The Nechi's Wife

✣ chapter five ✣

"It was awful!" I groaned as my ladies-in-waiting tried to comfort me. "I embarrassed myself!"

"Oh, Your Highness, perhaps we should have told you!" Blanyr said. "Then you would have sat with the women and none of this would have happened."

Ailis sighed. "This is our fault, if anything,"

"Don't take the blame. I should have known better."

"That's not fair to yourself!"

After arguing over whose fault the disastrous dinner was, Blanyr suggest I get changed into my nightgown. I agreed, allowing them to dress me while the I I replayed the dinner in my head and recoiled at the memories.

As Ailis tied the wrappings in the back of my nightclothes, Blanyr cautioned her, "Don't do it too tight."

"I won't!" She exclaimed in frustration. "I learned my lesson, alright?"

Their incessant bickering reminded me of the way my mother and I used to fight over silly things, like the way I did my hair or what I was allowed to eat. My mother, who called me her little "cloud" and loved to brush my hair. A melancholic tear escaped my eye and trickled down my face.

I tried to wipe it away, but Blanyr noticed immediately. "Your Highness, is everything alright?"

"I miss my family." I confessed. "And my Kingdom."

"I can't begin to imagine the pain," Blanyr sympathized. "Hopefully, the castle will become more welcoming over time."

"Hopefully," Ailis emphasized.

"Don't be so pessimistic," Blanyr scolded.

"No, she's right," I said. "This isn't just everyone becoming accustomed to me. I'm Meretian. I can't afford to forget that."

Blanyr tried to lighten the mood with something more optimistic, but I was too fatigued. I dismissed my two ladies-in-waiting, saying I'd be in a better mood in the morning. After some protest, they acquiesced and filtered out the door.

I'd been a real fool tonight.

I slipped under my covers, relishing in the way the plush material lingered on my skin. At the very least, I knew this stressful day would end nicely—with a peaceful sleep.

And then, someone knocked on my door.

I groaned. And when I opened the door, I groaned again. Prince Flynd wrinkled his face. "I take it you're not happy to see me."

"Do you need assistance?" I asked. I hoped he'd come to apologize so I could refuse to forgive him and return to bed.

"No, but you do."

"Pardon?"

"You clearly need to learn Aranian etiquette. So, I volunteer to aid you."

I scoffed. This man was ridiculous. "I politely decline your 'humble' offer."

He shook his head, rudely pushing me aside to enter my room. "You need my help."

I growled, looking at my open door and back at Prince Flynd, who had made himself comfortable on my bed. As I shut the door, I seethed. He was just as stubborn as he claimed his father was. "I don't need your help. And even if I did, I've declined it."

"Imagine you have seen a baby bird on the cold, hard road, struggling to fly back to the nest it's fallen from," He said. "You try to pick it up, but when you do, the bird fights you, squawking and flapping. Would you stop helping the bird?"

"I am not a bird that's fallen from its nest!"

"Fair. But I still would like to help."

"This is absurd."

"You're going to be in the public eye a lot more often. You need to be ready."

"Are you even allowed to be in my room?" I grumbled absentmindedly.

He gave me an incredulous stare. "I'm your husband. You do realize we're supposed to sleep in the same room anyway, right?"

I averted my gaze, too embarrassed to even look at him. After the wedding, we'd gone directly to the ship for our voyage to Arania. And seeing as the voyage was a disaster of vomiting and fatigued arguing, there was no "wedding night" there either. Not that I was disappointed by this development, though I did worry about being quartered together in the castle. Fortunately, everyone seemed too busy with their own issues to realize I was not yet rooming with Prince Flynd.

Until now.

When I didn't respond, he continued on the digression. "You realize the whole point of our marriage is to produce an heir, correct?"

"Absolutely not."

"What?"

"I can barely stand being in the same room as you. You think I'm willing to...sleep with you?"

"You think I want to either?"

"Didn't you say it was your decision to marry me?"

He let out a frustrated noise. "For the good of Arania! For the good of Mereti! This was never about me! None of this is about either of us!"

I fell into a plush chair by my desk, groaning in displeasure. "With all due respect, I don't care."

He watched me in silence, trying to formulate an appropriate response, "In that case, we at least need a plan. If after a year, you're still not pregnant, the Kingdom will think you're barren."

I bit my lip as I pondered over the situation. He was right in that regard. If they believed I was a barren woman, they'd see the marriage as a waste of resources and an eligible bachelor. And if it was delegitimatized in their eyes, it would be naïve to believe that Arania would simply shrug their shoulders and move on. "What if you...impregnated a different woman and we pretended it was ours?"

"Out of the question." His face was grave as he explained. "Even though you make me want to pull my hair out, I'm a principled man."

A part of me felt great relief at his words. I didn't want to think about why. "What if we...adopted?"

"Not ideal, but it could work," He agreed, nodding slowly. "In the meantime, you must let me teach you Aranian custom. If you don't, I will be forced to resort to...unsavory methods."

He was threatening to expose the fact that we weren't sharing the same bed. And I knew he would do it, because he didn't have a problem mindlessly procreating for the "good of Arania". I was the only one who refused. Exposing our secret harmed me far more than it did him. "Fine, you have a deal. But you must keep your mouth shut."

He grinned. "As you will learn very soon, so must you."