It was but a demi-moon past the ceremonies and already the castle was a stir with news regarding the new nobles.
A ball? A feast? What were they planning they all wondered as they mopped the floors and prepared the meals for the day. In the stables the horses whinnied as if they too could feel that a splendid event was coming to help make the name of the new high king and queen.
"Your majesty," a serving lady squeaked as the poised girl ambled gracefully along the corridors of the palace in her evening gown. She cast her head in the direction, letting her piercing brown eyes gaze gently at the girl.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked in a voice that was tender with affection.
"You've been summoned to the throne room by the king," the maid informed Julia, keeping her curtsy the whole time.
The queen chuckled and said, "At ease, maid, there is no need to struggle in that pose. Will you please kindly escort me?"
The maid nodded her head timidly and folded out of her curtsy, leading the queen down a bend in the hall and through a series of doors before stopping in front of the one designed with carvings of knights and studs of silver. The two men positioned outside of the doors straightened up and bowed to the queen before knocking on the door three times sharply with a staff to announce her arrival and opening the doors for her.
MinHostood stiff as a post by the throne, surrounded by some men dressed in ensembles of fluorescent greens and vibrant oranges. They sputtered stuff at a pace that the queen's delicate ears simply could not follow, but clearly it did not seek out her opinion so it didn't matter if she could decipher their garbled words or not.
She waited patiently until all three men had noticed her presence and hid her grin of amusement behind a hand as they bowed repeatedly and belted out apologies. The queen cared not for their hastened calls and excuses, though, and she waved for them to silence.
"Please, spare yourselves the troubles kind men," she said most politely. Afterwards, she turned toMinHo, offering him a smile wider than her previous grin. "You called for me, my lord?"
The king spared a chuckle, not caring about the crinkle of his eyes or the cute dimple that pocked his right cheek.
"No need to be so formal with me, m'lady," he teased, striding towards her gracefully and holding her hand in his and handling it as if it were made of the most fragile of jewels. "I simply wished for your company..." His smile held a tender expression that had become much too common with Julia and she couldn't suppress her cheeks from flushing red.
"But the serving lady said it was a matter pressing time," she said airily.
"A king has to take drastic measures in order to see his wife,"MinHowhispered, brushing his lips over her forehead.
It was as if a massive storm was blowing in Julia's chest. Looking up into the dark, round eyes of her husband she felt her knees tremble and knock against each other, and this time she knew it wasn't from the weight of her gown. Her hands felt clammy though MinHo did not seem to mind. He kept her hand (tiny in comparison to his large, rough ones) perched on the tips of his fingers and guided her to the throne where he let her rest on the seat of velvet cushion.
"Surely you haven't summoned me solely for my companionship," the queen finally breathed after finding her tongue.
"You underestimate the power of your beauty," MinHo chortled, pulling at the comb in his wife's hair and rearranging it until it was properly placed in her tangle of silky hair.
"Please, my lord, you flatter me with compliments unfit," Julia gushed, flustered by the compliment. It surely wasn't queen behaviour to let herself get so incredibly floored by a few words, but even after having endured political battles in the court and between the other kingdoms, and even going through squabbles in the street in her earlier days, she could not bring herself to stand strong against MinHo. Something about his tall demeanour and mellow attitude was unsettling and endearing simultaneously - not a good combination for the queen.
The king simply chuckled at the red apples of his wife's cheeks. He grasped her pointed chin softly in his fingers and tilted her face up towards his.
"Tell me, do you remember what tonight is?" he asked in a voice husky with mystery.
Julia knew she shouldn't let her composure falter, but gulping down her nerves was something she could not fight. Indeed she knew what was to happen once the day kissed the horizon and she could honestly say that she was nervous for this time than she was on her wedding night.
"Please, my lord... You mustn't speak of these things so freely... Especially not with your company waiting in the corridors..." she sputtered behind a wave of her fan.
It was as if she was a jester in the eyes of MinHo as he did naught but chuckle once more from deep in his velvet clad belly. Pushing aside the hair that escaped the tail at his nape he leaned in close to the queen.
"I've welcomed them into my abode and let them help me rule the court; surely if I wish to speak of my sprouting family they shall refrain from whispering things, shan't they?" he asked with a quirky smile stretching out his royally smug face.
Honestly! Some times Julia didn't know quite how to respond to the king!
She was enjoying the teasing but to keep her pride the queen raised from her throne and tossed a haughty look over her bared shoulder.
"Please, your majesty," she began, refuting the friendly term of 'my lord' that she usually used to make her seem cold. "I'll be roaming the gardens until the meal... Don't get yourself into too much trouble." With a graceful snap of her wrist she locked the fan into one closed position again and strode to the door, allowing the two men positioned there to allow her through and to the waiting lady beyond.
The maid curtsied to her and followed her down the halls until they reached the foyer and headed out the guarded door to the palace gardens. Flowers with petals shaded with colours of the rainbow and odours smelling better than the cooking of their chefs greeted the queen. Her head tilted back to catch the rays of sun on her face and collarbones before leading out with the girl into the maze of gardenias.
"Your visit with the king was brief, your majesty?" the maid asked shyly, keeping her chin pressed down to her chest.
The queen laughed and let her eyes slit happily towards the young girl. "No need to be shy, maid," she chastised lightly. "Yes, it was a brief meeting; my lord is a busy man."
The conversation dropped, but that was very much unlike Julia's thoughts which were still spinning around tonight like the flies buzzed around the steeds in the stable.
Tonight... Tonight was the night. It wasn't the first, of course it wouldn't, the first was always the wedding night, but it'd be the first night that they pray for a heir to come of their amour.
Gnawing on her lower lip, the queen stopped by the glade and let a breeze ripple in the water of the creek that drizzled through it. Her locks of hair that had been left out of her styled hair caught with the gust and flew away from her neck, leaving her chilled but in a pleasurable way.
Tonight... It was her duty not only to her husband, but to her court... She was elated, most surely, but what if she couldn't raise the heir like they wished?
