"Absolutely not!"

Naturally, Aiden would never agree to let her go to a random country to help a girl she had only spoken to once.

"What? Why not!?"

"Have you forgotten you are the Queen? Of your own kingdom? Have you been too bored? Don’t worry, I have work for you to do!"

Anne was crushed; her fun adventure came to an end just like that.

"It will literally only take two weeks! You know Priscilla is all alone; I’m worried for her!" Anne said with a twinkle in her eyes, unable to mask her obvious lie.

Aiden looked at her excitement and felt compelled to agree with her.

"Who’s going with you?" With a stack of legislative documents to review and approve in addition to progress reports and grievances, he asked while seated upright at his desk.

"Archie!"

He looked at her with a frown. "The gigolo?"

"Gigolo?"

He sighed. "You want to go with the elf? No."

“Buy why!?”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

 

"It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to go after all."

Anne sighed in defeat. She had wracked her brain all day about who she could go with. His point of contention was that he did not feel safe letting her go with an elf, especially after knowing that elf magic was especially potent for women. As she walked back to Aiden’s study, she considered just not going. Lilian had too much on her hands to just join her as well.

‘Oh well, there’s no point in being upset about it unless I can find another girl to go with…’

The shouts of a young girl came from the front of Aiden’s door. Two guards stood guarding the large oak, and Deborah stood with a pretty face and tears streaming down her face.

"Your Majesty, you have to let me in! That woman is not a good person!"

Anne rolled her eyes, watching the pathetic display of care and vulnerability. At least she wasn’t planning on stealing someone else’s husband.

The guards, seeing her approach the damning scene, straightened their backs to greet her.

"Your Majesty!" Their sudden shout made Deborah jump and turn around with fear in her eyes, only to come face-to-face with Anne, who was at least a head taller than her. She shrank back, grossly intimidated by the taller, stronger woman, who looked at her with an unamused expression.

"Open the door," she commanded, and immediately the doors to the study opened. That is what it meant to be the Queen of this palace.

"Follow me," she told Deborah before walking in, not caring about her response.

Aiden looked up, irritated. The shouting at the door was unpleasant, but seeing Anne, his face brightened. He coughed and said, "Did Lilian agree to go with you?"

"No, I found someone else."

"Oh? Who?"

"The girl behind me."

 

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Deborah adjusted her headdress as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her grey eyes looked gloomier than usual due to the weather. She wore a traditional, long white dress that reached all the way to her ankles. Her arms were covered by sleeves with gold cuff pins, keeping them together. Her hair was tied in a bun behind her headdress. She stood before a full-length mirror as her finger traced over the rosary attached to her waist. She turned to the side, admiring her figure as she took a deep breath. Steeling her nerves, she set off as her servants took her bags and loaded them into a modest but finely made carriage, which was then taken to join the royal procession.

Anne, by contrast, was dressed grandly in Celestian clothes. Open slits, sleeveless, and flowy. Bangles decorated her body, and her tiara was replaced with an elaborate string of jewels dangling from her wild hair. Deborah pursed her lips in dissatisfaction; Anne was surely the worst thing that could have happened to Veinna. A princess from a bloodthirsty nation of impure lineage, a woman like her becoming the mother of a nation was something she felt deeply uneasy about. Women like that were good at living lavishly and not much else. By comparison, Deborah had been carefully bred to rule a nation, and now she was blindsided and could only become a concubine if the King would agree to take a second woman.

She turned to look at Aiden. He was situated at the top of the castle, looking out from a balcony that overlooked the capital city. He was looking down at Anne, who leisurely sat on a horse, her feet covered with delicate sandals, wrapping up her calves. The party was in the courtyard, the gates were still tightly shut, and the Queen laughed wildly as she tried to steady the horse. She looked unsteady on the animal. Her legs were bare for the world to see, and she didn’t care; Deborah couldn’t help but feel odd at that moment, and to her, the Queen acted no differently from a common whore.

"Are you ready to set out?" Anne asked Deborah, who had been watching her for the past half hour.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she said politely, bowing her head a little and diverting her gaze.

"Alright, we will take the back gate; no one needs to know our route."

Deborah nodded. It was smart to take a quieter route; there was no point in publicising two young noble women travelling alone with their attendants. She looked at her carriage and wondered how small the procession would be.

"We will be just taking our horses; can you ride?"

"What?"

Deborah looked at the elf in shock. She had never needed to ride a horse before.

Arthur rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We aren’t taking any carriages, just our horses."

"Ah, I cannot ride!" she said, expressing concern.

"You will just have to ride with Arthur then; we will teach you on our journey!"

She frowned in displeasure. Weren’t they asking too much of her? She never even volunteered to go with them.

"Then my luggage?" she asked.

"Only take what you need; this mission isn’t official," the elf said again, and she frowned. He was pretty, but whenever he spoke, his tone made her feel rather angry, like he was looking down on her.

She bit back any complaints and complied with their orders.

 

Veinna territory was not as large as Celestia, but to get to Orian, it would take just under a week on horseback. Anne had only recently learned to ride, so she was slow, and the rain didn’t help. The weather was windy, and rain poured in waves, so the three were soaking and miserable.

“We need to find a place to wait out the rain.” Anne’s legs were frozen; she couldn't even feel them, and her thin layers were thoroughly soaked. This kind of whether was something she never had to get used to in Celestia. Veinna had a more stable temperature scale, it never snowed here, but it was still colder than where she was born.

“It probably wouldn't be a good idea to wear satin towels for a long journey, then.” Arthur said, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up.” Anne said, gritting her teeth in the cold.

Deborah was also soaked through, the cold felt like it was seeping through her bones.

“There’s a barn up ahead; we can rest there for tonight, and you can get a different set of clothes too. Once we’re away from the trail, we won’t see anyone for the next three days.” Arthur said as he sped up.

The barn was a large wooden old building belonging to an older couple.

As they entered, the warmth enveloped them, providing much-needed relief from the biting cold. The couple welcomed them with open arms, offering food and a place to rest for the night. Well they had no choice, despite having no guards Arthur held on tightly to the royal seal that guaranteed them service at any inn.

They were given a warm bath with towels and a fresh set of clothes. Anne immediately set aside her dress for a pair of sturdy leather pants and cotton shirt held together by a belt and a thick coat. She felt so much warmer, and she gave the couple her dress to dry. Deborah dried her dress, but instead of changing, she added some extra layers underneath.

"I never got to ask, are you a priestess? I don't think women of Veinna veiled." Anne asked as they sat by the fireplace. Anne thought Deborah was just a noblewoman, but she had been thinking she probably had a role at the temple.

Deborah chuckled, shaking her head. "Yes, I am. It is mandatory to wear official clothes on expeditions. It allows me to get help from temples in other countries," she explained with a smile.

"Huh, I didn't know a noblewoman could be a priestess."

"Well, normally, you would have to abandon your title if you wanted to join the temple." Deborah said quietly. "But I was allowed to remain in the family."

"Oh, why?"

Deborah didn't know how to answer, she couldn't possibly tell her it was because she was raised to be Queen. She felt awkward. But Arthur knew.

"She was probably being raised to be the Queen. But Aiden married you out of nowhere." Arthur interjected; he wasn't even facing the two, he was sprawled out on a chair with a book open on his face, hiding it from them.

"Oh! Then why didn't Aiden marry you? You know, when I first met him, there were rumours that he would be marrying my sister. I didn't hear anything about you."

Deborah blushed in shame. "Well, it was common knowledge in Veinna, we did not know he would come back with a Queen." Deborah shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with Arthur. "I guess we were all caught off guard," she muttered, feeling the weight of her unspoken feelings for Aiden. "I thought at least he would honour our agreement and make me his consort."

Anne did not like that idea.

But truly, in this situation, she was the woman who came from nowhere, so she understood how Deborah felt in this situation.

"Did you truly want to be the second wife? Are you satisfied with that?"

"I would be satisfied."

Anne's eyebrows furrowed in concern as she observed Deborah's conflicted expression. "But would you truly be happy?" she pressed, sensing the underlying turmoil within her friend. Deborah hesitated, her eyes dropping to the ground, before finally meeting Anne's gaze.

"I suppose I never really considered what would truly make me happy," she admitted quietly.

Anne's eyes were dark, and her expression was unreadable; she didn't say anything else.

 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

 

Standing on the open balcony of her castle, a girl gazed out over acres of empty fields stretching as far as the eye could see. Her silhouette was framed against the backdrop of a setting sun, casting a golden hue over her figure.

Her long, flowing gown billowed gently in the breeze. The intricate embroidery on her sleeves caught the fading light, glinting like gold, a colour that once covered these fields that were now barren.

With a hand resting lightly on the stone balustrade, she exuded an air of quiet contemplation, her brown hair cascading in soft waves around her shoulders, catching the last rays of sunlight.

As she stood there, a solitary figure against the expanse of nature, her eyes remained dry, but her heart wept.

“Your majesty” The girl’s eyes followed the voice to see a girl her age standing behind her. She had the same long brown hair; hers was tied up in a bun, and her eyes were a rich brown. She stood a head taller than her sister and had a fuller figure.

“Sister…”

“We should go have dinner, your majesty.”