Mae of Wessex - the rightful Queen, because of marriage to King Æthelred of Wessex!
It's the 9th century - Mae is a talented, beautiful, smart and fun-loving young girl who has lived in Wessex/Winchester for as long as she can remember!
But when s...
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When Mae arrived home and slowly opened the door, she already smelled the aroma of freshly cooked stew. In a moment she got hungry and was glad to be home now! Her mother smiled at her warmly and immediately handed her a plate.
She sat down next to her sister and began to eat. Her sister, however, noticed that Mae had something to say and propped herself up on her elbow. Mae glanced at her from time to time and raised an eyebrow after seeing how mischievously her sister smiled at her.
"Muriel, why are you smiling at me so mischievously?" Muriel shrugged her shoulders and continued smiling mischievously at her older sister. "Sometimes you really get on my nerves!" now Muriel acted as if Mae's words had hurt her!
"Sister, by now I know when you have something to say, so just come out with it!" Mae rolled her eyes and continued eating. "Does it have something to do with your visit to the King?" now Mae's eyes widened and she nearly choked on her food! Her sister and now also her brother were still waiting anxiously for her to start talking!
"Fine, if you really want to know: yes, it has something to do with my visit to the King!" her father and her mother, also listened closely now, which made Mae nervous! "And what did he say, darling?" her father asked her almost fearfully! "Anything about upcoming sales of my goods?" it was almost bubbling out of her mother!
"One thing at a time, but no, it has nothing to do with selling your goods, sorry mother!" her mother lowered her head. "He asked me to marry him!" all four: her father, her mother, her sister and her brother, nearly choked on their own spit and fast as lightning the four turned their heads!
Mae had expected this reaction and was already counting the seconds until either her father or her mother would tell her to say 'yes'! And indeed, it didn't take too long before one of the two got ready to start talking.
"Have you already given the King an answer to his question?" Mae shook her head. "What do you intend to answer him?" Mae shrugged her shoulders. "You say 'yes', do you hear me?" her father literally yelled at her.
"Father, it's still my decision whether or not to marry the King of Wessex, okay? Besides, I can't imagine becoming the stepmother of his arrogant, vile, spoilt son!" she sighed. "It's all too much for me at the moment and I just want a day's rest from all this."
Her brother, Cerdic, realised there was truth behind what she was saying and hugged her tightly! Surprised by her brother's embrace, she was initially unsure whether to return it or not. She quickly decided to return the hug and snuggled up to her brother!
Muriel, rolled her eyes, stood up without further ado and disappeared. Her mother and father looked after her and sighed. Muriel had always been very jealous of Mae, but in the last few years, it was getting worse. No one really knew why Muriel was like that, but everyone was worried.
Cerdic and Mae detached from each other after a while and widely smiled at each other. Cerdic was Mae's best friend, rock, her heart and soul and above all her protector. The two had a strong bond, even if it didn't look like it from the outside. Both were very proud of the other and did not try to hide it.
"Do you think Muriel is all right?" Mae asked after a while. "Your sister is always fine, Mae, she just has a weird way of showing it." her father replied. And he wasn't even that wrong. Muriel was really always fine, only she loved drama! And that got on the nerves of Cerdic and Mae.
When Muriel didn't make a drama about something, you could start to worry, but as long as that wasn't the case, you just kept your nerve and let it pass! Cerdic also got up after a while and cleared his and Mae's plates.
Mae smiled at him gratefully and then continued to think about the answer she would give King Æthelred. At some point she came to a decision and decided not to tell her family. At some point she got up, said 'bye' to her brother and parents and then disappeared towards the palace!
She walked past some familiar faces and smiled kindly at everyone. When she reached the palace and walked down the long corridor to the throne room, she passed Leofric and some other guards. When Mae had passed Leofric, he suddenly stopped talking and cleared his throat.
"Mae, are you going to the King?" Mae nodded. "Now's not a good time. Do you want to come back later?" Mae sighed and thought briefly. "Why, what is the King doing right now, Leofric? Anything important he shouldn't be disturbed about?"
Leofric shook his head and Mae raised an eyebrow. Why was he acting so strangely? Had she done something wrong and the King did not want to see her at the moment? "Leofric, would you please enlighten me? What's going on here?"
"The King and Æthelwold had an argument." Mae tilted her head. "Æthelwold does not want the King to marry you. He thinks what the King is doing is wrong and that he should find someone his own age and not bother a young girl like you."
Mae was perplexed and did not know what to say. Was Æthelwold perhaps not as arrogant, vile and spoiled as she had first thought? Completely lost in thought, she did not notice how the doors to the throne room opened and Æthelwold left the room.
It was only when King Æthelred addressed her and invited her in that she realised something had happened in the throne room.
"Sorry, Lord King, I was totally lost in thought." King Æthelred waved it off. "And actually I'm just here to share with you my answer to your question." interested, King Æthelred raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
"I can't wait to hear this, Mae!" Mae slightly laughed, before she became serious again and cleared her throat. "Whenever you are ready!"
Mae nodded and then started talking. "My answer to your question is 'yes' I want to be your wife and thus the new Queen of Wessex/Winchester." King Æthelred's eyes widened and a huge smile formed on his face. He had expected everything but a 'yes' from the girl he had secretly loved for so long.
At that moment, everything around him went silent and only Mae could be heard. Mae, who was so tender, loving and kind, the girl of his dreams was going to marry him? He couldn't believe it and had to blink and pinch himself to realise that this wasn't a dream.
"Mae, are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to force you into marriage or be the reason why you feel forced into marriage!" Mae slightly smiled, walked towards him and took his hands in her own. "Don't worry, I'm sure that's what I want!" he smiled back. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long for an answer, I was just struggling with myself for a while and wondering if I'm the right one for you."
King Æthelred's eyes widened and he instantly squeezed Mae's hands. Mae sighed and lowered her head. Did she do the right thing by agreeing to the marriage? She didn't want to feel like she was doing the wrong thing! She wanted to feel like she was doing something good for herself and the people of Winchester!
But no matter how much she told herself that this marriage was what she wanted and that she was doing something good with it, she always came back to the point where she had to admit to herself that her parents had 'forced' her into this marriage.
After a while she lifted her head and looked King Æthelred in the eyes...he had beautiful eyes and he was so loving and kind! Whether feelings would ever develop on her part, Mae did not know, but she knew that there was no going back now and that she had to try to be a good and just Queen!
