The Throne Is Mine
Chapter 212

Chapter 212: Chapter 212

"Well, this is a surprise. You used to stay away from my side of the castle. Why are you here child?" Margaret asked as she inspected the flowers she had planted in the castle garden. So far it was a quiet day but Beth’s arrival might ruin it shortly.

Beth walked around the garden looking at the flowers she would have pulled out of the soil the moment Fraser was announced as King. She wanted nothing linked to Margaret to stay in the castle. "I am hardly a child now and this isn’t your side of the castle anymore. I was just passing by and wanted to have a look at the garden."

"Your responses have gotten bolder. Is it because your son is going to be King? I wouldn’t be so bold until the crown is on his head but even then, it could easily be removed," Margaret replied. Beth used to try her best to avoid speaking with Margaret in the past. It was obvious Beth sought her out to have a chat. Margaret was a little bit curious about what Beth had to say.

Beth gripped her dress at Margaret’s threat to her son. Margaret was open with her threats now that she did not regard Fraser as her grandchild. "I love my son," said Beth.

"A mother should love their child. Even with all of his stupidity, I loved Richard," Margaret said, not amused by Beth’s declaration. "I never once thought that you did not love Fraser. You don’t have to tell me again."

"Fraser will be King in a few days. He does not need to be fighting with his family during those days. Regardless of the King of the north assigning you to watch over Fraser, you hate the castle, Lady Margaret. It would be best of you to pick out good people to help Fraser and go back to the life you once had before all of this," Beth suggested.

Margaret chuckled as she picked a flower. "And when will you go back to your former life when you used to stay out of the castle? It seems you don’t plan to go home to your husband or does he intend to come here? Your father-in-law is already here as if he lives in the castle. Gone are the days when only important people could stay here."

"I am only here to help Fraser-"

"It is not because you wanted to ease your way back into the castle? I’ve been around you for years Beth. You like life in the castle and you are using your son to come back. You’ve stayed out of the castle for fifteen years. To either run away from me or the things that happened here. I am starting to think you were waiting to have a proper ally to back you so you could come back. Fraser worked," said Margaret, seeing right through Beth’s act.

"You’ve been around me for years? Ha," Beth scoffed as that wasn’t the case. "You’ve avoided me as if I had the plague. You know nothing about me, Lady Margaret. You’ve never once tried to get to know me because you hated that I am a child from your husband’s affairs."

"I’ve made it quite clear I don’t care for children not of pure royal lineage but I don’t hate you, Beth. I simply do not care for you. You are not my child so I have no reason to like you. Your saving grace was being born a girl. I would have hated you if you were a boy and I would have killed you. I always say you should be thankful for your life but you are never grateful," Margaret said in a disappointed tone. "It is one of the things about you that annoys me."

Beth calmed her again before she could unleash what was on her mind. Margaret was like this for as long as she could remember and though Beth thought she had gotten used to this, Margaret still had a way of making her angry. "I cannot wait for the day Amelia will open her eyes and know that you are not the sweet woman she thinks you are," she said.

Margaret sighed and placed the flower in a basket. She was looking forward to a peaceful day but as she thought, Beth was here to ruin it. "I would watch my tongue if I were you. Your days of torture in the past will seem like child’s play when I am finished with you. When will you stop seeking me out? I was tired of the sight of you when you were a child and here you stand annoying me as an adult. Amelia’s head will not be filled with your nonsense."

"I don’t have to try filling her head with anything. I can always compliment my niece on how smart she is. She is bound to realize the woman you are. I wonder how she would react if she learned her mother was hardly fond of you but put up with you for Amelia’s-"

"Silence!" Margaret yelled and threw the basket of flowers at Beth’s feet. It didn’t do any damage but Margaret did not regret throwing it. "You are speaking about something you know nothing about."

"You and I have not spoken to each other but I had a few run-ins with Anne. She was always open to speaking to the forgotten princess because I was nothing like the rest of her husband’s family. Anne was always good at seeing people for what they truly were which is why she stayed away from most of the people in the castle. She also knew a lot of secrets. Is that not why one of you got rid of her?" Beth asked, knowing there was some truth to Amelia’s belief that her mother was killed.

Margaret was angered by Beth’s words but she quickly remembered who was standing in front of her. Beth was hardly a threat. Beth was someone who thought old age made Margaret weak and now was her chance to fight back. Beth had it wrong. As someone ready to die at any second because she lived a long life and there was nothing more she needed, Margaret would do as she wanted and kill who she wanted without mercy.

"Have you come to threaten me about something you think you know, Beth? I can see where Fraser gets his impulsive behavior from. I was not one to harm Anne if that is the road you want to take. Will I harm your son?" Margaret questioned as that was the reason why Beth was visiting her. "Only time will tell."

"Harming a King or even the future King will cost your life. Your old title will not save you. You must not hurt a single strand of hair from Fraser’s body," Beth said. Unlike Margaret, she would protect her son. She would kill anyone who tries to hurt Fraser.

"What a silly way of trying to persuade me from going after Fraser. That is if I was going after him. I’ve laid in a bed with a King for years. I’ve had the thought of watching him day every year. Finally, he did. Nothing was more satisfying than the news of his death," Margaret smiled. "Punishments for killing royalty have never scared me."

"You," Beth started to wonder if Margaret had something to do with her father’s death.

"Look at you already jumping with assumptions that I killed him. I did not. He simply reached the end of his lifetime. Even though it was not by my hands, it was still good news. Do not look at me as if you never thought of seeing life leave your husband’s eyes. I remember your reaction when he first came to the castle to meet you. What a shame that was. I thought I picked well," Margaret said, going back to look at the flowers. She wasted so much with the ones she threw at Beth.

"You picked out?" Beth asked, confused as to how it went from her father matching her with the son of a close friend to Margaret being the one to pick her husband.

"Silly child. Did you honestly believe that a King had time to pick out a husband for you? Your mother was of low birth so she would not have done the job right. In the end, I was forced to pick someone for you. It was easy to point at a random name on a long list. Your father told you quite the tale about how he picked your husband, didn’t he? That old bastard did like to take credit," Margaret sighed.

"You picked my husband?" Beth slowly spoke, not believing that this was true but Margaret had no reason to lie about this. "You picked him as if it was a game."

Picking a husband needed careful planning and for a princess, there was a lengthy selection process but Margaret just pointed at a name.

"I could have ended up with someone horrible because you did not care to check," Beth said, realizing how much more Margaret could have ruined her life.

"Yet again you are not grateful that he turned out to be a good man," Margaret replied.