‘when i was a little girl, i could see this palace from our manor. all those candles and lanterns burning through the night made it seem like some kind of beacon in the dark.’ helena’s bright blue eyes gaze over the balcony and out into the abyss that spread before them. she can vaguely make out the pond and the woods and then in the distance the shape of the same manor that she grew up in. she had thought it was so big when she was little but now after living in this palace she realized how small it really was, ‘the older i got the more drawn to it i was but father always told me to stay away.’ helena glances over at her husband, a smirk playing on her lips, ‘he told me the lord who lived there was a debaucherous man who threw lavish parties and seduced young girls like me.’ her father had been right of course. helena had come to the palace at eighteen, to be a court lady to the lord’s ailing wife. it was within her first week that she found herself enamored by the lord and soon it was helena keeping his bed warm at night. when his plan had first been revealed to her helena had been shocked but she loved him and so things where set in motion. his wife was sick and her condition was worsening with each day while helena was young and healthy. she was far better suited to be a lord’s wife than a lady-in-waiting. when helena became pregnant with the lord’s child something had to be done. it was a few months later that his wife succumbed to her illness and instead of publicly mourning his wife, he and helena where wed. her young age, her pregnancy and the suddenness of their wedding caused a scandal amongst their high society, ‘your son is going to be a hellion. he’s already begun driving his poor governess mad and he’s not even two.’ helena glanced over to wear her son was, his governess fighting with him over a piece of food he’d taken from one of the plates, ‘and this one isn’t going to be any better.’ helena patted her stomach, which had finally begun to round out now that she was far enough along, ‘they’re wild. like their father.’ helena teased