The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

20. Aamu, the suspicious one

🌾

Maud waits patiently in the carriage, a whole two minutes after they have stopped. She closed the curtains a long time ago, and covered herself up completely with the veil. The sounds from outside the vehicle are loud and scary, she can hear murmurs and soldiers talking loudly. She knows that she's supposed to wait here until Adelio comes to open the door for her, but whatever she'll be facing on the other side of these doors makes her more and more anxious by the minute.

The fact that Adelio has to come with her is just another way men control women these days. It used to be different in the past, where women could even rule if they wanted to, and serve in the army. The centuries old first female ruler of this kingdom is the only evidence of such a time. But now, married women should be accompanied by their husbands, and unmarried women by their fathers or brothers. Maud is a married woman now, so she is expected to only be seen with one man by her side and absolutely nobody or nothing else. Not alone, always with him. That's the life of a woman here. Maud wishes that it was different. If only there was a woman in a high position of power right now, someone who wasn't just the wife of a king or prince, or the sister of one, but actually one. How amazing would that be?

"His highness is coming now"

Maud hears her maid whisper to her from the outside. Penny left the carriage through the west door immediately when they arrived. She's supposed to open the carriage door for her when Adelio stands in front of it. Maud can hear her husband's heavy footsteps and she holds her breath, fixes her dress and her hair and veil to absolute perfection. This is what she needs to be. Perfect, perfect in front of her new father in law and sisters in law. The royals and nobles that will inevitably be standing by the main entrance of the Red Lion palace. And a part of her feels happy that she is received this way, and not through the back door like she was last time. But another part of her isn't too overjoyed, as she knows it's only because of her husband's status that she is allowed to be let in so publicly.

Of course, on a personal level, the people standing outside her carriage are more interested in her than they are in the prince. She's their new crown princess after all, and nobody has seen her face before.

The door opens with a loud squeak. Maud stands up from her seat in the carriage and heads for the opening, a bright light shining through. The curtains swing by the impact, and suddenly everything is dead silent. They are all looking at her, Maud knows it. And to see her for the first time, to hear her for the first time, everybody has gone quiet. But all she sees is Adelio, as his handsome face peeks through the carriage, and his hand is reached out for her to take. He looks like he always does, serious and cold. But Maud swears that she can see something else on his face too. Like something is bothering the prince. Nervousness, or perhaps annoyance?

Maud accepts his outreached hand and takes a firm grip around it to steady herself. She doesn't want to fall out of a carriage on her first official day as crown princess, now does she? Adelio is strong and reliable, his hand doesn't waver and it feels reassuring to put her pink high heeled shoe on the carriage step and peek outside. Her dress falls perfectly down her figure, and her veil stays in place, barely hiding Maud's thoroughly brushed and fixed brown hair. Maud bites her lip in concentration, as she gracefully gets down from the carriage with everybody's eyes on her. She doesn't dare to look up and see them, afraid of puking or fainting at the sight of them.

Once she has reached the ground, Maud expects Adelio's grip to waver. She forgot her place as a wife, always expected to lean on her husband. Adelio doesn't let go. His grip barely loosens but it can't be noticed from the crowd. The princess breathes out shakily, and basks in the surprising freshness of the Red Lion palace air. Outside in the countryside and even in the capital, the air is pressingly hot this time of year. Maud has experienced that over the last few weeks. But here, surrounded by hundreds of trees and dozens of fountains, the palace is refreshingly breezy and the air isn't as dry as it is on the outside. Carefully letting her eyes wander from one thing to another, Maud and Adelio make their way up the wide marble staircase of this huge palace.