Kingdoms

Chapter 5: Rowerian Life

"You're a good boy, Gabe. Eat it all up. Yes, good job!" Jadee cheered on her pet horse, Gabe, as he ate his carrot.

Gabe whinnied in delight and enjoyed the touch of his owner as she pet him and brushed his hair. The horse and human duo were quite a pair. From the moment Jadee saw Gabe struggling to stand as a foal, she knew she had to keep him.

A loyal steed, Gabe stood right by Jadee. He was very attached and protective over his owner. Sometimes, he would kick whenever another man was nearby Jadee. It was quite a funny scene to watch.

At the stables, Jadee sat next to Gabe, she brushed his hair and provided him hay to eat as they stayed there in peace.

Their alone time was disrupted by Abby as she slid the door open and called her best friend out. "You want to go out and do something? I've been bored all day."

"Yeah, sure," Jadee agreed to her friend/lover and then turned to Gabe, "Sorry Gabe, but my manz needs me now."

Gabe huffed out in disappointment and gave a sly glare to Abby, but he did not retaliate against his owner. He behaved and nodded in understanding.

"Good boy." Jadee praised which made Gabe really happy.

The best friends, who always managed to be loud wherever they went, walked around Rowery at the market center. As they moved, either their arms were interlocked or they were actually holding hands.

They were as close as lovers. They actually were lovers. At the market, they shopped for whatever they found appealing as Jadee was drawn to the clothing and Abby was attracted to the cute things and children's toys practically.

Abby's eyes widened at the sight of golden spoons and immediately bought a few. Not only that, she spotted wooden swords as she grabbed one and hit Jadee with it. Jadee at the time was playing around with hats and as soon as she got hit, she took another sword and hit her too.

Soon enough, the pair started sword fighting immaturely and laughed so hard. Both had ugly laughs and it was worse in unison, thus they caused quite the ruckus in the store. Jadee snorted one last snort and Abby finished her witch's laugh as they bought the swords, the golden spoons, and the clothes that they liked.

Jadee couldn't forget Gabe, however, she bought him snacks and some head pieces he could wear for fun. She smiled at the thought of him looking dumb with the get-up. Truly, it was weird how much she cared for the horse. It almost rivaled her love with Abby. Almost.

"Heheheheheh." Abby giggled at Jadee as they walked out.

"That was dumb and ugly. I'm gonna throw up." She joked in disgust.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

"Yeah, I know." And the duo returned to the castle to mess around with their new toys.

"Hey Galia, should I attack this kingdom or not?" Freya asked curiously as she read through maps of other kingdoms.

"Frankly, I'd say go for it since I want to die in combat." The token Mexican shrugged.

"What do you think, Naomi?" She asked her advisor.

"Honestly, I don't think you should attack yet. Keep the peace as long as possible. If they attacked, then we can bring the cannons."

"Yeah, you're right." The ruler submitted to her advisor's words.

As smooth as the girls seemed to function with each other, Freya had an ongoing doubt about her advisor's/best friend's loyalty. The case similar with Naomi.

There was no denying that the two cared for each other. Yet, under many occasions, they couldn't stay near each other for too long or else they would begin to get annoyed. Other than that, they were almost as close as Jadee and Abby.

However, as a ruler, there were many dangers that befall upon Freya such as poisoning attempts. Luckily, she always had someone try her food prior to her and was always picky. What bothered her the most was not the fact that she was targeted, but rather how Naomi seemed so unfazed by each attempt. It was like she didn't care and it made her suspicious in what her true goals were.

It's probably for power. We all know how ambitious she is. She was analyzing every little detail. Some may call her paranoid but she always had some basis to justify that paranoia.

Naomi too had her suspicions, but it wasn't on Freya. It was on Galia in fact. Her behavior was just too laid back to be normal. The ruler and advisor duo were very similar. Sometimes they spoke in unison which even surprised them. Likewise, she was thoughtful and looked back at anything unusual that she noticed.

Under high guard for unusual behavior, neither of the two could provide straight answers which only made Freya more suspicious of Naomi. Her paranoia was going to drive her insane but she could not care less.

Both were too scared to actually act and do anything rash. It kept Freya up at night as one of her many late night 'poetic' thoughts. By the end, as she sat on her throne and Naomi was beside her, she questioned out of nowhere, "Omi-chan, are you out to get me?"

"What?? Why would I be out to get you? You're my fellow angry lesbian. Are you paranoid from the poisoning attempts? Because I was suspicious of Galia."

With perfect timing, Galia was roaming past them when she heard her name and the possibility of her poisoning the ruler. "It's because I'm Mexican isn't it? Besides, if I were doing it, I'd kill myself too."

"Huh, I guess we were both being paranoid." Freya realized.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Naomi smiled.

"You guys are dumb. How are you two actually leading this kingdom?" Galia asked them.

And thus ends the story of the four kingdoms. From lineage, betrayal, to paranoia, they all managed to make it out just alright. As good as some look to be, they may not always be the case. There will always be problems one must face and they must push through it with the least amount of damage.