AN: No Piarari Key needed this time. Be sure to drop some comments as you read. Enjoy!
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It had been three days since Byron's execution and I was currently sitting in the throne room with Cyris as the Court gathered to voice their concerns and issues. Megara was there as well, probably representing her family's estate.
"I would like to suggest the Crown send more soldiers to my family's city, Grance," Megara stated. "There has been some looting going on and people's livelihoods are at stake."
Cyris and I exchanged concerned looks.
"Do you know the cause of the looting?" I asked.
"It's unclear, but perhaps a larger military presence would deter the looters. My belief is that the looters are people trying to survive after the war."
"And you plan to punish them by force?" Cyris pressed.
"No, I plan to protect people's livelihoods and perhaps show the looters that there are resources out there that they can use to assist them in getting back some of what they lost. Something that the Queen's relief fund did not seem to accomplish. But I need soldiers to enforce the law to do that."
I became deflated and my expression faltered. My heart was broken. The people were suffering, and my relief fund hadn't been enough to help them! Cyris held my hand, causing me to glance at him. He flashed me a reassuring smile, giving me a small sense of peace, but still. I felt terrible.
"Then we'll add more to the relief fund, and we'll send out more soldiers to Grance," Cyris suggested. "What do you think, My Queen?"
"I think there are other ways of dealing with looters," I replied. "I agree we should send in some soldiers, but we should also send in some social workers and other resources in addition to raising the relief fund. Showing force is one thing, but there are better ways of dealing with problems than brute force."
Cyris nodded in agreement. But the Court didn't like what I had to say.
"The only way to deal with looters is through the use of force..." a Court member stated.
"Megara Byron should be Queen... At least she's realistic and not soft-hearted like Queen Rosanna," another Court member added. "I doubt she's willing to truly show force at all."
Other members of the court started murmuring and whispering amongst each other. Hearing someone claim that anyone was a better Queen over me, hurt like hell. But to hear that the woman who would be better was Megara Byron?! That irked me. I found myself frozen in place, still sitting down while everyone else was moving.
Court ended and Cyris moved to leave the throne room, but I grabbed his wrist before he could stand and stopped him. The Lords and Ladies left and closed the doors behind them.
"Am I too soft-hearted?" I asked.
"Yes."
I bit my lip. I just wanted to care for the people. I didn't realize that meant I'd be seen as a soft-hearted pushover that didn't know how to fight back.
"But that's because you truly care. You care about all of Espor, not just the noble and the good. You care for the criminals and the commoners. You are an amazing Queen, Rosanna."
"Sometimes I walk by your mother's portrait...the one near our room and I wonder what she'd think of all this... I wonder if she'd see me as a good Queen or if she'd see me as those nobles do. Nerida Castellan left me some big shoes to fill."
Cyris smiled sweetly at me. His eyes lit up with love and adoration.
"And you're doing just fine," he assured me.
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Storm's Rapture | Storms Series: Book 1 (This is a Co-Write)
Romance"The past haunts you, flowing through your veins like water..." Cyris Castellan is a young man with water magic and royal blood. When he was a child, his home was attacked and destroyed by gruesome magic users. They killed his family, orphaning Cyri...
