The Right Queen

A Rude Awakening

Empress Adele's knife scraped on her plate as she cut the large steak. It drove Prince Thayer crazy. The meat was tender, she didn't need to use that much force. Prince Thayer took a long sip of wine. This was the worst dinner he had ever had, and Eustace's smiling face only made it worse. He had barely noticed the man before, but now he could only see his kind smile, blue eyes and tip-top form. And he hated the way Eustace looked at Eldra. He knew he should be happy for her. It was not easy to find a suitor as a witch, let alone a nobleman with wealth and land, but he cringed when he saw Eustace's hand rest on Eldra's knee under the table.

"So, Eustace, how was the crop this past year?" Prince Thayer asked.

"It was excellent. We had enough leftover to give two crates of grain to the orphanage. When Eldra comes she is going to update their gardens. It's desperately needed and I think the children will enjoy her company," Nobleman Eustace replied. Of course they would. Eldra would be great with children. The orphans would fall in love with her creativity and kind demeanor. Eldra smiled, her dimples accentuated in her cheeks.

"I can't wait to meet them," she replied. "Empress, are you enjoying your food?"

The Empress frowned. "The meat is dry."

"So Eustace, when are you going to ask for Eldra's hand?" Prince Thayer asked. Eldra coughed on her water. Eustace turned bright red and the exposed wooden beams on the ceiling were suddenly the most interesting thing he had ever seen. Prince Thayer couldn't hold back a smile.

"I'm sorry, your highness, I think that is a private question," Eustace mumbled.

"She is one of my subjects, I have every right to ask such of you," Prince Thayer replied, his voice even.

"That is enough," Eldra snapped and yanked Prince Thayer out into the hall. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me! What's wrong with you? He looks at you like you are a piece of meat," Prince Thayer replied.

"That is not true! He is nice to me. He is easy to talk to. And you are treating him like he is doing something wrong!"

"He is," Prince Thayer insisted.

"What? What is he doing?" Eldra asked. "You are going to be married soon. What am I going to do around the castle then, huh? Do you think your future wife will allow you to go on hunting trips with a woman? Magistrate Katrina would have my head before that happens."

"I don't know if I will marry her-"

"Please, you aren't going to pick Empress 'my steak is too tough.' You will marry Magistrate Katrina so you can use your influence over her to free the Fae," Eldra said. A knot grew in Prince Thayer's stomach. He hadn't thought about that. Of course, Eldra was right. She frowned, as if she heard his thoughts.

"You have to let me go. And you must apologize to Nobleman Eustace. You have been beyond rude to him. I am leaving to go to his estate in two weeks time. If I am lucky enough, he will ask me to marry him. But he may have changed his mind after your treatment of him today. I hope you remember that when Magistrate Katrina throws me out of the castle. If you think she will allow me to stay, you are mistaken." Eldra went back inside the dining hall, slamming the door behind her.

-----

Prince Thayer sent Empress Adele home a week later. Magistrate Kristina was still at the palace, but he hadn't formally proposed yet. Prince Thayer had taken her to dinners, sporting matches, a tour of the capital, everything King Bormere had requested.

Prince Thayer stirred his cereal until it was soggy, picking up the milk with his spoon and watching it fall back into the bowl. Magistrate Katrina was droning on and on about the cute, dirty children she had seen at the baker's shop that morning. Eldra wouldn't have seen them as dirty children, but as little souls that needed to be fed. He stared at Eldra at the other side of the dining room. They hadn't talked since their argument. What had he been so upset about? She was seeing someone else and had every right to do so. But the gnawing feeling inside him wouldn't go away. It tore at him every time her long, dark ponytail swayed with her enigmatic speech. Her laugh at one of Eustace's lame jokes carried across the room, and all he wanted was to be sitting next to her.

"You're not even listening," Magistrate Katrina protested. His eyes snapped back to his breakfast date, who was pouting over her empty plate.

"Sorry, my mind was somewhere else," Prince Thayer replied.

"Well, maybe it should be on your future wife!" Magistrate Katrina said. His future wife. The words made him anxious. Was he really going to spend his whole life with her? She didn't see the poor as equals. He would never be able to free the Fae under her grasp. Was he willing to put the impovishered of Lialta under the thumb of slavery? Was that what Lialta needed?

No, it wasn't. But, finally, he knew what it did.