Chapter 2 #2
“Ken…” Tanell sighed and looked at Serra again.
My willowy lady frowned softly and nodded at the queen as if she was giving her silent permission or something.
“I must point out,” Tanell hedged. “As much as I disagree with it, the other royals may take issue with Yori–”
“And me,” Serra interrupted.
“Yes,” Tanell agreed. “With Yori and Serra being present at the meeting.”
“What? Why?” I looked between them in confusion.
“We aren’t queens.” Serra shrugged as if it were an obvious statement.
My mouth dropped open in shock. Then it closed, and my teeth ground together in outrage. I forced myself to take a steadying breath.
I’d been bothered by the fact that only one of my women had the appropriate title of queen, and I’d been toying with the idea of fixing that. Now the decision was made in an instant, and I smiled at my uncrowned beauties.
“We’re just going to have to fix that,” I said. “Aren’t we?”
Serra’s big brown eyes started to shine with unexpected tears, and Yori’s jaw practically hit the ground before she grinned wider than the Grand Canyon. She jumped into the air and hooted loudly.
“I’m gonna be a queen!” Yori shouted. “Really, Ken? Truly? Do you mean it?”
“Of course I do,” I laughed.
“Ken…” Serra whispered. “Are you certain?”
“There’s no precedent for such a thing,” Tanell said.
“Actually,” Carissa rejoined the conversation. “One of Basstrum’s kings, about four centuries ago, had two queens.”
“Really?” Tanell asked with interest.
“Mmhm.” Carissa nodded. “He was so deeply in love with them both. It’s said he couldn’t bear the thought of there being an imbalance between them because they both held his whole heart.”
“How romantic,” Serra murmured with a soft smile.
“That’s so cute,” Yori giggled.
“Besides,” I said with a cocky grin. “Who gives a fuck about precedent? I’m king, and I say you’ll both be queens. Then they can’t say shit about if it’s appropriate for you to be there or not.”
“Thank you!” Yori grabbed both sides of my face and pulled me down for a fierce kiss.
“It’s what’s right,” I chuckled when she released me.
“I don’t know what to say,” Serra said.
A single round tear slipped from the corner of her eye and slid two inches down her cheek before she daintily wiped it away with one finger.
“Why does it make you cry?” I asked as I put a soft hand on her lower back. “You want to be queen, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Serra whispered. “I just…”
She took a deep breath and wiped away another tear.
“I never thought it would be my fate,” she said. “I was destined to be a part of the royal harem. I knew my place from the cradle. There was never anything more suggested for me. I never dared to hope for more than this.”
My heart ached to think of how that must have shaped Serra in her youth. She’d been raised to be little more than a mistress to a king who’d been a piece of shit without any sense of morals.
It made me even more determined to crown her as my queen.
“You’ll be a wonderful queen,” Carissa said with genuine affection in her green eyes. “Both of you.”
“I’ll be a queen unlike anything this nation has ever seen,” Yori laughed.
I wasn’t sure if she meant it with determination or as a threat, but I thought it was hilarious.
After that, the five of us headed inside for the evening. The afternoon was slipping away, and we were all hungry from the day’s events. Tanell, Serra, Yori, and I headed to our private apartments, and Carissa walked with us most of the way.
The Basstrum noblewoman was staying in the castle’s guest suites that were located in the wing right beside the royal suites. She walked with us until the last turn, where the corridor split between the two sections of the castle.
My ladies and I enjoyed a quiet and relaxed dinner that evening before we climbed into my massive bed together.
The next several days rushed past in a blur of planning, organizing, lessons about the other royals, and my daily duties as king.
The most time-consuming daily duty had always been meeting with my subjects in a sort of public forum where they could come to me with requests, concerns, or conflicts.
It was a seriously draining event that normally took a minimum of four hours, but I was grateful to have Tanell at my side for almost every one.
I’d been considering ways to reduce the toll on my time while still making sure my people and their problems were heard. So many of the issues people brought to me didn’t even need my involvement, and I was able to immediately delegate their concerns to one of my Masters.
I toyed with the idea of creating a panel of people to vet the issues for me. I thought of it kind of the way American Idol had low-level, non-celebrity judges review all the potential contestants before they ever got to sing in front of Simon, Randy, and Paula.
The panel could sift out the easy-to-manage issues and direct people to the appropriate Masters without me needing to be involved, and the problems that did require me could be given more of my time because I wasn’t spending so much of it on the other things.
About a week before we were set to leave for the meeting of the continent’s royals, I pitched the idea to Tanell.
“So what do you think?” I asked.
“I think that’s brilliant, actually,” she said with an adoring look in her piercing blue eyes. “It would ensure each concern gets expedient attention. So many of them don’t need your direct involvement anyway.”
“Right?” I snorted. “Like, the things about property damage, those can go right to my Master of Indemnity. She knows way more about that kind of thing than I could ever hope to. There’s not much point in me being involved unless she sees something super crazy.”
“An excellent point,” Tanell smiled. “Who would you put on such a committee?”
My eyes widened as I took a deep breath and blew it out.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’d want people with patience and attention to detail. People who understand the way all of this works. Um…”
I looked at her with a hint of sudden panic because I hadn’t thought that far into the idea. In my mind, the panel had been faceless bodies in chairs.
“Got any suggestions?” I asked.
“I’m sure I can come up with some,” Tanell laughed lightly. “I believe Serra may have some helpful insights as well. May I speak with her about it?”
“Oh, yeah.” I nodded emphatically. “Of course. I think that’s a great plan.”
“We can have a sort of… interview process, as well,” Tanell said. “Where you can sit down with possible candidates and vet them before the panel is formed.”
“Good thinking,” I said. “Let’s do that, but no rush. I want to make sure this shit with the royals meeting is our top priority.”
“Not a problem,” Tanell said.
“How are things going as far as the setup for the meeting, by the way?” I asked.
“Very smoothly,” Tanell reported. “The team left early this morning. They should arrive in two days, and that will give them plenty of time to help secure the region and set up all the tents and other amenities.”
“Sweet,” I said. “Thank you for working so diligently on all of this. I don’t know what I would do without your help.”
“You’d manage.” Tanell smiled at me. “You’re very good at being king.”
“Thanks,” I laughed. “I still feel like I’m trying to juggle a hundred different balls and it’s just a matter of time before I drop them all.”
“Nonsense.” Tanell waved a hand to dismiss my words. “You have all the qualities of a good ruler. You care about your people in a way I never thought I’d get to bear witness to. You work so hard and want so deeply to better the lives of your subjects.”
My heart warmed at her praise and the love in her eyes.
“And you don’t shirk your responsibilities,” she added. “You’re so hands-on with everything. It matters to you that you’re informed on the issues your people face.”
Tanell reached over and took my hand.
“You care,” she murmured like it was the highest praise she could give.
Maybe it was.
The more I learned about the former king, Oberis, and how he’d run things, the more I realized he hadn’t cared about anyone but himself or what someone could do for him.
He’d provided Tanell with the finest clothes and jewels, but it was only to make sure she was a beautiful trophy he could have on his arm. He hadn’t cared about her well-being.
I pushed that train of thought away because it did me no good to get pissed off at an old man who’d been crushed to death by my mid-2000s sedan.
The next day, I was able to spend some one-on-one time with Carissa.
She’d offered to give me some of the same stealth training she’d given my lovers, and I was more than happy to accept.
We spent an entire afternoon in the same courtyard, and she taught me how to balance on the balls of my feet to minimize the sound of my footsteps.
She advised me about how the smallest things could give me away, like the rustle of clothing, the jangle of metal things like keys or coins, and even smells.
“You don’t seem to ever wear cologne,” Carissa observed, and she leaned slightly closer to me like she was deliberately smelling me to confirm. “That’s a big one. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spotted someone because they reek of unnatural perfumes.”
“I never much liked wearing cologne,” I said. “I’m glad that’s coming in handy.”
“Hair powder is another one,” Carissa said as she eyed my brown hair.
It was starting to get to the point when I’d normally go see my barber for a fresh crewcut, but all my ladies seemed to enjoy the new length, so I was considering letting it grow into a longer style much like what I’d seen on other men in Nalatria.
Apparently, a bit of floppy boy band hair was on trend here, and I would do a lot to keep Yori, Serra, and Tanell giving me googoo eyes whenever I raked my fingers through it.
“I never liked that stuff,” I told Carissa. “I touch my hair too much for it to be worth it.”
“I don’t think it would do you any good, anyway,” Carissa said. “You have great hair.”
“Thanks,” I said.