My father’s face was a mix of emotions, while Ronald looked utterly defeated.
“Emily, I couldn’t protect you. I failed,” Ronald said, his voice heavy with guilt.
I quickly helped him sit down and called for someone to tend to his wounds.
I had thought they’d given up on me, but it turns out that during the three days they were missing, my father and Ronald had been pleading with the king. They had knelt outside the palace for three days straight, only fainting from exhaustion this morning, which finally led the king to send them away.
“It’s okay. I still have time,” I told my brother.
My father called me to his study. His face was as pale as a ghost.
“Emily, I’ve done everything I can. I know you feel it’s unfair, but changing the law is nearly impossible. If it ever comes to that.”
I cut him off. “If it really comes to that, I’ll do as you say.”
He nodded, letting out a long sigh. “Don’t tell Ronald.”
“I won’t,” I replied.
The seventh day came.
When the townspeople woke up, they were stunned to find large posters plastered on their doors. The entire city fell into an eerie silence, its usual energy completely drained for the day.
The real shocker came when Princess Angela publicly called for the abolition of the unfair laws against women. Princess Angela, the king’s younger sister, had seen her older sister, Princess Sandra, die after her veil fell off. Despite her hunger strikes and protests, Sandra had never received any mercy from the king.
So, it wasn’t a surprise to me that Princess Angela took a stand against these oppressive laws. The city quickly stepped up its patrols, ripping down the posters. But what they didn’t realize was that the ones on the walls were just a distraction. Many more had been directly thrown into the yards of the townspeople.
We knew that the true power of the country lay with its people, not the officials. Gaining their support was crucial and urgent!
Changing deeply held beliefs wasn’t going to be easy—it needed a bigger push.
Around noon, Janet’s veil unexpectedly fell off as she was leaving a restaurant. The crowd reacted with a mix of fear and anger, some staring in shock while others glared at her with hostility, thinking she deserved her fate.
In her grief and rage, Janet wrote a poem on the spot, then bought a bottle of poison and headed to the crowded market. She climbed onto a platform, tears streaming down her face, and knelt.