TANHYA
On my tour, I was visiting every major city and town in the kingdom. My journey started from the regions that had lower water levels, so the Western and Northern regions. Then I would work my way into the more heavily flooded South and East regions which I hoped would have lowered by the time I reached them. We skipped the capital because as it was a city for mostly Dukes delegates and other nobility.
A lot relief supplies had been given to the citizens; food, water, as well as other things. Some of them came from the palace and some from donations from nearby kingdoms. Temporary relief homes had also been set up to accommodate many of the citizens whose homes had been affected. In the North and east regions the water levels had already decreased in many of these areas and renovations were already underway. The damage wasn't to the extent of having to completely rebuild the infrustructure.
I gave speeches in each city and town then interacted with the people as best as I could. Trying to empower and give hope to them so they were better able to cope with the effects of the disaster. That also included taking the time to listen to their pleas. My entourage and I would stay for in each place for no more than 3 days before moving on to the next location. With many locations to visit, after a brief wellness check up on the citizens, making sure relief supllies were sent and inspecting the renovations taking place we left.
My entourage and I would take accomodation in the homes of the duchy that governed the city/town if their homes hadn't been damaged or in tents that were specially set up by my knights.
Not every town/city's Duke was present at the time of our visits, certainly not the high ranking Dukes that goverened several territories at a time. As most Duchys' ran multiple territories spread out across the kingdom they often delegated the running of each of their territories to either a baron or marquees. The lowest ranking among nobility.
About a week and a half into my journey I saw the construction of the reserve tanks as we travelled through Duke Maurices and my own families territories. As soon as my father had received the letter and been informed of the agreement he immediatley contacted Duke Mauris and they began the contruction. We had to hurry and collect as much water as posible not just from the flood waters but from future rainfall as well. As it was still summer it did continue to rain but thankfully it was not as heavy. The collected water from the rain could be useful in future seasons. I was quite happy with the progress made.
It was month later when we reached the South and East regions that the tone of my tour would drastically change. I was taken aback by what I saw. The damage was devasting, almost all infrustructure had been destroyed. The people were far more depressed and distressed than those in the North and West regions, thus it was much harder to boost their moral.
However, I did my best to adjust my approach to the people and try harder to encourage them as we continued to move from one town to the next. Effectively, we had to spend more time in each town now. However, things slowly continued to progressed.
It was when we reached a particular town that I noticed something interesting. I'd just finished giving my ususal speech and was now interracting with the towns' people when among the knights in my entourage that were controlling the crowd I was talking to, one had abandoned his duties. He was focused on a young woman who was holding a baby. I recognized he was the knight who'd seemed rather enthusiastic to join my entourage.
He held onto her protectively as he talked to her. The woman seemed weak and frail in appearance. As he took the child from her. I considered having him called in but then decided against it. From the way he was talking to her I sensed something.
Later in the evening on that day, when we had set up camp for the night the knight from earlier came to my tent and asked to see me. I allowed for him to see me. I was seated at a desk in my tent going over some reports of repairs in the town. Kumar lay by feet taking a nap.
"Your majesty, I apologize for my rudeness but I'm kindly asking if I may be excused for the night to check on my family they live in this town." he asked me with a bow.
"Mikhail, is it?" I asked to make sure.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he answered nervously. "Yes, your majesty." He seemed shocked that I knew his name. I had asked my personal knight, Sir Aaron, his name when I saw him earlier today.
"The woman with a baby you were speaking to earlier that's your family, right?" From the way he held the woman earlier I could tell she was someone close to him. Mikhails eyebrows shot up once again. He also hadn't expected me to have noticed him.
"Yes, your grace. I apologize for leaving my duties at the time." He apologized bowing his head again. "That was my wife and our baby that's a few months old." A pained expression then appeared on his face. "Ever since she gave birth she hasn't been feeling too well. We have no other relatives to take care of her so I was worried about her when the flooding occurred but I couldn't go to help her."
"Is that why you were eager to join me on my tour?"
With his head now facing down in embarassement he responded, "Yes."
I hadn't realized how much pressure the kingdoms' knights were under. When the flooding occured many knights were needed in each affected town and city to control and maintain order amongst the people. For example, to organize the temporary shelters that were set up, help in the distribution of food, etc. Their assignment was random so many of them weren't working in towns or cities they live in and they weren't going to be able to take days off until the whole situation had died down. So many were separated from their families during this time.
With so many knights being used for this relief task the prior duties performed by the knights were going to be short staffed take for example the knights that worked in the castle where Mikhail had been stationed, in order to compensate for the missing work force they would have to work longer hours and couldn't go on leave either. I'm sure a support plan for the knights had been established but perhaps it didn't help to this extent.
"I see. You may be excused." I gave Mikhail the permission to go.
"Thank you, your majesty." he cheerfully responded before bowing once again and leaving my tent.
My eyes were fixed on Mikhail as he left the tent a bittersweet smile on my lips. A feeling I couldn't quite explain having come over me. The image of him affectionately talking to his wife earlier came to mind. The concern he had for her, the way he held her. Is that what it was like to have a caring husband? Osric then came to to mind and a scoff escaped my mouth. Would Osric even spit on me if I was on fire?
It took me a moment to realize but I was...jealous, I suppose. Of what Mikhail and his wife had. They seemed like a beautiful young couple in a loving relationship and had just come from having a child. I realized I would never know what that was like.
I was expected to give birth to an heir one day, but I couldn't imagine it. Especially since Osric had never once spent the night with me ever since the first night after our wedding 2 years ago. It was custom for a newly wed couple to spend the night after the ceremony. I'm sure if it wasn't compulsory he probably wouldn't have done it, considering he's never again spent the night with me.
It's not that I was eager to sleep with Osric. Memories of that first night came to mind and a shiver went down my spine. It had been highly unpleasant, no passion or love, just purely formal.
I didn't care about Osrics' feelings for me anymore. I was just interested in fulfilling my duties as Queen. We had to produce an heir after all so I would conform and do it.
However, Osric continued to avoid me when we would eventually have to have that child. So why not get it over and done with as soon as possible? I would never understand what went on in Osrics' mind. What scared me more was when we eventually had the child, how would we raise him? A child with parents that hated each other would only be a nightmare for them. Another exhausted sigh left my mouth.
I've always wondered if I hadn't been chosen to be queen would I be happily married to someone I love? The thought would come to mind it at various times. Then I wouldn't have to try so hard to make a place for myself in the castle and gain the respect of the council.
At the end of the following day as my crew and I were now preparing to depart to move on to the next town. I had Mikhail switched with another knight who was on relief plan duties in the town. That way he could constantly be with his family whilst working at the same time. While I had no authority over the knights, the military was Osrics responsiblity, perhaps I could arrange some kind of plan to help any other knights in a similar to Mikhail.
We left the town as we continued on with our journey.
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OSRIC
"You never think things through do you Osric?" My father yelled at me from the balcony outside the ballroom. "You always do things without thinking of the consequences."
I'd refused to dance with Tanhya during a royal ball and was now being reprimanded. This girl I had no choice in selecting and I was now being made to spend the rest of my life with. I couldn't easily accept it especially after all the problems she'd caused since she arrived.
"Now you've embarrassed her in front of everyone but what exactly do you think you've achieved? Its not only going to reflect badly on her but also on you. "
I peeked back into the room where Tanhya was being consoled by both her parents and my mother. But she wasn't crying. It's like she had two sets of parents mine and hers.
"You've always gotten everything you wanted and so I failed to make you understand what responsibilities you have as future king. I chose Tanhya for you because I feel she will support you best."
I scoffed at his words as I fought hard not to roll my eyes. 'More like you had the opportunity to choose the child you've always wanted to have.' I thought .
"It's time you grew up Osric you're almost 17 now. Now go in and apologize before I do something you'll hate me for. " My father continued, his tone deadly.
A shiver went down my at my fathers' threat, he really would follow through with it if I didn't conform. " Yes, father." I reluctantly struggled to get out, as I balled my hand into a fist.
It had been a month since Tanhya arrived and it was almost as if she had turned my parents against me. Things were already bad enough before she came, my parents always said I was 'lazy', 'spoiled' and 'pampered'. It was like I couldn't do anything right. Then she came and then all the attention was on her. She was always receiving praise as if she was so special.
'Tanya's so clever', 'Tanhya works so hard'. 'Tanhya this', 'Tanhya that'. It was always Tanhya, and I was just known as the lazy spoiled prince, it was such a nuisance. The amount of times I but heads with my father half the time it had somwthing to do with Tanhya. I was so tired of always being second best to her.
Memories of the many arguments with my father came to mind as I stared at the large painting of my father in my study. Feelings of resentment came over me everytime I looked at it, I averted my eyes from it and stared down at flames in the fireplace below it. I didn't hate my father, I was more so frustrated. I felt like I was never good enough for him. Right up until he died I felt that way.
I had been going over and reading some documents in the study before I got lost in my thoughts. Deciding to get back into my document revision it was then that I heard a knock at the door. I called out for the person to enter and in came a servant. "Your majesty, Lady Remdon has come to see you." He announced.
"Let her in." I replied. After my encounter with her nearly 3 days ago I had instructed my guards to allow Samara into my wing any one of these nights. She had actually come in to see me the night before but I was busy and so I rescheduled for her to come in tonight. Whilst I could have just had her simply drop off the jacket and that would be the end of that, I was curious to see her again.
A little while later, Samara walked into the room. "Good evening your majesty." She greeted in a soft voice as she bowed before slowly approaching me. I noticed she had a bag in hand which I assumed held the jacket I had given her.
"Good evening, please take a seat." I gestured towards the seat opposite mine in the seating area near the fire place.
As she took a seat I took note of her appearance. She was well dressed in a lovely evening gown that accentuated her body, my eyes momentarily glanced at her ample bosom. Her brown hair was loose and flowed past her shoulders. She looked beautiful, however, she appeared....different than I remembered. Aside from the fact that she wasn't in the dishevelled state she was in when I saw her a few days ago, she seemed different from when I first met her. When her father had brought her to my office that is. Perhaps, I hadn't properly looked at her before.
"I brought your jacket ." she said softly, lifting the bag that she brought with her before placing it by her feet. Her cheeks were red from blushing perhaps she'd noticed me staring.
"I'll have a servant take care of it later." I told her.
"Again, I thank you for your kindness on that day, your grace." She then expressed, her large brown eyes looked right into mine and I saw they were filled with gratitude. A warm feeling came over me as the sight of them.
"Your welcome and it wasn't a problem at all." I reassured her. "How are you feeling now?"
Her eyes went cold for a second before answering. "I'm alright now." However, she didn't make eye contact with me.
Clearly she didn't mean what she was saying, she still seemed upset. Perhaps something else happened. We were quiet for a moment as I tried to figure out how best to talk to her. Samara looked around the room for a moment before her eyes landed on the portait of my father.
"Is that your father, King Henry?" She asked me as she took a look at the painting above the fireplace.
"Yes, it is." I responded as she stood up to take a closer look.
"You resemble him so much." she said.
"You think so?" I asked with a smirk.
She nodded her head playfully as she continued to examine the picture.
"What was he like?" she inquired. "Not as a King, but as your father, I mean."
"Strict." I simply answered.
"Really?" She asked in disbelief. "I can imagine he does look scary." She remarked with a giggle.
Perhaps if I opened up a bit about myself she would feel a little more comfortable. "He was always so hard on me, anything I did was never good enough for him."
Samara looked at the fireplace for a moment "Sorry about that."
"Don't be." I told her. "Parents can be like that." I tried to laugh it of. "Does your father know you're here?" I then asked curiously.
Samara went quiet for a moment. "No." She responded slowly, "I simply told him I was going for a walk." embarrassed. "I didn't tell him about our encounter the other day either."
"Didn't he see you wearing my jacket when you got back to your quarters?"
"Fortunately, he was out at the time so I was able to keep it hidden." She explained.
So far I hadn't told anyone about our encounter in the gardens. The only people that knew were the guards that guarded my wing but they weren't permitted to meddle in my business or speak about it to anyone. I didn't want to draw too much attention to us just yet.
"And how are things with your father?" I asked carefully.
"I'm not exactly on speaking terms with my father right now. Everytime we talk we end up arguing and he won't listen to me" She didn't turn to face me as she answered she just continued to look into the fireplace. "He- he thinks I'm being immature," She bit her lip as she spoke. "That I'm being selfish for not staying quiet and listening to him whilst we go through this. But how can I? My life is ruined....." Her voice was breaking as she spoke.
".....I'm probably never going to get married eventhough I just came of age. I was looking forward to it. None of my friends even want to talk to me anymore. No one wants to associate with my family. I've been obedient all this time! And look where it's got me! " She let out, fighting through the tears.
"Tell me your majesty, do you.... do you think I'm being selfish?" That was the final straw as tears began to pour out of her eyes.
I observed her for a moment before I stood up from my seat and walked up to her. "I'm sorry I asked you a difficult question."
"No, not at all your grace." She said shaking her head. Standing in ft to her I then brought my hand to her chin and made her turn to face me. Whilst I wasn't going to meddle in Duke Remdon and Samaras' family issues and take sides, I did sympathize with Samara.
I placed my hand on her cheek as I wiped away her tears. "No, I don't think you're being selfish. You have a right to be upset." She looked up at me as her eyes widened in gratification. She seemed so helpless, so delicate, I wanted to protect her. Then the image of Tanhya came to mind. Did she even know how to cry? With that stone cold serious face of hers and her pathetic arrogance.
"Thank you, your majesty." Samara exclaimed as she suddenly jumped towards me and hugged me. At first I was taken aback, the only people who had ever touched me without my permission were my mother and father.
It was after a moment as if Samara realized what she doing she suddenly jumped back "I apologize your grace...."
"..It's fine." I interrupted her as I placed my arms around her waist bringing her back into me. I would make an exception. Samara cried even more as she hugged me tightly back. I wanted nothing more than to comfort her. Then I felt it.... her bosom as her chest brushed against mine. It felt much more ample than it looked, certainly more than Tanhya's from what I remember.
AUTHORS NOTES
Hey guys I am so soooooo sorry for the late update I had exams these past 2 months. It was a pretty hectic schedule and there was a lot I had to deal with but I now have more time. I'll update every week as usual now.