The Exiled Gem

Queenly Queen Olivia

'You're abusing him!' Rose had hissed, horrified.

'Well, I'm not telling it to his face, am I?' She had replied, 'and who ever heard of yellow eyes?'

'They are golden.' Olivia had enlightened, in a low voice - a voice one could associate with breathlessness. 'And they are soulful. And he is modest. And he would fight the world for someone.' She had added, tracing a finger across his face. He could have been sixteen, or eighteen. Alexandra had taken only a single glance at him, perhaps he didn't looked like a wolf, but she had been sure that she didn't want him for a brother-in-law. 'I'm keeping this,' Olivia had told the trader, who had smirked and muttered something like "they always do". Then the lady had got up and walked over to the chamber's exit, halting only to clarify that, 'Alexandra, I like wolves.'

And that was how it had begun. Going on to five rejections - and perhaps, had she not accepted defeat - there would have been more. But those were the dots. And when she connected them, the only conclusion she could derive from it, was that Olivia intended to repay him for the insult. For in Doveland, they had always known that they stood no chance against Vedessa in a fair battle. And that had then been a weakened Vedessa - a misruled kingdom. Now that it was in full bloom of strength, Alexandra was very sure Olivia intended to do something lowly. Something similar to backstabbing - something calculated and snake-like. Besides, Akwanda's policies were strictly Anti-Vedessan. And they matched with hers, giving rise to the aforementioned arrangement. The truth was incorrigibly simple, but disgusting. Was it so difficult to move on? If somebody rejected Alexandra five times, she would either send him maggots (if she wanted ill of them) or she would send them lilies - the flowers of brother-sister ties.

But since nothing could change the past, and since she had to do the spying, she put on her Palace Attendant's attire and got into the Akwandian Palace that morning - which was quite easy, as the guards were having an intense argument on matrimony and its ill-effects - and let her in without a second thought. From within, the castle was a huge structure of red and yellow (or maybe, golden) - though dull gray on the exterior. It resembled a cupboard when compared to the Idgardian one. But the corridors were large, with polished gold floors and high rising chandeliers of crystal. But - it lacked the luster of a Castle. The luster, the glowing aura that the Idgardian Palace emanated, Alexandra came to realize, was unmatched. 

'I'll look for somewhere I can listen to stuff from,' she muttered to herself, striding without making the slightest noise. She didn't have much time to admire or criticize the place. Her Dovish accent could save voice, not her face. The heart of the Palaces were considered "internal". They had the royal family's private chambers - and only trusted people milled about. But since she wasn't sure where anything was in the Akwandian Palace, Alexandra stumbled upon the innermost quarters. She stared around herself, the area had a prosperous look to it - but she knew the prosperity was fake. At its truest core, Akwanda was similar to any resource-lacking kingdom: it was poor. Poor might be its state, but a spy entering the inside wings of the Palace? It was the silliest mistake one could make.

Even so, she had not expected bouncing into Olivia that early.

'Lady Mimosa, is that you?' A familiar, commanding voice asked from behind, as Alexandra rushed ahead. It was slightly uncertain, but so harsh that she stopped at once, sweat beads trickling down her temple. Though the more practical way would have been to clarify that she was not Mimosa, she turned. And from beneath her veil, looked at the woman who had called her.

In spite of knowing it, preparing herself for it and in spite of duly recognizing the voice, seeing Olivia made Alexandra feel as if someone had punched her in the gut. Olivia - no princess now, but - the Queen of Akwanda.