by Asia Marquis
“Well, at least you don't have a horrid old man leering over you.” Remiel shivered, wrapping her arms around her athletic waist. She was a tomboy for as long as she could be without being shamed for it. Helina always thought her ability with the sword was admirable, but her parents wanted her to join The High Court one day, which meant a proper schooling and wearing dresses. While Helina and Anais were able to run around in jeans, Remiel was constantly reminded to be ladylike.
“Is he still bothering you? Doesn't he know that High Court members must be virgins? You can't be a priestess if you've been defiled, as ridiculous as it is to talk about sex that way.” Helina frowned. Though there wasn't more than a handful of Christians in Mindren, that didn't stop the emphasis on purity. At least in her country, it was equally important for men and women.
Remiel nodded, rubbing her fingers. They were bandaged from her many errors while learning how to cross stitch. “Unfortunately, he is convinced he can get my parents to change their mind, and almost has them convinced that's my goal! They screamed at me last night to get him to leave them alone. Oh, Helina, can't you do something about it?”
She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. She couldn't let her friend be harassed by an unwanted suitor. “I'll talk to Anoud about Sir Aleister. I'm sure he will convince him to leave you alone.” Helina reached over the table and patted Remiel's hand.
“Well, if you're doing favors-”
“Not even I could force a man to marry you, Anais!” Helina laughed. “You'll have to convince one on your own!”
“Hmph,” Anais pouted, then smiled again, leaning in. “Do you think I could get away with an affair with Edward?”
Helina blushed, but looked away before her friends could notice. She looked outside, watching the rose petals blow in the wind. They would bloom even in winter, thanks to the environment spells around the castle grounds, but she had to admit the unseasonable cold was beginning to worry her.
“And anyway,” Remiel said, continuing a chastisement that Helina missed most of. “If you have an affair, your future husband might not like it. So I don't think it's a good idea.”
“Well, I may just do it anyway. A current lover is much more fun than hoping for a future husband.”
Remiel sighed, and Helina chuckled. “You'll do whatever you think you want to do, Anais. We expect nothing less of you. Perhaps you should ask him for a dance during the summer harvest ball tonight?”
“I just might! What a wonderful idea, Helina, thank you.” Anais stuck out her tongue, and Helina returned the gesture.
A sudden crash forces all three women to turn their head to the sound. “Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry, miss!” A maid was stooping on the ground, sweeping dropped cookies and shards of ceramic into her apron with her bare hands.
Helina was about to tell her it was okay when the woman started to scream in horror. She looked at her hands, raising them to her face.
The maid's skin was sizzling, rotting away from her flesh and turning a disgusting green color. Helina stood, horrified by what she was seeing. Other servants rushed in, but kept their distance from the woman. There was an unsure murmur across the crowd that watched as the woman screamed. Their reaction, their inaction, infuriated the princess.
Helina rushed to the maid's side while her friends protested. She held her hand up and tried to heal her, pumping as much power as she could into the spell, but nothing would happen. Her skin continued to bubble and fester until the maid collapses onto the floor, taking her last breath right before the princess's eyes.
Remiel was the first to scream. Many others screamed after her. Helina remained silent, staring wide eyed at the dead maid, wondering what had just happened. Had someone just tried to attack her, to assassinate her? How could this happen in her own home?
Anoud finally runs into the room, his purple suit half closed after his bath. “Helina! Are you alright?”
“I'm the one still standing,” she croaked out, pointing at the woman. Anoud looked at her, circling the maid.
“What happened?”
Helina shrugged, and then one of the cooks stepped forward and told him what happened. Anoud's face struggled with worry and fury. “How could this happen? Who let this happen?”
The servants all remained silent.
“You all have until midnight to find the traitor that allowed this to happen. If you don't, you will all be whipped and fired, your families ruined for your hand in this treasonous act.”
The fop stared at all of them, his anger ridiculous on his feminine features. Then he clapped his hands. “Well? Get back to work! And someone call in a priestess to help decontaminate the maid. I don't need any more of you dying.”
Anoud turned back to Helina and pulled her into a tight hug. “My dear child...”
“I'm not a child,” she protested.
“You will always be a child to me. I raised you from when you were only a toddler. I can see you as nothing else. But you need to learn that a maid is replaceable. The future queen is not. Your safety comes first.”
Helina shook her head, but Anoud silenced her with another tight hug.
“I'm sure her family didn't think she could be replaced,” Helina said, quietly.
Anoud frowned, holding her at arms length. “I wouldn't be so quick to give her your sympathy. She very well could be the person who tried to poison you. But your softhearted nature will make you a compassionate queen.” He twisted to look back at Remiel and Anais, both still shocked from having seen a woman die. “Ladies, could you take Helina elsewhere? She shouldn't be surrounded by death. I need to find out who tried to poison her, and how it happened.”
Remiel and Anais both took Helina's hands and pulled her away.
“And Helina?”
She turned back to Anoud, who smiled a reassuring smile.
“We'll be hiring you a taster. Don't worry. They won't be able to poison you. For tonight, for the ball, avoid any food or drink that I do not personally give to you.”
Being ushered out of the room and into the rose garden, Helina felt lost. Her friends sat in the sun, at a table made of glass and etched with beautiful runes. She could see her name, and Terra's name as well. The table had been a gift from a duke from Riftedge, an American witch colony.
“I didn't even know her name,” Helina said. She put her head into her hands, breathing in deeply. “I didn't know my maid's name.”
Neither Anais nor Remiel said anything. Giving each other a look of worry, they set back in, talking about who they would want to marry, what kind of man they wish would court them. They knew better than to attempt to cheer Helina up.
The princess was easy to throw into black moods. Anoud told her this was something her mother did, as well. When in such a sorry state, any attempt to cheer her would lead only to anger. She once gave Anais a black eye, though her cousin quickly forgave her.
Helina listened as she tried to calm down. The scent of the roses did much to aid this. After a while, Helina stood. “I am going to take a short walk through the roses, to collect myself before the ball. I'll be right back.”
Anais nodded and Remiel continued to giggle, thinking about handsome men from faraway countries. Helina stood, wiping her clammy hands against her slacks.
The breeze through the garden carried with it many bees. They were spelled to be gentle, but could also attack if given the order by The Queen's Guard. One landed on her shoulder, and she smiled at it. “Hello, friend.”
There was a sound from far away, at the front of the manor. Helina plodded over to the corner of her home and peeked around it, seeing a purple rift in reality tear open. A portal! Only the strongest witches could create one anymore. She was barely able to do so, though her teacher promised that she would become better at it.
Watching, she saw a company of men exit. They wore strange, dark clothing, and their skin was very pale. Perhaps they were witches from the north? She'd heard that they were extremely handsome, and these men did not g
o against that rumor.
One man in particular caught her gaze. Even from far away, he took her breath straight from her lungs. His hair was light blond, light as the sunshine itself. The tallest of the group, he led them into her manor quickly.
Maybe they were soldiers? Anoud wasn't past calling in bodyguards for her. He'd done it after a traitor's son had tried to stab her as a teenager, and she wasn't allowed to dismiss them until she came of age.
Her eyes followed the handsome stranger until they no longer could, their party disappearing inside. She could hear the thump-thumping in her chest.
She wondered if he might be someone with a marriage proposal. A lost royal from a faraway land, come to help Helina claim her throne and rule her country. Her heart danced in her chest when she considered this.
If the man was that handsome, she thought she might not only have to marry for her country. She thought she might be capable of marrying for love.
“Or at least lust,” she whispered, giggling before she turned back to her friends, who were watching her.
“See anything interesting?” Anais asked. It was true that Anais was her best friend, though her tongue was often sharp and her jokes extremely unfunny, offensively so. Helina thought she needed someone like that, someone to keep her in reality even as Anais kept her head in the clouds.
“A group of men, who all came through a portal.”
Remiel gasped. “Do you think he might be here to ask for your hand?”
Helina grinned, then shrugged. Her face was hot. “Maybe. They were all very handsome. I hope not all of them intend to ask, I would hate to have to choose.” She knew who she would choose, though. The tall, handsome stranger with the light hair. Only thinking of him made her whole body feel weak.
The one time when corsets truly were not out of style was for balls, especially balls for religious holidays. Every woman dressed in their finest clothes and made their waists as small as possible, especially if they were looking for a husband.
“This corset is so beautiful. Did Bella make it?” Anais asked as she held the ribbon of the corset tight for Remiel to tie. Bella was the best corsetière in all of Mindren, and maybe the whole world. Her creations were coveted by all, especially since she made them so infrequently. Corsetry was only her second job. Her first was caring for a whole stable of royal horses.
“Yes, she sent it to me for my last birthday. This is my first time wearing it.” Helina paused, taking a breath and looking at herself in the mirror. “I think it could go a tad tighter.”
“You're already a fine catch, Helina. I don't think we need to suffocate you,” Remiel chastised. She looked at Anais, who laughed and rolled her eyes. Remiel was a worrier, something of a mother for her group of friends. It helped that in her studies to become a member of The High Court, she was required to take nursing classes every single year.
Helina even asked if Remiel would be her midwife when she finally got married and fell pregnant. Remiel blushed at the thought, but she of course agreed.
“Well, if the handsome man from the portal is here to ask for my hand, I'll be sure to find out if he has any available brothers or friends for you, Anais.” Helina gave her friend a wicked smile, which faltered when the blue haired girl tugged on her corset strings.
“Don't tease me!”
They both laughed as the girls helped Helina dress. Her gown was pink satin, blushing like a secret admirer's rose. She wore a necklace her mother once wore, a black stone on a platinum chain, and dotted her lips with a lipstick spelled to make her lips more supple and pouty.
“You should wear the matching ring, too,” Remiel said, gazing at the onyx ring in her jewelry box. “The one she wore when she met King Orussus.”
Helina thought on it for a moment. Would her mother approve? Would Queen Anai think it romantic if her daughter met the love of her life wearing the same ring she did when she met hers? “Maybe I should,” Helina considered.
Remiel held it out to her, her small hand trembling. She treated Queen Anai's trinkets with such reverence. There was talk around the kingdom of pronouncing the missing queen a goddess. Remiel agreed with the movement, but couldn't petition with them without risking her future.
Taking the ring from her friend, Helina slipped it onto her right hand ring finger. It fit perfectly, though of course it was spelled to fit perfectly. She held it to the light. It looked lovely on her hand.
Would Anoud approve?
“I hope I finally get my marriage proposal,” Helina whispered as she stared at the ring.
“To be fair, you've turned down a fair number.” Anais said, braiding Helina's hair.
Shaking her head, Helina shot Anais a look. “You know that I have to marry for my country. It has to be at the right time, to the right person. Any old duke would never do. I need someone strong, and who cares for our people as much as I do. Someone willing to lead our armies while I lead those who stay home.”
“But what about love?” Remiel asked.
“A queen cannot marry for love.”
Anais snorted. “Your mom loved King Orussus.”
Nodding, Helina sighed. “But she was rare, wasn't she? The previous queen, before Queen Anai, was murdered by her husband. The one before that was the fourth of five wives, the fourth of seven mistresses. They were good leaders, but their marriage was not one of love.”
Remiel and Anais looked at one another, a look of worry and confusion. “Well, I think you'll be the exception, too,” said Remiel. “I think you'll find love.”
When she was dressed and her hair done up, Remiel and Anais dismissed themselves to finish dressing themselves. Finally, Helina had a few minutes alone.
Poking her head out of her bedroom's door, she looked around for guards or, even worse, Anoud. The hallway was clear. Moving quickly, she dashed across the tiles without her shoes on, down the servant's staircase and into the kitchen.
There, alone, was the one face she'd wanted to see all night. He was the only cook on duty in the manor's kitchen, since most servants had been sent to the castle to prepare for the ball.
“Edward,” Helina whispered. The man, tall and with a long, handsome face, looked up from the bread he was kneading. His garnet colored hair was caked with flour, which also found its way to his nose and cheek.
“Helina!” Edward said, setting the dough into the freezer and wiping his hands on his apron. “It's so good to see you, especially since I could be fired tomorrow.”
Frowning, Helina touched his face tenderly, wiping away some of the flour. “Did Anoud threaten you, too?”
“All of us, actually. I hope the traitor is found before he does anything drastic.” His face went grim, his eyes focused only on hers. Looking down at her, Edward seemed as though he was holding back many emotions.
Touching his lips to hers, his shoulders relaxed and she pulled him closer to her. Edward holds her close. “I was so worried when I heard.”
“Anoud is hiring a taster, soon.” She hated the idea. She didn't want others to be in danger, just to protect herself.
They kissed again, and then again. Edward's hands grabbed her waist, sitting her on the kitchen counter so that she could reach his face without standing on her toes. His hands cupped her breasts.
“And by the way, you need to stop flirting with Anais. She's thinking of trying to start up an affair with you!”
Edward barked out a surprised laugh, and then pecked her lips. “Well, do you think I should have an affair with her?”
Pouting, Helina crossed her arms. “I most certainly do not.”
“Well, it isn't as if you can marry me. You've told me as much many times.”
“That's true,” she said, kissing his neck. “But every queen can have one extramarital lover. I want you to be mine. There are perks, you know.” She could feel his manhood growing within his pants as her lips brushed his skin. “Aside from being between my legs, that is.”
Grabbing him, she stroked his cock through his pa
nts. He let out a deep, guttural sound. Like a gulp and a growl all at once. He kissed her fiercely, powerfully.
“Well, if there are perks, I just might take you up on your offer.” He spread her legs wide, pushing up her skirts to reveal her flesh. Stroking her, he felt her growing hotter. Wetter. He licked his lips.
Giggling, she held her skirts even higher. “You'll have to prove to me how bad you want it, then.”
Edward pushed her legs wider, his broad shoulders stretching as he did so. Dipping beneath the fabric of her dress, he found she was wearing nothing beneath it. No shoes. No stockings.
No panties.
He breathed hard, his stomach flipping. His cock was struggling against his pants, painfully so. He adjusted himself while kissing her soft thighs, his tongue flicking out now and then for a lick. She tasted like vanilla.
Spreading her labia, he tongued her pink, soft inner lips. With a squeal, Helina lifted her right leg onto his shoulder, opening herself wider for him.
His lips gripped her stiff nub, manipulating it in the most delicious ways. The man knew how to please a woman, and he loved pleasuring Helina. He slipped a finger inside of her, which elicited another squeal of pleasure.
Moving the finger in and out of her, he stroked her thigh with his other hand, enjoying the soft feel of her skin. She cooed and sighed below him, her clit twitching now and then when he hit just the right spot with his finger. He toyed with her nub with his tongue, pressing it hard and then soft.
When his erection was too much to bear, he stood and scooted Helina closer to him on the counter. She giggled and wrapped her arms and legs around him, which made it harder for him to undo his trousers.
They kissed, their tongues flicking in and out of each other's mouth. Edward loved the taste of her, how she tasted like honey. Caressing her breasts once his erection was free, he pulled her against him so that his cock pressed right against her slit.
