Reign of love and war

I. Rage

To my best friend: thank you for being my number one fan, for making me laugh when it's too hard to smile, and especially for motivating me to follow my secret dream. I love you.

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It was a very busy morning in the great palace, politicians, soldiers, every important person in the kingdom were going in and out of the palace's rooms but no one knew exactly why.

The maids entered the queen's chambers to wake her up very early in the morning, they would never enter her room without her permission but there was someone waiting to deliver an urgent message to the queen. They couldn't understand the seriousness of the situation until the messenger informed the queen what was going on, and for the sake of the kingdom's future, she had to call an urgent meeting.

"The war has started" Queen Elaine Hales declared to the people that filled her conference chamber. There was no sign of fear in her voice, a fact that calmed the guests filling the great conference chamber, but what people couldn't see was that behind her royal voice and cold unexpressive eyes she was scared of what a war could cause to her Kingdom.

Hiding her emotions was something her father taught her when she was very little, hide your feelings, fear can get the worst out of you and your people can't see that the king had said to her one night a long time ago, she remembers how she ran to her father's arms when she had a nightmare in the middle of the night. The memory is now getting blurred by time, but his words will be anchored forever in her mind Small moments that she tries to hold on to, memories of when her world was full of joy and a simple nightmare could be the worst of her problems.

A few gasps were heard among the guests, sound that made Elaine get back to reality after the quick memory completely clouded her thoughts. Most of the guests tried to remain calm and unexpressive as they would usually do, however, a small section of them showed their fear.

"Excuse me, Your Highness," a strong voice was heard from across the room. Every head, including the queen's, turned to look at the person who dared to interrupt the session. Even though he noticed the obvious annoyance of the crowd he continued, "How are we going to fight against this war if we're still trying to recover from the last one? Our kingdom doesn't have enough resources to survive another war, people are starving and our armies are not strong enough to fight against the great kingdoms."

Elaine quickly recognized the voice, it was Lord Hales, the head of the Royal Council. He was a man of high social ranking and a respectable politician that a long time ago had helped with the development of her kingdom, but because of past issues, Elaine and Lord Hales always found a way to be against each other.

"Lord Hales," Elaine said trying to remain as calm as possible, "I got the message of the war not even ten minutes ago, and we're still trying to figure out a plan. If you have any suggestions in mind please tell me, dear uncle." Admitting her relation with Lord Hales was something she barely mentioned but she knew exactly when to use their relationship to her favor.

Even though he tried to reply again, Lord Hales remained silent after her warning, but it was clear that his tense posture showed that there were some words for the queen that were better left unspoken.

After a while, Elaine was losing interest in the proposed solutions, none of them seemed good enough to win or even survive the war.

Looking at the great window beside the table, she tried to formulate a possible plan but she ran out of ideas. Her mind was too busy and too crowded with invasive thoughts that told her all the possible outcomes of war, and none of them included a happy ending, her head was spinning but she tried to concentrate on something else. How the rose garden outside was full of life and wilderness, everything a war lacks, she thought, if you want to fight, if you have to fight to protect your people there will be lost, dead, pools of blood, and the false hope of surviving.

She was too lost in her thoughts, her eyes fixed on something no one else could see, until Ernest, her Royal Counselor, said something that caught her attention.

"What if the Her Majesty marries Prince Caspian Weston the III from the Kingdom of Edivia"

Her eyes shot open to the Counselor. She stared at him in disbelief, how could he dare to say something like that? Did he think the Queen was not strong enough to handle her own kingdom? More and more annoying questions popped in her head.

Marrying someone was definitely not the topic of this meeting, it was completely off limits and she had to show her discomfort. She stood up from her seat, her hands firmly planted on the desk in front of her to demand the attention of the people across the long table of the conference chamber.

"Do you think I'm not capable of leading my kingdom through the war? There's no way I'm marrying someone, let alone Prince Caspian Weston. I firmly believe I have more than enough combat and tactics knowledge to lead everyone to success." Lies, lies, lies. Even her confidence was a lie. How could they believe any word coming out of her mouth if she's sitting in a throne made of lies?

As quick as she stood up she sat down when she realized the furious look that her uncle, Lord Hales, was sending her. A stern, but discreet, warning that was telling her to keep her mouth shut or she could regret it.

Anyone who truly knows Elaine is aware that there are only a few things that can truly scare her, and her uncle's death stare is one of those things. Horrible things have happened when she disobeyed his warnings, and she would do anything to forget the things she has seen happen when his rage is released.

As important as this meeting was, there was nothing more they could do without further investigation on the war, the enemies, and the location; everyone was dismissed and quickly her office was left empty except for one person: Lord Hales.

She knew that with every moment of bravery, for every word she wasn't supposed to say, for any opinion that could potentially affect her uncle, his rage, the fire of his fury will come to burn her when there were no witnesses to record his acts.

"Sweet, sweet, Elaine. Do you understand what you just did? Do you know the humiliation that you just caused to the family name? You see, I thought you were a smart girl, or at least smart enough to know what's good for you, but apparently, I was wrong, Your Highness," Lord Hales said, his voice anything but respectful to her title.

"Well, I don't like being tossed and thrown like I'm some kind of object. If you thought I would accept a forced marriage, then you're delusional. I'm not some kind of pawn in your game of war that you can just sacrifice for your own benefit. I would really appreciate if you respected my decisions." She told him, arms firmly crossed against her chest, and her eyebrows upturned trying to imitate his defensive posture.

Lord Hales was a small man, he was shorter than Elaine, but he had one of those faces that always demanded respect and could scare anyone who dared to challenge him.

He quickly dropped his tranquil facade something he barely allowed when people were around, but now in the comfort of their solitude, there was nothing to worry about. With two quick steps he covered the distance that separated the man and the scared queen, she tried to escape before it was too late but he already had his hand tightly wrapped around her arm, not strong enough to cause pain but still tight enough to sting and that would probably leave a mark.

"I guess you didn't understand what I was trying to say, you're going get married and you will do exactly as I say or you, and the rest of the kingdom, will regret that you didn't listen to me first. Trust me, Elaine, you don't want to disobey me." Hales said gripping her arm more tightly with each word before abruptly leaving the room. There were no more words to say, his message was clear, she would have to make a decision very soon.

There she stood, alone, scared, and with a red mark on the side of her arm, the only evidence of her uncle's rage inflicted in her. He has done worse. She thought as she tried to rub away the red spot on her arm. A mark that will soon fade away, but the psychological pain that he has caused on her for years, the scars that his words have left are anything but gone, they have only been carved deeper into her mind, and she can only live with the fact that they will probably never leave her.

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