A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
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Many people thought that if the queen became ill and couldn't serve the king anymore, they thought of inserting someone to take advantage of the situation. But they would be proven sorely wrong.
Of course, the king was working quietly behind the scenes. A low-level aide was found to have harbored some suspicious incense on the day the queen fell into the water and quietly disappeared the next day with the excuse of returning back to his hometown. His body was rumored to have been found dead three days later with signs of a bandit attack. A seamstress accidentally left needles in the dress for the queen and was fired, never to appear again.
Although the queen's illness made her stay in bed for a whole week, the king stayed at Dahlia Palace every night. There were some who praised the king for being a thoughtful and caring husband. Others said that the queen must have saved a nation and accumulated enough fortune to have a good husband, while others said that the new queen must be a witch and had the king wrapped around her fingers.
In truth, Annabeth wished the king could stop coming over so often. Ever since that incident at the lake, the king was being much more careful and affectionate than usual.
Until her cold was over, she was made to stay inside Dahlia Palace and bundle up with woolen clothes. At this point, Annabeth felt like her limbs were going to grow wool, and she would be ready for shearing like a sheep. She didn't even have any more socializing to do, as all the guests from the wedding had gone home after the boating incident. Annabeth was satisfied to hear that at least Princess Alana had gone back to Kiran with her good reputation tarnished somewhat, and that the Tynan crown prince had been quite disappointed when it was time for him to return to Tynan. But judging by the small smiles on Lady Piper's face as she often wrote letters, Prince Jason was in frequent contact with Lady Piper.
Hearing that Annabeth was bored with being confined in Dahlia Palace and banned temporarily from her queen's duties, the king thought over ways to entertain her. He brought over novels and joined her for chess (he was horrendous). The king even began to bring his own work into her study. Whenever the king was at her side, all the maids and Lucy were in states of silent panic, distracting Annabeth and making her antsy for them. Privately, Annabeth wondered whether her cover was almost blown, and perhaps the king was keeping a closer watch on her.
Today, the king was in a rather good mood, humming as he went through the memorandums his court had sent him. That is until Annabeth got the tiniest paper cut from reading an economics textbook she had managed to wheedle out of him. The king glared at the maid behind Annabeth as though the maid should have prevented the paper cut.
Annabeth sighed. "That's enough."
The king was about to order the maid to turn the pages of the book for her. With a wave of her now overly bandaged hand, Annabeth dismissed all the maids. They were all going to have a heart attack or grow white hairs early at this rate. The maids sent grateful looks to the queen. By now, they had grown accustomed to the king's preferential treatment to his wife.
"The book pages could have been poisoned, you know." The king said.
"What?" Annabeth blinked.
The king carelessly scribbled on his documents and stamped his seal before replying. "It's not like it hasn't been done before. There was once a case in my great-grandfather's generation when an assassin placed poison on all the edges of a book because his target liked licking his fingers as he turned the pages of his book. So your treatment of a papercut isn't overdone by any means."
Annabeth looked down at her bandaged finger. Was that why the king insisted on putting a healing salve? Normally, Annabeth would have ignored the tiny papercut.
"Well, thank you for dropping that unexpected information on me," she muttered.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you." The king smiled.
Annabeth childishly stuck her tongue out at him. He wasn't reassuring at all. The villainous King Perseus of Eldoris had died at the end of the novel. Of course, now with the prince of Tynan on their side, hopefully the odds of the king's survival would be much higher. After all, her own survival was tied with his.
"Ah, if you're so bored, then why don't you take a look at the things Mandol and Kiran sent over?" The king suggested.
"Mandol and Kiran both sent things over? Why?"
The king handed her a list. "For the boating incident, of course."
Annabeth scanned the list of treasures. There were fine paintings, beautiful woven tapestries, and chests of gold and jewelry. There was even a note that said the Grand Duke of Mandol would lose his governmental position and have his salary deducted for ten years.
But what was surprising was that Kiran seemed to have sent over the majority of the apology gifts.
"Well, I understand why Mandol would, but not Kiran. Didn't Alana fall into the water as well, or do you suspect that she had a hand in this accident?"
"The evidence for that couldn't be found, unfortunately. But Kiran's prime minister was sent to give us an explanation for why the Kiran delegation happened to miss our wedding and crowning ceremony. In the end, we had a little...discussion and came to this conclusion."
So he meant that he basically forced them into doing so pulling some political bullshit behind the scenes. Oh, whatever, Annabeth thought. The king looked rather smug at what he had done so she didn't say anything.
"The stuff they sent wasn't anything too special, however. I'll add some chests of gold to your budget if you want to buy any books. Take this."
The king handed a small jewelry box. Annabeth opened it curiously. A delicate hairpin made of pure gold with a dahlia flower made out of rubies for petals and pearls and diamonds for leaves. Even someone like her who was clueless about fashion could appreciate the jewelry that lay in her hands. In fact, the hairpiece looked like a matching piece of jewelry to the pearl earrings she had received.
When Annabeth voiced this, King Percy confirmed it as such.
"My father dedicated this hairpin to my mother. I managed to save the earrings only. Somehow, this hairpin was sent to Mandol instead of remaining in my mother's treasury. I had a feeling that my dear stepmother had taken it and perhaps used it as bribery."
King Percy took the hairpin and attempted to put it in Annabeth's hair. Unfortunately, her hair was in a ponytail at the moment and all the maids had been dismissed early. Annabeth just laughed, looking at the messy state of her hair.
"Well, don't quit your day job as king, Your Majesty. I'm afraid that the career of hairdresser doesn't quite suit you." Annabeth said, teasingly.
"I'm sure I mentioned that I'm quite good at taking things apart. Not so much actually putting things together, like your hair." King Percy smiled, looking at her expectantly.
"What?" Annabeth asked.
"Didn't I do a good job of getting your compensation?"
Annabeth laughed. The king reminded her of her childhood dog who used to bring toys to her and ask for pats as a reward. So, she reached out and ruffled the king's hair.
"Yes, yes, good boy," she cooed.
The king sent her a look of exasperation. "Can't you think of another reward?"
Annabeth smiled behind her teacup. For a while, the king gifted her jewelry until he figured out she could only wear so much. Then, he went on to books and interesting knickknacks. But what could she give? Technically, even if she embroidered something new or gave him a book, she would still be using his money. What could she give him that expressed some sort of sincerity?
"Turn your head that way." She requested.
As soon as the king turned his head, Annabeth leaned over and pecked his cheek. Before he could react, she quickly pinched the cheek she had just kissed.
"Aw, such a good boy," she cooed.
The king's astounded look at her actions made her laugh out loud.
"Oh, you should have seen the look on your face, mmph!"
Her laughter was cut off short as he suddenly pulled her onto his lap. Annabeth stilled as she found herself straddling him with her hands on his shoulders. His green eyes were lit in amusement as he observed the myriad of expressions changing on her face.
Annabeth couldn't help but flush a little. She chalked up the blushing to the same type of emotions that had made Prince Jason fall for Lady Piper. Her heart had been pounding when she fell into the lake, so when the king rescued her, her body had attributed the adrenaline to some sort of emotion. And it was happening again right now.
"What?" She asked, a little shy. His handsome face was quite close.
He didn't answer, only reaching up slowly to cup the side of her cheek. Realizing what was happening, Annabeth closed her eyes on instinct.
Soft, warm lips covered hers, then pulled away after a brief few seconds. It was as though he was waiting to see if she would push him away.
Annabeth was conflicted for a moment. For one, there was an extremely good looking man underneath her, and he was a better quality man than any of her ex-boyfriends. Number two, said hot, high quality man, was also a villainous and dangerous tyrant who might just be suspicious of her at every turn. Of course, whenever she heard that a palace servant had disappeared quietly or died under illness, she knew that it had to be under his orders. Granted, he had never once mistreated her. Why not have a fling while she was stuck in this world?
The king gently gripped her chin, his thumb tracing her bottom lip. "What are you thinking about, my queen?"
She blinked. What had she been thinking about? Had she really thought about having a fling or friends with benefits situation right now? Some of the maids had gossiped about certain nobles having flings, so friends with benefits wasn't an unheard of term here.
"My queen?" The king asked again.
His thumb still stroked her lips, prompting her to open her lips slightly. His other hand caressed the small of her back, sending tingles down her spine.
Oh, this man was good at seduction, and she was falling for his actions that made her spellbound for a moment. This man was a king who could have all the maidens fall at his feet, yet he chose to do this to her. It made her stomach just a little giddy with butterflies.
"You're a very dangerous man," Annabeth finally said, finding her voice.
The king chuckled. "Took you long enough to find out."
"I don't dare cross that line," she replied.
The king's motions stilled for a moment before resuming. "You can cross that line any moment you want."
His clear green eyes met hers.
Hesitantly, Annabeth reached out and traced the outline of his face with her fingers. Slowly, her finger followed the curve from his brow to his cheekbone and then to his jawline. The king said nothing, nor did he move, merely watching her explore his face as committing to memory every detail of his face.
He closed his eyes, looking peaceful as the palm of her hand came to rest against his cheek. Like this, the king looked like an angel and not a single bit like the tyrant he was supposed to be.
"How long are you going to confuse me?" His quiet voice broke the tranquil atmosphere.
The king turned his head and gently kissed the palm of her hand. When he opened his eyes again, there was a heated look that passed through them.
King Percy sighed and shifted her so she was sitting on his lap sideways instead.
"You're still not fully recovered." She heard him mutter.
His lips began pressing into her hair while his fingers played with the fallen strands. Her hair was already tangled from his attempts at pinning the hairpin.
"My hair's all messy," Annabeth complained to cover up her embarrassment.
What was she, a teenager?
"Well, the maids would do a better job of pinning your hair with this at the dowager queen's birthday banquet."
Annabeth's ears perked up. "The dowager queen's birthday party?"
The king pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "It's in eight days. The banquet won't be a big deal, but we shouldn't miss out on it."
In other words, they couldn't not hold the banquet to mar their reputation, but the king was still going to restrict the budget.
"Alright. But wouldn't the dowager queen feel bad when she sees me wearing this?"
King Percy's smile turned a touch cynical. "Oh, my? If she feels guilty for taking something that wasn't even hers in the first place, then what can I do about it? This is just part of my birthday gift to her."
Annabeth merely shook her head. This may have been a present for her, but it was really just using her to provoke the dowager queen. This little motherfucker. First, he wrecks her hair, and now she has to be a barrier against the dowager queen again. So much for a few days of peace and quiet.
"Besides, it seems that the dowager queen still holds onto the hope that she could secure another bed partner or two for me." The king's gentle tone turned flat. "I'm sure she'll be attempting to send in a few women."
"And you want me to block them?" Annabeth sighed. "I just recovered and already you're sending me to work."
"And here I thought you were bored. All right, then. If you're not feeling recovered, then that's too bad. The physicians told me that you're healthy enough to start some exercise. I was going to have your sword fighting lessons start tomorrow," the king told her.
Annabeth's eyes lit up. "You know what, I don't think I'm capable of doing any mental gymnastics, but physically, I feel fine."
The king just laughed at her shamelessness. "Physically fine, you say?"
At the glint in his eyes, Annabeth realized her mistake. His lips were soon attached to hers, eagerly nibbling down on her bottom lips until her mouth was open. His tongue smoothly enchanted hers. Annabeth gripped the front of his shirt as her mind went dizzy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, a knock on the door startled the two apart. Annabeth made to move off of his lap, but the king held firm.
"Come in," came the nonchalant reply from the king.
"Your Majesty," Annabeth protested.
His arms were firmly around her before she could escape, so she buried her head in the crook of his neck in embarrassment. Hopefully no one would notice that it was her. But who else but the queen could be held by the king at this moment?
Sir Grover walked in, then paled as he saw the king and queen in an intimate pose. Before he could walk back out, the king told him to report.
"It seems other matters must have me leave your lips." The king murmured, pecking her lips once more. "Until later, my lovely queen."
Annabeth glared at him as he went out laughing. Shameless son of a-!
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The delegation of Mandol was returning back to Mandol in low spirits. The second prince of Mandol worried about the succession battle now as his boat travelled across the river bordering Mandol and Kiran.
His position was surely lost. He had failed to prevent his uncle from offending both Kiran and Eldoris, two countries who could easily crush Mandol to pieces.
The second prince glared at his uncle's back. The Grand Duke had been complaining about his treatment the whole journey back. The Grand Duke should have been lucky the Eldoris king had not asked to Mandol to compensate Eldoris with the Grand Duke's life. Secretly, the second prince of Mandol half-wished Eldoris did demand the Grand Duke of Mandol forfeit his life.
That night, the river waters were choppy. Having a little too much drink, the Grand Duke of Mandol slipped on the watery decks and fell overboard. Though his disappearance was discovered shortly, his body was not recovered until three days later.
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A/N: A fitting end for the Grand Duke. He drowned while trying to drown others. But who killed him? Kiran? His own people of Mandol? Or perhaps Eldoris?
As always, thank you all for your support. I will see you all next week!