Proper Queen

[Lovely]

Jan 10, 2010
Evening
Devhano Palace


"Not surprising considering his queen." He spoke knowing he would not startle her, for she would sense him there though his pressense was likely to be a surprise to her.

"What's not surprising?"

"Even something old, decrepit and useless... manages to find new life in your light, m'lady."

"I'm certain that I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Wouldn't you? The radiance of the moons in your hair pales to the light from within you. Blessed in many ways. Ah, but I forget my place... and your maidservants appear to have forgotten theirs," he said, entering further and brushing his lip with the back of his finger.

"Say what you like.. it's your kingdom.. not mine.. I'll be returning to mine which is probably where my ladies have gotten off to. Preperations.. it's a long journey home.. since as you pointed out.. there are certain members of this house who have become old, decrepit .. and useless.." She chuckled in a manner that showed a bit of the contempt she felt for the king and his treatment of her. Her fingers brushed the quickly and nearly healed gash that had a short time before split her cheek wide open. It was surprising how much damage a feeble old man could do with his staff. Thankfully the king couldn't consumate the marriage, which meant she didn't have to stay.. Elisabeth reached for her robe to cover her corset and laces, which she'd been about to get out of when this prince arrived. She watched him wander further into her suite and her head tipped to the side. ".. though.. I do wonder why you'd simply walk into my private quarters.. while I'm unattended.. and quite undressed..?"

He chuckled and strolled past her dressing table, brushing his touch lightly over her baubles and brushes. "The arrangement was hardly simple," he explained, turning with a wry grin and quizzical raise of his brow. "Do you know how hard it is to put an old man to sleep with powders in his broth when he takes hardly any to his lips?"

She licked at her lips starting and stopping herself from speaking a few times before replying to his words. "I can't say as I've ever done or had reason to do such a thing..." The silk robe slid over her like a thin barrier that was hardly any covering and more like a part of her to slink and hint around her curves and lace.

He laughed out loud and nodded. "I understand you say such things, but that's merely the queen being polite for her master and majesty the king.. whose ears are muffled under the sound of his snoring. Don't be polite... on my account," he said, his glance tracing down the line of sheer fabric that clung so gracefully to her.

"As you wish." She nearly purred, a wicked bit of a smile just curving her lips and her eyes lighting more with the glow of the moon sparkling within them. "He is neither my master or my majesty. He is an impotent, bitter, disgusting heap of bones. Our marriage bed is left crisp and clean.. our union unconsumated.. and there for not binding. He wants me to give him my everlasting kiss but I can't stand the sight of him.. the thought of him turns my stomach and I shall be ever grateful for his lacking which provides me reason not to remain at his side." Her chin tilted and she turned to face the prince fully, the mark on her cheek and part of the reason for her own bitterness fading before his eyes. "Happy now?"

[Lovely]

"No. Though I could be." He walked back toward the door but closed himself off in the room with her, securing it completely, not leaving her alone with her treasonous banter. "In another time, I might have reached down your very throat and removed your words and your tongue for being so forthright. But now," he sighed and the smile returned. "I find it almost comical and welcome it."

"My words.. " She huffed slightly, rolling her eyes skyward as the sigh flowed out and she wandered slowly around the room, opposite of his direction as if they were in a leisurely chase. "He can not command me to give him the blessing, it goes against nature and not even a king can demand such a thing." She paused near the window, though closed the moon light filtered through to illuminate her face, skin, and hair. "Why do you welcome such words when before you would have taken my tongue for them?"

"Older, wiser, perhaps in search of something with more meaning. I should still have your heart ripped out for treason, but what good is that when the heart is not what gives you the life you cling to? Ah, which reminds me... not all of your maidservants returned home to help you with your... affairs. Sweet, she was, too. More's that pity... she was rather petite."

"It's not treason.. he's not my king." She shrugged and turned to him with a smile, though her eyes were sharp as daggers for his mention of her lady. "A woman's heart is of great signifigance, to capture it is everything.. even if it doesn't give her body life.. it does give life all it's meaning and value. What good is forever if you're without a heart?" Her head tipped again, her eyes flashing a quick blue glow like the moons of Luskavia. "Is this what you've come for.. to gloat over taking one of my beloved ladies from my service? Should I be frightened of you.. shall I tremble to make you feel more... gratified?"

"Hmmm... quite an offer, but it's not your fear that I should wish to make you tremble.. or to make me feel more gratified. For that I wouldn't have needed my father's complete lack of attention, would I? As for your maid... I expect she'll be feeling quite eager to serve you as I request... or serve me as I see fit. The question I find wanting answered however is ... what is it her mistress is eager to have for herself."

Her hand was quick and harsh as it flew at his face, with intent to sting his cheek, her own flushed with her anger. "How dare you.. you.. " Her eyes were sharp and intent as they stared at him. "..you dare to take my faithful lady and then come to me to make a mockery of it.. she won't be eager to serve you without her head. She belonged to me! You had no right." Her words were nearly growled out at him.

"As heir to my father's throne, I have every right to take, use, or discard anything or anyone in this castle as I see fit," he explained simply and gently, turning his untinted cheek to her ire, begging another blow with his mocking grin. "Though if you wish her beheaded my only request ... is to drink of her misfortune with your grace, that I might see what fire it is that glows within you burn that much brighter when you have been heated and tempered with such fury befitting a proper queen of my house."

With a beautiful and gracious smile, she bowed slightly and complied with his silent request as she straightened, her hand aimed for his unmarred cheek. "Keep her. I never want to see her again. She is formally discharged from my service and is never to enter my chambers or come near me again. She is cast out of my graces.. as it pleases you to have done so. She can remain here with you.. as you seem so amused at taking something I held dear.. consider it a parting gift.. that I never would have given you. I'm sure she'll make you a fine consort, as you've said.. befitting your house. You'll excuse me as you've already enjoyed your drink tonight." She glanced toward the door as if she expected him to turn and walk out as he'd come.

[Lovely]

Again his face was turned under her swift strike but he turned quicker to face her again. "I'm not ready to be excused from your company, your grace," he said this time hissing slightly with warning. "Surely as a consort, she will do as well as any, but -she- is not why I am here."

Her arms folded, eyes flaring once more as she stepped closer to him, challenging the prince in her robe and her fury. "Then why take her? .. and why come to me tonight?" Her voice defied her glare with it's softness, nearly sweet in asking him. "Why are -you- here?"

"I'm here... for you. A useless king who cannot soak his own bedsheets with passion for his queen is not worthy of that queen, nor may she stay queen if the kingly bed stays so crisp, hm? You know as well as I he will not allow you to leave. More's the pity that you should be forced to stay... loveless... lifeless..." He turned finally and took a few steps back, touring her quarters again as if he searched for something.

Her jaw tightened and she could nearly spit in her anger for the situation she'd been put into.. tricked into really. "You let your father steal your bride.. yet you come here so boldly and talk to me of the unfortunate situation that has found me in the midst of it." She watched him wander, her eyes blazing with her fury again. "I'd not have to worry about staying or leaving or an empty marriage bed, had my father not been tricked into sending me here to marry the strong and able son of Devhano.. You let a feeble old man take your place in vows and .. now you feel some remorse at that? If I return home, my father will be furious and all alliances with Devhano would be severed.. He'd turn his loyalty .. elsewhere to find a suitable marriage for me.. with a strong and able prince who would not leave our bed so cold and unfruitful." He would be wise enough, or should be, to know she meant Onmadia. "Not that I fancy such a change in direction.. but as you said.. it would be a pity for me to remain here.. loveless.. lifeless.. without a drop of passion to quench the fire within me. I would be wasted as Queen to the man who calls himself King, here.. now. If I stay I give up all opprotunity to find another match."

"What remorse?" He laughed and took a seat beside her table. "Only that I don't wish to be married before I take my place as king? My queen will be my choice, not one made for me for alliances .. and assured misery. Nor will I take a wife whose only hope is riches and the adoration of the court but none for me."

"And you expect to find such a thing after you become king?" She laughed, amused by such a thought as she shook head. "Well, good luck with that endeavor. It seems that this worked out quite in your favor then.. You got rid of a wife you didn't wish to have. It's no fault of yours, the blame can be put on your father and I will be neatly taken out of the picture. Thus you will be completely free to enjoy ladies in waiting and hope that someone will see beyond the glow of a none too distant crown, to the man.. and actually like him. Perhaps I was wrong to think you lacked imagination... yours is quite vivid. I have no desire to be in an empty marriage, especially one I was tricked and then forced into.. with a man who can barely stand on his own. So you see.. we are not that much different.. only I came here to do what was best for my people and yours."

[Lovely]

"Nooooo... you do misunderstand. I fully intend to find her before I become king, but I don't think I shall marry her. And in every honesty, I will say I have discovered her already and she is mostly certainly not your maid." He chuckled again and took her brush into his hands, plucking a few of the long strands free. "My imagination is fair.. and imagines that your desire is already turned to someone else in my father's court."

"You intend to find her.. but not to marry her? So you're not looking for a queen.. you're looking for a mistress?" Elisabeth sighed softly, watching him as he plucked at her brush. "I'm sure my maid will be tickled to know she has been taken from me for a night of folly.. such a waste, for her and myself. You're not earning any favors for telling me this, in truth I'm quite furious and it makes me all the more eager to leave this place." She moved forward, swiftly, reaching to take her brush from him. "My desires are not your business or concern.. I'm not your wife after all, am I?" She smiled slightly, her eyes still holding a bit of their angry glow. "I can not afford to desire anyone in your father's court, nor have I had time since my arrival to even consider such a thing. Though I'm fairly certain, if I were to listen to my maid that there is a guard who shows a fancy toward me. Were I staying, and were I to do something in that regard, I suppose he'd be a fine option."

"A guard?!" His laugh now was enough to alert any guard beyond her door and he scarcely seemed concerned. The maid she'd dismissed pushed open the door at the sound, dagger in hand to defend the queen. His hand rose and the girl's fell. "No harm will come to her. Stay your post.. sweetly as you were told," he said to the girl who nodded and withdrew. His eyes never turned from the woman before him. "You cannot afford desire? Even the penniless and forgotten can. Ah... or do you find the secret of your attraction that distasteful?"

Her head did turn as her door opened and she nearly hissed at the girl who entered and then withdrew. "Quite the obedient little puppy you've made of her." The girl had been Elisabeth's favorite and she was hurt as well as anrgy at his taking of her. She turned her face from the direction of the door and into the mirror as she started pulling the pins from her hair. "I'm not in a position to have a single thing I want or desire.. it doesn't matter what that is. A man can have countless lovers and mistresses.. a woman can not, especially one in the position I am now in. Losing my head for it is not the only reason.. Even if your father forces me to stay.. Even if there was something here I wanted to stay for.. this marriage is a lie. It is in name only and will remain so, the only chance I have.. for any sort of a future is to remain intact and pure.. Even if I were to stay and decide not to humiliate your father, this court, and cause all alliances to break with my kingdom.. I have no hope of being anything but miserable here. If all I cared for was money, position, love of the court.. then I could be blissfully happy here. Simply smile and laugh.. and wait for your father to keel over in which case I'd be quite wealthy and well cared for.. Or I could have given him the blessing he so wants and thus the strength to fufill his part of the marriage.. ensuring him a long life and a long rule with me as queen.. if only I were so vile and shallow.."

[Lovely]

"And then he'd kill you," he said quietly, taking the hair he'd collected into his belt. He rose as she began to pull the pins from her hair, still with her brush in his hand. Behind her, gazing to her through her reflection and the dim one of his own he pulled the brush gently through the hair that fell over her shoulders. "And for that I should be miserable not only for his long life, but that you would be gone from it... and from mine."

She sighed, her eyes closing for just a moment and then opening to find him gazing at her through their reflections. "And then he'd kill me.." She echoed softly, watching him through the glass and feeling the gentle pull of the brush through her hair. "Why does it matter to you? You said yourself that you didn't want me... I was sent here to marry you.. You want nothing to do with such an arrangement." She knew deep down that he was right about his father not letting her leave, she just didn't want to accept that she'd be forced to stay here after being forced to marry the man. "It's too bad you missed the ceremony.. it was rather beautiful.. the way the torch light shone off the blade held to my neck and the one held to my maid's. So touching.. it brought tears to our eyes.." She wasn't sure why she told him that, perhaps to let him know she knew just how desperate his father was, or how dangerous her situation was.. and how little she meant to the old king.. other than the gift she could give him.

His fingers played through her hair as he considered her story. "I didn't miss it at all. I refused to be there and watch him kiss you. I didn't deny my marriage to you because I did not want you as my wife, the wife of a mere prince. You deserved to be queen. Now I see my imaginings are no longer just fanstasies, dreams that would never come to pass. They are as real as I am here beside you."

"It wasn't much of a kiss. You didn't miss anything." Her voice bordered on cold and she stood still, watching him in the mirror. "Your fantasy was to see me married to your father? That's more disturbing than the fact that I'm married to him." Her jawed worked slightly and her glare was clear even in her reflection. "So now I'm queen.. to a shriveled up king who is clinging desperately to a mortal coil that will soon be lost to him. I'm a useless queen for a few months.. perhaps a year.. and then he dies and I am nothing but a cast off. Tell me.. how can I thank you for ruining my life?"

"By creating an illusion to last until his natural death and I assume my role to then take you as my own... as should have been. Tell me I did not see desire in your eyes when you were first brought to this court? Then why deny it now? He cannot and will not love you for you. He loves and wants you for what you can make him, what I already am."

She pushed him, trying to move him away from her as she turned to face more than his reflection. "Why deny it now? Because I'm his wife now! Why didn't you take me as your wife the way it should have been? Why not correct that now before it's too late? Why pretend something that isn't? Who benefits from it.. and at what cost to me? You could have had me as it should have been.. you could have felt every bit of desire you saw and more.. It was there.. but I can't desire you now.. even if I do.. I can't." She was beyond furious, she want to slap him again, wanted to lash out at him, wanted to hate him.. but she didn't. "Illusion of what? I'm barely more than a prisoner.. he doesn't love me at all.. I don't believe he even intends to let your precious kingdom know he married me! I could have been of use at your side.. I could have been happy.. could have made you happy.. I could have loved you far better than you could have imagined.. you might have even loved me in return.. even as a princess rather than a queen. A crown does not make me who I am."

[Lovely]

"I do love you, but I needed to be sure of your intent in this court," he said, feeling her ire, feeding from it, feeling it charge him and his intent to carry out what he would do. "You do not love him and no child or blessing shall come and there will be no new heir, no one to take my place. Now that you have assured it yourself, I know it is true. Had another queen taken your place, your land would not benefit by marriage to me if another heir had been conceived. My fate is assured, as is yours. He dies a natural death, you succeed him and take no new husband. You live forever as queen... or until a blade meets you... and I take all the matters of the guard and his so-called army and finally lead them to an honorable victory over Onmadia as my father's heir... unless you were to choose a new king, or consort. Then I would humbly step aside... though I believe it with my heart that is not your wish."

"And what of my desire.. of what my heart truly wants?" Her eyes shone with tears she held back as she looked past his shoulder, sinking slightly to lean against her dressing table. "Your father will have no new sons or daughters by me or any other.. but it isn't his heirs I wanted to bear... I don't want this kingdom.. I don't want to be queen.. I don't want to rule forever.. without you beside me as you should be.. in your true place.. as my king. You asked me of my desire.. and now you have your answer. It is you."

"Then you know why I am here. He is feeble, but he is stubborn and perhaps his hatred of Onmadia is enough to keep him alive for another moonrise and not die. To kill him is treason and to not aide him in ill health is almost as dire a fate to endure." He moved to a corner of her room where hung a large tapestry meant to keep the draft away, though the air beyond it swirled cold still. He moved the fabric at a spot near the curtain that hung over it to hide if she grew tired of looking at it. A hinge creaked somewhere nearby and he pulled the tapestry up to reveal a passage, the door opening into it to a short hall and another door like it sitting open. "Your desire lies through this hall and should come to your chamber to soothe you as you wish."

A few of the tears found their way free as she rose and followed him to the secret corridor which he revealed. "He is hardly more than a walking corpse.. but what you are asking me to do.. the life you are asking me to live while breath still rattles it's way through him.. " Her hands lightly moved to rest on his arms as she shifted herself closer to him. "To have you so close.. yet so far away.. every day will feel like a year."

"Only if you accept it," he smiled a little and turned to hold her. "For us, every moment is like a year. I am only so far away as that door and your maidservant is your one true ally who will not betray us. I would trust no one else in this castle."

Her head shook slightly and she fought letting anymore tears fall as she curled even closer to him, her slightly damp cheek resting against his. "To be with you.." She whispered, sliding her hands up to his shoulders. "I will endure this.. I will stay here.." Her jaw tightened at his mention of her servant and her head shook with slightly more force. "I can trust no one here."

His finger went to her lips. "Then trust me and take me as your king," he whispered, replacing his finger with an offered kiss, or his cheek for her to again rake with her fury if she wished it.

She had longed for, dreamed of his kiss and as his mouth came to hers, the fury was released in an entirely different way as her fire poured into the passionate kiss she returned to him. Her fingers first curling into his shirt and then one hand slid into his hair as her other arm wrapped around his shoulders.