"Ovian? I need to ask you something." I said as we watched television together. We had just finished dinner and we were relaxing before we go for bed or I go for bed. He said he had some work to do in his study.
"What is it?"
"I read somewhere that Charlotte's grandfather was one of the seven on the council. Is it true?"
He nodded. "I think so. Why are you asking? Do you want to join?" He looked amused.
I stared at the TV. "Can a woman join?"
"Not sure but nothing in the constitution states otherwise and no woman has ever joined."
"Why?"
"The obvious?" At my blank expression, he said, 'They don't have the necessary education to be a part of such an elite body."
I roll my eyes. "And whose fault is that?"
Ovian chuckled. "I know you an idealist, baby. But these things are dicey."
"Ovian, how would you feel if your daughter only has a high school education. No standard education, even standard two!" Higher forms of education are called Standards of different levels for different professions. We had standards up to five on various fields of study.
He shook his head. "Baby, I know you want to reform the laws to give the girl child more opportunities than is given to them right now-"
I gasped. "How did you know?"
He smiled. "I have read your jottings."
I was about to protest when he said, "I am sorry I did. I was actually looking for a writing pad and I didn't want to go to my study so I took yours. That's how I found out. I didn't mean to snoop."
"Yeah you didn't." I said folding my arms over my chest.
"My father is old, and weak. For a very long time, he left the reigns of the Republic to the hands of the Seven and ever since they have been the ones ruling. The same happened with his father. So if you are going to fight that battle, it will be long and dreadful because those old men will make sure of that. And Lahran," he sighed. "Lahran doesn't want to be king. His mother is the one pushing him and he doesn't have the guts to say no. So I doubt if he will be any different from father."
I sighed. "May I ask another question?"
He nodded, looking at the time.
"How... May I know how much money I have at my disposal?" I ask fidgeting with the bottom of my shirt.
Ovian chuckled. "A lot actually. If you had bothered to check your bank statements, you will realise that Charlotte's father's estate is now in your name. And my generous father has released his accounts and they are all yours now. You are a very rich woman, Tania."
My eyes went wide. Oh my!
Ovian chuckled again, he looked at his watch again, "I have to leave now." He says.
I simply nodded. I was still dumbfounded by the news he just gave me. He leaned down and gave me a kiss on my forehead. "I will see you in the morning." And he walked out of the living room.
Immediately he left, I picked up my phone and called Taylor. A few minutes later, she was in my quarters.
"Wow!" She exclaims as soon I told her what Ovian had said. "Wow!" She said again.
"Taylor, I want to create a foundation. I want to use the foundation as a platform to begin a campaign for female advanced literacy and marriage reforms." I said pacing the room. My head was swimming with ideas. Finally, I can make a difference. I didn't care what Ovian had said about the challenges I will face but what good is a cause without challenges?
"I want to create an avenue where the female child can go to any length of education she desires, and also have the sole choice of choosing a life partner." I continued. "That means I will need lawyers, other advocates..." I turned to Taylor. "You know those people who had been advocating for these things didn't have the monarch backing them. Now they will." I said feeling a rush of adrenalin at the prospect of actually fulfilling my dreams.
Taylor laughed. "Tania, slow down before you burst a nerve! I can't even begin to imagine what is going on in that brain of yours."
"Taylor, you don't understand." I said sitting down beside her and taking her hands in mine. "Now, we can do something! Don't you see? Female doctors don't have to come from other kingdoms. The Republic can groom and educate their own! We will have doctors, lawyers, engineers! Our women will not be entrepreneurs alone! Or plain old housewives. We won't have to do menial jobs because we don't have the education! No more!"
Taylor just kept laughing. "I do understand perfectly."
I got up again. I was on a roll. "I will hold a ball or a luncheon and invite all the wives of all the Lords of this land. We will take over. Our female children will have much better chances than we do."
"You had a better chance, you married the prince."
I roll my eyes. "That's because I had to blackmail him! What if I had kept my mouth shut, we would have exhausted our ten thousand dollars and gone back to square one. I was lucky Taylor. But these kids many aren't. Do you know how many girls are unmarried in Tuncan County?" I ask. Then I had another idea. "What if I hold a singles' ball, where every eligible bachelor will attend? That will give these ladies the opportunity to mingle and possibly get married."
"Hmmm, that could work," Taylor said nodding her head.
"Of course it will!" I said, smiling gleefully.
I went on and on until it was almost midnight. Taylor indulged me by listening until I noticed that she had begun to doze off. So I ushered her back to her room and prepared for bed. But my mind was too wired to sleep. I got out my writing pad, and wrote down all the ideas that I had mentioned earlier and more. I wrote out a plan as to how I would accomplish them, and the people I would need.
I made a mental note to talk to Ovian before I took any action. I needed his say so, moreover, he could introduce me to people, influential people who would help make all this a reality.
Reality, I wondered. Just a little over two months and here I am. Everything seems to be falling into place. I put down my pen and reached beside me to switch off the lamp.
I am so grateful for how things are turning out. They may not be perfect but they are not so bad either. I smiled contendedly. I was indeed lucky to have met Ovian.
Speaking of Ovian, this is the second night I will be sleeping alone. I sighed. Then I thought, maybe I can convince him to come to bed. Charlotte's father's business isn't on fire. I thought as climb down the bed and tie my robe about my waist. I took my phone and left our quarters.
I silently make my way towards his study which was a little further away from our quarters. He had shown me the day before our wedding. As I made my way down the well lit corridors, my heart beat increased in anticipation of how much he would welcome my surprise. I was going to fulfil one of my fantasies tonight.
I wanted him to make love to me on his desk. The thought of it alone had my body tingling already with desire. Soon I got to the door. I took a deep breath and turned the handle. It opened noisely and I slipped inside the lighted office.
As soon as I did, I heard someone moaning. I couldn't make out the sound until suddenly, I recognized it to be the sounds of a woman. The sounds were coming from behind a couch. Suddenly, I couldn't breath. I wanted to bolt out the door but my legs refused to move.
Then suddenly, the woman stood up and I saw Ovian stand up as well from behind the couch.
"Alex-"
"Shhh," she said as she placed a finger on his lips which she proceeded to slip into his mouth.
Ovian reached up to remove her hand from his mouth and that was when he saw me.
His startled gaze quickly changed to fear as he pushed Alex away from him.
His shirt was open and his belt unbuckled, while she was completely naked. She turned to see me, a malicious smirk curving her red lips, she placed her hands on the back of the couch so that, her breasts dangled in front of her, while her ass was in the air.
The smirk on her face told me everything I needed to know. I hadn't realized that I was crying until I tasted the salty liquid as it slipped into my open mouth.
That was when my feet moved. I turned around and quickly opened the door. "Tania."
I slammed the door shut and ran as fast as I could. I couldn't see where I was going. My heart was threatening to burst. Somehow, I managed to run in the direction of Taylor's room. As soon as I got there, I began to knock frantically on the door.
A sleepy Taylor opened the door to find me slumped on the tiled floor. "Tania! Tania!" She shook me. "You are scaring me, what is wrong?"
I just kept on crying, I couldn't put it into words. I didn't even know why seeing Ovian with another woman affected me so much. It wasn't like I was in love with him? Or was I? The thought just made cry the more. Taylor managed to pull me up and was leading me into her room when Ovian came rushing towards us.
"Taylor! Tania! Thank God you are alright. When I didn't see you in the apartment, I thought..." Ovian was running towards us.
"My prince, what is going on?" Taylor asked.
"Tania please, I can explain... It's not what you think..." He reached for me.
"Don't you dare touch me! You don't have that right anymore." I sobbed. "I don't even know how I thought you could change. You can't change!" I cried. "Remember, when I said you were like your father and you denied it, well, it's true Ovian, whether you accept it or not." I said bitterly. "I thought we could-" I broke off because my heart was so heavy, I couldn't breath.
Taylor spoke up. "I think she should sleep in my room tonight." At that I slipped into Taylor's room and coiled onto her bed.
At Ovian's nod, Taylor closed her door. She came into the bed and pulled me into her lap. I cried until I slept off.