The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

39. A woman in a crown

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⚠️ PG-13 ⚠️

The morning sun shines down on the palace of Red Lion. The guests from last night's coronation ceremony are all packing up to leave, it was quite the short feast. As the birds sing and the sun shines down upon the beautiful inner palace gardens, only some guests remain to enjoy the scenery. Only the closest ones to the newly crowned king and queen, the ones who truly deserve to stay. Makai finds himself standing in front of Adelio's king tree, the tree planted in his honor at his birth. It is quite a small tree compared to the other large, old and majestic ones from the other kings. But it is still there, beautiful in its own way. Makai keeps his hands behind his back as he admires the botanical beauties of this southern kingdom, some of his guards standing off to the side.

Once he hears footsteps coming his way, Makai doesn't even need to turn around to know who it is. He has always been good at remembering people, by the way they talk, walk or breathe. Especially this one has stuck to his mind in a really odd way. Now that he no longer has to worry about his sister, he can put his focus onto something that has been bothering him ever since the coronation.

That odd sister of Adelio's.

"You surprise me every time we cross paths, princess"

Makai looks at the rather tall princess Alisiah, who rolls her eyes towards I'm in return. Her confidence around him, which was quite lost earlier, has now returned. She had a short time to talk with her brother about it and came to the conclusion that she doesn't have much to fear when it comes to this king. He is scary, sure, and he does hold a lot of power in this world. But at this court she is the head princess and he is just a guest. In this court she doesn't have to act all polite around him, especially when he is so infuriating.

Yes, the princess herself has also spent the last few days thinking about this king. She had to sit next to him at the festivities, at the coronation and at all dinners since then. She even had to dance with him during the ball after the coronation, and all of it was of course by her brother's request. It seems like Adelio really doesn't like this Makai guy, but Adelio can still say this much: Makai is a very unstable and important ally to them, not to mention the most powerful king on the continent. It is only appropriate for the head princess to be his partner for his stay at the palace, to sit next to him, converse with him and dance with him. And sure, Makai is a great dancer and he makes for surprisingly good company when talking about very interesting matters, but he is still a monster from their old enemy kingdom, and quite the cocky character.

"Likewise, king Makai. I am surprised that a powerful man such as yourself is yet without a bride"

Truly Alisiah doesn't care. It is weird, but whether or not Makai has a wife really doesn't interest her in the slightest. What she is definitely interested in, is snapping back at the king. Whether that may be sugar coated and wrapped in semi-polite words, or not. And when she sees Makai's eye twitch, and expression sour for even the slightest of moments, she knows that she has won.

"I am not the only one not yet bound by matrimony, am I?"

Perhaps she celebrated a bit too late. Alisiah smiles up at Makai, even though it is clearly a very fake smile. His smile back is nearly exactly as fake.

"My brother would never marry me off without my consent, he is kind in that way"

And it's the little things that make her gain the upper hand with this man, from the fact that she knows Makai practically sold off his own sister to benefit his own kingdom. But alas, he can't be all bad. Alisiah has to admit that the anger in his expression when she mentions it, is quite refreshing. Most kings and princes see nothing wrong with marrying off their sisters and daughters, but it seems like this guy is already regretting it. Perhaps she has misjudged him, just a little.