by Emera Rose
"You really think that I would be able to?" I was bouncing in the seat. I was ready to get out, and I would run right now if they allowed me to.
"Yes, there’s not much that I can do for you now. I will let the king know that you may not have your full strength return for a further three to four weeks, but I can't see any reason to keep you cooped up in here any longer."
"Great!" I jumped out of the seat and tried to make my way to the door.
"Laramie."
"Yes?" Please don't tell me I have to stay, please please, please.
"Maybe some clothes?"
I looked down to see myself in nothing but the usual hospital garb, no shoes, no undergarments, nothing. Definitely can't walk into the king's chambers like this. "Oh, yeah. Clothes would be good! Thank you!"
Priam pointed to a tall closet, where there were at least two dozen outfits stored. I screwed my face in confusion.
"The King wanted to make sure you had an option when you were ready to leave. I will leave you to it. If you have any strange sensations or pains, come back to the infirmary, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," I said, hoping to appease him. I would have to be on my death bed before I brought myself back here. He nodded and made his way out of the room.
I turned my attention to the closet, skimming my hands against each garment. My eyes landed on a red piece; usually, I liked to stay to my neutral colors, browns blues. Today I was celebrating I took the red satin piece and placed it against my body. Yes, this would do nicely.
The red silk clung to my body, and the train swept silently behind me. I made my way to my quarters. The soft bed, the clothing everything exactly how I left it.
*BONG BONG BONG*
I raced to the blood cache and noticed he was running low. My leg smarted only a little, even though my skin had healed nicely, my limp was still intact.
I walked into the room, not expecting any fanfare.
"We have to get our troops around this...." Jett stopped whatever he was saying and stared at me as I made my way up to his table to drop off his blood cup.
"My lord." I placed the cup down and began to walk out.
"Laramie, you will wait."
I turned back toward Jett, my eyes down in total submission. I remembered this game. I knew how to act when we were in mixed company.
"My King, we cannot just move the warriors to that island, they would be completely cut off from us. We would not be able to get them any support if they needed it." One of the guards said.
"Leave, let me think this through. We will reconvene at a later time."
"But my King?"
"Did you not hear me? I said leave!"
I heard a flurry of footsteps as each one of the guardsmen left, leaving me standing in the middle of the main room. I felt a breeze and saw two feet land directly in my line of sight. I raised my head and was met by two eyes, looking deeply into mine. Deeper than I thought he should be.
"Laramie, you shouldn't be up and about. Priam already told me that you would be out of commission for another month."
“No, my lord, I am here to serve you. I cannot be laid up in my room while your needs have yet to be met."
"My needs?" He raised his eyebrow. It took me a moment to realize how suggestive that sounded. My face heated up immediately. My blood pulsing beneath my thin skin.
"My King, I am so.. I would never!" I stammered.
I looked up at him to see the laughter bubbling up, trying to burst forth. He was teasing me, great.
Finally, the dam broke, and he let it out, bending at the waist to hold his sides. "You should have seen your face!"
"Oh, you think this funny, do you? Making fun of a poor girl on the eve of her return. How rude." I stuck my nose up and turned my head.
He stopped laughing, and using his fingers, turned my head back to face him, "Seriously, are you up for this today? I can do without you for a few more days."
I looked him up and down, shaking my head. "From the looks of this outfit, no, you can't."
"Fine, have it your way. I need the last two treaty proposals that I’ve had drawn up."
"Right away." I hustled to find the proposals. "Here they are."
"That will be all," he dismissed me and was focused on the papers in front of him.
I let the air of informality spur on my curiosity, "Is everything ok?"
He looked at me, hesitant, "I am hoping it is, but I will be prepared in case it’s not. We’ve seen some ships, but none have breached our shores. It looks like it is the Makins."
"Again? Didn't they learn from the last time? Have they attacked again?"
"No, not since the last time. And we still have not been able to prove that it was them."
"What do you mean, what about the dead?"
"No, they’ve not even come to claim their dead."
"Oh, well, that is a problem then."
"Tell me about it. We do not want to attack the ships that are sitting off our shores as they may be allies, but we don’t want to be caught unawares."
"Can we send an envoy to the ships in the water? Maybe they are in need?"
"I wouldn't want to sacrifice the men."
"One for thousands?"
He laughed and nodded his head to the side, "True, true indeed."
I looked at the treaty, reading over his shoulder, happy that I was able to do so. "What does this mean? Neutral zone?"
"That is a place that no one is supposed to inhabit. It was deemed too close to any kingdom."
"So, where is this neutral zone?"
"It is past our docks, toward the east of the island."
I stopped him as he continued, if my memory served me right, that was the same direction the attack came from. "Did anyone go and check out this neutral zone after the attack?"
"No, there was no need. They’d arrived on one ship, and we had sunk that after the attack." He stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest, "Speak your mind, Laramie, enough with the games."
"My lord, maybe we need to send someone to this neutral zone, it seems like the ideal place to set up an attack without anyone being the wiser, especially if the one test attack did not provoke anyone to search and discover the hiding grounds." I looked straight at him, hoping that I hadn’t stepped over any line.
"It makes sense." He paced the small area near me, "You're right. I will send some men there right away."
"Good, hopefully, there won't be anything there. If there is however, you will know, and then you can prepare."
"Indeed."
"Did you need anything else of me?" I stood back, waiting for further instructions.
"No Laramie, you have served me well for today, go take your rest." He spread the parchments on his table and continued his work.
I turned and headed for my room, proud that I was able to help.
***
I woke up the next morning, and a buzz assaulted my ears. Usually, I am one of the first ones up for the day, but from the sounds of whatever was happening, I was missing some sort of party.
I walked out of my room, and there were dozens of vampires and slaves making a fuss over drapery and furniture. Helene walked by me, not even acknowledging my presence.
"Helene," she turned startled to see me there.
"No, no, no, that will not do," she looked at my garment. I was surprised, as I had on a simple but elegant lilac dress. It draped down to my ankles but not down to the floor, so it would not impede my work throughout the day. I thought it looked fine, but apparently not.
"What’s wrong with it?"
"Not appropriate for the occasion." She grabbed my arm and began to tow me back to my room.
"What occasion? I hadn't heard of anything happening."
"Of course not child, no one had, but it’s happening." She rummaged through the closet and pulled out one of the more elaborate dresses, all black with jewels dripping from the sides and train. There was no way that I would get any work done today in this without
hurting myself or others. I cringed at the thought.
"Helene, I’ll break my neck in this dress."
"No matter put it on."
"Why what is happening, why all the fuss today?"
She sighed and looked down before turning to make her way out of my room. "The Queen will be here today, and our lives are about to get exponentially harder."
Chapter 12
The Queen, Margot.
Margot was the last of the line and was given a private island guarded with hundreds, if not thousands of men. She was said to be spoiled and cruel but unbelievingly beautiful. I had never seen her though, the only reason that she would be coming here now is to assert her dominance as queen, while her father was alive he controlled everything, and she was left to do whatever her heart desired. Now that he was gone and Jett was the new king, I am sure she just didn't want to be forgotten. Not to mention, they would need to have a formal wedding and consummation.
Wedding, Jett was a married man. I know I shouldn't feel angry about that, but I couldn't stop the fury that was building deep in my belly. He was just beginning to be confident in who he was and was showing himself to be a fair leader. Now with this added dynamic, I wondered if the Jett that I knew would stay around or would this be a new way of life. I was hoping not.
I walked into the king's chamber with his blood cup, still warm, and watched him pace blazing fast in front of his throne. I looked around the room and did not see anyone else in the chamber.
"Don't worry, Jett. She will be a wonderful wife." I was trying to break him out of his nervousness, which was evident by his posture and his actions. His head snapped in my direction, fury plastered on it. My mouth instantly went dry.
"What did you say to me? Who gave you permission to speak on this matter? For that matter, what makes you think that I would care about the condition of the queen? She has her place, and I have mine, that is all. Next time, remember that you are speaking to a King, not some lowly slave in a cell. " He snarled at me.
"My lord," I blinked once, remembering my place bowed and made my way out.
Anger was not the correct word for what I was feeling as I made my way into the room. Disgust is more like it, I allowed myself to get close to that bloodsucker, and in an instant, he flips on me.
I plopped myself down on the bed, nothing else to do with these emotions but pout. With a flurry of wind, the doors to my chambers slammed against the stone walls, and Jett was sitting next to me. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming in shock and fright. That was the quickest he’d ever moved in my presence, and I was ill-prepared.
"Laramie, my behavior was deplorable. I will not ask for forgiveness, but I will admit that it was wrong of me. Do you wish to continue speaking with me, or would you prefer I leave?"
No apologies but admittance of wrongdoing, I guess that was the best that I could expect.
"Sure, I know you are awaiting a big moment. Must be at a minimum, stressful."
"I knew this day was to come, but I continually pushed it to the back of my mind. I was so wrapped up in ruling and preparing for what might be a war on our horizon that I did not put any thought into the woman who would be my Queen and wife." He swallowed hard.
"You don't believe you will get along with her?"
"I couldn't care less about how we got along. I know, as the last line of the Froize Royalty, her word will have just as much weight as mine. I was hand-picked to be the next king. At first, I thought it was just due to my ability in battle, I thought she approved of me being her suitor because of all my victories. I was wrong, it was because and I quote, I had a wonderful ass."
A small bubble of laughter left my mouth, and I covered the sound with my hand.
"Oh so you think this is funny, girl?" his eyebrows shot up at the sound
"No, not at all, but I will say that I never thought that would be the defining characteristics of a king. Only men with hot bods need to apply."
He shook his head at the thought, but there was no denying it, the queen was shallow, and it would seem Jett was the object of her affection.
"So, what do you plan to do?" I asked tentatively.
"I will be her husband in every way that matters," he shrugged and stood.
"So, you will love her?" The words a whisper in the air.
"No, I told you already there will only be one, no other. Margot will get a husband and a King, not my heart or my soul."
I turned my head as he walked out of my room. It was surprising, but I was happy to hear him say it.
***
"What in all the kingdoms, do you call this?" a loud clatter sounded against the floor, the sound echoing off the walls and floor.
"I am sorry, my lady."
"What is this, are all my things second hand?" A long tearing sound followed.
"My lady, I will get those changed right away."
*Smack*
"You will get them changed now! You insolent old wench, how dare you presume to tell me when you will do something! I should have you drained for uttering those words."
I opened my door just an inch to see what was going on outside, I had never heard that voice before but the person she seemed to be screaming at sounded like Helene, I hoped it wasn't.
As I opened the door, I saw Helene crouched on the floor a rag up to her nose. "Yes, my lady, all my apologies."
“I don't want your fucking apologies, I want these drapes gone, and I want you to stop dripping that disgusting, rancid blood on my floor!"
"My lady," Helene stood in front of the queen, awaiting her next set of orders.
"What, why are you still here? Great, I get the slow slave. Move your decrepit ass!" She shoved Helene toward the drapes and stormed past her straight into the king's quarters. As if on cue, the bells sounded letting me know that it was time to get the king his blood cup, I went to his cache and pulled out his goblet and poured his blood. I was in the king's quarters before the third to last bell sounded.
"Who the hell are you?" The queen was in my face so quickly that I almost dropped the cup.
"My Queen, I am an aide to the King. Now is the time assigned for me to bring him his cup." I kept my eyes lowered but offered up the goblet so that she could see that I was indeed delivering his nourishment.
"Is that so? What makes you think that you can just barge into this chamber without permission?" She twirled her fingers in a few tendrils of my hair, and with every twist, one or two would yank out. I fought to keep from cringing.
"My Queen, this is the procedure, the King has previously given me permission. I was-"
She cut me off with a smack. My eyes slipped up to her face and fell immediately back down.
"Did you just raise your eyes to me, slave?" The queen's voice was rising higher with each syllable.
"No, my Queen."
"So, you’re calling me a liar then?"
"No."
"Margot!" Jett finally called from behind us, "I am dying of thirst over here." He added with a flare of amusement.
She let my hair unravel from her hand and practically skipped over to Jett. "When are you supposed to have your cup, my love?"
My eyebrows nearly hit my hair at the sound of the endearment.
"Before the tolls end every other hour." He sat back in his throne, relieved I assumed that the argument or the patronizing was over.
Margot looked at me, crossed her arms, and squinted in my direction. "You're late."
"My lady." I couldn't believe it. I would have been on time, but she had stopped me and questioned me.
"Don't my lady me, you shouldn’t even be allowed to speak in my presence. My husband gave you a simple order, and you have chosen to ignore it. Do you know how lucky you are to be working in the castle?"
Nothing.
"Do you hear me, slave?" she screeched and was up ready to come at me again, Jett grabbed her arm to keep her from coming down the stairs.
"Laramie, leave the cup and go about your chores."
/> "Yes, my King."
"You speak to her like she is a person like she is more than just the dirt on your shoe."
"She has served me well, even before you arrived, she has made sure I had what I needed."
"Is that so? Well, I am here now, and I will be giving you what you need from now on." She ran her hands down his midsection and grabbed his manhood. I turned my head, instead of being sexy like I’m sure she thought it was, it was quite vulgar. Jett did not seem amused in the least.