A Time of Turmoil

by N M Zoltack

  True, Rosalynne hadn’t wanted the crown, but since Sabine was trying to steal it from her, Rosalynne realized that she did want it. Deep down, she desired her birthright after all.

  Perhaps it was unfair to claim that Sabine was stealing Rosalynne’s authority. After all, Sabine had not been the one to make the rules. Still, Sabine was enjoying those same rules just the same.

  Most of the others in the royal family did not get up nearly so often, and Rosalynne most often broke her fast alone. This morning, however, when she had been queen for nearly a month already, the small royal dining hall that was separate from the main hall was not empty. None other than Bjorn Ivano was there, waiting for her. Why he was still hanging around the castle was plainly obvious for all to see. He wished to become a suitor for her hand.

  She startled, hesitating at the doorway, and then whirled around and dashed into another room. Hiding. Here she was, Queen of Tenoch Proper, and she was hiding.

  Rosalynne waited until Bjorn’s faint footsteps faded before leaving the small tea room she had entered. In case the knight from Maloyan would return, she opted to go down to the kitchen and asked for some fruit. The chef could not deny her, although it was clear to Rosalynne that he did not care to be interrupted while in the middle of preparing a meal for the entirety of the castle.

  It was not that Rosalynne did not want anything to do with Bjorn. Actually, that might precisely be the case. She was not entirely certain on the matter. While she knew that he appreciated her and wished to get to know her better, she felt far too frazzled. She was far too overwhelmed to even consider him or any other man for that matter to be a possible future king beside her.

  Rosalynne was just leaving the kitchen when Vicar Albert Leeson approached her.

  “My Queen,” he said bowing lowly.

  Rosalynne suppressed the urge to look around for Sabine. It still felt foreign to be addressed by that title.

  “How can I help you?” she asked.

  “It is I who should ask how I can serve you, and I do actually have some advice to impart if you are willing to listen.”

  “Of course,” Rosalynne said warmly. “Shall we go to the chapel to discuss this or…”

  He eyed the banana and apple in her hand. “Let us go into one of the tea rooms,” he suggested.

  She flushed with embarrassment. “Of course. Lead the way.”

  He ushered her into the nearest tea room and sat at the table only after she took a seat.

  “What do you wish me to consider?” Rosalynne asked. “Do you mind if I eat?”

  “Go ahead.” He waved her onward.

  She peeled her banana and then hesitated. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “I have, thank you. Enjoy.”

  Rosalynne took a bite. Delicious. Perfectly tarty and yet sweet too.

  “I think you should allow the people entry into the castle,” the vicar said.

  The queen frowned. “They already can be allowed entry if they have reason to be here,” she said, confused.

  “I mean that you should listen to their complaints. Help them address their problems, their issues. Serve them.”

  Rosalynne chewed another bite thoroughly as she contemplated his words. This was something that her father had never done.

  “If the people are not with you, they will turn against you.”

  “Thank you for your council,” Rosalynne said. “I will consider your request.”

  The vicar smiled at her, stood, and left the room.

  Rosalynne finished her breakfast, threw away her peel and core, and sought out Advisor Aldus Perez. She located the man in the library.

  He turned to her and smiled. “My Queen.”

  “Yes, yes,” she said, waving away his words. “I wish for you to help me organize a weekly event.”

  “Anything you want will happen. What is this event to be?”

  “Once a week, I will hear concerns and questions from the people.”

  “From the peasants?”

  “And nobles too if they wish, yes.”

  “When will this start?”

  “A week from today,” Rosalynne said firmly.

  Aldus Perez nodded. A strange look crossed his features for only a moment.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “It is only that I wondered if Queen Sabine would wish to be there as well.”

  Rosalynne inhaled deeply and exhaled through her nose. “I would like to do this myself. I am queen too, the future Queen of Tenoch Proper.”

  “Of course.” Aldus stood and gathered his scrolls. “I will start spreading the word at once for you.”

  “Thank you kindly.”

  She watched the advisor leave and felt a wonderful sense of relief. As queen, her duty should be to her people first and foremost. Helping them would give her a grand sense of accomplishment.

  But only if I can truly help them.

  Just like that, her relief turned into panic, and she sought out the vicar. He was in his chapel, talking to a few of the peasants. Once he finished and the peasants fled, she addressed the vicar.

  “Thank you. I hope that I can do the kingdom justice.”

  “That you are even willing to try gives me great hope,” he said.

  “I have Aldus Perez setting everything into motion. A week from today will be the first session.”

  To her surprise, the vicar grimaced, and his overall expression clearly made his displeasure evident.

  “Who all will be on your council?” he asked. “The treasure, the guards, the army, the navy?”

  Rosalynne swallowed hard. “I do not have need of the entire council as of yet, considering Sabine is the ruling queen.”

  “She will not be for long. Find yourself a king. Get yourself with child. Sabine should not be queen. You are the sole heir to the throne.”

  “Not the sole heir,” she protested. “I have siblings.”

  “I do like and enjoy Noll, but you and I both know that he can never sit on the throne.”

  Rosalynne did not even dare open her mouth to protest. The vicar was right on that account.

  “As for Vivian, she has to become far more mature if she wishes for the throne to one day be hers. By rights, the throne is yours and is meant to be passed onto your children and your children’s children.”

  She swallowed hard. The idea of her children having children seemed so very foreign to her.

  “I do not see the need to worry about this,” she said, “but I will keep on the advisors that my father had for the positions you mentioned.”

  “Will you go and speak to them?” the vicar asked.

  “Yes,” she said.

  But she was lying. She had no intention of doing that. There was no need for her to. She was not yet the Ruler of Tenoch Proper.

  Perhaps it was wrong to tell a falsehood to another in the chapel, especially the vicar, but she had done so and with little guilt.

  “I must be going,” she said. “Thank you for your council.”

  Rosalynne departed the chapel and rushed to her room for a moment of stolen isolation and peace. How could she be both the queen and herself while she was struggling to mourn? She did not know how to handle any of this, and so, she felt as if she was not handling anything at all.

  51

  Queen Sabine Grantham

  Queen Sabine. How beautiful that sounded especially since she had the power to rule and govern over the people.

  Yet, there were some persons, particularly nobles, who deferred only to Queen Rosalynne. While Sabine understood this to some extent, after all, Rosalynne had been in their circles her entire life while Sabine was still ruled a newcomer, it infuriated her terribly. She was their ruling queen whether they wished for her to be or not.

  Perhaps if she could find an ally in the younger queen, all could be made to rights. Thus far, Sabine had been unable to truly befriend any of the king’s children. They were all overly independent and rather disobedient children, even Rosalynne. Thinking
she could have the peasants talk to her and have them become more and more endeared to her. That was ingenious on her part and most decisively vindictive and underhanded. Sabine hadn’t thought Rosalynne had that in her.

  That night, after supper, Sabine cornered Rosalynne before she could dash off to wherever she might be going. The other royal children had left already, and only the maids who were clearing off the table remained.

  “Rosalynne,” Sabine said pleasantly enough, “I wish to offer you help in any way that I can.”

  Rosalynne stiffened. “You will not be queen long enough to be of help,” she said coolly.

  Fire and ice seared through Sabine, and she both shivered and sweated at that comment. She longed to slap the girl for her insolence, but Sabine refrained. Rosalynne might be a terrible child, but she was a queen just as Sabine was. And the girl was only three years her junior. Rosalynne clearly saw Sabine as a threat.

  The king’s eldest child was smart. Sabine had to stay that much about Rosalynne.

  “Have you forgotten that you lack the experience to be the ruling queen?” Sabine asked sweetly.

  “Have you not realized that I have been acting for the king before my father even married you?” Rosalynne countered. “If my father thought me capable, as he clearly had, then why shouldn’t I be the ruling queen now?”

  “You have no heir,” Sabine said.

  “Nor do you.”

  “I am over age and you are not,” Sabine countered.

  “Times change,” Rosalynne said coolly. “I do not need a king at the moment, and when I have one, then I will have an heir. Or, rather, then I will have an heir who is my child. I do have an heir now.”

  “Who? Noll? You and I both know that he is incapable of being the king.”

  “Do you now?” Rosalynne was maintaining her biting tone. Sabine’s anger was growing by the second. “I have known Noll my entire life. He is a good man. A just man. He would be a better king than either of us will be a good queen.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Sabine snapped. “As for Noll, he is far too weak and indecisive. He will ask for assistance and trust the wrong man. He will be led astray.”

  “Perhaps so, but I did not mean for him to be my heir,” Rosalynne said.

  “Vivian? She is even younger than you! She will—”

  “If given the chance, Vivian would marry before I do. She may well have a child before I do. So, you see, Sabine, I do not need your help, and I most certainly do not want yours.”

  Sabine suppressed a growl. “I offered to help you. You will rue this day when you turned me down.”

  “I doubt that.” Rosalynne turned away, her hair flying over her shoulders. The younger queen stalked off.

  Furious that the two of them had clashed so majorly, Sabine sought out her mother. Yes, Sabine had given her mother larger quarters once she became the ruling queen.

  As soon as Sabine entered the room, her mother appraised her face and said, “You know what must be done.”

  Sabine nodded, but her mother frowned, clearly worried about what the future might have in store for them.

  52

  Prince Noll Rivera

  The next day, Noll was busy. He and Tabes, who was far too big to be considered a puppy any longer, were playing hide and seek, and he couldn’t find the dog anywhere.

  Just then, Noll heard the strangest sound coming from behind a closed door. Confused and curious, he listened longer. Weird scrapping sounded, and it took a moment for Noll to recognize the sound. Sometimes, he would have to move furniture in order to find Tabes. That scrapping sound had to be from a bed or table shaking. What room was this? A tea room? Someone’s bedroom? Noll wasn’t sure.

  Another sound gave first, just like the first strange noise. That time, Noll could tell that it was female. A moan maybe. Was someone hurt? Should he fetch a doctor? No. He better not. He didn’t want to be wrong. What if he got in trouble for listening?

  Still, if someone were hurt, Noll wanted to be able to help, so he moved down the hall and watched and waited for someone to leave the room. Eventually, twenty minutes later, the door opened, and out came Sabine. She was patting her hair. She glanced up and down the hall before rushing away. Good. She hadn’t spied him. Noll was becoming an expert at hiding, and even better, she seemed to be all right to Noll, so he was glad he hadn’t hurried to find an apothecary.

  Just then, Noll heard a loud bark. Tabes!

  Noll darted off in farther from the room and rounded the corner. Tabes was there, wagging his tail. The prince tore after him, chasing his dog, and suddenly, Noll ran straight into the vicar.

  “I’m sorry,” Noll said. He twisted to look around the vicar. His dog was trying to bite his tail, going around and around in a circle.

  “You need to be more careful,” the vicar said, patting himself as if checking to ensure that he was all right.

  “I’m sorry,” Noll repeated.

  Just then, Aldus Perez and the guard Tiberius Davis walked by. While the guard ignored Noll entirely, the advisor scoffed, and Noll winced. The prince was certain that the advisor was only pretending to be scoffing at the dog.

  Noll got along with most everyone, but he most certainly did not like Aldus at all.

  53

  Princess Vivian Rivera

  Vivian couldn’t help feeling a bit out of place. Technically, Sabine was the ruling queen, but Rosalynne was the true queen. Until her sister had an heir, Noll was next in line. Vivian didn’t want to be jealous, but she was.

  It wouldn’t be right for her to talk to her sister about this. Tomorrow, Rosalynne would allow the peasants into the castle to hear their complaints. Honestly, the thought of that thrilled Vivian. She was certain that would be a wonderful way for the queen to help the most amount of people, and wasn’t that what being a queen was all about?

  Not that Sabine was doing anything to help anyone. Well, maybe herself. Honestly, Vivian wasn’t certain what exactly Sabine was doing with her distinction of being the ruling queen. It only made sense for Rosalynne to act as if she were the sole ruler.

  What made Vivian feel even worse than her jealousy was the notion of her father and his death. While she was upset that he had died, she feared that she was not as upset as she should be. For years, Vivian knew that her father did not care for her. Even so, she had loved him as much as she could. Maybe if she had been able to forgive him and love him even more, he would have not hated her so much. Maybe she had been the one at fault instead of him. Maybe…

  The cloud of depression hanging over her head was more than Vivian could handle. Rosalynne was so very busy these days that Vivian did not even contemplate locating her sister. Instead, Vivian sought out her brother. Finding him proved a challenge. He was not in his quarters or in the library or any of the tea rooms. She even checked in with the vicar to see if he were in the chapel. Alas, he was not.

  Eventually, Vivian decided that the bright sunshine might help her spirits. She wandered around the courtyard before opting to head beyond the outer castle walls. Surprisingly, it was there that she found Noll, Tabes as ever nipping at the prince’s heels. It was even more shocking to see that her brother was practicing archery. Although Vivian had never held a bow herself, she had witnessed a fair number of archers over the years, and she thought his stance was a little too wide and that he was not holding the bow steady enough.

  She lifted the skirts of her relatively simple sage-green dress and approached him. “Hail, brother! What are you doing?”

  Noll jerked, and the arrow went flying skyward. He sighed and lowered the bow. “Hello, Vivian,” he said sheepishly, his cheeks coloring from his embarrassment.

  “Who gave you license to shoot an arrow?” she asked, reaching around his back to pluck an arrow from his quiver.

  “No one did,” Noll said sullenly. He pouted.

  A pang hit Vivian. Her brother was such a handsome man. If only he did not act as if he were a decade younger than his years. Lately, even
she had to admit that he had been a little better, but he looked ready to cry because she had found him.

  Next, he will stick a thumb in his mouth and suck it.

  She shook her head. Although he did not have the finesse down that archery demanded, he could not have gotten this good all by himself.

  “Noll, who has been teaching you?”

  “No one,” Noll said far too quickly.

  “Noll, please. Do not lie to me.” She placed her hands on her hips. “It is only you, me, and Rosalynne now. We must trust each other at all times, which means you must not bear false witness to me.”

  Her brother hung his head. “Ulric,” he mumbled.

  “Ulric?” Vivian frowned, musing hard. “Is he a guard?”

  “A servant,” Noll admitted.

  “A servant?”

  Practicing archery? What was the world coming to?

  Noll reached for another arrow, but Vivian touched his arm.

  “Please,” she said, smoothly removing the quiver from his back. “Allow me to fetch your arrows for you. You look hungry. Why don’t you go to the kitchens and see if you can’t have something to eat?”

  “But I’m not hungry,” Noll protested.

  Tabes began to whimper.

  Vivian smiled at the dog. “I think Tabes is.”

  “He always is,” Noll grumbled.

  “Then, go. Feed him at the very least.”

  Noll hesitated. “I can clean up after myself,” he said.

  Her smile grew even wider. “Thank you for offering, but I insist.”

  Her brother briefly hugged her and then ran off, his dog chasing after him.

  When had Noll become so sweet? She used to find him irritating more often than not, but he truly was becoming a wonderful man. If only he wasn’t so easily controlled. It made her ever so fearful for the future. He could be manipulated if he weren’t careful and especially if she and Rosalynne were preoccupied.