The Queen of Creisal
“Your Majesty, I understand you are anxious after your men, but I need you to stand still, or I might sew you to this dress accidentally,” Talia chided.
I let out a heavy sigh and stopped my fidgeting. “I’m sorry, Talia. It’s past noon, and they should have been back by now.”
“Have faith in your men. They would have sent word back if there was a problem,” she said as she walked around me, looking critically at the dress.
“You’re right. Paxton might be impulsive and rash, but Gavin will keep his head, smoothing out any issues that might have happened. Plus, if the queen did decide to come with, it being such short notice, it wouldn’t be that easy to prepare overnight,” I reasoned.
“See, nothing to worry about. Now to more important matters… are you ready to see the dress?” Talia asked, giving me a bright smile.
Through all of our fittings, I was never allowed to see the dress on or what the whole thing looked like put together.
She would only bring the parts that needed to be adjusted.
Today was the first time all of it had been put on my body at one time.
“Yes, please. I can’t say that I miss wearing gowns, but this isn’t just a gown. ”
“No, this is far more than your average pretty piece of fabric,” Talia agreed as she pulled the sheets off the wall of mirrors in the dressing room.
I gasped as I caught my first glimpse of what she’d created. Everything was black and dark pewter that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight like dragon scales. The corset’s under-color was pewter with black edging and designed with scattered leather scales that had been cut out and sewn on.
A full skirt flowed from the bottom of the corset to the floor and rippled out into a long train behind me with more scales and crystals sewn into a stunning pattern that seemed to move like a living thing.
Fitted leather sleeves went up my arms and were held in place by a beaded collar around my throat with a black lace train flowing from the back of it.
Both the train and the skirt I was wearing could be removed once the formal part of the coronation was complete, leaving me in soft black leather pants with a scale pattern etched into them to match the sleeves.
This is the kind of dress I imagined a warrior queen would wear, ready to jump into battle at any moment if the need arose.
“Talia,” I whispered in awe of what she’d created. “Never in my life did I think I would have the honor of wearing such a dress.”
“The honor is mine, Your Majesty. This has been a dream of mine to create one day, and you are the perfect person to wear it.”
A knock came at the dressing room door, and May stuck her head in then caught sight of me and entered the room. “There’s no way to doubt you’re a queen, looking like that. You’re gonna make Queen Catharine jealous when she sees you.”
I whirled to face her. “They’re back?”
“Almost. Paxton flew ahead and gave us the alert that Gavin was coming with the Creisal royalty and their entourage,” May explained. “Might be best for you to change into something a little simpler to greet them when they arrive.”
“Is the drawbridge finished?” I asked as Talia helped me remove everything.
“Was done first thing this morning, and before you ask, Helena and Marta have been working all morning preparing for them to arrive. Seems they had little doubt that your invitation would be ignored. Cassarah, breathe… everything is going according to plan, and the people you put in place are doing their jobs so you can do yours,” May pointed out, giving me a knowing look through the mirror.
“Can you send Pax in?”
“Paxton!” May bellowed, startling me. Talia accidentally stabbed me with a pin.
“Your Majesty, I’m so sorry,” Talia blurted as she saw a pinprick of blood well up.
I grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at me. “It’s all right. These things happen. Let’s just get the things with pins off first, hmm?”
She swiftly removed the rest of the gown, leaving me in just the corset and pants as Paxton entered. “You hollered for me, oh scary one?”
May just sniffed at him and left the room, giving me a nod before she left, letting me know she would be right outside. Paxton’s face broke into a smile as he whistled his approval of my attire. “Spitfire, if I weren’t already at your mercy, I would beg to be right here on my knees.”
Talia gasped at his crude words, but I just rolled my eyes. “Really, Pax, that’s all you’ve got? No,” I said, holding out my hand to stop him from saying whatever was going to come next. “Tell me what happened in Creisal.”
“We made it there in good time, and Queen Catharine was happy to see the little prince right away, wanting news about what happened in Royal City. Gavin played nice with his aunt, telling her all she wanted to know but not spilling too much important information. The prince has skill, I’ll give him that…
silver tongue for sure, setting everyone at ease within seconds,” Paxton shared as he sat on the chaise lounge, kicking his feet up.
“They fed us a lovely dinner which I almost didn’t get to enjoy since she thought I was Gavin’s manservant, but we got that cleared up pretty quickly.
Then after dinner and drinks, the king and queen agreed to join us, happy to attend your coronation.
It’s not every day that a mysterious woman gets crowned queen to rule over an even more mysterious group of people like those only whispered about here in Sheca. ”
I could tell by his tone and how flippant he was that something happened, but he wasn’t willing to tell me with Talia in the room.
Catching her eye, I nodded toward the door with a smile to which she bobbed a curtsy and slipped out of the room, leaving us alone.
Taking a seat at the end of the chaise, I looked Pax in the eye as I spoke.
“Now tell me what really happened and why you’re so pissed off. ”
“Nothing happened per se, but if you thought Queen Mary had her nose up in the air, then you better get ready for her sister. I don’t know what it is about them that makes them think they don’t shit in a bucket like the rest of us… you know what I’m saying?”
I couldn’t help but grin at his example. “Hmm, I figured it would have at least been a porcelain jar instead of a standard bucket like the rest of us simple folk.”
“Cute, spitfire, real cute,” Paxton grumbled as he sat up and pulled his legs off the couch.
“When Queen Catharine finds out about her sister and what happened to her brother-in-law, shit is going to hit the ceiling. I wouldn’t be surprised if, instead of an ally, you end up with another person conspiring to kill you in your sleep.
We can’t let them stay here with you. I don’t trust her to be anywhere within ten feet of you if I’m being honest.”
Placing my hand over his, I intertwined our fingers as I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“I love that you want to keep me safe no matter what it takes, but this is part of being queen. My life will always be in danger, and even after the Lost King is killed, there will be someone new to take his place. There isn’t a way to rid the world of evil people, but we can make sure they know if they come after us, we will end them.
Right now, Queen Catharine hasn’t done anything to us, but I promise you I won’t let her disrespect you, our people, or me in my home on our land.
If she can’t play nice, then I will gladly send her home tied to a dragon if I have to. ”
Leaning into me, Paxton slipped an arm over my shoulders, hugging me to his side as he kissed the top of my head. “You have no clue how incredible of a woman you are, do you?”
“I am who I am and who I was always meant to be. As for incredible, that only happened because of you guys being in my life, pushing me to be more than I could have ever dreamed for myself,” I answered, snuggling into his hold.
“Can I trust you not to stab her or her people until I tell you it’s all right? ”
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose so.”
“When will Gavin and the others be back?”
“Left to let you know what was going on and to send back some dragons so we could get them here on time. That’s the one downfall of our location… there isn’t really a road to travel in and out of here,” he pointed out.
“Are we sure that’s a downfall? If the rest of the world is what I remember it to be, then I think I’m okay being hard to get to,” I mused out loud as I looked up at Paxton.
He grinned and pressed a kiss to my lips. “There truly couldn’t be a more perfect woman than you. As much as I hate to leave you, I need to lead the dragons to the rondeau with our guests. We thought getting them as close to the border as we could would be faster so the flight time was less.”
“Go on, get out of here so we can show this snooty royal what a real queen should act like,” I said as I stood and pulled him up with me. “I’ve got to get things ready here, and you can’t keep stalling. Coronation is only a day away.”
“As my queen commands,” Paxton answered with a dramatic bow.
“Oh, and send Talia back in, please,” I called after him, which he acknowledged with a wave.
It was dinner time when Gavin returned with his aunt and uncle, but we were ready for them with all the pomp and circumstance they would be used to. From what Paxton told me, I felt it was best to set the tone and greet them in the throne room rather than escorting them to a private sitting room.
Seated on the throne under my guardians’ watchful eyes dressed to impress, I sipped on the glass of wine I held, needing to give myself something to do as I waited, trying to appear calm.
I wasn’t nervous—I just despised having to deal with all the unnecessary theatrics, but it was what was expected of me.
Once tomorrow was over and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that I was queen, then I would start changing things.
“Your Majesty, may I present King Thomas and Queen Catharine of Creisal, accompanied by their children, Prince Charles and Princess Amelia,” the herald called as the massive doors to the throne room opened, revealing the king and queen.
Since Sheca didn’t have a class system, those who wished to see the greeting were welcome to attend.
People gawked and talked among themselves as King Thomas escorted his wife down the aisle to the throne, their children behind them.
Catharine looked incredibly similar to her sister, making it impossible for people not to know they were related.
King Thomas was a slight man but made up for his stature with a confident air about him, making me notice for the first time that King Edward hadn’t had that—Queen Mary did.
Setting my glass aside, I stood and descended the stairs to meet them at the bottom, putting me on equal footing as we greeted each other. “Welcome to my humble kingdom. It is an honor to have you accept my invitation on such short notice.”
“I must admit I wasn’t sure what the right choice was in this matter, but our dear nephew is quite persuasive,” Queen Catharine said, her face softening as she glanced at Gavin who had come to stand behind me.
“It surprised us that he would give up his throne to become your consort, but I suppose love makes us do foolish things,” she tacked on, pursing her lips.
Lifting a hand, I waited for Gavin to place his in mine before I drew him to be at my side and gazed up at him.
“Love makes honest people out of us, and I am the one who is blessed to have such a man by my side. It means a lot to us, having your support. Many would be blinded by the fact that our arrangement isn’t normal by society’s standards. ”
“You mean the fact that you have seven lovers.” She sniffed. “Lovers come and go, but consorts are chosen under the eyes of the gods and hold a special place in court.”
“That’s exactly right. I’m delighted to see you still honor the gods after many have forsaken them.
In fact, all seven of my consorts have been blessed and marked by the gods themselves, although they are good lovers too…
” I shared with a smirk. “Come, you must be famished after your travels. Dinner is prepared and ready for us. If you’ll follow me.
” Turning, I tucked Gavin’s arm through mine, and as we passed Abbott, I did the same with him as well.
I needed to prove my point that all my men were on equal footing in their station and my feelings for them, no matter what remarks a bitchy queen had to say.
Dinner was certainly going to be an adventure, that’s for sure.