn’t go out and play. Daphne did her best to help entertain them, but the oldest of Queen Lavinia’s children refused to interact with her.

Princess Nesrin disliked her.

And with every passing hour with no news, her simple dislike had become hatred. In her young mind, the sorry state of affairs was all due to Daphne’s fault. If she had known that a terrifying criminal was out for her blood, why couldn’t she stay in her own kingdom until they dealt with the problem?

Why did she have to visit Xahan and spread trouble here?

Daphne could have easily ignored her, but Princess Nesrin had continued to make snide comments about her unwanted presence. It slowly grated on Daphne’s nerves, and it was only Queen Lavinia’s presence that stopped her from smacking this girl. Cordelia had scolded her too, but it only seemed to inflame matters further. In Nesrin’s eyes, Cordelia was effectively siding with a stranger over her own family.

And now, the oldest princess had enough.

"If she’s not leaving, then I’m leaving," Princess Nesrin said, a steely look in her young eyes as she wiped away her tears. "I’m going to go search for Father, and all of you can sit here and wait with this foreign princess, twisting your fingers and hoping for the best. I’ll let you know when I get some news."

"Nesrin, don’t be ridiculous! Sit back down!" Queen Lavinia called out frantically.

"Mother, I’m not being ridiculous! Someone has to go out and check what’s happening! And who knows if her husband is even helping us? Maybe he’s the one fighting Father," Nesrin added, shooting Daphne a dirty look. "Maybe they came all the way here to take over Xahan."

"Nesrin! How can you say that? King Atticus is our ally!" Queen Lavinia scolded. "We should not be arguing between ourselves like this!"

"We should not even be here to begin with! Mother, you heard what happened, didn’t you? Weeks after Queen Daphne and her husband arrived in Reaweth, Alistair was no longer Crown Prince despite holding that title since birth. Did no one find it suspicious?"

"Prince Alistair was found unfit to rule," Queen Lavinia patiently explained. "He had a hot head, a vengeful spirit―"

"And they only replaced him when this couple came around? Isn’t that too much of a coincidence? If they found him unfit, they could simply pick another child, not the one that was already married out of the family," Nesrin pointed out. "Yet Queen Daphne now rules Reaweth, giving her husband an additional kingdom."

"How can you be sure he’s not trying to weaken us to take over?" Nesrin finished, her eyes viciously glaring at Daphne as though she longed to do nothing more than flay her alive.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Princess Nesrin’s deduction abilities and was reluctantly impressed by her demented protectiveness for Xahan. Her temper was bad, but she had a sharp tongue and a sharp mind. With a few more years and a lot of temperance, she would make a fine queen.

It was a pity she was so set against Daphne.

"If Atticus wanted to take over a kingdom, Xahan would not be one of them," Daphne said. "For a start, it’s simply too far, and the climate does not agree with us. What good would it do?"

"You should ask your husband that," Nesrin scoffed. "He’s a complete lunatic who hurts people for fun, so who knows how he thinks?"

"Atticus is not a lunatic," Daphne said, her patience fraying at the edges at the dismissive tone in Nesrin’s voice. "He is ruthless, but he would never hurt people for fun. Kindly retract your words."

Daphne reminded herself that she did not hit children on principle, no matter how close they were to adulthood. Besides, Queen Lavinia was there, and Daphne doubted any mother would take it kindly to a stranger disciplining her child for her.

Nesrin shook her head. "What are you going to do if I don’t? Rip out my arm―"

"Nesrin! Quiet!" Queen Lavinia ordered, her voice sounding more panicked than before. "You’re not supposed to talk about it!"

"No, Mother, I refuse to be such a coward in my own kingdom. I do not need to listen to King Atticus’s orders!"

Daphne blinked in surprise; had Atticus said anything?

However, Daphne had one too many insults taken to her face by this pretentious little brat. She could maintain her patience in front of Queen Lavinia — the older woman had been nothing but kind and hospitable throughout her stay in Xahan — but her eldest had proved to be disrespectful.

Capable and protective or not, if the day Princess Nesrin had to take over Xahan ever came, she would make multiple enemies for herself if she didn’t know the rules of court. Unlike Atticus, Nesrin had no unnatural ability in magic that would allow her to be as wilful.

Her pride would only result in her death.

Daphne sighed as she turned to Queen Lavinia. She said, "Forgive me for my bluntness, Queen Lavinia, but I’ve had enough."