The Emery Chronicles: The White King's Woman (FIRST BOOK)

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty- Celebrations

Margaery the handmaiden fastened a sash over Arwen's four-month pregnant belly, looking worried.

"Your majesty, I cannot make the bump look any smaller." She quivered out, adjusting the sash this way and that.

"Don't worry, Margaery, I don't mind it. I love it more when people can see it, I don't want to hide it." In only four and a half months, her belly had already swelled to the size of a small melon. Arwen hugged its roundness, feeling the warmth of it through her elegant white drapes and smiling at the little kicks of her little prince's feet.

"Well, you look beautiful as always, My Queen. Even more so since the baby. You're almost glowing like the sun!" Arwen chuckled and thanked Margaery, then dismissed her. She checked her hair one last time before walking out of her dressing chambers and into her bedchambers. She met Gavin outside, and they began to make their way to the Great Hall, arm in arm.

"Mmm, you smell ravishing, darling." Gavin purred in her ear.

"It's because I bathed in white rose petals," Arwen quipped.

"Perhaps you and I should bathe together," Gavin whispered, his hand slipping over her breasts as he spoke. Arwen playfully slapped his hand away.

"You know we cannot make love until our child is born."

"I know, but this wait is agony! I haven't touched my wife in months, haven't seen her naked even! The minute our prince is born, I'm going to rip your clothes off and take you savagely, like a farmer with his wench."

"Promise?" Arwen teased, her eyes sparkling and winking.

"I swear on my life," Gavin hoarsely whispered back, biting her ear. Arwen gently pushed him back as they reached the Great Hall and were announced.

They entered the Hall, hundreds of guests clapping and crooning at the lovely couple as servants placed large trays of succulent meats and spiced vegetables on the long tables. Arwen and Gavin walked to their high seats at the end of the Hall, nodding at guests and waving to friends. Bianca was seated near their table, smiling proudly at her daughter, her head held high and mighty. And not too far away, at another raised table, sat the cousins.

"I still don't understand why we need so many celebrations for a child," Queen Liadan uttered as the royal White couple took their seats. "A celebration at four months to congratulate the couple, then another one the day the baby is born, and another the day the child is named and recognized by the gods. It is so tedious, can't we just send a few gifts and kind words and be done with it?"

"Do you know any kind words, cousin?" Daegan the Summer King asked, joking as he gnawed on a pork bone.

"Oh, will you two get off it?" Roux snapped, gulping down his wine too quickly.

"Don't be so bitter, cousin. Try and enjoy the celebrations, even if Gavin is ruining your kingdom's finances." Liadan smirked, her words frosty and cruel.

"His cut off has ruined my herb traders business, I have villagers knocking at my door begging me for help everyday, and there he sits, happy and carefree and stupid." Roux spit out his words, glaring at the royal couple as they fed each other and laughed.

"However stupid they might look, you need to calm down. This isn't a business summit, it's a celebration for our cousin. You'd do well to remember that." Daegan warned between bites of potatoes.

"The big oaf is right for once, starting trouble here won't solve your problems. You need to be smart about this, cousin. Bide your time and strategize before jumping to conclusions." Liadan said, noticing how heavily her Red cousin had been drinking. "Relax with your wine, you Red folk can never hold your liquor."

"I'm not a child!" Roux seethed. "I am a ruler, same as you both and same as Gavin. But why should he be living so comfortably while some of us have problems that keep us awake at night?"

"Oh, come off it! Your villagers are fine, they still trade and barter amongst themselves. Your Red folk are famous for their herbs, and one business loss won't change that," Daegan chastised.

"It was still a major loss at the time. Yes, my people have bettered since then, but at first they were scared, and scared people make for rulers in danger. And that was only the first cut. How many before my kingdom is completely on its own?" Roux accused, staring into his cousins' eyes.

"He is also right; I had warned about this too. He now has a bride with access to witch covens over all our kingdoms. What use will any of us be to him when he has that power?" Liadan asked her Summer cousin.

The Black King sighed and said, "I still think you're both overreacting."

"You say that now, but when he begins making trade cuts with us, you'll be singing a different tune." Liadan snapped, eyeing Arwen as she stroked Gavin's hair and wiped his mouth.

***

Arwen laughed as jesters and dancers entertained her and her guests. The celebrations were so enjoyable, and Gavin looked so happy, she couldn't help but feel like a child giddy with excitement. At moments like these, when she felt on top of the world, she truly felt like a queen.

One by one, guests approached the table she sat at with Gavin, giving gifts, or speaking kind words, reciting poems, or singing ballads in honor of the White royals and their little child of the Spring. She thanked hundreds of them, not minding how many times she had to say, "I'm grateful for your thoughts." She truly was grateful, and so incredibly happy.

Lastly, Gavin's cousins approached the table. Daegan the Summer King gave the couple a basket of summer plums, and congratulated them on the soon arrival of their "little plum." Liadan the Winter Queen gave them a canopy of crystal snowflakes to hang over their child's crib. Finally, Roux approached the table.

"Here's a basket of my kingdom's finest herbs. All fresh and prime, I assure you." His words slurred a bit, but Arwen could not mistake the bite she heard in his tone. His eyes flashed at Gavin and he ground his teeth. Gavin gave him a smile, but his eyes had a warning in them.

"Thank you, cousin, how thoughtful of you."

"My pleasure. I thought you'd be missing the taste of the herbs of my kingdom, since you've been stuck eating the herbs your witches have been brewing." Roux muttered poisonously.

"I assure you, my kingdom's herbs are quite wonderful, but again I thank you for your generosity." This time, Gavin did not hide the warning, his voice strained with it.

"I'm sure you think they're wonderful. Witches can make you think whatever they bloody want you to. Isn't that right, cousin Arwen?" Roux turned his gaze to the White Queen, his yellow eyes bloodshot and sending chills down Arwen's spine. She quickly looked to her mother, who only stared at the situation like a beast waiting for a misstep from its prey.

"I think, perhaps, it's time you retire, cousin. Please, have a safe journey back to Aspentia." Gavin did not mask his anger even slightly this time.

"What? Is there a problem? I'm only stating facts! Witches are seducers, manipulators, right? Isn't your bride a manipulator?"

"Roux!"

"Do you think that child she has in her is also a manipulator? Has she been cooking up a little seductive bitch like herself?"

"Roux!" Gavin stood, his face flaming. "Enough is enough!"

"And why do you decide that? Why do you pick when enough is enough, or when you can just cut off trade? Why!" Roux shouted back. The entire Hall was silent now, as everyone watched the two cousins face off.

"This is not the time nor the place, Roux. Go home, we'll discuss this later."

"Again, you decide! You, you, you! Well, I am sick of it! You may have your witches now, but mark my words, cousin," Roux spat, "You will regret the decisions you've made."

And with that, the Red King left the palace.