Tulips

Chapter 21

The ceiling was a smooth white. Adelaide stared up at it, unable to return to sleep in the grey darkness. She stretched her limbs out across the bed, filling the space left by her husband. He had gone hunting or something.

What had he done to her? Adelaide recalled her time in the rotating party, she had so much control then. Control over her life, over her emotions. Now everything spilled out, splayed on the ground, out with regulation. They had spent most of their marriage in silence. Adelaide would make some snide remarks to him, but they were fully detached from each other. How can he hate me so much? Couldn't they have tried? She thought about before their union, he hated her then, and he hated her now. How could she expect him to show her affection after he had been so adamantly against her? The image of him walking away, leaving her on the stone floor after shoving her away. He was always going to leave her crying on the floor, wasn't he? He probably had a mistress of his own, that was what was common. Why did he have to escape from? It must be so very hard to be a king, with all that power. Louis had everything that Adelaide had had stolen from her. He didn't appreciate it. She would, she would rejoice in sovereignty. But he can't even fake it. Spoilt Brat.

The couple sat at the gambling table. Adelaide took another large sip of wine, it was smooth, she felt it warm her insides. The gold hall was filled with the same faces as usual, they cawed and barked at each other, court politics in the live. Each table contained a chess board, but if each chess board was connected to a dozen other boards, and there were hundreds of previous games that one must know to understand this current one.

"Théo!" Louis waved. He was walking towards them, the panic in Adelaide's stomach was not reflected in his face.

"Your majesties," he bowed to both of them taking the seat across from her.

"Me and Théo have been friends since we were kids," Louis said tapping his hands on the table, the same way a dog wags his tail.

"It's lovely to see you Théo," Adelaide said, composed. Shit, shit, shit.

He nodded. "So, Louis how's the construction going?" Théo and Louis began a conversation with each other, Adelaide returned to the card game, focussing slightly on their discussion. The men laughed loudly; they were good friends. Under her skirt she felt movement, Théo touched his foot to hers. This was dangerous, dangerous; but incredibly sexy. Adelaide felt tense, her heart racing. She dared a glance across the table, he glanced at her. Oh God, let it stop. All Adelaide wanted was for him to take her on to this table and simply devastate her. Louis was sitting right beside them, surely, he could feel this magnetism that stretched across the table. But Louis didn't notice. The night continued, they joked loudly, boyish smiles gleaming between them.

After an what felt like an eternity of yearning, people began to retire.

Théo stood up, "Well it's been a pleasure, your majesties," he took Adelaide's hand and placed on it a chaste kiss, maintaining eye contact. She held her breath, worrying that if she let it go, she would sigh to loudly.

"You better come back for another game soon, I need to get pay back for you completely destroying me!" Louis laughed drunkenly. Théo pointed back, stumbling away.

Adelaide let out the held breath as quietly as she could. The emptying room felt suddenly colder. "I'm going to head back to the apartments," she announced.

"Okay," Louis muttered, he sometimes broke his mute vow when he was drunk. "He left is jacket!" he proclaimed loudly, jumping out of his chair. He picked up the blue coat and walked quickly after his friend. halfway across the hall he tripped over his feet, managing to catch himself right before crashing to the floor, Adelaide supressed a snigger.

Back in the apartments, she prepared for bed in slow drowsiness. Louis appeared just as she was tucking herself in. His giddiness had been replaced with a stern expression. Coming down from his drunken high. He stripped down, leaving his clothes on the floor, and clambered into bed.

"Night," he scoffed aggressively, borrowing his weight into the pillow.

"Night," Adelaide replied.