The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

10. Devil-like

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Today is the day.

Such a common thing to say. That is what a peasant would say. That is what the old maud would've said, on such a day like this one. But Maud needs to think bigger now. Bigger than the farm, bigger than a peasant, no matter if that hurts or not. She needs to think of others like her now, royalty and nobility, who's every decision in life is impacted and impacts politics and the climate around them. Maud needs to think like them, because she is one of them now. A princess.

Which is why she won't say, today is the day. Today is a day of great grievance for her. She will say that instead. As a princess, today is a day of celebration and victory, but for her as a person, it is a day of sorrow. An era comes to an end today. Maud would've thought that her era ended when the soldiers came knocking on her door, but in reality it ends now. This is the end of her story, and there won't be another meaningful beginning. Maud has written a book in her head about herself, every chapter filled with her own thoughts and emotions. But that book has run out of pages, as she sits here on the last blank piece of paper.

The words that are said next won't be written down.

Maud knows that she is being dramatic about this, or at least it feels that way, she can imagine Makai telling her that she is being dramatic. But it's hard not to be, when one's life is about to come to an end. At least, her life as she knows it. Mud can't imagine a life with that guy, with her fiancé. She can't imagine being married to an enemy tyrant, it's just too horrifying. It's so scary that even her nightmares can't depict it correctly. So instead she would like to consider this as the end, because that would be less scary than facing the truth. That this is really, only the beginning.

Standing there on the courtyard, her face covered by a light blue veil as she waits for her fiancé to arrive with everyone else. They were spotted on the way and their arrival was not far away. Maud can feel nervousness itching in her entire body. She doesn't know what to do. This is her first time out in public, the first time many of these maids and guards see her in person. The princess was announced only two days ago, her existence was made official only two days ago. That is why every curious eye is pointed in her direction, and she has to suffer from two ends at the same time.

She is dressed in a very uncomfortable blue dress, symbolizing the colors of the empire. The blue dress covers her arms with long sleeves and her neck with a high blue lace. She has lighter blue gloves over her hands and her dress falls all the way down to the ground. Her head is covered by a loose royal blue scarf and her face by a see-through, lighter blue veil. Maud has never worn anything so modest before. Ever since the announcement of her existence two days ago, she has been dressed from top to toe. It seems like her brothers are trying to hide her, and partly Maud is thankful. It hides her from the prying eyes of the palace staff and guests, and keeps her from having to face her fiancé today, completely exposed. There are always positives to everything.

Maud is standing there, on top of the many, many palace stairs. It's the main entrance of the palace, a place where she has never been before, and the stairs are too many to count. That's where she stands, gazing over the huge courtyard filled with luscious green trees and servants standing in long rows along the road to the palace from the gate. Nobody dares to talk or move. They are all waiting for the anticipated moment to happen. Next to her, all of her brothers are standing with curious smiles over their faces. All of them except for Makai, who despite ordering all of this, has yet to show up. With an audience the size of this one, while being the center of attention after prince Adelio, Maud feels more nervous than she ever has before.

She is practically shaking behind her several layers of clothing.

The gates are still closed, but she can see them open in her imagination. Those gates haven't opened during the whole time Maud has been at the palace. They are only opened when the king leaves, or when a distinguished guest arrives. For other people, there are many other fancy and easier gates to open around the palace grounds. This gate is so big and majestic, that it takes twenty men to pull it, and is a huge security risk to keep it open. It's like a mouth around toxic waste. It should be kept closed as often as possible. That is why it is so interesting, all of this. This is a huge moment for everyone at the palace, a huge event which most servants take part of.