Aurelia:It’s been eight weeks since Mallon left Northlaye and Edric’s patience has started to wear thin. Within the last few days, he’s asked to see me several times, only so he can scold and belittle me. “There’s been no word! No word!!” he would scream in my face “I knew he was pretending to want you as a bride, I’ll be he couldn’t wait to get as far from you as possible” It was only yesterday morning he had blamed me again and now I was starting to believe it myself, what if it was all a ruse? A pretence so he could get away from here without causing a potential war!He would call King Aldrich a weak pussy, not strong enough to rule a kingdom and the way things were going, I could sense that maybe King Aldrich’s kingdom would soon not be safe from my father’s wrath… my father’s pride was on the balance here and for him that was something that would wound him more than anything else and I knew before he hit at them, he’d hit at me first and I was dreading that day!“Have you finish
The next morning, I ate alone in my room then set out for a morning walk, a time when it would be quiet and I could head to the woods to pretend just for a moment I was free, even with Nathaniel by my side he could sense I wanted just peace today, no conversation, no worries and no king Edric! But just as we were out of the doors, I noticed in the distance a small heard of horses and men with flags pacing toward us in the distance, both me and Nathaniel stopped in our tracks immediately as we looked before us in confusion and concern.“Go and tell the king! I demanded as I glanced to Nathaniel “they have a flag, it must be someone of importance and call Matthias he should be in the main hall”He nodded and quickly ran back into the castle, I slowly made my way to the gates as I motioned to the guards standing nearby to follow me, I could start to make out the colours of yellow and white on their flag, and it was colours I did not recognise to belong to any of our allies. “Be prepared
Aldrich’s POV:I knew I had to go into this meeting tactfully, not showing my true thoughts about king Edric and his rule, I had to come here to form my own opinion before I could really make a sound decision on what course to take, but I had a feeling Mallon’s description of Edric was not exaggerated, why just meeting Aurelia had already given me an inkling on that.The moment I saw her at the gate, I knew straight away it had to be her, her long hair shone just as warmly as her smile and the kindness in her sea blue eyes that betrayed her, for they proved just how innocent and submissive she was and I was eager to know the young girl more… the girl that in a short space of time managed to make my son fall in love with her and truth be told, a part of me didn’t want her to leave my side, I had a funny feeling she’d be the only one here with some sense, someone I could relate to.Mr Williamson pulled out a chair at a long, narrow and stained wooden table, I nodded in thanks to the poo
Aldrich’s POV:Polite little Maude escorted me to Edric’s privy chamber and I was annoyingly shocked at how overdecorated it was. My eyes glanced quickly over the many tapestries that hung neatly on the walls, the long expensive rugs coating the stone floor, his desk was covered in gold and silver ornaments, more of them flocked all around the room, neatly lined on the floor in front of the walls. His desk chair looked as plush and rich as his throne! When I first arrived here yesterday, I felt the place was very plain, cold and underdressed, barely any decorative attempt anywhere... and now I know why, Edric had only felt it necessary to completely cover his own room with pricey trinkets and materials. I inwardly rolled my eyes as Edric motioned for me to sit in the empty chair opposite his desk.“Have you enjoyed your morning here, my friend?” Edric asked me as his lips turned up into a cocky smileFriend? I scoffed to myself “Yes I have, in fact, I decided to spend a little bit of
Aurelia’s POV:I walked through the corridors with a certain bounce in my step today. I had woken up this morning to see the sun shining and all I wanted was to take Artax out for a ride and breathe in the fresh air. My thoughts suddenly went to Aldrich, I hadn’t seen him since our talk yesterday and I wondered how he was managing to cope with my father. As if my thoughts came to reality, Aldrich suddenly appeared from around the corner ahead of me, his face suddenly breaking into a warm smile as he saw me, his arms stretched out as he quickened his steps. I smiled shyly as I suddenly felt nervous, just like I had before.“Wow, what a beautiful lady to see so early in the day” he greeted as he stood inches in front of meI smiled as my head dipped down to my feet bashfully before I looked back up at him “Good morning your majesty, did you sleep well?”He thought for a moment as he let out a small groan “It was certainly better than my first night here. Are you off somewhere?”"Yes, I
When I woke the next morning, my face wasn’t throbbing, after Maude had put a cold flannel on it, but it still hurt to touch and I could feel that part of my skin had become bumpy. I knew he left a mark, which meant I now had to put up with him mocking me in front of people, telling them how clumsy I am for falling over, or always managing to get myself scrapes and scratches. I don’t know if anyone ever actually believed him, but either way, they knew better than to voice their opinion.As soon as I sat up, my head started to thud, I tried to rub it away, wishing I could just go back to sleep, at least for a few days, at least until I could be bothered to deal with yet another day of seeing my father’s smug face.Just as I was willing my headache to go away, Maude came into my room with a tray of porridge and warm lemon water.“Oh, you’re up, my dear. I thought I’d have to wake you. How are you feeling?”“Like… like someone’s just hit me across the head”“Oh, my darling” she sympathis
Mallon’s POV:I spent the last three weeks taking over all my father’s duties while he was gone. It took so much to hold back and not go to Northelye with him. “I can’t have you there being all hot-headed” My father said.“I need to see King Edric myself, I need to think of what’s right for our kingdom, my son, so I’m afraid you’re just going to have to stay here and trust that I will do what needs to be done” and I did trust him. I trusted him more than any man, I had nothing but respect and admiration for him. But he didn’t know what I was thinking or feeling. He didn’t know how guilty I felt for leaving Aurelia the way I did.Having to put duty before love. That’s the fucked up thing about being a king, queen, prince, princess! No matter what, duty always came first… duty to the crown and kingdom. Of course, I completely honoured and respected the way of things, but it didn’t make me feel any better for hurting someone so innocent. Even with the letter I left for her, I knew it wou
I sat in a daze at my dressing table, brushing my hair. I felt glum today and my chest felt heavy. I knew it was because my heart just wanted a break, something good. Some light to shine in on our lives, not just for me, but for everyone. I kept thinking on how I felt like a prisoner. I couldn’t run away as much as I fantasized about it. I couldn’t without Edric hurting anyone just to find me, but in reality, we were all prisoners. Edric held the key to all of our lives.“Are you ok, my dear?” Maude asked as she walked into my room and jolted me out of my daze.“Mmhmm” I replied.“Aurelia! What is going around in that head of yours?”“Nothing, I was just getting ready for bed”“Well, it doesn’t even look like you’ve brushed your hair properly. Here, let me do it” she said softly as she took the brush from my hand and began to stroke it through my hair gently.I sighed “We’re all just stuck here, aren’t we?”“Well, obviously we all dream of things being better, but all we can do is thi
Four years later. I held firmly onto the bedpost as Maude laced the back of my dress. I reached for another piece of dry, cooked bread that she had advised might help with my sickness. My little bump was starting to show now under my dress, but this time I was more excited than I had been when I was withchild with Helena and she was just as excited as me and Mallon at the thought of her having a baby brother or sister. “Feeling any better my dear?” Maude asked as she finished the last bit of my dress. “Umm, a little, but it comes and goes”. “Well remember, just little nibbles dear”. She took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs and I took the one opposite her. Helena was with Lillian and her son Thomas, he was one now and every day he would want to follow Helena and she adored him and his little giggles, every time she did a silly dance or put on a puppet play for him. We couldn’t wait for her to be a big sister, we could see already she’d take the role seriously. So while Helen
Ten months later.In between trying to walk and crawl, Helena was trying to waddle across the throne room before sinking to her knees again after a few unsteady steps. Mallon swooped in behind her, clapping his hands and opening up his arms, he tried to encourage her to stand again and walk towards him. “seeing as she loves food so much, perhaps we should bribe her into walking”. He chuckled and I laughed with him.“Before you know it, she’ll be running circles around you and you won’t be able to keep up with her!“. I joked with him.“Yes, she’s definitely going to keep us chasing after her that’s for sure!”Just then Maude came in and straight away she rushed over to Helena and picked her up, giving her a hug. “Are you trying to walk, little princess? Don’t you just look positively beautiful today. You’re looking more and more just like your mother when she was a baby.” She coo’d at Helena.“She will be a beauty indeed, like her mother and one day she’ll capture the stone heart of a
Three weeks later“AAAAHHHHHH!! AAAAHHHHH.... IT HURTS, IT HURTS AAAAHHHH, WHY ISN’T IT OUT YET!!” I kept screaming at the doctor, Maude and the wise woman who was acting as my midwife. Luckily she had safely birthed children of her own and aided many women through the births of their own but as experienced as she was, I was not prepared for it to hurt THIS DAMN MUCH!“WHY ISN’T IT COMING? AAAAHHH! IS IT OK? AAHHHH FUCK!”The moment Mallon heard my screams, he broke tradition and came bounding into the room and took my hand as I squeazed his hard. “Mallon, it isn’t coming, why isn’t it coming yet?” I asked breathlessly as I writhed in pain.“It’s ok my love, it’s ok, the baby will come, you’re doing great my love, just keep strong”.“It fucking HUUURTS AHHHH!“. I yelled again.I saw as Mallon looked at the wise woman, I quickly looked to her aswell for a sign of what was happening. She simply nodded “This is normal, the baby will be ready to be pushed out, just keep breathing”.I want
Three months later:I walked through the halls whilst the autumn sun was streaming through the windows, my steps were slower and I felt like I was a waddling duck. All I could hear was John and Kol’s armour slowy shuffling behind me as they patiently waited for me to get to Cedric and Belinda’s room. My hands rested on my huge bump as I willed for it to stop pushing all of it’s weight onto my vagina and my legs, I felt as if someone had rested sacks of grain on my stomach and my feet were starting to swell in these blasted shoes that were squeazing my toes together.I entered quietly into their room to see the doctor wetting a cool cloth on Belinda’s forehead as she lay sleeping in bed, with Cedric and Nathaniel standing beside it, looking down at her, their faces tight with worry. I walked over to them and rested my hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder as belinda’s breaths were short and heavy, like every time she breathed in, it was as if she was gasping for air to reach her lungs. Cedric s
Ten weeks later:With everything that was looming over us, the village had been quiet since our soldiers had left almost two months ago. It seemed as though the sky had known the heaviness in our hearts as since the night they left, we hadn’t seen the sun in the sky. Grey clouds swarmed the sky from morning to night as if displaying the gloominess that lurked inside of us all every day. It was only three days ago that I was awoken with the news that I had been waiting for every day and worrying and filled with dread for the lives of all of our men.King Broch had finally returned word to me and had decided to agree to a new peace treaty and had informed me that he will not act against any of my allies unless he has good cause in future to do so. He explained that he was aware of Edric being removed from the throne but not why.. and that after conversing with neighbouring kings and queens, he found justifiable cause in Edric’s reign being put to an end. I took his letter to mean that h
Eight weeks later:I sat excitedly in a velvet cushioned seat with Mallon next to me, his hand covering mine on the arm rest as we over looked the crowd that was standing by in the village, with smiles of glee of the new matrimony they were exhilarated to see with this feeling of us all being brought together today for a happy celebration. I looked at the stone Pillars that were covered in green ivy and white flowers as Nathaniel stood in between them, waiting with the priest. I could see him nervously shifting on his feet as he waited for Lillian to appear.It wasn’t long until a young man, playing a soft tune on a flute began walking down the petal filled isle with Lillian close behind, with her mother walking at her side. Lillian’s dress was white lace from the bodice to the hem. The sleeves at her forearms flowed as she clutched her bouquet of white and pink blossoms. Her long brown hair was wavey with a band of flowers resting on her head. She looked like earth and nature, so pur
I awoke this morning feeling rather dizzy and Maude’s usual breakfast made my stomach turn, all I could eat was an apple and berries. When I still felt quesy by noon, I had sent for the doctor. I wasn’t panicked by being unwell, I just didn’t have the time to sit around until I was better, so I had hoped the doctor could give me some herbs and treatments to keep it at bay, but when he came to see me and did some rather different observations, none that I had ever had before. When he told me why I was feeling so ill. I felt as though someone had kicked me in the gut and hit my head with a shield.I knew it would happen eventually, but.... but if felt too soon. it has barely been a year since I became queen and wedded Mallon, I wasn’t sure if I was readily equipped for this!After wrapping my head around my shock I set off to find Mallon, who was in our study looking over letters from Kings that used to be allies of Edric and from the concentration on his face, it didn’t seem like posit
Four weeks later:Over the last few weeks, me and Mallon had been in constant communication with Aldrich In Ailingdale. Through his and our most trusted messengers we had finally signed and sealed our peace treaty, bringing our kingdoms together. Aldrich had also included in his letters that he had been in many talks with his allies in hopes to convince them to allign with Northleye. He spoke of how at first they all had refused to join forces with the king of greed of Northleye but that once he had told them of Edric’s removal from the throne and the new queen in his place, only too soon did I have letters from kings and queens in other kingdoms wanting to know more of me and the current state of my kingdom.I was only too eager to tell them of all the work we had done for our people who were now living in their new homes. All thier old shacks had been torn down to make way for a more variety and prosperous village market. Our Tavern had been refurbished as the roof had been falling
Three days later:Since our wedding night me and Mallon made love the moment we were alone in our room at the end of each day. He was right of course... by the third time we made love, my whole body completely melted into his and all my nerves I had before had vanished. It was such a powerful, exhillerating explosion that swept through my entire body and released on his penis as we both had peaked together. I knew from Maude’s descriptions what reaching peak meant, however she never told me what it would feel like and the incredible pleasure it could bring. Once Mallon had known I was just as pleasured now as he was, he was even more eager for us to be alone. Each night we would make love until the candle’s light went out and when morning came, we would do it again. And I stuck to my promise of calling him my husband each night and morning and he reciprocated by lovingly calling me his wife.The last three days I felt as though I was walking on a blissful cloud a bounce in each step I