A Crown For The Taking

Sneaking

Maël rounded the stairs that spiraled in the tower leading to the Queens chambers. The walls were rough under her as she pressed against them, the fine stone leading to where the King and Queen slept dug into her shoulders. She wasn't going to kill her just yet, but she needed to know the layout, needed to know what she was getting into. Finally the large doors came into view and Maël sighed seeing that they were cracked. All she had to do was look in and see if someone had left it open on their way in, or out. As the expansive room came into view, she couldn't hear or see anyone inside, so making the decision to push open the door more was easy. Quickly she slid in and pushed the door back to where it had been, a sliver of light bleeding into the dark hall.

The room looked like no one lived in it, the dressers and desks bare save for a few paints and perfumes. The bed was neatly made and the pillows firm, the imprint of a head nowhere to be seen. She drew her finger along the chest near the edge of the bed, it was dust free. As she walked along the side of the bed she heard voices coming up the stairs. Quickly, and with annoyance, she slid underneath the large poster bed adorned with blue and yellow tapers like the one in her chambers.

"Nikolai seems to have other interests." A feminine voice pushed into the room, but the sound of another lady walking in before her didn't miss Maël's ears. One of the women sighed and took seat in front of the vanity,

"Oh darling, my son has always had other interests. He's just keeping busy until it's time for him to take a bride." The queen, she should have known it was the queen.

The lighter voice whined, "He doesn't even look at me the way you said he would, I did everything you said." She heard a chair scrape against the floor, "I even wore this stupid corset with these stupid chest pieces."

Two, what she assumed were the chest pieces, hit the floor and the queen sighed loudly. "Alene, just give him time. There are rumors of a lady keeping his bed most nights, once he tires of her you'll be his next priority." Tires of her? Maël almost laughed, but she knew even moving would be a risk, the dusty underside of the bed clearly neglected by the maids.

She dared to move her head to look out from the side of the bed, the dainty feet she assumed were Alene's padded across the room, "Your majesty, I just don't know how much longer I can pretend to worship him." She approached the Queen and her feet disappeared behind the chest at the foot of the bed.

"You'll need to do it until my husband dies, or until Nikolai comes to his senses. He's just a young boy, he doesn't think about marriage right now." The Queen
Was tired, her voice was weak and she didn't seem to care all the much.

Alene on the other hand was very lively, "Also, who is this Princess Leana? I heard she's a real trouble maker." A lie, Erin had worked up quiet the reputable background for her new name, a stand alone princess, not looking for a husband, and a hand and fist ruler of her small kingdom across the ocean. An ocean the king would never admit to not exploring fully.

"She's a guest, she isn't looking to steal Nikolai. She is here strictly to create a strong bond with the strongest nation on this side of the ocean." She was confident, a true Queen in her words. Maël smiled as she heard the princess huff and puff about the dangerous princess closing in on her man. If only she knew how close she'd gotten.

After almost an hour of laying in the dust and forgotten earrings of the royal family, the Queen and the bitchy Princess left the chambers and Maël rolled out and let out the cough she'd been stifling. She dusted off the tight black pants and loose black top, but still the dust bunnies left their mark and without getting more looks at the room she hopped down the stairs and down the hall towards her guest chambers. She swung open the doors and immediately pulled off the shirt and headed towards the bathing room