Queen

XV.

The dining hall that night was ringing with chatter. All the kings, plus Arne, myself, and Prince Kiken if one doesn't count him as a king already, sat at the head of the long table, the queens were at the middle of the table, the children at the end, and the consorts had a full table all to themselves over in the corner. The kings weren't happy to see me sitting with them and they loathed Arne at my side, but there was nothing they could do about it. There was no denying that I ruled my land and they didn't want to send a free man to sit with the slaves, a warrior to sit with their children, or an attractive young man to sit with their wives.

They were all hypocrites, but at least it works in my favor this time around.

There was no goat cheese this time, but Arne ate most of what Cook put on his plate. Cook was still cooking for me, as did several chefs did for their kings. He left a few bites of something with fish, but he still didn't like fish so I left it.

"So," King Chizu, the father of Prince Piza, interrupted my thoughts, "Mathilda, have you finally decided to wed my son?"

Why do people talk to me just as I put food in my mouth? I gulped, thankfully not choking on my food, before I answered. "I'm still considering," I answered, "I thank you for your patience. I must warn you, Bura Ziua has offered both of his sons as my king consort in addition to your son."

Queen Regina, wife of King Chizu and mother of Prince Piza, perked her head up from the middle of the table. She wanted her son by my side simply because she was a princess of Xuruo de before she married and wanted someone of royal Xuruo de blood on the throne. I was half convinced she put the idea of Prince Piza into my court's head. Queen Regina sent a glare to the twins, sitting grumpily with the kids. She wasn't happy.

"Choosing a king consort for my people is a large and important choice to make," I said, "Surely you all understand what a choice you faced when you chose your queens."

Queens had power. The castle or palace was under their control. They ran everything where the kings lived. Food, decoration, parties, who handled the treasury, the royal guard, the education of the next generation, and much more were all the duties of a queen.

A general murmur of agreement rippled among the kings. They couldn't do their jobs without their queens. And yet there was still a table of consorts on the other side of the room.

"But you must hurry," King Fastidioso said, "You will not be young forever. You must produce an heir." The murmur of agreement was louder for the unmarried king with no children and who was ten years older than I.

"I'm only 24," I said, "Women can bare children long into their thirties. I see no reason to hurry just yet."

King Bura Ziua snorted. "Women can bare children into their thirties, but it's harder and the labor is dangerous. Take it from me. My queen gave her life to birth my sons and she had just turned 32 days before."

Well, that explained why I hadn't met his wife.

I made a note to move my plans for a baby up a bit. "I will have an heir soon," I said, "You can be sure of that."

"Can we," Queen Regina asked smugly, "None of what you said we could be sure of has been true. You've taken over more kingdoms, forbid us from using your slave routes, avoided marriage to my son,"

"When have I ever said I'd open up the slave routes?" I asked.

"I don't think you ever did," Arne said. That got him to become the target of everyone's hatred filled glares. Thankfully, I don't believe he knew or even suspected that everyone at this table but me hated him. The innocent baby.

Perhaps blindness has it's advantages.

"I don't believe I have either," I said, locking eyes with Queen Regina, "Thank you for reminding me. Regina, nice try but the slave routes have to avoid my empire of now eight kingdoms. Any complaints about my take-overs must go through my cook before coming to me."