The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

37. What makes a woman

🌾

⚠️ I have taken liberties with the faith in this chapter, trying to mirror what the mentioned faith would have looked like in a more distant time in our history. This is not representative of the faith itself, ?homophobia?, mentions of death⚠️

"Come to bed with me"

Maud is starting to get it. Maybe. Something just feels like she knows.

Adelio takes her hand in his. He's shaking, just a little bit. A soft tremble that makes her worried for him, even though she has no reason to. How big could his secret possibly be, that makes him shaking so? It can't possibly be as insignificant as her secret. Maud has never seen Adelio nervous and yet now he looks as terrified as she was when she first met her brother.

They sit down on their shared bed, the covers soft and smooth under Maud's body. The room is drenched in a soft darkness, the only source of light coming from the three candles lit around the bedchamber. Maud doesn't know what to make of herself, as she sits there with her hands in her lap. Or one of her hands. The other one is held by Adelio, and he has quite the death grip around it. Adelio takes a few calming breaths, and his shaking hands slowly let go of her. The king glances at his queen for a moment, but quickly looks away, as if ashamed.

And he probably should be. The sky reigns down upon them, as his sins are exposed. What shame. What scandal. How terrible it is, that no matter what kind of relationship the king has, it will always be immoral. And yet here the king is, holding his queen's hand, about to show his true colors. Maud watches as his hands rise up to the collar of his linen shirt, and he slowly unbuttons the first button. His beautiful skin shines underneath, showing his collarbones and wide shoulders. Maud watches him with an intensity that most definitely makes him more nervous than before. He is beautiful, and he always will be, no matter what his secret is.

Adelio continues to slowly unbutton his shirt, until he reaches the fourth one. At this point a large part of his chest is exposed, showing nothing but skin underneath. Maud doesn't understand. It's just skin, it's just his body. She has seen this much before. He is her husband after all. But Adelio is nearly frozen still, his hands hovering above the fourth button. The king's eyes are focused on the floor, unclear and out of this world. Maud has patience, she waits for him to come back from his realm of thoughts. Adelio revisits every moment he has shattered glass and thrown a fit of rage over this secret. He remembers every single grievance and it is as if his life flashes before his eyes. This small moment, sitting next to his wife, this small moment before everything could fall apart. It feels like the most important moment of them all. Like the sky is slowly falling upon him.

Maud is startled when he snaps back to reality, turning to face her with wide eyes.

"Do you remember that old woman who yelled at me in the city of birds?"

The queen doesn't know what to say. The city of birds? It seems like everything concerning his secret circles back to that city. That's where they adopted Alaric, that's where he yelled at a lady for calling him a woman. The city of birds, what's so special about that place? Why is it that he always becomes weird like this when it is mentioned? But Adelio looks so startled, so oddly nervous with his eyes wide and hands frozen. So Maud doesn't say anything. She only nods. Pity blooms in her chest. Why is her husband so nervous about this? What secret could possibly be bad enough for him to act this way?

"That woman- she... well she spoke of crazy things, right?"

Maud frowns, but nods again. She wants to do everything in her power for Adelio to calm down and feel normal again. The guy who was kind and calm enough to laugh at her secret. The man who is always so sure in their relationship, who knows what he is doing. The man who isn't sad like this, who doesn't make her heart hurt for him like this. She can't stand seeing Adelio hurt and scared. Especially when she knows that he is scared of her.