The Voice of the Nightingale

Part IX

Ash headed to the dining hall. When she walked in, the King wasn't there, although everyone else was seated. Ash was late, but her husband was even later. This was unusual, as Theodor was always early. Despite how tempting it was, Ash didn't sit at the head of the table and took her usual seat at the foot. The food was set out in front of everyone. Today was another dinner with the allied houses. More people filled the seats than last time, making the room seem smaller than it was. All the banners were up and the Nightingale crest had finally been moved behind Ash's seat. The Queen began eating, despite the King's absence, and everyone sitting at the table stared at her. After swallowing a bite of pheasant pie, Ash called out to everyone, "Please, eat. The King would want you to enjoy your meal."
Hesitantly, everyone began eating their meals and the chatter began. After a few minutes, the King walked in. He frowned at the table and sat down, being met with welcoming comments. Ash didn't look up when he entered, not really interested in him being here. The doors opened again and the Queen looked up this time. It was Nicholas. What is he doing here? She thought. He's meant to stay outside. He made his way to her and put an envelope on the table.
"My Queen, it's a message from Lady Clemente."
Ash looked at it for a second, then hastily opened it. She found a letter inside. It read :

Dear Ash,

I know it's only been a day, but I miss getting to talk to you. How's the castle? How's the King? Still getting on your nerves? Anyway, I hope everything is okay with you and that the life of a Queen is not too demanding. Hopefully, I can see you again at some point. See you soon!

From Lucia
P.S. Try to deal with it.

Ash finished reading and put the letter down on the table. She looked up to Nicholas and thanked him.
"What did it say?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing of importance. Remind me to write her back tonight."
"Yes, will do."
He turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.
"Are you okay, Nicholas? You look unwell." Ash asked.
He answered her and their conversation began.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired, how about you?"
"Good." Ash smiled.
They continued, and Theodor stared at her from the other side of the table. After a while, he called out, "Ash!"
The Queen paused and turned around in her chair to meet her husband's gaze.
"Yes,"
"You really don't need to talk to the help, no need to make them feel important,"
Ash stared back at him, irritated.
"Well, they make better company than the likes of you."
The now silent family representatives looked at Ash in awe of what she had said.
"You seem to be quite close to that guard."
"You seem to be 'quite close' to every other woman in the kingdom."
Nicholas began to back out of the room.
"You seem to be getting used to the power you're getting." Theodore spat at Ash.
"You mean the common sense I own that you don't seem to have?"
Some of the people in the room gasped at the Queens comment.
"You're saying I'm stupid?"
"Of course not, your highness." Ash smiled.
"Well, sure seems that you think of me that way, you ignorant wench."
Ash stood up, her chair skidding slightly across the floor behind her. Theodor had crossed the line. She walked out of the room. From the corridor, Ash heard the silence that followed her exit. It had escalated quickly, even she knew that. The Queen walked to her chambers and found Nicholas on the way. She called out to him and he turned around.
"That escalated." He said.
"We haven't been getting along. At Lunch, the King decided to attack an enemy nation. I stopped it by not signing. Only a fool would do that."
"Are you sure that was a good idea?"
Ash looked over to Nicholas, wondering what he meant.
"Because," he continued. "This just made him more angry at you."
"When it comes to the Kingdom, I don't care how angry he gets. I may not like being Queen, but his subjects- my subjects are not just strangers. They include my family, my friends. I don't want to be the one responsible if that war were to cause them harm."
"I see."
They made it to Ash's room. She began to walk in, but Nicholas touched her shoulder. The Queen turned around to face him.
"Remember to write that letter."
She smiled. "I will."
Ash walked into her chambers and sat at the vanity. She cleared away her jewellery and hairbrushes and got out a piece of parchment from the drawers. After getting a pot of ink, she began to write :

Dear Lucia,

However, her mind blanked. What should she write? What could she write? There was nothing interesting going on, unless Lucia would've liked to listen to Ash ramble about how horrible her husband was. She dropped the quill she had been writing with and got up. The Queen walked over to the window and gazed outside, contemplating what she could say. Her room had a view of the gardens, just beyond the dragon stables. The sun had set a while ago, so the stars were sprinkled across the sky like splattered paint. Along the horizon, were the silhouettes of trees, but at some points, you could see the faint outline of houses poking out from the city. The moon shone brightly, and you could almost see a face. While Ash's mind wandered, she thought of Virgus, at least that's what she thought the Moon Goddesses' name was. She and her family had never really talked about whether the gods were real or not, but Ash never believed so. Why would these gods allow someone to live such a terrible life?
Then, flying across the sky, came a small shape. It seemed to be the silhouette of a dragon ; it was the only possible option. Dragons are only used for Knights, how strange, Ash thought.
She sat back down and looked at her parchment. After a few minutes, with her mind wandering, there was a movement in the window. She looked towards it and saw two more silhouettes flying across the sky in the same direction as the previous. Probably nothing to worry about, she thought, looking back down at her parchment. All she had written were the words :

Thank you for the letter, I hope you are well.

What else could she write? Ash sat on her chair, she couldn't write about anything going on in her life, as most of it was confidential information from the palace. She continued staring at the parchment until she eventually fell asleep.