Miavel

“What?!” I nearly shouted. “What do you mean, in an hour?!”

Lilia busied herself by grabbing a proper dress and shoes to match it.

I’d gone about this morning in a light dress, reading through reports and as well as preparing a bit for the journey to Lord Malin’s territory. I'd picked a closer date than necessary, but I was terribly concerned for the people.

“The Queen Dowager is known to… be a bit spontaneous about these things,” Rogers replied awkwardly, shifting his weight between his feet.

“And is His Majesty invited as well?”

Lilia ushered me into the corner behind the screen to get me changed into a more suitable dress.

“No?”

What was this? A question as a reply? Did he really not know?

“What do you mean, ‘no’? Rogers, is he coming with me or not?”

The silence seemed to last forever, even though I knew it truly wasn’t that long. He cleared his throat.

I begged, in my head, that he’d say yes. Despite how strange I’d been feeling around him, as well as his odd actions and reactions, I did not want to go have lunch with his mother by myself, at least not for the first time. Talyn – His Majesty, that is, being present for the lunch would act as a sort of buffer, right?

“I’m afraid she’s only called for you.”

It was as if my soul left my body. Surely, my heart stopped for a minute there.

“What?” I whispered.

“The Queen Dowager only has lunch or dinner with His Majesty for necessary state matters... just about five times per year.”

Why wasn’t this mentioned before now?!

Essentially, what he was saying, was that the King and his Mother had a horrible relationship. And now, I, the new wife to the son she doesn’t care for, was invited to have lunch with her? She invited me herself?

Was it poisoned?

Was she going to pester me and nag me about things I had no control over?

Or, on the flipside, was she the type to welcome me despite her rocky relationship with my husband?

I prayed it was the latter.

Quickly, I was put into the dress, my hair redone simply, and I was on my way. I took deep breaths as I walked to make a weak attempt at calming my nerves. I did know that she hadn’t attended our wedding. The excuse was that she was unwell.

Maybe it was just because she hated her son?

I guess…

I’d find out.

The doors opened and announced my presence. Lilia came in with me, bowing her head and remaining silent. Rogers had told me I was to dine with Talyn’s Mother and then he left, practically running off. He fled, plain and simple. Hence, it was just me and Lilia.

I moved to curtsy and pay my respects to the Queen Dowager when I entered, but before I could get more than a word out or move the slightest bit, she was practically rushing over to the door with a beaming smile.

“Miavel, right?”

I nodded in my confusion. Did this mean she was a good person? No poisoned tea? Whatever the case, she wasn’t quite what I thought she’d be. Sure, she was tall, but with her red hair and brown eyes, it was hard to see any resemblance between her and her son Talyn. Not to mention, the clear personality differences.

Stoic soft quietness to bubbly overwhelming warmth?

Ha.

Almost opposites.

She grabbed my hands in hers and brought me to the table that was already prepared, ushering me to sit before she did.

“Hello, Your Majesty.”

For some reason, her name wasn’t coming to mind. I couldn’t seem to recall it after that shock in the doorway.

“Oh, please, Miavel. Call me Claudia.”

Claudia... Ah.

Queen Claudia Anwar Thera.

I nodded my assent to her request, which only made her smile brighten more. It was then that I realized she'd called me by name without requesting to. I shrugged it off. She probably just wanted to be more familiar and forgot. I'd give her a chance before thinking she'd done it on purpose to try and place her worth higher than mine, despite our titles saying otherwise. I mean, in Thera as well as in Cita, the former kings and queens were positioned below the current crown.

We weren't exactly in front of a crowd of people either, and she stopped my formal greeting of respect... so it likely wasn't the case that her intentions were nefarious. Even so, I couldn't be certain.

“You seem like quite the lovely girl.”

I balled my hand into my dress under the table. The way her eyes looked me over like a piece of property being appraised set me a little on edge. Despite trying to keep my guard up, I brushed over her odd gaze. Maybe I was interpreting it wrong, after all, I didn’t know her. The cause of problems between her and her son could very well be from miscommunications and assumptions like that.

“Thank you, Claudia.”

She took a long sip of the tea in front of her. Frankly, with one hand balled into a fist to keep me sane and the other shaking, I felt nauseous just thinking about trying to drink from the teacup in front of me.

Instead, I willed up the courage to grab one of the small desserts on the table. She nodded to me, as if approving of my choice. I took a small nibble before setting it back down. It wasn’t all that likely that the poison, if there was any, would be put into the desserts that all looked identical, especially when there were a few crumbs already on her plate as if she’d ate a few while waiting for me.

“How troublesome it must be to be married to my son,” she cooed at me, quite nearly ready to dab tears from her eyes, it seemed, by my situation.

I cleared my throat.

“Oh, no.” I shook my head with a small smile. “Of course not. It’s no trouble.”

I silently cursed at the way my voice shook slightly in my reply.

It was an odd sort of trouble being married to him, but there was no way I was saying that aloud. Not to anyone.

She leaned closer.

“Come now, I know what he’s like… I’m his mother after all.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose you would know him best.” My reply was immediate. This time, my voice hadn’t trembled, but something else within me had. I wasn’t sure what it was this time. Something about her manner of speaking, or her tone of voice? It made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was just how she was talking about Talyn, just when he was starting to grow on me a little.

“I was quite surprised a frail thing like you made it through the night with him. I had fears he might hurt you.”

Hurt me?

“Oh, truly? You were worried for me?” Was I hurt that first night? Yeah, but it wasn’t because I was with him. It was because of that stupid door he locked. I put a smile on my face to reassure her. “But well, I’ve been through much worse. It was nothing.”

She didn’t need to know what I was talking about. She could assume as much as she wanted. I wasn’t going to tell her any details. Not about him not honoring the wedding night with even a single ‘good night’ to me. Not about how I was practically tortured by being forced to read about ten different books that were ‘necessary’, according to my family, only to not have the need to use a single sentence from them. It wasn’t like I was looking forward to it, but really, I was forced to go through all of that for nothing. That, to me, was much worse than me being shunned from entering his room.

Her face fell into that of pity.

“Hm… poor child.” Then she glanced around a bit before meeting my eyes again. I could tell she wanted to tell me something more, long before she opened her mouth again. “Though it’s been kept quite quiet…” she looked me over with a piercing gaze as she spoke, “did something happen, by chance, that night?”

“Why do you ask?”

The words snapped out of my mouth, almost defensively, before I even realized.

Claudia’s eyes widened and she lifted a hand to her mouth in shock.

“Oh.” She lowered her hand and placed it on the table, brushing a small wrinkle out of the tablecloth. “Well, when I heard there was a dead body that was found on the ground, as if it were pushed from a window, laying just below your room…”

Dead body?

Below…

She gasped and shook her head, little tears popping up in her eyes. It all felt very fake to me, but I held it in, pretending along with her.

“I – Miavel, I had fears it might’ve been you. I had worried that Talyn might’ve…” She whimpered into a handkerchief that one of the attendants handed to her.

“A…” I felt like I was chewing fabric as I forced the words out. “A dead body?”

As Claudia rambled on about how she’d been notified by one of the guards who had been working night patrols, how he’d turned the corner and seen the person, I recalled something.

In the middle of the night… I woke up.

I’d heard a noise, I knew I had. I vaguely recalled hearing a bang as I was pulled from my sleep. But there was nothing except silence after I sat up in bed. I’d only heard what sounded like the click of a door as I fell back asleep. It had sounded like it came from Talyn’s room.

My mind raced over all the possibilities.

Someone attacking Talyn in the middle of the night. He pushed them out the window in the fight that ensued, creating a noise that woke me, and then he left the room to go clean up the mess? Did that even make any sense? Who would want to try and ambush him in his own room?

Wait.

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck.

Wedding night.

Claudia’s half-crying recollection of events, filled with far too many details, brought me back to reality for just a moment, just to hear another word to send me spiraling again.

“Gerald told me they weren’t someone who worked in the palace. To think someone might hire an assassin of some kind…”

Assassin.

Wedding night.

Was someone not simply aiming to take out the King of Thera, but the King and Queen?

Everything felt very warm and sticky all of a sudden. My throat felt tight and my stomach churned.

Someone was hoping we’d be consummating the marriage. Catch us in the ‘throngs of passion’ or exhausted after it, dead asleep, and take us both out. The King and his new Queen.

Me and Talyn.

“Your duty is to live.”

“Don’t trust anything you hear unless it comes from me.”

“No. I’ve made sure of that.”

Talyn’s voice seemed to echo in my head. I thought of how he told me the Kingdom of Thera runs of lies, how he was kind to me, how he was always warning me and asking me to live.

The threats he said he made sure I wasn’t near.

Was that…

Did he suspect or know something that first night already?

Was that the reason he kept his side of the door closed? Why he didn’t let me in? Was he protecting me?

“I’m sure his presence is quite terrifying for you. Most of the noblewomen find it hard to meet his gaze as well…” Claudia rambled on and on.

She was acting as though Talyn was a true monster. 

And knowing she didn't get along with him?

The room seemed to drop ten degrees. Goosebumps popped up along my arms.

As I opened my mouth at her next absurd statement about my husband, all in an effort to tell her I was unwell and excuse myself as quickly as possible, there was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal the same man who opened the door for me and announced my presence.

Only…

Now he seemed very uneasy.

He rushed to quickly bow and announce that Claudia had a visitor.

“Who is it?”

The man bowed and called the name of the person who had arrived.

“King Talyn Raima Thera has arrived.”

I nearly gaped as he strode into the room boldly, like the uninvited guest he was.