ARYA

¹³ [ 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 ]

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑
[ 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟳, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟵 ]

"Can you believe we've been married for nearly six years?" I caressed Tyler's face as he and I faced one another, standing in our bathroom. Our boys, Adrian and Josiah, are five and three, respectively. Tyler looked at me, his face unreadable. He didn't look over the moon excited like I was, but he didn't look rather disappointed either. He looked as if... he might have had something on his mind. "What's wrong?" I asked, working on being a lot more direct. If it's anything that Tyler and I mastered in these last six years, it's vocalizing. We used to play the guessing game with one another a lot. We read faces and heard tones and assumed a lot from that. On occasion, it ran us into highly avoidable issues.

"Arya," Tyler held both my hands, "I am excited to have been married for so long, but you have other issues to worry about right now."

I cocked an eyebrow, truthfully lost at what Tyler was talking about. "Huh?" I asked, "I already handled the flooding in the Doe Castle basement.

Tyler shook his head, "I'm not talking about that, or us" he said. "Did you forget that there is an old, nasty oil tank in Algeria that needs tending to? Algeria's economy isn't the greatest, they don't have the funding and therefore, they have no choice but to rely on you." I looked at Tyler, somewhat annoyed. Our wedding anniversary was in two days, did he have to address this Algeria issue right this instant?

"In three days," I began, "after our wedding anniversary, Algeria will still be around to help. We can put them aside for a couple of days Tyler." My husband was very clearly taken back in his response, furrowing his brows and letting go of my hands to fold his arms.

"Are you serious Arya?" he asked me, "you made a promise at twenty years old, nearly six years ago as you sat at that coronation throne to be crowned Queen, that you would put Africa first before anything. Now you're telling me that celebrating a little get-together that we have done several times already is more important than the safety of your land? What has gotten into you?" I didn't get it, I thought Tyler would be happy that I was trying to put our marriage first. He always indirectly said that even though I'm the Queen of Africa, he wants to be the King of our union.

I shook my head as I walked out of me and Tyler's bathroom. It was royal protocol for the regnant and spouse to have separate bedrooms. In history, that's how it's always been. But I didn't want to do things the traditional way and physical touch is my love language. I want to be with him as much as I can. Because of that, our bedroom was expanded years ago to accommodate both of us and then further expanded after the birth of Josiah, so that our kids can spend time here sometimes.

"Arya, this isn't something I am trying to argue with you about," Tyler told me sternly, following behind and stepping in front of me. "You have people counting on you. Their lives are practically in your hands. You can not be enjoying luxuries while they suffer. And you know that, because nineteen-year-old Arya would never behave like this. You told me that when you are off, when you aren't doing something right, I should tell you. Well, here I am telling you Arya: you need to put your duties as Queen first."