Putting Feelings Into Words
I had just finished instructing Alexandra on tea etiquette with the help of Josiah. She did surprisingly well but I had a suspicion that Talia had instructed her in this subject before. I am unsure of why she wouldn’t say anything if that was the case, but I was pleased to see that she was more than ready to have tea with my mother on the break day. I sat down at my desk, “You may go now Ms. Batiste. Please leave the door open on your way out.” She nodded at me and rose from her chair, “Thank you kindly for your diligent instruction. I shall apply what I have learned to my meeting with the Queen Mother on break day.” She then went out the door leaving it open as I had requested. Josiah immediately started talking about how well she did when something I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.
The Chalshin had draped his arm around Alexandra’s shoulder like he was dating her or something. I felt a heat rise up from my stomach to my face and I felt the sudden urge to fly out of the room and rip his arm from her. What was this feeling? I shouted to him something about his inappropriate behavior, but I couldn’t remember what I said because I had this primal urge to protect her innocence. I had never felt this feeling before and it was rather unpleasant. What I shouted must’ve worked because after he whispered in her ear, he dropped his arm from her. After they left the waiting area, I was thinking clearly again and the heat that I had felt before was gone. I turned to Josiah, “You were saying?” Josiah cleared his throat, “I was just praising Her Grace, Your Majesty. I would like permission to speak my mind though if you will.” I tensed up because I knew this was going to be in relation to my behavior just now, “I doubt I could stop you if I tried. You know the rules here during the school year.” He nodded and smiled at the fact that I had made it a rule that rank had no place at LDMU during the school year, “Your behavior just now was rather inappropriate given the circumstances of your marital status and the competition. One would assume you favor Ms. Batiste to win, and those rumors could reach the council. This would certainly disqualify Ms. Batiste from participating.” He gave me a knowing look that indicated that he would report this to the council himself.
This old windbag really thought he could threaten the ruler of Vellum through his friendship with House Batiste. I shot him a glare, “And you really think saying something like that to me holds no consequences? I may not have ranking power over you at this time, but I do hold your job in my hands, and I will fire you if you threaten me or any of my students again. Is that clear?” His face paled at the revelation that I was correct, “My apologies, sir. I just mean to say that you can’t be too careful. My relations would take every opportunity they have to bump Ms. Batiste out of the running. I merely have our student’s best interest in mind.” He really didn’t but he tried to smooth my temper over by being the calculating weasel that he was. Sometimes I felt that was an advantage to the institution that he serves but right now it was really annoying. Still, he was right that House Maigny would do anything they could to not only have Melody at my side as Queen but also get rid of her competition. They especially would love nothing more than to bump House Batiste down a peg. The rivalry between the two Houses has dated back forever and the hatred came mostly from the Maigny side. House Batiste were always level-headed and logical in their dealings with House Maigny, but the opposite was true for the Maignys.
I heard a shrill shrieking noise from the courtyard and put my mask on to investigate. As I walk out to the balcony, I could see Melody making her way to where The Chalshin, Jess and Alexandra were standing. I could not hear what was being said but based on the facial expressions Melody was being nasty to Alexandra who took it in stride. She rolled her eyes and muttered something to her which angered Melody. I saw Melody raise her hand to slap Alexandra and I winced because I could do nothing to stop it besides being the idiot in a mask, shouting from a balcony. I saw though, that The Chalshin stopped her from harming Alexandra. I sighed with relief because I felt that he was taking his assignment seriously. The problem that I heard over and over from the Citadel was that The Chalshin was their strongest warrior since Talon’s death but that he never took his role seriously. Perhaps, being around Alexandra for such a short time has already had an impact on his work. I told myself that but seeing the way he looked at her, that hunger in his eyes, it was more than that. I muttered silently to myself, “He’s in heat. There’s no doubt about it.” I would need to rethink my strategy in protecting Alexandra for the full moon nights. I very much doubted she wanted to have his puppies and he clearly had an interest in her.
I turned on my heels and came back in the room. Josiah looked up from the report he was writing on the first session with Alexandra, “Is everything okay out there sir?” I nodded, “Your relation showed up and there was a small confrontation between her and Ms. Batiste.” He sighed, “I’m guessing Ms. Maigny started this confrontation.” I nodded and pulled a paper and pen from my desk drawer. I wrote a letter to the Citadel requesting a shift change during the full moon time then sealed it. I got up from my seat, “I must be getting back to the castle for some official business. Send me a dolken should you need me here.” A dolken was a small magic burst sent over a system of ropes within the kingdom. They were for official kingdom business only so no one else had them but the various government offices, LDMU, the Citadel, Elder Hall, the church and of course the castle. Josiah nodded, “Understood, sir. Any other instructions?” I turned to face him on my way out, “Vanessa is conducting the fire aptitude tests today, right?” He nodded, “I assume you will want reports as you do every year.” I turned to leave the office yet again, “Promptly. I want to see who will best serve this kingdom in the future. Ensure the Elders get a copy as well.” I closed the door on my way out.
I took the secret passage to heading Blackwood since I didn’t want anyone to see me leave LDMU. What Josiah had not shown Alexandra and Jess was that there was another secret doorway in the tunnel that connected directly to my chambers in the castle. This was for obvious reasons; my privacy and security must be maintained as the King. Josiah himself did not know the passage led to my chambers. As I entered my room, I shed the plain coat that I had worn to LDMU often and hung it up in my wardrobe. I didn’t need to be formal in my own home and I needed to feel a little looser after the morning I had. I came out of my room to go next door to my office, carrying the letter I just wrote to the Citadel. I handed it to Malinus on the way in, “Seal this and make sure it goes to the Citadel. I can’t have heated up lycan protecting a young lady during full moon.” Malinus took the letter, “Yes, Your Majesty. Is there anything else you need right now?” I shook my head, “I would like not to be disturbed for an hour.” He nodded while pulling out the sealing set.
I went into my office and closed the door then sighed. I had received a letter from Alexandra the day after an attempt was made on her life, but I had not had the opportunity to read or respond. I had meetings since with the Elder Council then with the Citadel to get an investigation into The Order of the Old Ways. The Council had been hesitant to do any investigations on them before now because they posed no harm to the citizens. Grand Pretre was instrumental in starting this investigation emphasizing the importance that Alexandra had on the future of Vellum. There was little resistance to agreeing to open an investigation but the hang up was whether we wanted to deploy the personal guard or the soldiers of the Citadel. This was a daylong meeting with both parties. The advantage to having a snaky brother like mine was that he has no red tape to cut through to get things moving. He had sent me a small note merely stating: “I’m going to get them. I’ll share information later.”
I sat down at my desk and pulled out the neatly sealed envelope and opened it. I started to read it: “Lucien, I saw that look on your face when I came to. You really don’t need to fret so much and there is nothing to be guilty about. You sprang into action when I needed you most and for that I will always be grateful. As for your letter about the ritual, I don’t think you are very crazy for feeling the way you do. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel the spark either. I just don’t know what that was.” I thought back to the feeling I had back in the Headmaster’s office, and I didn’t know what that was either. What did I feel then? What did I feel in that room with Alexandra? Those feelings were very new to me, and I couldn’t put either of them into words. I continued to read: “Hearing about the competition was different for me than most of the eligible ladies there. I had never had any desire for a throne like the others. Jess being another eligible lady, could probably understand, I looked at it as a competition for a crown. How can you compete for a heart? The whole business of getting married because you have to seems so foreign to me. Where I grew up, they chose who to love and who to marry. Now I come here, and I find myself in a competition that I don’t know how to feel about. I don’t want you to think any union to you would undesirable though. I will compete with the ladies to the best of my abilities, but I wonder if a wedding to someone so young like myself would be able to be put off for a time. I would love to finish my studies before I even think about the next phase of life.” I chuckled of her planning a hypothetical future with me and then thought what if she won. I think she would be the most comfortable of all the ladies to be around. Life would be so much less difficult, and she would have the level-head to be able to take on being Queen. I finished reading, “I think for me to speculate does neither of us any good so I will leave my apprehensions at that. I had heard that you would be at the tea party on break day, so I look forward to seeing you at that time. Ever your friend, Alexandra.”
I placed the letter in the box I kept her letters in and placed it in my secret storage. What all of the ladies who were attending my mother’s tea party didn’t know was that it was going to be the very first event of the competition. There will be a see stone in the room where both the council and Grand Pretre will observe the ladies and how they handle the situations that they will find themselves in. There will be a special guest at the tea party that will test the ladies’ ability to handle a difficult person. The council contends that if they cannot handle their people given them pressure to handle their problems then they may not be suited to be Queen. I pulled open my drawer to write a letter back to Alexandra, I wanted it to be there when she returned from school after her lesson with me tonight.
