The Winter Queen (RH/Why Choose, MM, MF, MFM, FF) ✅

Chapter Twelve

Warwick

"Are you confused?" I asked as the queen's brow furrowed as she looked up from the book perched open on the surface of the desk in her newly-completed library.

It turned out that the men of the kingdom had been eager to pitch in to help build the bookcases for the new queen. The desk as well had been custom-made by a woodworker who could not stop talking about how beautiful the queen had been on her wedding day.

The task that would have typically taken weeks or months, men dragging out the work for more pay, was completed in under ten days.

The way the queen had teared up had made it more than worth it for all involved.

I still had to locate more books for the shelves, but they were partially filled, mostly with history and political tomes to help in her study of the kingdom. But I had brought in some fiction to help her escape from this world when she was full to the brim of it.

"Yes, but not for the reasons you might think," she said, exhaling hard as she sat back in her chair.

"What do you mean?"

"I understand all of this," she said, waving at the page about our most recent war. One both Cyprian and I had fought in. The one where he had nearly given his life. "Meaning, I see how things happened."

"What is the confusion then?"

"Why it had to happen," she said. "I have read the accounts of the king and the clans to the south, but neither of these accounts, in my opinion, should have led to war. What?" she asked when I let out a dry laugh.

"As someone who fought in that war, I can tell you that many men echoed that same sentiment about it."

"How many men did we lose?"

"Two-hundred and sixty-four," I told her.

"Two-hundred and sixty-four. Would you say it is fair that at least half of those men had wives and families?"

"That seems a reasonable number," I agreed.

"So two-hundred and sixty-four men died, and hundreds of women and children were left without their loved one and their provider... and for what? A war that ended in a tense truce that everyone is still on edge about to this day?"

"That about sums it up," I agreed.

"This was a bad decision," she declared, pressing her hand onto the page of the book. "Forgive me, but," she said, waving me closer, aware that the castle had ears everywhere, and we were not in the privacy of her chambers where only four or five of us could ever be found. "Was the king in his right state of mind and health at this time?"

"This was before Cyprian came to work closely for him," I told her, squatting down beside her chair to keep my voice from carrying. "We have no way of knowing what his health was like at the time. Judging by his usually well-planned prior war and peace tactics, though, I do believe it stands to reason that he was not... as clear-headed at the time as he could have been."

"As a ruler should be," she clarified.

She had really come into her own over the past two weeks. Especially as she gained more insight into the kingdom, and felt less like an outsider who did not know the customs and the rich history.

While she could still be shy and uncertain in private moments, when she was studying or speaking of the kingdom, she had gained a confidence I do not believe Cy, Gwen, the king, or myself could have truly anticipated.