Scarlet Peacock (Blood of a Peacock Book 1)

SCARLET PEACOCK BLOOD OF A PEACOCK I L.D. WOSAR Copyright © 2023 by Lorinda Wosar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever including but not limited to being stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. ● Previously released in the anthology "Gift From My Lady" under Cerise Rose. Now with EXTENDED CONTENT. Scarlet Peacock ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE THIRTY-FOUR THIRTY-FIVE THIRTY-SIX THIRTY-SEVEN THIRTY-EIGHT THIRTY-NINE FORTY FORTY-ONE FORTY-TWO FORTY-THREE ONE SIR ALOIS FAUST PEACOCK KINGDOM - GERMANY NOVEMBER 1807 There was a sea of muted whispers among the servants in the Pfauenreich castle. At first, the gossip was a small flame but it spread like wildfire across the entire kingdom. We all rejoiced and celebrated the news that King Günter Peacock and Queen Petra welcomed a princess into the world. It was a shock to some, as the Queen had never shown signs of carrying a child. Sadly, mystery and gossip soon superseded the cheers. There was nothing to cheer about since the child’s birth was scandalous and news that Queen Petra wasn’t the birth mother stunned this peaceful community. Joy and celebration of the child’s birth were soon replaced by shame when it was revealed that the mother of the child was one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting, Claire Baumann. The other maidens, including my wife, Monika, questioned her condition when the protruding belly showed underneath her dress. After all, it was easy for her to talk. It was all Claire did. She had proven to be quite the storyteller. According to Claire, her husband was at sea for the last two years. When he arrived home for a short duration, their passionate weekend led to the miracle growing inside her. We all sensed it was a lie since Claire lived in the servant’s hall of the castle and served the Queen for five years. Not to mention, we never met this man, so it was hard to determine if he even existed, except in Claire’s imagination. Claire was an oddity to us all. Furthermore, to be a liar, we had reason to believe she was a witch. It was something she thought she was keeping under wraps. When she thought no one was looking, she’d flick her wrist and the queen’s bed was made. Monika swore she noticed Claire cleaning up a milk spill in the kitchen without lifting a bucket or rag. It seemed to the servants that she used her powers for simple tasks in order not to be found out. Not one citizen in the kingdom had any idea who fathered the child until one month later when Claire was forced to tell his and her majesty the truth about the child’s father. The King swore up and down he had never been with the handmaiden, but it was too late. Word of his paternity to the child spread as far as Germany’s neighboring countries. Even after a month, the child had no name and was hidden from all of us. It was for good reason, this child’s birth disgraced the kingdom and the royal couple. The queen was heartbroken. The king’s exalted reputation is now tarnished. Claire was forced out of the kingdom and put on a ship to the Americas after she was sold to a property owner in Virginia. However, the child was tended to by the queen’s lady-in-waiting. Though the queen’s heart ached every day, she couldn’t see this child suffer and wanted to raise her as her own. But the church wouldn’t allow the queen to call this bastard child her own. The queen was angry after receiving the news that she couldn’t raise the one she named Scarlet. “When the cardinal hears about what you’ve done, Günter, you will be stripped of your crown,” the queen reminded him constantly. “What is to become of your bastard child? No thanks to the circumstances, the church will not allow me to be her mother.” I hung my head, hearing the desperation in her voice. For many years, Queen Petra tried to give the King an heir, but her body wasn’t strong enough to carry another human life. Yet her grief of losing another child turned to anger toward the man who she thought was faithful to her. The king groveled with tears in his eyes and I’m certain he feared word about the child had gotten back to the hierarchy. “Can’t we try to persuade the members of the church that this is the best course of action for the child?” “Her name is Scarlet. And I have tried to persuade the church, but they are adamant that I cannot raise this child. Especially after your,” the queen paused, and she muttered, “your execution.” This was one of those moments I wish I hadn’t been present for. My heart ached with each spoken word between them. King Peacock took Petra’s hands in his. “My darling, Petra. I can speak with the cardinal and tell him how we’ve tried for many years to have a child and this is the perfect opportunity for you to have a child of your own. No one needs to know who the actual mother is. The child has red hair as I do, so no one will suspect a thing.” “I tried to tell the cardinal that, Günter. He — he told me that no one has respect for you after reports about how you’ve dallied with the