The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

18. Not worth saying

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"Penny, go fetch some water please. Whatever he's going to say, It would be best for us to be alone"

When Maud finally comes back to her senses, she realizes that she can't take the embarrassment of being shouted at or hit in front of her maid. Whatever her husband feels entitled to do because of her disobedience, she doesn't want Penny to be here to see it. That would only make things more awkward and complicated. So while Adelio is still outside the tent, doing god knows what to those soldiers that died to hurt her, Maud makes sure to cast Penny out before it's too late. Her maid understands. She bows once before quickly scurrying away, an empty wooden water bucket in hand. Fetching water will take a long time so Maud isn't worried anymore.

Except she is. Nervously she sits on her chair, just waiting for him to come see her. Her hands are folded neatly in her lap, but she keeps picking on her nails, a nervous habit. The screams from outside have died down but that does nothing to calm her down. What will Adelio be like when angry? He is usually so stone faced and evil-looking, that he passes off as mad every second. Even when they left the palace he didn't wave even once to Makai, nor did he say his proper goodbyes like Maud tried to do at the top of the staircase. He's always scowling, and there is always this glint of annoyance and anger in his eye. But even then Maud has never seen him actually angry before. What will he be like?

Will he hit her? Many men do that. Maud knows that, and it makes her nervous. Because he is her husband he has the right to do whatever he pleases, even kill her. Or maybe he can't kill her because she's a princess and the future queen, but he could definitely do absolutely anything else. Maud can't expect him to have a calm temper, not after what he just did to those soldiers, or after the sour mood he's been having ever since arriving at the palace for the first time. Adelio is a warrior, he's used to dealing with things using violence. Why would now be any different? Maud tries to convince herself to expect the worst from him, but there is just something stopping her.

His gentle hands from their wedding night, the way he has never truly touched her without permission, all of that points to the fact that he is a more gentle man than he appears to be. Sure, he may scowl and look intimidating at all times, but does that have to mean that he actually wants to hurt her? Hurting soldiers who have threatened one's wife is different from hurting one's wife. Maybe he's just keeping a mask over his face, a mask of anger to make others fear him, but in reality he doesn't really care for violence. Maud isn't sure which version of the prince she is to believe in, and how nervous she should be. But at the end of the day, she doesn't have a say. He'll do whatever he wants to do and she won't fight back. She'll stay quiet and still like a good princess should, that's at least something she can do without training to be a princess.

Maud rehearses this a few times in her head. She's supposed to stand up when he comes, bow to him as usual, and avert her gaze. Don't speak and don't fight back. If she doesn't look at him he'll probably calm down faster, because Maud can already guess that her face is aggravating to look at for someone who is a prince of their enemy kingdom. After several run throughs of this, the door of her tent is opened. Maud looks up and stands up at the same time, seeing her tall husband fill the entire doorway as he walks through. Adelio is somewhat less aggressive than she expected him to be, but the blood on his sword paints a very scary picture. Maud watches him throw his sword to the floor and ruffle his hair, walking straight up to her. So she bows and looks down, knowing that this is the moment when she finds out the truth about her husband.

You know what they say, a woman should always try to make her partner very angry before marrying them. Just to know what they would do. Too bad Maud doesn't have that privilege. And even if she had gotten him mad on purpose before their wedding, she wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it from happening either way. This isn't a love match. Makai wouldn't care about whatever abusive tactics Adelio uses, in fact he might use them himself. Maud knows that she is completely alone in this world, and that means that luck is the only person that she can turn to. By luck, Adelio is an exceptionally nice husband. Most likely, like all other men, he isn't.