THE QUEENS

The last of the funeral rites were performed and the King's remains were laid to rest in the Royal catacombs beneath the Cathedral.

Immediately afterwards, Alexander was tasked to start his responsibilities as King and Sovereign.

It had been a week after the King's untimely death and Alexander found himself seated in the same study where his father once sat.

There with him was his new private secretary, Charles and he stood a couple of feet away from the King.

The King on the other hand was gazing at the golden chest that had been laid in front of him.

It bore the royal seal and the coat of arms of Scoln.

"I never thought that soon I would be able to deal with the contents of this chest." Alexander said.

"Life your Majesty is unpredictable." Charles said.

"I am starting to see that." Alexander replied.

"If there is anything that you need my help with I will be glad to offer a hand or two." Charles said.

"Take a seat." Alexander replied.

Charles was a little bit too shocked by his Majesty's reply.

"Me?" He asked as though unsure that they were talking to him.

"Yes." Alexander replied.

Charles hesitantly sat down in the seat that was right in front of him.

"To begin with, who is my personal advisor pertaining to the official duties?" Alexander asked as he opened the chest.

"For all I know, the Queen, the Queen mother and I." Charles said.

"Any other interventions I must no of?" Alexander asked as he looked through the documents that had been presented to him.

"Members of the Royal family and may be the Prime Minister as well as trustworthy officials." Charles replied.

"What are the duties of my Queen?" Alexander asked.

"To run the Royal household, look after his Majesty and as we all know give an heir to the Crown." Charles replied.

"And politically?" Alexander asked.

"Politically, the Queen is neutral unless she is either a regnant or his Majesty is in no position to govern." Charles replied.

"May I ask why?" Alexander asked a little bit curious.

"Never has there been a Queen politically active." Charles replied.

"Even a male Queen?" Alexander asked.

"Even those have been rather submissive but they do not exercise any political powers.

It is done in order to protect the King's right basically as a social belief.

Even Duchesses and Baronesses are forbidden from attending courts of law unless special occassions call for it." Charles replied.

Alexander placed the documents in his possession down on his table.

"But I am King." Alexander said.

"And your word is law, as always the final say is with you." Charles added.

"Then I want to begin my reign by adding a few adjustments to the parliament itself." Alexander said.

"Any I can have it called for." Charles said.

"As King I want all members of parliament present immediately in the next three days, I want parliament to sit." Alexander said.

"Right away your Majesty." Charles said as he rose from his seat to depart.

"Wait for a while Charles." Alexander said.

"What is it your Majesty?" Charles asked.

"I need an audience with my mother." Alexander said.

"Right away?" Charles asked.

"Immediately." Alexander replied.

"Alright then, I shall take my leave." Charles replied and he walked out of the King's study.

Valerian in the mean time was seated in the Queen's study and Helren who was appointed to be his new Private Secretary stood beside him.

"I need a few changes being made to this palace." Valerian said.

"Why if I may ask?" Helren asked.

"It needs a bit of a change for the time being." Valerian replied.

"If you really want to work can commence immediately after all you are in charge of the household.

You are tasked to make it most comfortable for the King." Helren replied.

"Did you get what I asked for?" Valerian asked.

"The list of the palace's daily expenditures?" Helren asked.

"Yes of course." Valerian replied.

"It is here." Helren said as he handed ovet a sheet of paper to Valerian.

"You may tell me the details." Valerian said.

"To begin with the palace has a total of six hundred workers." Helren said.

"Break that down in detail a little bit." Valerian said.

"Ten chefs." Helren said and was halted immediately.

"Ten chefs? What for?" Valerian asked.

"Preparing the King's food and the food of the servants." Helren replied.

"Back in Endra the royal household has only four." Valerian asked.

"I am not the one in charge of appointing." Helren said.

"Who is?" Valerian asked.

"The Queen Mother who grants some of that permission to the Lord Chamberlain." Helren replied.

"Then I suppose she wouldn't mind if we halved the number, a palace should be crowded with guards and not cooks." Valerian replied.

"Alright your Majesty." Helren replied with a smirk on his face.

"Don't you think that six hundred servants are a little bit too many?" Valerian asked.

"I agree." Helren replied.

"I want to look through the records of all our servants and personally I shall work with reducing some of them.

I shall also need a team of devouted and hardworking duchesses around a maximum of two.

I need the old budget for the kitchen and the entire household functioning for only today and by the end I shall have drawn up a new one to be effected tomorrow." Valerian said.

"But her Majesty the Queen Mother should be notified at least I think." Helren said.

"I am now the Queen and you said it is my duty to ensure the comfort of my husband." Valerian said.

"Yes your Majesty." Helren said.

"That means that I shall have my husband live in a comfortable palace that is spacious enough, not too crowded for him." Valerian replied.

"Right away your Majesty." Helren said with a smile.

"You seem delighted." Valerian said.

"It is just that I have never seen a Queen as serious as you are." Helren replied.

"I shall take that as a compliment from a loyal secretary." Valerian said with a smile.

"Alright then, I shall leave." Helren said and he walked out.

Meanwhile, the Queen mother who had been summoned by her son walked confidently into his study.

"Your Majesty." Queen Marietta said as she curtsied.

"It is alright mother." Alexander said.

"To what do I owe the King's own summon?" Queen Marietta asked.

She still wore a black dress and a veil which indicated that she was still mourning, for royal widows they tended to mourn longer.

"I wanted to discuss an urgent matter with you." Alexander replied.

The Queen somewhat dried her eyes with her hankerchief.

"I am at your service your Majesty." She said.

"I understand that you are distraught at the moment." Alexander said.

"It is very hard to cope up with everything after your father's untimely death." The Queen mother said.

"I can't understand the situation any better than you mother." Alexander said.

"What you are doing, filling in for him as your duty is good enough." The Queen Mother said.

"And I understand that your duties to this country are also too great to be ignored." Alexander said.

"I can not take time off, spend it more thinking about your father, now I have you to look after." The Queen Mother said.

"It must be really hard for you in this current position." Alexander said.

"Pretending as though nothing happened here is very difficult." The Queen mother said.

"Hmmm." Conan muttered.

"Do you need my help with anything?" The Queen Mother asked.

"Yes." Alexander replied.

Her Majesty inwardly beamed with joy but did not let it show that much.

"How may I help you my dear?" She asked Alexander.

"I need you to take some time off mother." Alexander said and the Queen mother was shocked.

"Time off?" She said barely believing his words.

"Yes." Alexander said.

"There is no need my son." The Queen mother said.

"You think I do not know, you try to put on the act and charade that every thing is fine yet inwardly you are hurt.

All these duties are not good for your health and as head of the family I must ensure that your health is at its best." Alexander said.

"My health is not as important as yours, I have devouted my life to protecting my husband and now my son as well." The Queen mother said.

"I insist, you are doing all this because you do not want to leave me all alone but I understand yoyr intensions.

I know the reason behind your actions and the burden of that motherly love but I have lost my father and I can't lose you too." Alexander said.

"Forgive me my son but staying away from you is something that I can not do." The Queen Mother said.

"I know it, but you need some time to forget every thing and settle down the pain in your heart.

I understand how important father was to you but no need to worry about me." Alexander said.

"And the household?" The Queen Mother asked.

"Do not worry, Valerian can run it on your behalf and it shall give him some work as well.

I also trust that he can take very good care of me, I just need you to do this for the both of us." Alexander said.

"But....." The Queen Mother was interrupted.

"I insist, if I relieve you of your duties right now you might feel better having some time off.

I can not do without you and I shall need your help in the future." Alexander said.

"If you say so your Majesty." The Queen Mother eventually said.

"You better get ready, I organised that you spend some time near the sea in the North.

I heard that it would be better if I had your mind relaxed." Alexander said.

"Alright." The Queen mother replied.

"You may leave." Alexander dismissively waved his mother off.

"Thank you for being considerate." She said in the most sincere manner that she would find and walked away.

Alexander then sighed alone in the room.

The moment that the Queen mother was outside, she was enraged and before she could walk further away, she caught sight of Valerian facing her.

The two locked their gazes as the Queen mother seemed to wear the deadlier glare at her son-in-law.

For a while, every thing was still except for the beating hearts of the two Queens whose relationship seemed to be a bitter one at that very moment.