Regiphobia

The Attack

José looked at Angelica. Before, he'd thought she was Arial's translator. It was her older sister, the one who gave up the throne. She turned to him, eyes sweeping over his uniform. "You're that guard from the other day, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," he responded with a quick nod.

Arial signed something to her in one of the languages José couldn't understand. Angelica nodded to her sister, then held out a hand to José, "Angelica Brown, nice to meet you!"

José was a touch surprised, but he shook her hand, "Officer Jose Cazado."

"I'll leave you two alone," Angelica smiled, walking off and almost immediately getting caught in a new conversation. José watched her leave for a moment before turning back to Arial. "Your sister is..."

'Loud, I know,' Arial signed with a soft smile. She toyed with a small amber pendant around her neck that Juan hadn't noticed before. Worry was spread through her eyes, but she kept a happy face.

"...You don't have to smile, you know," José said. Her smile faltered for just a moment.

'People look to those in charge to see how to act. If I worry, so will they,' she signed quickly. José blinked, glancing around a bit. Several people were watching her. Usually, they looked away after a brief glance at the queen, but some were just staring. Whether it was because of her beauty or her position, he didn't care know. He turned back to her. He could tell her smile was fake now, but she'd already explained why it had to be.

"I see," he responded simply, "Still, that can't be healthy."

'Maybe not. I don't have much of a choice,' Arial shrugged. Now, that shocked José. He was under the impression that monarchs could do basically whatever they wanted. Not having a choice didn't fit that idea at all.

"Of course you have a choice. You rule a country," José said, blinking the confusion out of his eyes.

Arial's smile turned a little sad. 'To be honest, you probably have more freedom than I do. I mean, of course, I live an extremely comfortable life. I have everything I could ever want or need. But I can't leave the castle without a week of planning and a dozen bodyguards. I can't be anything other than the queen. It's just my life.'

José looked over her. Did she not want to be queen? No, that didn't sound like what she meant. "It does sound stifling," he said quietly.

'Being a ruler is great. It just feels like I'm a ruler before I'm a person,' Arial signed before clasping her hands in front of her. Why was she sharing all this with him, a guard she barely knew? Something in his mind told him to drop the shit and just comfort her, help her, anything.

He couldn't, though. His pride wouldn't let him. He just nodded, looking around the room again. Juan was looking over at where the king had taken his fiancé. Angelica was chatting with some guy she didn't seem to know. He could hear some of what was being said in the king's private room, but he didn't care. Footsteps, heartbeats, whispers and mumbles and people above them and gunshots and shouting out orders and everything else entered his ears. He shook his head, turning back to the queen, "How's your arm?"

'It's fine. It hurts, obviously, but I'll be OK,' Arial smiled a little wider, 'I've survived worse.'

That was perturbing, but José didn't comment. He just nodded, glad she was alright. He didn't say it though. Just thoughts.

The safe room shook. People started panicking, looking around with fear and voices raising more and more with each passing second. José's hand went instinctively to the gun on his belt as he looked around. The shaking stopped, but people were still scared. He looked back to Arial.