Fangs in Space

Chapter 7: Mosquito

...my first attempt at something Steampunk-ish. I hope you'll like it! Heavily inspired by Hachebrown :)

 Slowly I realised that I was lying on the floor against the leg of a wooden chair.

In the throne room of Queen Komar!

I opened my eyes and jumped to my feet from the shock.

That little brat...No, Zea all grown up and angry...had knocked me out after I proposed to her.

That ungrateful little sh*t. I wanted to restore her reputation and she resorts to violence? Unbelievable.

I froze. Where was she? Did she have a weapon?

I turned around in search of for the familiar red hairdo. It had looked terrible, as if she got her hair stuck in a blender.

“She has left, you can come out of your defence position.” A voice calmly stated behind me.

I turned around and saw Queen Komar sitting on her throne, reading a document and sniggering at me.

I relaxed and walked up to her.

“I am truly sorry for passing out in your throne room, your Majesty.” I apologized.

She smiled.

“It was quite entertaining. You two would make a cute couple.”

I rolled my eyes and stood in front of her awaiting her instructions.

She got up, walked down the steps and put her hand on my arm.

“I do appreciate that you want to marry my daughter to restore her reputation, but I wish that you had come to me first.”

 “Kieran, your actions are confusing. First you stand her up and now you propose to marry her. What are you trying to accomplish?” she asked me looking me deeply in the eyes.

“If I didn’t know you better I would think you are scheming for my crown. That is exactly what Zea thinks.” She stated.

I looked up surprised. “My queen, those were certainly not my intentions. I am and remain loyal to the house Faulkner-Turner.”

She nodded and walked towards the windows.

“So why did you refuse my daughter?” she asked while looking down at the courtyard.

I hung my head, how was I going to put this so that she would not feel offended and cut of my head?

“I am not a babysitter. Ever since you put me in charge of Zea, I felt being pushed around, and that feeling aggregated until I finally snapped. Unfortunately, my outburst happened on the annual Winter ball.” I responded uncomfortably while shuffling my feet.

“Great timing, Kieran.” she sighed and turned around.

Her look turned serious.

“You were never her babysitter. I am sorry if I gave you that impression.”

“Kieran, you have served my house greatly for the past five centuries. Zea needed a protector; she wasn’t ready for the calibre of assassins that Reynolds sent to her. I assigned you, because you were simply the only one that I trusted with the care of my daughter.”

“Thank you, your Highness. I was and still am greatly honoured.”

“Your actions have created a problem, however. You have severely damaged Zea’s reputation.”

“If I will send her unaccompanied to Roke, she will have to kill a lot of the crew to assert her authority. That is a waste of good soldiers.”

I nodded.