She Who is King

6 | polished as obsidian

England 

I NODDED, too afraid of my voice to speak. 

Arthur smiled, and I wondered if he had any idea of the effect he had on me. 

What was I doing? I had just met the man, and who had ever heard of someone developing feelings immediately? It must be a head cold.

Arthur began to move around the room, waving his hands and muttering under his breath, while Merlin nodded approvingly, almost as though he could hear was Arthur was saying.

I sat up in my throne, my clip glistening in the light. Arthur's eyes snagged on mine for a second, and my pulse sped up.

Lord have mercy on my soul.

Suddenly, the candles blew out simultaneously. 

The room, blanketed in darkness, began to close in on me. I had never suffered from fear of the darkness, but it seemed I had a new phobia.

The darkness was closing in.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

The room swirled in front of me, and my dessert attempted to make a reappearance. 

The floor moved under my feet, knocking me onto my knees. I began crawling wildly in the general direction of the door. I needed out, and I needed out now.

I couldn't talk, and it didn't feel like I was moving. The darkness was petrifying.

Suddenly, as though God himself had decided to rescue me from the blind purgatory, a single flame appeared in the middle of the room. The most curious thing about this light, however, was that it was not burning on top of a candle wick. It was simply... floating.

I nearly cried out in relief, but I didn't. I simply laid on my back and watched as Arthur duplicated the flame, and duplicated those two flames, on and on until the room was back to its original lighting. I could have fainted out of relief.

"Are you okay, Majesty?" Alfred asked, looking alarmed at my position laying underneath the table. I supposed it was a bit odd for a future monarch to be laying down underneath the table, but considering that I could now breathe normally, I decided that the pain in my lungs would recede faster if I stayed in the same area.

"I seem to have suffered from some sort of fear," I said, still short on breath. "I'm sure I'll be perfectly normal in a couple minutes. Please, carry on without me."

Alfred threw me a worried glance, but said nothing further. The sound of silverware on cutlery began again, and I laid my head back on the ground, willing feeling back into my fingers and toes. 

My back sank into the velvet carpet, and I stayed on the ground a little longer than I needed to.

What on Earth was that?

I eventually got up and resumed my seat, Arthur throwing questioning glances my way every couple minutes. I waited until everyone had finished their treat before retiring to my room.

But I didn't go to sleep upon my arrival.

I bolted into my study, unexplainable adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was as though I was afraid of being caught entering my own office.

How odd. 

I slipped into my chair and began to read the war strategy book from where I had left off previously.

While reading through the tactics and the advantages of which terrain and the disadvantages of which strategy, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I suggested a meeting with the Saxon's leader. It would certainly lead to less bloodshed, but in order to orchestrate such a meeting, I would have to not only be king, but be recognized as female to the general public.