Lexi Monarch

by T. K. Perry

  Lexi drew herself up and put on her most regal expression. “Gentlemen,” she called loudly. The crowd came to a sudden, stumbling stop, the tumultuous noise dissolving into murmurs. “You seem eager for an audience with your new governor. How may I assist you?” Lexi could feel her legs trembling beneath her, and finally saw the wisdom of her mother’s full-length gowns.

  Recovering from his shock, Beck laughed nervously at her side. “I didn’t mean now,” he whispered.

  The few men that had seemed to be chasing them looked at each other in awkward silence as the crowd filled in behind them.

  One large man near the front glanced sheepishly at the others before meeting her gaze. “Our business is not with you, Your Highness,” he said deferentially.

  “You cannot have business with my brother-in-law without it also being mine.” Lexi informed him, minutely observing the crowd as she did so. The mob mentality seemed to be giving way to chagrin as the men shifted their weight uneasily and exchanged glances. A few moved further back into the crowd as one or two pushed their way forward.

  Lexi’s careful mask fell away for a moment as she recognized Cam in the crowd. His eyes were still equal parts anger and hurt, but there was hope in his questioning glance. Lexi swallowed down her emotions, her face resuming its blank authority. Cam stared at her a moment longer, waiting for some sign, his face falling when it didn’t come. Slowly, he turned back.

  “I will be happy to meet with each of you and address your concerns,” Lexi said, watching as Cam’s tightly-closed wings were enveloped by the crowd. “Shall we reconvene in the throne room?” She received a few nods of grudging assent, then turned slowly and led the crowd to the throne room at a stately pace.

  Chapter Sixteen

  She had meant to say goodbye, but giving Limen a safe departure was more important. He may have deserved some of the vigilante justice that she was diffusing, but for Mona’s sake and her sweet little nieces, she would protect him. She had led her angry procession into the throne room an hour ago. At first they had been reluctant to speak, but after she requested their feedback on meals, the floodgates had broken. There were only eight women in the group of roughly thirty, but they proved the most outspoken, complaining of the tests, roommates, the shared bathing pool, and the food. Then the men complained of the harsh prison sentences, boredom, and once again the food. Finally, the man who had spoken in the hallway stepped forward, a pleasant smirk on his dusky face, though his dark eyes were still alight with anger.

  “Will the old governor be returning to his post?” he asked, pushing dark, unruly waves off his forehead.

  Lexi shifted slightly on the cushioned stool that had been Limen’s throne. It had been second nature listening to their grievances, expressing concern over the issues raised, and assuring the complainer that she would look into it. She had watched her mother do it a million times while her father looked on and nodded. A third of her childhood had been spent in the throne room receiving petitioners. However, this was a question she could not answer.

  “Limen Viceroy has left the castle,” she answered, side-stepping his question. “I expect he will be off the mountain entirely by midnight.”

  A few disappointed grumbles moved through the group, but no one appeared surprised.

  “Then your position is permanent?”

  Lexi shifted subtly, the upholstered wooden throne making the slightest creaking in the suddenly quiet room. She thought of her sweet, dominated father, Cercy with her good-natured scolding, Raven’s rough mane between her fingers, and silently bid them goodbye.

  “I intend it to be so, yes,” she answered, feeling pleased when a collective sigh of relief seemed to emanate from the crowd.

  “Then I have no further complaint,” he said with a charming smile on his full lips. “But one request...”

  Lexi gave him a slight nod to continue.

  “Will you marry me?” he asked, beginning to chuckle as the crowd erupted into loud guffaws around him. Several of the men congratulated him, and a few others added their own proposals.

  Lexi stood, smiling serenely despite her discomfort. “That is a matter best discussed in a private conference.” A fresh round of laughter met her response, along with a few whistles.

  “That’s not a no,” the petitioner said, grinning as he bowed, then allowing himself to be ushered out with the rest of the crowd. Their boisterous amusement could still be heard even after the throne room doors were shut and locked.

  Lexi let out an audible sigh and sunk back to her throne.

  “Nicely done!” Beck hollered from behind the curtain covering the main throne room doors.

  Lexi smiled. “Does that curtain open? Disembodied voices congratulating me are a little disconcerting.”

  Beck flung the mossy green curtain open. “Finally! I hate that thing. It smells like mouse cheese.”

  “Mouse cheese?”

  “You know, you put it in the trap to catch the mouse, then it gets all stale and hard and nasty: mouse cheese.” Beck explained with a broad gesture, then greedily sucked in air. “Ahh, so much better.”

  Lexi smiled, then stood as Erynnis approached with a stack of paper and a ring of keys.

  “Your Highness, if you’re not too tired, I have prepared a brief orientation.” He bowed until the heavy keyring slipped off his stack of papers and landed with a resounding metallic clang on the stone floor. “Oh, oopsie,” he said, coloring.

  Lexi held back a giggle. The dignified functionary certainly didn’t seem like the “oopsie” type. His flush grew until even the top of his balding head appeared sunburnt and his mottled brown wings twitched. “My mother used to say it,” he mumbled, collecting the keys.

  Though Lexi would have preferred to sit in his little office behind the curtain, Erynnis insisted on standing before her as he gave his report on the number of life servants (seventy-one), the number of in-season residents (one hundred fifty-seven), the number of prisoners (seventeen), the amount of food available (too little), the meager supplies delivered weekly by crown agents, all the needed repairs, various conflicts between life servants, an accounting of what each key unlocked, and even the number of books in the library (three hundred nineteen).

  “And now, Your Highness may wish to retire to the governor’s room,” Erynnis finished with a little bow. “This key,” he reminded her, reverently holding up a single key before handing her the entire ring. “Oh, I forgot!” His cheeks lit up with another profuse blush and he stared down at his shabby, but very clean, boots. “Should Your Highness wish,” he continued in a whisper, “to bathe, it’s the key next to it with three prongs.”

  “Thank you,” Lexi replied with proper gravity, her amusement entirely hidden.

  “The marriages,” he continued, recovering his voice, “are conducted at all hours, day or night, upon request. Traditionally the governor is present, but I or Howarth, the new assistant officiant, are authorized to perform marriages in your absence as well.”

  “Oh,” Lexi replied, momentarily startled out of her reserve. “The marriages are not scheduled, then?”

  “Rarely, and even then with very little notice. There is an urgency to get couples off the mountain as soon as possible to ensure they are still able to get down the mountain. Also, some individuals do not choose to marry until they sense their season is about to end; there is a measure of panic in such cases that necessitates a speedy ceremony. They must prove they can still fly, of course, but then the marriage is sealed with all due haste.” Erynnis paused to wipe sweat from his brow with a stained handkerchief. “Does Your Highness prefer to be present at all the ceremonies?”

  Lexi suppressed a little sigh. “Yes Erynnis, I think it’s best for now.”

  “Very good, Your Highness,” he replied, with a double bow that brought another blush to his wrinkled cheeks. “Does Your Highness prefer to keep set hours in the throne room for complaints and marriages?”

  Must I? Swallowing her flippant answer, Lexi s
canned the spacious room with its cavernous ceiling, relatively clean tapestries, and resounding emptiness. The back wall had several narrow floor-to-ceiling windows decorated with wrought iron vines. Something that looked like dark clay patched spots where cracks snaked the old glass. Only slightly moth-eaten curtains hung limply beside them. The wall opposite the officiant's office had heavy wooden doors leading out to the balcony. Unlike the other rooms' balcony doors, an enormous sliding iron bolt locked them in place. Lexi stared at it a moment, wondering if the queen's suite had ever had one, then let her gaze travel on to Beck, still standing guard before the heavy door that opened onto the second floor of the castle. With a grin, Beck lifted his hands to his mouth and shouted “hello” in a mock whisper. The sound echoed around the room while Lexi fought a smile.

  Erynnis cleared his throat. “Um, the schedule, Your Highness?"

  “Oh yes, sorry." Lexi gave him a polite smile and forced her wandering mind back to the issue at hand. “If I’m to always be on call, would a couple of hours a day be sufficient for complaints?”

  Erynnis wrestled with his suppressed opinions for a moment, then nodded deferentially.

  “Very well,” she said, hearing her mother’s phrase in her own voice and cringing inwardly. “I will hear complaints and attend scheduled marriages from one to three every afternoon.”

  Erynnis’ eyebrows drew up into his forehead. He shifted weight from one foot to the other while his wings began to twitch again.

  “Is there something else?” Lexi asked, standing and trying to stretch surreptitiously. Again, she could see the wisdom of those long ball gowns as she tried to awaken her numb legs.

  “There are departures and sometimes marriages nearly every morning after the...” Erynnis hummed uncomfortably over the word pregnancy “...tests. Do you wish to be present?”

  Lexi frowned briefly before returning to a neutral expression. “Only for the marriages.” She paused, a slight puckering of her brow the only sign of her displeasure. “I didn’t realize there was any fanfare associated with the other departures.”

  Erynnis’ twitching escalated as he opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, and dropped his gaze.

  “Then I shall retire. We can address everything else in the morning. Like the food,” she added in afterthought. “The in-seasons need decent meals."

  Erynnis' face turned defensive, his mouth twitching with unsaid words.

  “But we can address that in the morning," she soothed, suppressing a yawn. With a stately gait she swept past the balding officiant, retaining her composure until Beck caught her eye and made a face at her. “Beck, surely your shift is over,” she managed with only a faint smile.

  “I couldn’t abandon you to the wolves.” he protested as she passed him.

  “The wolves left an hour ago,” she said, passing through the heavy door into the hallway.

  “Are you kidding? Erynnis is the worst one!” Beck said with a broad smile as he fell in with her guard detail.

  Lexi smirked. “Erynnis is a puppy.”

  “Only to you, Your Highness,” he said with a flourishing double bow.

  “Be nice, Beck,” Lexi admonished quietly, glancing at the officiant’s door as they passed it.

  “I’m always nice. I am charm incarnate. I am charisma...”

  “Yes, yes, Beck. You are a social wonder,” Lexi chuckled, then schooled her face for a stately nod to a few in-seasons loitering in the hall.

  Beck chortled. “Nice nod, Your Majesty, very regal.”

  Lexi elbowed him when no one was looking, and Beck guffawed loudly.

  The guards stopped and took up position in front of Limen’s room. Lexi stood before the door, fumbling with the large key ring.

  “Other one,” Beck said, pointing when she chose the wrong key.

  It felt wrong and vaguely tacky entering Limen’s room. His citrus scent still emanated from the neatly-made canopy bed. Lexi hesitated and then turned back to Beck. “I don’t think I want to sleep here. Maybe an airing? New bedding? I don’t suppose there is any to spare. Perhaps just a thorough washing.” Lexi colored as she realized she was thinking aloud. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I will sleep in the queen’s suite tonight.”

  The guards exchanged looks and shifted uncomfortably.

  Beck cleared his throat. “Uh, the balcony doors don’t lock. It’s an uncomfortable post outside them all night and too tight a space for more than one guard. And we can’t guard from inside the room, because...” Beck waved a thick hand in the air to pantomime his sense of impropriety.

  Lexi turned her irritation into a deep breath, which she blew out quickly with its thick scent of Limen. “Have someone remove and wash the bedding, and put his clothing somewhere else,” she said, catching sight of his moth-bitten robe.

  “Give it away?” Beck asked.

  “Not yet. Make sure he gets down the mountain first,” and that Mother doesn’t force him to return, she added mentally. For the fiftieth time since coming to the Old Castle, she calculated how long it would take her mother to send the flying guardsmen with a decree that would force her home. Surely she couldn’t have wheedled her father into signing anything yet, but then she thought of her marriage certificate and reconsidered.

  After sending one of the guards to carry out her instructions, Beck cleared his throat. “So are we just going to stand here in the doorway all night?”

  Lexi squared her shoulders. “No. I will sleep in the queen's suite.”

  “And the guards?” Beck reminded her.

  “Tiger Swallowtail can serve his sentence as my flying guard.” Lexi struggled to keep the triumphant smile from her face at her own clever solution.

  Beck snorted laughter.

  “Fetch him from the dungeon,” Lexi commanded, marching back to her own room.

  “And if he refuses?” Beck called down the hallway from the governor’s door.

  “Explain the situation.” Now that only four guards trailed in her wake, she allowed the suppressed grin to emerge. She felt giddy with freedom and something else. It took her a moment to realize that it was the power she was enjoying. She frowned, then forced her face blank. Her pleasantly bland expression slipped when she saw who waited outside her door.

  “I knew you would come back here!” Talan fairly crowed, eyeing the guards behind her uncomfortably.

  “I hoped you had left." Lexi smiled pleasantly to belie her rudeness.

  Anger flashed briefly across Talan’s face, then diffused with another glance at her guards. “I did,” he announced. “I went part-way down the mountain with them and I very much wanted to continue.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  “You know why,” Talan muttered angrily. “It was a mistake to choose you.”

  Though she knew she ought to be pleased, his words stung. With an odd pang, she realized he had not bothered to signal her either. With a carefully blank expression, she turned back to her guards. “Escort Mr. Admiral back to the dungeon, please.”

  “Very nice. I obey the Queen and end up in the dungeon,” Talan complained, jumping away from the guards and flying around them. “I’ll escort myself,” he called back, bitterly.

  The guards glanced to her for approval, awaiting her slight nod before letting him go.

  One of her guards preceded her into her room, checking beneath the beds and opening the balcony doors before stepping out and closing them behind him. The night breeze felt icy and her room felt strange. Someone had changed out the rugs for a pair that hardly smelled, there was a bouquet of wild flowers in a pewter cup on the vanity table, and her bed was neatly made with fresh linens that looked almost new. Clodi’s bed was neatly made with her same old blanket, and a small note sat in the middle of the bed. Stepping into the room, Lexi lifted the note.

  “Dear Princess Lexi (that’s so exciting! I’m writing to a princess),

  “Some of the nice ladies that work here helped me make our room prettier in case
you still want to sleep here. I won’t sleep here unless you want me to. They think you need a lady’s maid. I don’t know how to do that, but I can learn. I will stay in the dance hall until you decide.”

  Clodi

  Clodi signed her name with a messy cloud dotting the I. Lexi’s smile was involuntary as she returned to the door. “Would you fetch Clodi Parnassian from the dance hall?” The guards glanced at each other before one of them shrugged and walked away. Lexi was tempted to go herself, but angry murmurs of the crowd after Talis had broken his wing still echoed in her head, and the nervous energy that had kept all her muscles tensed over the past five hours was now dissipating into total exhaustion. Slipping into her nightgown, she crawled into bed. When she heard Clodi’s happy bustle as she moved about the room a short time later, she was too tired to even open her eyes. Clodi responded by softening her usual cheerful bellow to a hushed shout, but her excited chatter still lasted well past Lexi’s last sleepy mm-hmm.

  An insistent tapping woke her four hours later.

  “Umm, Your Highness? There’s a marriage taking place in a few minutes. Did you still want to be present?”

  Lexi groaned as she clutched at her pillow, momentarily considering sleeping through it before she dragged herself from bed.

  “Whaat?” Clodi asked sleepily.

  “Nothing, Clodi. Go back to sleep.”

  “Okay,” she answered dreamily, her even breaths evolving into deep snores within minutes.

  Lexi dressed herself clumsily, then opened the balcony door. The shivering guard turned with a hopeful expression and Lexi nodded. “Wedding,” she said simply.

  The guard grinned, teeth chattering as he leaned back out. “Mr. Swallowtail, we’re on the move.”

  Tiger swooped in a moment later with a sullen expression. His swollen eye had deflated to an angry bruise. Lexi wanted to fuss over him, but limited herself to a sympathetic smile. Tiger merely shook his head and fell into step with the other guards as they walked to the throne room. She couldn’t resist looking back at him, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. Forcing him to be her guard suddenly seemed far less clever than she had originally thought. Fighting the urge to bite her nails, she drew her fingers into tight fists and marched with posture that would have pleased her mother.