Hollow Crowns & Paper Castles | A Striker x Reader Story

A Break in the Storm

I had no choice but to say yes. 

While the Court congratulated me and began showing me the deference owed to a Queen-in-waiting, I felt sick to my stomach. No charge had yet been brought against poor Queen Madaline, but she had already begun to suffer the abandonment of her husband and the court.

Pacing up and down the length of the small study, I chewed on my thumbnail as I tried to put my feelings into a coherent thought. I was in the middle of this mental storm when Striker made his appearance. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "There a bee in your bonnet, darlin'?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at him, "Have you not heard then? I'm to be the next Queen."

Striker's bemused expression morphed into one that more suited an assassin, "So our time is now limited."

I tried to think of an opportune time to do away with the monster that was King Henry, but I drew nothing but the wedding itself. That may be our only opportunity. When I told Striker my thoughts, he nodded, "'It'll be a wedding no one will forget."

The way he said it made me smile. It was the break in the storm I needed to breathe. So when he reached out and took my hand, I let him pull me against the firmness of his chest. I let myself lean into him as he claimed my lips in a fiercely passionate kiss. At this moment, what Striker offered was exactly what I needed to stay afloat.