The Divorced Queen

Chapter 5

Another tired sigh left my mouth as much I had mentally prepared myself I really didn't want to argue with her. "Well in any case there's no rush, Tanhya and I are still young and have many more years to come."I answered slowly. I was only 24 and Tanhya, 22. Whilst I didn't really want to spend another night with Tanhya again, I had come to accept that I would have to produce an heir sooner or later. I was planning to discuss with Tanhya eventually.

The Queen Dowager looked at me doubtlfully. "For how long are going to treat the Queen like this?"

"Treat her like what ?" I snapped.

" You have to show her a little more support. She has no one backing her up and has to deal with things by herself and thats why the council doesn't take her seriously."

"The council?"I asked incredulously. " Is that what this is really about? Did she tell you about her little presentation the other day that didn't go the way she wanted it too ?" I asked giving her. "Not everything is always going to go her way. The council just didn't like the idea. That's all."

"This isn't just about the meeting, The fact is they don't respect her in general because of how you treat her."

"So what you want me to coddle her the way you do?" I countered defensively.

"I'm not asking you to-" She paused grunting in frustration, "You act as if it would kill you to be a little nicer to her."

"You'd think she was your own biological child the way you defend her so much." I spat out bitterly. "Sad thing is you'd never do the same for me. Both you and father. Tanhya's your little saint who can do no wrong. The child you've always wanted."

"Osric....." My mother said at a loss as if she was conflicted. "It's not like that, it's not that I favor her, it's just that the way she's treated as is, won't only affect her, it could also affect you. You and Tanya are..."

"Enough! We are NOT having this discussion anymore. Why do we always have to argue whenever I come? And you wonder why I hardly  visit you." I moved away from the seating area all together. "I have a busy schedule anyway so I have to go." I told her as I made my way out to the door.

"Osric!" My mother called out to me.

I then turned her lady-in-waiting who was standing nearby. "Make sure my mother receives the gift I brought her." I ordered her and she obediently nodded in fear.

"O-Osric wait!" My mother called again but I didn't turn back to look as I swiftly left her room.

I left the room frustrated. For some reason I thought if I went to see her when Tanhya wasn't around there was a chance she wouldn't bring her up. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

********

I spend the rest of my day in a sour mood, and it didn't help that I had mountains of work to take care of. With the flooding plan having been taken care of, my next priority was how I going to stabilize the economy. It was going to be a long time that many businesses would be stagnant as we waited for the water levels to decrease and then for all the rebuilding and repairs to take place. The economy could very easily go into a recession if something wasn't done. I had come up with new policies that would ensure the economy could easily pick up where it had left from.

Whilst Tanhya was tasked with managing the kingdoms' resources, I was responsible for making sure the kingdom had a conducive enviroment for those resources to exist in the first place. Ensuring the economy of the kingdom was stable, making policies and laws that benefitted the kingdom. I also dealt with the military operations of the kingdom as well as international relations.

I was going through documents from banks and the kingdoms economy to devise possible plans. However, I was unable to focus because of the argument with my mother.

As I continued to ponder Duke Daeil then entered my office.
He came to stand in front of my desk. "The delegate from the Savon Empire has come to see you, your majesty." He informed me.

"Right, send him in." I told him as I put away my documents to prepare for the meeting.

Many of the nearby kingdoms had reached out to our kingdom after the floods to show their support. Many of them offering to send and donate relief supplies. Although we had enough of our own emergency supplies and relief funds alone and didn't actually need their help. However, in order to be polite and to show our appreciation and maintain our amicable relations with all of them we accepted their offers. I had been meeting with delegates from all the nations all week. All the negotiations were being done through delegates from each nation that lived in the Cerus kingdom.

The delegate walked into my office and came to sit at my desk then we began our meeting.

The Savon Empire. A shiver went down my spine at the mention of them. The Savon Empire was one of the most powerful empires across the continent. If there was one empire you didn't want as an enemy it was them. They had the largest and strongest army among all the kingdoms and not to mention, a ruthless emperor.