by M. D. Laird
“What do you need that money for?”
“Many things. I need to equip my armies with the best weaponry should the Arkazatine queen turn against me.”
The prince sighed. “Fine, but you release her to me straight away, and I will send the money upon my return to my guild.”
The king grinned and nodded to his attendant. The attendant left the throne room and returned holding the barely conscious princess and placed her at Thomas’ feet. Thomas looked down at the bloodied figure and then towards the king.
“I agreed to pay for my wife.” Thomas snarled. “She did not arrive here in this condition—she looks like she will barely survive.”
“You did not ask about her condition.”
“I will pay half.”
“You will pay one hundred thousand mirs or she will be executed where she lies.”
Thomas growled before picking up the princess and carrying her out of the guild. He took to the air once outside the guild and flew to the vector. Thomas clothes became heavily saturated with her blood as he carried her with her legs around his waist and her arms clutching tightly to his neck. She sobbed into his neck.
Once inside the vector, she lay in his lap. Arakiel programmed the console, and they set off for the guild. The princess slept throughout the journey, though she woke upon their return.
Thomas carried her inside the guild and Ramiel, the queen and some of her guards met them at the entrance.
“You have rescued her?” the queen exclaimed, though she looked in horror at the wounds.
“The king accepted payment, though he had already done this to her.”
The queen frowned and Thomas knew she was blaming him for allowing it to happen. She held her tongue and instead said, “Bring her to my room; Sariel can tend to her wounds.” She gestured to the angel, the Conservator of Health, who nodded towards Thomas.
“I will tend to her,” said Thomas. “But you may assist.”
The queen nodded reluctantly, and she, and the angel followed Thomas and Ramiel to the bedroom he shared with the princess.
He rested the princess on the bed, and she lay on her stomach. “I need hot water, towels, dressings and balms,” he said to Ramiel and Sariel. They left and returned moments later with his requests. Thomas slit the remainder of the princess’ torn clothing with his claws and removed them from her. He covered her lower body with a blanket and left her back exposed. Her back was a mass of blood and torn skin. He could barely make out the individual wounds. “Does it hurt, Princess? Do you need laudanum?”
“No,” she murmured. “My celestite is working.”
Sariel handed Thomas the strips of cloth he had torn and a bowl of hot water. Thomas dipped a piece of cloth in the water and began to clean the princess’ back. She lay silent whilst he worked. It took a while to clean the blood and Thomas could make out over a hundred separate lashes, though he guessed there were many more. Sariel handed him several balms to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds together. Her back was vastly improved when he had finished, though she would be severely scarred. He felt some relief that she would recover from her injuries which had seemed life threatening when he had first seen her.
She sat up when Thomas had finished applying an adhesive dressing to her back, and he helped her pull on a clean nightgown. He lifted her into a chair by the fireside whilst Ramiel removed the bloody blankets and sheets from the bed and fitted clean bedding. Sariel gave her a tincture to drink to prevent infection.
“Thank you,” she replied. Her voice was hoarse, probably from crying or dehydration.
“Are you thirsty, Princess?” asked Thomas. “Or hungry?”
She nodded and Ramiel stated that he would fetch her a tray. She reached to place her hand on Thomas’ cheek. “Thank you,” she said gently. “The celestite saved me. They would have broken me without it. I had to scream and cry, so they wouldn’t become suspicious, but I felt no pain. When they left me, I was at peace.”
He nodded. “I knew they had found you, but I couldn’t come for you.”
“I know that. I expected to die, but I was so grateful to you for taking away my pain. Still, I am glad to be alive. Thank you for coming for me.”
“You don’t resent me for not rescuing you straight away?”
“Of course not,” she said, frowning. “What would give you that idea? I understand the decree—I have never expected you to break it. And you did save me in the end.”
Thomas glanced to the queen. He wanted to gloat though it did not seem appropriate. She glanced at the floor and continued to stand quietly.
“Did you actually pay one hundred thousand mirs to get me back?” the princess asked curiously.
“Yes,” he replied. “I’m glad you are back.”
She smiled broadly at him. “Thomas, that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard you say.”
“It doesn’t mean you can call me Thomas.”
She smirked and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He placed his arms gently around her waist as he tried to avoid her wounded back.
Eve stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs of the guild. She was baffled and confused. She could not understand the princess’ pure acceptance of Thomas’ nature. She often thought of the princess as a doormat who let the prince walk over her, but she decided she was being unfair. The princess stood up to the prince, and he always listened to what she had to say and often relented to her whims. It was just that she accepted his demonic nature in a way that Eve never could. She still felt angry that Thomas had not tried to rescue Eleanor when she was first captured and that he was not even slightly disturbed by her disappearance.
She had known demons for a few years now, yet she only knew demons in everyday interactions when they were easy to get along with as long as you stuck to non-emotive topics. It was when things became emotive that you actually saw them for what they were and Eve could not help but despise it. It was not their fault, but she hated that cold and unfeeling aspect of them—but the princess accepted it. She accepted that Thomas would not rescue her, that he would always put his decree first and that he would barely acknowledge her absence. It was a bonus for her that she had survived. She even thought that Thomas was sweet!
Eve stepped out into the garden and found herself being followed by Leliel and Barakel who had been sitting in the parlour playing a game of chess. Leliel appeared to notice her sombre mood and smiled sympathetically at her. Barakel stood unmoved at his side. Eve sighed. She was being unfair. This is what they were. They couldn’t very well change their nature. And perhaps what Thomas had said had been sweet. He was devoid of emotion, but despite that he had still told the princess that he wanted her with him and he had spent a lot of money to get her back.
I am just bitter. I am bitter because I have never been able to accept Calab. Because I have always fought his nature.
Perhaps Calab was better off without her. Perhaps she hindered his healing by making things so difficult for him. She had always expected him to behave like a human. She never truly accepted that he had grown accustomed to feeling and thinking a certain way for thousands of years and that had suddenly changed.
He had not been in love since he was an angel. He had spent thousands of years without his emotions and was suddenly bombarded with them.
He is a child. He hasn’t developed emotionally, and I have never respected that. I was too hung up on being pissed off at the way he was treating me to help him.
She swallowed to prevent her tears.
Jacob entered the garden. “Return to your game. I will stay with Her Majesty,” he told the guards. They nodded and returned to the parlour. Jacob strolled towards her. “The woodlands are quite beautiful if you fancy a walk.”
She nodded, and they walked through the orchard towards the woodlands. Jacob smiled at her. “You can speak to me, Your Majesty,” he said. “I consider myself to be a friend as well as a member of your quo
rum.”
“Thank you, Jacob,” she replied, though she said nothing more.
“You won’t talk to me?”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Are you still angry with me because of the threats I made towards you?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. “No. I was out of control. I deserved a telling off.”
“You think it is inappropriate to talk to me because you are my queen? You became close to Lord Thalia, though you no longer confide in her because she breaks your confidence and reveals everything you say to Calab and Mikæl. You have made a decision to detach yourself and not become friends with other members of your quorum, and you will not speak to me. Besides, I am an angel. I couldn’t possibly understand.”
Eve blushed. “It’s nothing personal, Jacob,” she said softly. “I am just trying to be a good queen. It is not good for me to let my mask slip all the time.”
“I have seen your mask slip many times and I have seen you at your most pained and most vulnerable and I do not respect you any less for that. You have become very withdrawn, and I know you are lonely. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders, and you share the burden with no one. Calab is unable to help you, and you have issues with Thalia beyond her inability to keep a conversation to herself. Do you ever speak with Lord Tharazan or Queene Orrla anymore?”
She shook her head slowly. “I try to keep everything professional.”
“And whilst that is admirable and necessary, it does little to take care of you,” he said gently. “You also risk your reputation by keeping everything to yourself as you become so burdened that your frustrations manifest in anger. You need to find a more positive outlet.”
“I train my magic, that helps, and I’ve tried meditation, but I just can’t do it.”
“You need to talk to someone, Your Majesty. Share your fears and concerns. You do not have to speak to me, but I am always here for you. I shall keep your confidence and whatever you say will not affect my opinion of you. However, if you do not wish to talk to me, then talk to your guards. You don’t have to worry about them seeing your mask slip—they have witnessed every extreme of emotion you have shown since you became queen. You spoke to Malachi many times before he died, why not talk to the others?”
“There are just so many things, Jacob, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Start with whatever was on your mind when I entered the garden.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. She took a seat on a mossy patch in the clearing they had entered. Jacob sat beside her. “Calab has written to me to tell me that he wishes to withdraw his offer of marriage and end our relationship,” she said as calmly as she could manage. “I received the letter the day we saw the king for the first time, which probably did not help my frame of mind. He said he felt relieved that he had made the decision. I tried to call him, but he wouldn’t answer, and he hasn’t replied to the letter I sent.
“I don’t know what to make of it. It seemed rushed and impulsive, but if that were the case then he would try and rectify things, wouldn’t he? I’ve accepted that he must mean it now. I wasn’t enjoying our relationship, though I didn’tt want it to end—I was always hopeful that he would adjust and things would improve.”
“Calab is very stubborn, Your Majesty. Even if he did not mean what he said, he might struggle to tell you that.”
“Before you came into the garden, I was thinking that he is like a child in many ways. He has these emotions that he can deal with okay when things are simple, but when things become more complex he becomes overwhelmed. I think he is like a child who hasn’t developed emotionally.”
“You are most likely correct.”
“Sometimes he seems fine, though. He seemed better at first, and he is getting worse as time goes on.”
“Is it that he is getting worse or is it that he is learning more about himself?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I have noticed a change in Calab since he began to read—it was not as marked a change until he met you, of course, but there was a change all the same. Calab’s reading has had a profound effect upon him—upon his attitude, his ideas, and his whole personality. His books are his most precious possessions. It is my belief that when he began to notice the change in his emotions and developed feelings for you, he sought guidance from his books. I believe he has tried to act the way he believes a person in love should act and has tried to behave as he perceives one should behave when they are involved with a lady—perhaps emulating a favoured character. It isn’t an act he can keep up forever—it is unravelling and leaving him with himself. It is not just about healing from the past, it is about learning who he is now and dealing with that.”
“How can I help him?”
“I know it is cliché, but he needs time. He needs to learn, to grow and develop as a person. In that time, he may change, and his perspective may change. He may also realise that the things he once desired above all others are no longer the things he wants.”
“You mean me?”
“Perhaps. You need to be prepared and be realistic.”
She sighed. “Perhaps it is for the best. It seems I’ll have to marry the king’s son anyway—I can’t even remember his name.”
“It’s Henry. You could delay that, and we could try to find an alternative solution.”
“Tell them I want a grand wedding that will take years of planning?”
Jacob smiled. “Something like that. It isn’t just Calab that is bothering you. There is more.”
“The stress of everything that has happened here is getting to me. The way I have treated Thomas and…the way I’ve acted. I just feel I’m a poor choice of queen. It is my actions in Arkazatinia that bother me most of all.”
“The quorum?” Jacob asked.
Eve swallowed nervously. “Yes,” she replied. “I think I made a mistake when I made the changes I did. I have made things worse. I should have left it as it was and just implemented the small changes to the agenda that had been asked for. Instead, I went over the top trying to make the country more democratic and give as many people as possible say in how things are done, and I have created a chaotic free-for-all with no clear leader. I pictured an ideal where everyone’s opinion would count, and everyone would have an equal vote and instead it is those who can spin things in their favour who are listened to, and people vote in their favour. I realised this was starting to happen and I made it worse still by relenting to give the civilian members equal votes as well. It seemed like the right thing to do, but I don’t think it was.
“I sit in the quorum pretending I am the queen, but I am not. I have no power because I have given it all away and my every opinion is outvoted by everyone else. I have implemented healthcare and education, but I could only get that agreed because someone is making money from it. Why is that? It should not be a business. We should all be investing in our country without expecting a return. I was appointed as queen of Arkazatinia so that I could serve its people in the way that I think it right, but I gave little thought to how I would rule and I have not sought advice when I should have done. I have thrown it away, and there is nothing I can do about it.
“I think I have done all this because I was afraid. I was scared that everyone would hate me and they would have me executed. I did this to try to make people like me. I regret it, Jacob. I should have listened to Calab. I should have listened to the Impærielas. They had held the Crown for thousands of years—they knew what they were doing. Instead, I was arrogant and stupid, and I thought I knew best. I discounted the Impærielas because they had made a mistake with the Imperator—one mistake in thousands of years of rule and I thought I could do better than them. I’m such an idiot.”
Eve dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. “It isn’t all lost, Your Majesty. You can change things back.”
“How? Any power I had, I have g
iven away.”
“You are the queen—you can take it back. You could inform everyone that the changes are not working and they will be withdrawn. I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone.”
“They would lose all respect for me if I did that.”
“They are losing respect for you anyway, Your Majesty. The novelty of you defeating the Alchitch and taking this great power is wearing off and the routine of arguing each month is becoming frustrating for all involved.”
“Wow. Don’t pull back the punches, Jacob.”
“You would rather I skirted around the truth?”
She smiled. “No. It’s just your bluntness always surprises me.”
“It’s not a very angelic trait, I’ll admit, but after thousands of years in court, it has become necessary.”
“I can’t believe I am only asking this now, but what was the court like before? How was it conducted?”
“It was much more formal than it is now. We had to stand when the king entered the room and remain standing until told to sit, we would only speak when given permission. The king had an agenda of issues, and he would ask our opinions on each of them. He would give each member a turn to speak, no one spoke over anyone else, and everyone waited their turn. We had a short window to give our opinion—which is probably where my bluntness came from—there was no time to give elaborate explanations, and we had to get to the point if we wanted to be heard or the king would move to the next person. He would listen to everything that had been said, sometimes he would ask us to clarify points or find more information and then he would make a decision. He would then give his orders, and we would follow them.”
“What is your opinion on that system?”
“Well, I was accustomed to it after many a year. We knew nothing different until the Imperator came along. Then you came and offered us not only more of a say but a vote as well. I was as blinded by the ideals of democracy as you, Your Majesty. Despite what I have seen in Lycea time and time again. I thought that maybe we would be different. I do understand your frustrations, and I have felt them. You have an obligation as the Crown to address it, and we have an obligation—regardless of what your policy says—to fix it and to follow your command.”
