𝒜 𝒟𝒶𝒾𝓈𝓎 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝐻𝒾𝓈 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

Valentina: 14

"Easy... almost there, Your Majesty.." The guards help me up the steps to my castle.

It's been a week, and although the hospital discharged me on the third day, I was given specific instructions on how to treat my wounds from the comfort of my own home. I was just in town today, managing finances and plots of land, but it got a little too much, so I rescheduled the rest of my meetings for another time.

"Thank you." I say to the guards when they let me down on my bed. "Both of you get a raise."

I wave them off, but they don't seem to mind, excited about the money I have promised them. I couldn't care less; I wish I could give all of the riches away to the needy, I really don't have a use for the money lying around. Last time I tried, the monarchy caught on and I was banned from having access to the financial plans.

"Valentina?" Luke's head pops into my room. "Are you in?"

"Luke!" I exclaim, shooting up from my laying position, and wincing at the painful recovery. "Hi! Why are you here?"

"I got special permission to stay with you for the week, to help you recover and plan out wedding stuff." He rolls in a suitcase. "I'll be in a different wing, of course, but I just wanted to stop by and see your chambers."

He glances around and nods like it's exactly what he thought it would be.

"I suppose castles aren't that much different from palaces, are they?" He shrugs.

"Palaces are much richer in architecture. Castles are made for security and defense." I tell him, then mentally face palm myself. "I don't know why I told you that."

"It's fascinating." He nods. "Do you know a lot about royalty and stuff, being at the gig since thirteen?"

"No, we just have a really large library and a queen who has too much spare time." I grin, and he laughs at this sense of humor I hadn't shown him before. "I'm glad you're staying here, though. As much as I can take care of myself, it feels good to have someone you can count on. Haven't had one of those in a long time."

My phone chimes, and I flip it up to see what it's on about.

"Oh! I have to take out my stitches, and clean the wounds today." I look at the alarm. "I've been dreading this."

"Do... do you want help?" Luke asks. "Doing it yourself can't be good, and I learnt how to take care of wounds and stitches when I was volunteering at a hospital once."

"Thanks, I tried to book the medic, but he was sick, and I didn't want to bother our shortage of medical practitioners." I sigh.

"We have too many unemployed doctors! They can't find work because we already have enough. I should send some of them over here, to find work." Luke says.

"Are you sure?" I smile hopefully.

"Of course. Part of the alliance too, remember?" He says.

"Oh. Right." I nod.

"Hey," He tips my chin up to face him. "You know I'm doing it for you, right? We haven't even made the treaty yet."

"Yeah." I lie.

"... You doubted me, didn't you?" He says. "It's fine, I would have doubted me too. Now, let's go deal with those stitches, yeah?"

"Yes, thanks." I lead him to the bathroom, and pull out the first aid kit.

He seems to know what to do, so I let him take the bag and grab the right tools.

"Where should I start?" He asks, and I realize he's not going to be able to get to my stomach or thighs in the dress I'm wearing.

"Give me a second, I'm going to change." I go back into my room.

After a painful moment of wrestling out of the dress without hurting my wounds, I enter back into the bathroom wearing my pajama shorts and tank top. It's that time of day, anyways. Luke blinks, flushing for a moment, but then looks away, coughing.

"Okay, we'll start with your shoulder?" He says.

"Okay." I nod.

Without warning, he puts his hands on my waist, and I jump back, swatting at him.

"What are you doing?!" I exclaim.

"Uh- I was just going to lift you onto the counter so that I was eye level." He reels back. "Sorry."

"Oh." I nod. "My bad."

Take two, he lifts me, careful of the wound upper stomach, and places me gently onto the bathroom countertop beside the sink. He carefully snips each plasticky strand of string so that it won't hurt me, but pulling them out really starts to throb.

"I'm sorry.." He winces, even though it's hurting me. "They're all out. The painful part is over now."

"You still have to more wounds left." I groan, and he looks to me sadly.

He wipes the remaining blood with a wet wipe, and I shudder at the cold stingy feeling. Careful, he gets a huge sterile bandage and covers the slash with it.

"That feel okay?" He asks, careful not to press the bandage on too hard or hurt me.

"Well, I don't know how okay I should feel, but it hurts. Not crazy, but still." I wince.

"That's probably normal." He nods.

"You said you volunteered at a hospital? How did you learn all of this?" I ask, trying to think of anything but the pain.

"Oh, I was curious to see why our kingdom was so famous for our medical practitioners, and so I went to see for myself. Although you were doing much more important things at the age of fourteen." He shakes his head.

"Like being told how to walk properly and talk like a queen?" I roll my eyes. "I would've traded places with you for anything. Those boring lessons on how to eat, how to sew, how to dress, urgh. Like a queen needs any of those things. The only thing she needs is a good heart and a love for her kingdom, that's it."

"Well said, my queen." He kisses my shoulder just above the bandage, making me shiver.

"Thank you for doing this."

"No problem. After all the trouble, it's the least I can do."