Coal Crown (Forging Royalty)

by Maggie Lee

  I nod to him and turn my focus back to the speakers. A few more people come back and forth, speaking of the future and past. Nothing is overtly political, yet it all feels that way regardless.

  After a last round of applause, someone across the room stands with a champagne glass and makes a toast in our direction, "To our future king and queen. May you rule with honor and pride."

  We toast to that, but I remain quiet while raising my glass. I am not sure what these people will expect of Arden and me when we do become the country’s rulers. Will he still want to come back here? Will they accept the tough decisions he will have to make?

  Toasts are made, many to our honor and eventually they start the lines for food. I follow Arden to the line, and his brothers are behind me. Even with the short amount of time knowing them. I'm comforted to be surrounded by them.

  When a few people try to speak to me in line, they play guard and block them off, distracting and dismissing people. Arden does the same to the little old ladies in front of him.

  We get our meals and Arden carries my plate back to the table. He is nothing if not a gentleman, and I appreciate that. My mouth waters at the smell of the food Arden picked out for me. I've never had a turkey or anything prepared this way before, and my stomach grumbles at the excitement just for the sides that go along with our meals.

  "Give everyone a moment to go through the line and then we all say grace and eat. Don't worry, it's a generic prayer, so it shouldn't offend your catholic heart," Arden says with a sideways grin, before sweeping his finger through something purple on my plate and eating it off of his finger.

  His little action was oddly seductive, which isn't something I expected out of this brute of a man. Chock full of surprises, he is.

  Almost to my annoyance, he’s right. They say a quick prayer of thanks and for nutrition while we all hold hands, and then we are allowed to eat. Out of curiosity, I take a large first bite of the purple jelly like thing he stuck his fingers through. It’s tart and bitter, but sweet at the same time. I pucker up and am reminded of the cranberries I grow in my garden.

  "Judging by your face, it didn't taste how you expected?" Arden asks with a light laugh at my pucker.

  "I'm not all aware of what I believed it to taste like. I was almost expecting a jellied meat, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the same time it isn't." I answer honestly, trying another bite.

  With a better expectation of what it will taste like, I’m more prepared when the flavor hits me and I realize I actually like whatever this is.

  Feeling adventurous, I try some of the wet bread on my plate and once again, I am surprised. I enjoy the salty flavor and the texture. Even if it just wet bread.

  "You live in a palace, how is it that you act like this is your first time having anything from this meal?" Markus asks across the table with a mouth full of food. Guess we will need to put him through some etiquette courses before he joins us for dinner with my father.

  "I haven't had many things like this. We tend to eat food grown and made within our walls," I answer quickly, ready for another bite of something new.

  "That's a good idea, really limits the opportunities to poison you," he says around another mouthful of food.

  I take in a sharp breath and drop my fork. I hadn't even remotely thought about that. I haven't ate outside of the castle much, at the farmers market no one knows who I am, so eating there has been safe. But here? With people who don't support the royals or our decisions.

  "Fucking idiot. I should slit your throat like I threatened before." Arden’s voice is hard, and then he turns his whole body to me and softens up, I can tell he's upset but reigning it in. "No one here will poison you, and I promise to never put you somewhere unsafe. My brother’s just stupid and doesn't think before speaking. We all ate out the same containers, you are safe. I promise."

  Arden reaches around my side and pulls me closer into him. Feeling his warmth, I relax fractionally. He feels my body softening underneath him so he keeps whispering calming words into my ear and rubbing my side. His hand is warm and a distraction with every move it makes. I hold the inhale when he grazes a sensitive space along my rib cage just under my breasts. After a few moments pass and I feel better, I lean up into him and kiss his cheek as a thank you.

  "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that was an actually worry, I—"

  "Shut up," Arden says gruffly to Markus and then returns to eating.

  With a little more caution I take another bite of what Arden called mashed potatoes. Although to me, from the texture I want to say the name is incorrect. They feel whipped, and I kind of love them. We have potatoes at the palace, but I’ve never thought of mashing them before.

  "Try the turkey, I promise it will be your favorite," Arden says pointing at the sliced meat on my plate.

  "Arden, have you had time to go over the pieces of wood I placed in your shop at home? I know you were looking for a new supplier for handle wood," Braxton asks, breaking what feels like a wall of tension around us all after Markus's horrible joke.

  "I have, I need to actually try to shape one before I make a decision though. All three are great quality and have beautiful grain, but I need to try to work with them and then test their strength," he answers thoughtfully.

  They carry on a discussion and I sense Markus wanting to speak up again, but nervous about it. So I decide to go ahead and help him.

  "Markus," I voice to gather his attention, but the whole table silences, waiting for my question. "What do you do?"

  A breath of relief comes from Markus before he swiftly answers, "I am a plumber. Fletcher is an electrician. Brax, Fletch, and I work together to build homes. While our littlest brother is busy being an Army brat."

  "An Army brat is someone whose parents are in the army. Do you even have a brain?" Arden asks him before turning his attention back to Brax.

  They start back into their conversation as Markus tells me all about the things he and his brother work on. His eyes light up with each new project he talks about and I'm a little inspired at his love of building. I have never had a chance to build something like that from scratch, but I like the idea of making a home with your own plans.

  I finish my plate and feel absolutely stuffed, a nap sounds like the perfect thing right now.

  "Are you ready for the best part of Thanksgiving?" Braxton asks me, but before I can answer Markus pipes up, "We don't honor Black Friday prices here, sis!"

  His joke goes over my head completely and I'm lost. "What is Black Friday?"

  "An old tradition, people use to go shopping for Christmas after eating Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the other countries still host this event, it's a huge sale ad event. However, the media portrays it as absolutely insane."

  I actually think I remember Teijan mentioning it in one of our letters. I believe I wrote it off as a store name or something when I read it.

  “Are you ready to go soon? Your father is expecting us back in the next hour. He wants to meet with me and then have dinner with us.” His words sound like he’s delivering bad news.

  “Ok.” I answer as he takes my hand and pulls me from my seat. Arden says goodbye to his brothers and each one gets up to give him a one-armed hug. They slowly trickle to me and give me full hugs. Markus makes another joke in my ear and Arden smacks him on the back of the head for it.

  "No, let’s grab dessert to-go." He stands and takes my hand to help me from my chair.

  I give his brothers a brief goodbye and Arden pulls us away towards a sweet little old lady guarding the dessert table.

  "What do you think you are doing, Mr. Rithers?" she asks and I feel my hand being pulled to position me further behind Arden, almost like he is moving me to shield me from her.

  "Well, Ms. Rutherford. We have to go. The princess has to attend an important meeting this afternoon and I’m her escort. So we can't stay, but I would love to grab a slice of your amazing pumpkin pie for her to try. She's never had Thanksgiving dinner before." I hold back
a giggle at his tone with her, its sweet and persuading, but I recognize the little bit of fear it holds, like she makes him nervous.

  "She has never had Thanksgiving before and you're trying to sneak her out early! You should be ashamed, Mr. Rithers.”

  "But not before the pie! That should be worth some points, right?" His responses sound like things Markus would say and it’s nice to see Arden has a playful side too. She laughs while swatting him with a rolled cloth napkin.

  She's pretty sneaky, that napkin came out of nowhere. He backs up and lifts his hands in surrender, and she turns around and grabs us two plates of pie to go. The smell of the desserts makes my mouth water, despite my already full stomach. My mind thinks to the desserts Sydney has made for Father’s dinners, nothing ever smells this good. I don't bake often, but maybe I shall try a pie next time someone lets me free in the kitchen.

  Arden carries the two little plates with one hand while keeping one on the small of my back. He guides us through the settlement and then back down the small worn path.

  I stop him from immediately going to the truck when I ask him about the cabin we are parked in front of. “Whose house is this?”

  “It used to be my parents. All of the congressional families have cabins on the outskirts of the settlements. None of us have wanted our parents spot in leader’s ship among the settlement group, but we also can’t let go of this place.”

  I think about asking him to take me inside, but the sadness in his voice makes me decide otherwise. I grab his hand and pull him along to the truck. Opening my own door and climbing in before he can do it for me.

  Chapter 9.

  I pick up the old worn copy of the book he pulled out earlier and read a little during the ride. Occasionally, I peek up at him and enjoy the view of casual Arden, covered in soot and ash from blacksmithing earlier.

  His hands rest comfortable around the old steering wheel and I can see the callus and stain from years of hard work. Tattoos peak out from just under his sleeve and I'm curious to see what they are, I would like to trace each detail with my fingers. His dark hair is straight like mine, but coarse and styled in a way that screams he flipped it after a towel dry. I can't imagine him allowing maidens and servants to come in and prepare him for each day. I have the strong urge to ask him to play with it, but keep it held in at fear of freaking him out.

  Something about a forced marriage has made us fast friends. He is attractive, I have been blessed with that at least, and so far we have clicked. Father didn’t do this for me by any means, but I’m thankful to him all the same. He made a good choice.

  "Do you always stare when you think people aren't watching?" I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with air and embarrassment. He knew I was observing him.

  "Usually I'm better at not getting caught. Apparently not today." I add sass to my voice and slouch in my seat, bringing my knees to my chest so I can rest the book up high enough to cover my face.

  The truck comes to a stop just outside of the palace walls while they check Arden’s credentials. Eventually they let us through and we park by the front entrance and get out for valet to take and park his truck elsewhere.

  Once we are inside, Arden pulls me in for a quick hug.

  I tell him, “Thank you for taking me today.” Before breaking away and heading upstairs to prepare for dinner tonight. Alexis is in my room adjusting my closet when I come in.

  “Good evening, miss,” she says.

  “Hello, Alexis. How has your day been?” I ask her as I start looking for what to wear tonight. June should be back soon, we could match again like old times. I can’t help but wonder how her trip went and if Kraus will be joining us tonight as well.

  “My day was wonderful. I spent it working alongside the seamstresses and I am excited to reveal your spring wear soon.” Her voice is muffled by the sound of her deep in my closet.

  “You know I could just order things, you don’t have to arrange a wardrobe every season.” I start stripping, preparing my own bath so I don’t disturb her from her process.

  “I love dressing you every season miss—” she yells out, but I miss the rest when I turn the shower on. I don’t mean to ignore her, but I step in the shower content on carrying the conversation again when I get out.

  I scrub my body and get the little bit of soot I have on me off, and then take my time shampooing and conditioning. My body is relaxed and I smell like my favorite green apples fragrance. I slowly dry my body off, and then throw on my soft white silk robe before stepping out for Alexis to dress me.

  I let out a small shriek when I run into Arden as I exit the bathroom. Thankfully, I changed into the robe or I probably would have dropped my towel in panic.

  “Sorry,” he tells me as he steadies me. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I wanted to let you know that your father, Kraus and I are all leaving for the evening. Right away.”

  “Why?” My disappointment is evident in my tone.

  He gives me a smile, enjoying my obvious upset. “There is a breach at the border and we think it was the rumored rebels. Your father wants to go, but the people who have been captured out of the crew will only speak to the next leaders of the country.”

  My heart starts pounding rambunctiously. “They want to see us?”

  “Yes,” he says, looking around the room.

  “Alexis is in my closet,” I whisper.

  He gives me a nod and pushes me into the bathroom, shutting the door behind us. “They do, but you aren’t coming. I don’t know if this is trap or what is happening, I have soldiers on their way here to guard the palace as well. Stay in, study, and eat with June. Just, please don’t leave the inside of the palace.”

  “No, I want to go with you. If it isn’t safe for me, it won’t be safe for you either,” I tell him, stepping forward and putting a hand on his chest.

  He reaches up to cover my hand with his. “I am a fully trained soldier, one of the best in our entire country. I didn’t get to this position because I lack the ability to protect myself. I have to go, I’m prepared. Just stay inside. I’ll be back for our class tomorrow. Promise.”

  I drop my head down onto his chest in aggravation. I understand what he’s saying, but that doesn’t mean I like it. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in. The feel of his hard hands across the barely there silk sends excited sparks across my spine.

  “Just, be careful. I’ll stay in, that's not an issue, but watch out for yourself. If it at all feels off...” I lean my head back and look up at him, hoping he sees how serious I am.

  Arden leans his forehead against mine so we’re eye to eye and gives me a soft assuring look. “Then I will change our tactics. Right now, it’s just a meeting in an interrogation room.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  He leans forward just a little bit and gives me the briefest kiss on the lips before backing up and taking my hand as he pulls us from the room. It’s over so quick that I’m not sure it happened other than the racing of my heart.

  “Alexis, please come out,” Arden calls as we get in front of the door out of my room.

  Alexis does as asked and immediately comes out, ready to do whatever he asks. I almost laugh at how quick she moved for him. I’ve never seen Alexis so alert.

  “Yes sir.” She addresses him.

  “Mackenzie is to have dinner in her chambers tonight, please stay with her. Even though she usually makes you stay in your own quarters, I don’t want her alone tonight.” His tone is very matter of fact, but I don’t like how it looks like he is the one in charge of my night. Even if I am doing what he asked. A part of me nags until I have to speak up.

  “Alexis, if you have other duties, I will spend the night with June. Also, I will get my own dinner, Arden is misinformed if he thinks he can give you orders.” I throw him a point look.

  All I get is a big smile from him, before he nods to her. She takes the queue to go and disappears back into the closet, leaving me and Arden alone again.

 
“I have to go, they are waiting on me. Stay in, eat with whoever you want, but just in please.” He pulls me close by my hand and gives me a brief kiss on the cheek. I hold his hand a little longer, keeping him here before reluctantly releasing him to leave.

  Once I’m alone, I walk over to my bed and crash onto it. Next thing I know I’m being woke up by Alexis with food. I’m really too tired to eat, so I split the meal with her and only take a few bites before laying back down to crash. She turns the lights out and with the room dark, I’m asleep almost instantly. My tiredness doesn’t keep me restfully under long. I’m in and out of sleep every few minutes tossing and turning until I hear a noise entering my room. My heart speeds up and I try to stay as still as possible in case it’s my father. My whole body relaxes when Arden’s smell surrounds me as he slides into bed. I move closer and snuggle into his warm body, happy he’s here.

  “Go back to sleep,” he whispers as he pulls me onto his chest.

  “I’m glad you’re back,” I sleepily announce before starting to drift. Just barely do I hear Arden’s, “Me too.” As he pulls the blanket back over us and the chill in the room disappears.

  Arden wakes me gently with soft kisses on my face, “Good morning, darling.”

  “You’re back!” I say excitedly waking up more.

  “I am. We covered this when I got here this morning,” he tells me, laughing.

  I sit up and face him, still leaning into his side a little bit. My excitement at him already being back makes me realize that I was actually worried about him being gone. I drum my fingers on his side, thinking of something to say. He’s right, I knew he climbed into bed this morning, I was just too tired after our long day to function it.

  “How was it? Was everything alright?” I ask, actually curious about what happened.

  “They didn’t want to speak to me at first, they wanted you. However, when I showed up, they decided to talk. They gave us another piece of the puzzle that they’ve been slowly hinting at.” He pushes up into a seated position against the headboard, grabbing my thighs and pulling me towards him. “An upcoming war.”