𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐘 | 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤

Part 30

You were walking down the hallway the following day, with Natasha following you. You were on your way to the garden, when you noticed a girl that was no older than six walking by herself outside. Then, you saw she had tripped over a branch and fell on her knees and you rushed towards her.

"Did you hurt yourself?" You asked her, kneeling next to her. She looked up at you and nodded, tears making their way down her face. "Let me see."

She let you lift her dress to her knee, where you saw a small, bleeding wound. While you took a handkerchief and started cleaning her wound, the girl examined your face, making you look up at her with a smile. "It will be alright."You told her.

"Are you the Queen?" She asked you and you glanced at Natasha before looking at the girl again.

You nodded your head. "Yes. Yes, I am the Queen."

Her face turned serious. "My parents said that I should not talk to you."

"Why is that?" You asked her.

"Because... they say you're not a good Queen."She said, making you freeze in your movements. You gulped before forcing a smile on your face as you parted from the small girl.

"There. It's no longer bleeding."You said, just as a man rushed to the girl's side.

"Jane!" He rushed to her side and helped her up. You rose to your feet as well and looked to Natasha. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."The girl smiled and looked at you."The Queen helped me."

The man slowly turned towards you, then looked you up and down. "Jane, I've told you to not speak to her. She is an evil-" The man trailed off when he saw Tony approaching you behind your back. He looked like he heard everything and he was not happy. The man quickly bowed, keeping his gaze on the floor. "Your Majesty."

You turned around, confused, and saw Tony. He walked towards you and stood by your side now. "Were you talking about my wife?"

"N-No, my King."The man stuttered out and it took everything in you not to roll your eyes.

"That's funny. I must have heard it wrong it then."Tony chuckled and went to take a step towards the man, but you stopped him with your hand on his chest.

"Let it go, Tony."

"No."He simply said before grabbing the man by his neck, making him choke. The girl, Jane, started to cry, making Natasha hurry towards her to calm her."You will learn to respect my wife, your Queen. Now apologize to her."

"I'm sorry, my Queen."The man choked out, his face turning red from how tight Tony's grip was.

"That didn't sound so certain to me now, did it? What about you, my love?" He turned towards you.

"Tony, let go of the man! His child is here!"

"Not until he apologizes."

"I-I'm sorry, my Queen. I will not say that again." He said and Tony looked at him for a few moments, thinking of whether he should let him go, or kill him as a warning for everyone else who thought the same of you.

"Now, Tony!" You said and Tony let go of the man, who took his daughter and scrambled to get away from you."What are you doing?" You asked him.

He turned to look towards you and you saw the familiar look in his eyes, the one he had when he would hurt you. "Think of it as teaching him a lesson."

"You almost killed him!" You said as Natasha walked away to give you some privacy. Well, as much privacy as you could get in the garden. "And in front of his daughter?"

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes."A simple thank you would be nice, too."

"You can't act like that, Tony. That is only going to make people hate me even more."You said and, over his shoulder, you could see a carriage coming to a stop. A familiar lady made its way out of it and you took in a sharp breath. Lady Lucy was now standing not too far from you. Her gaze immediately found Tony and he noticed you were no longer listening to what he was talking about. He turned around and followed your gaze. "It seems your lover is back."

Tony breathed out, moving to stand closer to you. "She is not my lover anymore."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Let me prove it for you."He said and you had no time to ask what he meant by that. He closed the distance between you quickly and his hand found its way to your jaw, gripping on it as his lips connected with yours. You were shocked, standing frozen for a few moments until you realized what was happening. You hesitantly kissed back, and Tony pulled you closer to him, placing a hand on your lower back. His lips moved against yours and he could finally feel relieved. He finally tasted your lips after days of not being able to do so.

You began to pull away and Tony let you, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at you. "We're still outside."You reminded him and he nodded.

He looked towards the place where Lucy was standing a few moments ago, then back at you."She's gone."