The Stains of the Crown

Chapter Two

Trigger warnings: Mentions of wounds.

"Dalla, how do you like the room?" the queen asks when we walk in.

"It's lovely, your majesty. Your decorator is very talented." I tune them out in favor of my food. Occasionally, I feel eyes on me, but I ignore it.

"Jovianne, after breakfast, I was thinking you could show Echodis the gardens."

When we leave, I turn to Jovianne.

"Why is it so important that I don't hunt?" She laughs.

"You got shot. You can't honestly tell me you're not in pain."

"I've hunted in worse pain than this. This hurts less than my hips after riding all day."

"Even so, why not take advantage of the time to rest?" I narrow my eyes at her, but say nothing. We walk through the garden. There was a wide variety of flowers I'd never seen before. There was a little pond a little further in. Next to it stood a tree that cast shade on a bench. Jovianne sits on it. I follow her. It's quiet for a while before she breaks the silence.

"How did you become a Hunter?" I side-eye her for a moment before responding.

"I was homeless for a while after my parents died. I had no one to take care of me, so I ended up having to steal to survive. The hunters were having a parade in their honor, and Dalla caught me. It's kind of common knowledge." She hums.

"Do you like being a hunter?"

"I do, actually. I can't imagine doing anything else."

"What if your mate doesn't want you hunting?" I look up at the tree, watching the leaves dance.

"I don't know. I don't want to give up traveling, and I like the actual hunting. No matter what happens, I'm not going to let anybody hide me away from the world." She chuckles.

"Okay, feisty."

"What about you? What happens when you find your mate?"

"Well, they'd end up ruling the kingdom with me someday."

"Ah, shocker." She looks at me with a questioning look. "I don't mean to be offensive, but you expect your mate to give up everything and learn how to rule. What are you giving up?" We go back to watching the tree for a while.

"I would need my mate here. The fact that they're my mate, well, that alone puts a target on their back. And it's not like I have much choice here, either. I was born into this role. It's not something I decided to have."

"What would you do instead?"

"I'd explore the world. Do art. Maybe open up a shop of some kind. But I wouldn't choose this if I had a choice." I sit quietly. "I'm not going to throw caution to the wind. I know several royals that didn't want this life and chose to squander it. They made reckless decisions, and now their kingdoms are gone. I may not have chosen this life, but I have a responsibility to the people, and they deserve better than someone who shows how little they care for it."

"What if your mate is one of those people? You said they'd have to rule with you. What if they're reckless and don't make good decisions?" She sighs.

"They'll have to learn to do better, or they can't be allowed a say in what happens. And maybe they wouldn't want a say in the first place, but I don't want to be the reason they don't get one."

"I guess I get that." Eventually, she stands. We walk back through the garden and into the castle. She leads me to the library.

"Are you more of an art person or more of a book person?" I look away from one of the shelves.