Queen of Ashes

1.| My Throne

Sitting upon my beautiful handcrafted throne. The precious stones glistening in the pale morning light. That peeks through the heavy curtains. I wondered why this short, fat man was standing in front of me yet again. This had to be the fourth time in as many weeks.

The sweat on his forehead beads, he shifts from foot to foot. He begins to ring his hat, as he stares at me. The entire court, especially the Elders, is staring at me.

Oh, they want an answer, I realize. The poor human must think I am about to throw him to the wolves.

I might, if he keeps showing up here. 

You see, my wolves can either tear you limb from limb as a man or a wolf. I acquired them through deals that had made in what felt like ages ago.

"Theo, please assist..." Pausing until I could think of this farmer's name.

"Ben with whatever he needs," I spoke with a bored but pleasant tone. My territories were in no wars, so there was no need to be unhelpful. Despite how boring all this was, someone had to do it.

Seeing as I was the Queen, that someone was me. Theodore loves to remind me of as he prepared me for the daily courts. He was after all my advisor and what most would consider a close friend -he knew most of my secrets. 

The weight of the heavy layers of my gown is getting to me. As gorgeous as the shimmery ruffles are they weigh a ton.  My legs have long gone numb. I hope this would is over soon. Not for the first time, I grow tired of playing the role of Queen. I miss being a Queen, and not being a puppet.

I miss the early days. The days of blood shed, war, fighting and excitement. 

The Elders dictate what I wear, how I talk, walk, and treat others. It has been 70 years since the Ash Queen rose from the fires of Uprising. I yearn for that feeling. The feeling of power. I don't know how I ended up here. I use to have such passion.

A howl filled the room, jarring the few remaining people. Ripping me from my thoughts. We were so close to wrapping up the humdrum and I could have gone out to the courtyards. Disappointment floods my body, a heavy pit forms in my stomach. Nothing good ever comes from howls in my courtroom.

 I let out a heavy sigh.

So close.

I knew who the howl belonged to. There was only one person on the side of the mountain ridge stupid enough to howl in my presence.

Eli.

Tall, rugged, handsome, alpha Eli. His wide-set shoulders carried the heavy burden of rebuilding more than his homeland. He had every female in the room's attention, he knew it so it made him confident.

He was the leader of the wolves and he wasn't stupid like he leads most to believe. There was no lack of intelligence or knowledge it was more so that he was so brave he lacked fear. Which made him do stupid things sometimes. Usually, it worked in his favor though. But too much confidence mixed with fear numbing bravery has its pitfalls.

The guards let him and his men past and into the court. It was the same men as always. If memory serves me well their names are Warren, Winston, and Harvey. Eli strutted towards me, his dark eyes stared into my soul. He was at complete ease, he didn't even ask for my permission. Leaving his men behind him. They looked similar, tan, dark hair, dark eyes, muscles, and lean bodies. Their tattoos and marking stand out. Warren, Winston, Harvey all wore ones of their ranks and victories.

Eli wore the mark of their "king" the tribal design offering blessings of the Moon Goddess. Surrounding it are other runes and symbols. All picked by their oracles and priestesses long ago. The beautiful lines and curves decorated his chest, shoulders, and upper arms.

He had his head held high chest poked out. Daring anyone to stop him as he got close to me. His dark eyebrow lifted as he lifted my hand from my lap, he leaned forward when he received no objections. I fought not to squirm under his stare, that's not how a queen acts.

"As beautiful as always, my queen." He mumbled against my skin. The collective sigh of envy from the females filled the room. Even by those who didn't have a superior hearing. Eli has been addressing ,e like this since I made the deal to overthrow my father for the throne. His men all took their turns raising their arms to their chest in salute to me.

Theodore chose now to walk back into the room, through one of his secret doorways. He paled when saw the tribe leaders. With no words exchanged between us, he called the court day closed. We both knew that if the wolves were here things are about to get worse. 

The Elders all looked like they sucked a lemon but there was nothing I could do.  I rolled my lips into between my teeth to stop myself from laughing. I guess something good did come from Eli's visit. 

The townsfolk were slow to clear the room. With a helping hand from Eli, I stood up. I lead the gentlemen to my strategy room. Where the real meetings happen.

A large room, with high ceilings. A large map of my domain and my allies territories hang on the like gray stone wall, across from the door. I like to make a statement and it's always a good idea to remind people of your power. 

 A grand table took up the room, sitting on dark hand-carved legs, the table was too solid to move. So it has sat in this room through several kings. It's dark wood top somehow looks as flawless as it has my entire life. I owe the ones who work for the castle some sort of reward. They keep my castle as pretty as my father made it ugly.

One of the girls who work as a maid here, her name might be Marissa, was waiting for us by the doorway. I dismissed her. This isn't a social call. Eli's men all took positions all throughout the room. Eli and I take our places at the table and wait. We beat the Elders to the room but Eli and I are both well aware of how quickly they will move. They don't trust the two of us.

Who can blame them? The last time they let me pair up with the Tribe of the Fallen Moon we burned their king alive in the middle of his court. Granted we had some help from the Fae King.

 The wolves' tribe has grown over the last 70 years or so, they aren't a small tribe anymore. Damn near their own little world. Eli is in charge of them he has some special title that I can never remember. Eli doesn't object to my stares and gives me some in return. It's been a long time since we saw each other last. I noticed the light signs of aging. I remember how he looked in the days before I was a queen. I miss those days.

How he used to look without all the tattoos and how his body stacked with muscles, and how he hardly wore a shirt.

Dashing those thoughts, I clear my thought.

"Eli," I purr. "What's brought you here?" I already knew it couldn't be good news. Eli isn't the type to leave his post.

"Word has traveled from some scouts that run south of my mountains." He spoke in a careful manner. He appeared to be taking a moment to choose his words.

"Yasmin has found a suitor and plans to marry." Eli delivered this bombshell as the Elders came in.