Chapter 4: Queen

"Why the sudden stop?" Lavina opens the sliding window in the front of the carriage to ask the coachman. Her voice is loud and clear through the commotion.

The coachman nervously lowers his head. "My apology, Your Highness. The King has ordered a halt to your carriage."

"What order?" Lavina exclaims loudly to herself.

The coachman lowers his head once more, afraid that the Queen might be angered. Rumor has it that she can easily break the bones of a well-trained soldier three times her size. It's hard to believe seeing the fragile lady in person, but even King Cyrus himself acknowledged her capabilities before his passing. It must be true.

Lavina opens the carriage door a tad bit too forcefully as it slams against the carriage.

"My Lady!" Lavina's handmaid rushes to her side upon seeing Lavina stepping out of the carriage.

Lavina walks to the front of the carriage to see two rows of soldiers blocking the path. "What's going on?" Lavina asks the one closest to her with furrowed brows. She thought she already cleared this with the King.

"We are waiting for His Majesty to arrive before we depart." Someone else answers. Lavina turns around to see Felix, Nol's personal guard, walking towards her.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lavina crosses her arms across her chest, her fingers tapping on her shoulder impatiently. Her estate is a good day's journey away, Lavina wants to arrive before nightfall, but at this rate, she may not make it until after midnight.

"His Excellency simply couldn't allow the Lady to travel alone." Felix begins to explain, although he knew it was not true.

"Might you forget, I am a soldier before I am Queen," Lavina reminds Felix, not as she has never traveled alone before. It hasn't been 24 hours since the ceremony and everyone seems to forget that she was the commander of Azov's Rank One Assault Army. "This is but a walk in the garden to me."

Felix smiles. Had he had the chance to join the war, it would have been an honor to see the Queen in battle. Nothing is more attractive than a confident woman. Felix fails to see the King's repulsive reaction toward her.

"Nevertheless, you are Queen. That means getting used to having people follow you around." Another voice says from behind.

Lavina turns around back to her carriage only to see her husband walking towards her. He is dressed in plain traveling attire. Lavina frowns at the sight of her husband. He didn't seem too interested this morning, yet, he's here now.

"What are you doing just standing around? Did you not want to get there quickly?" Nol walks up to Felix and gestures something to him. Felix nods before walking away. The two rows of soldiers part to make way for the carriage.

Lavina shakes her head in disbelief. Her path never got blocked when she was the commander. Before she knows it, Nol's hand is already interlocked with hers and leading her toward the carriage. Lavina quickly shakes off his hand as they approach the carriage door.

"I can very much walk on my own."

Nol shrugs. Had he let his wife stand there, they would never leave quickly enough. Just as Lavina reaches out to close the carriage door, Nol steps on the ledge to stop it with his foot.

"What's this?" Lavina questions. "Precaution measures do not include you coming along."

Nol sighs as he gets onto the carriage. It's only morning, yet felt like it's been a long day. "Don't take it the wrong way, I wouldn't come if not for Mother. She spoke of something about a honeymoon, I wouldn't recommend going against her." Nol lifts his head to glance at his wife, her ruby-red eyes sparkle in the ambient light. He can't quite figure her out. "You already knew that."

Lavina ignores Nol's last comment. She doesn't understand what he meant by that, but it seems he is trying to provoke her. At first, he just seems like a man who has turned cold due to loneliness, but now Lavina is not so sure anymore. Maybe he does actually hate her? Although that wouldn't change their current relationship.

"Wake up." Lavina hears Nol call out to her as she struggles to open her eyes. It appears she has fallen asleep, leaning on Nol's shoulder. Lavina instinctively clutches her chest where the curse mark is. Although her body feels hot, Lavina can somehow breathe with ease.

"You're running your night fever again."

Lavina sits up. "Are we here already?" Lavina notices the carriage has stopped moving. The night has settled for a while now, Lavina observes, as the air has grown chilly, enough to get frostbite if not careful. Lavina's hand reaches for the door handle but Nol holds her back.

"We're still at the gate," Nol explains as he pulls her back next to him. Lavina wobbles a little bit, still in a haze of her fever. The carriage starts moving again.

"Welcome back, Your Highness." The estate staff says in conjunction when the carriage comes to a complete stop.

Lavina loses her balance as she tries to step out of the carriage and almost falls out. One of the butlers is quick to catch her before that happens while Nol holds back her hand attempting to keep her from falling. Lavina quickly shakes off Nol's hand as she steps down from the carriage.

"Thank you, Zayne." Lavina thanks the butler.

"Mistress Lavina!" Yulina, Lavina's personal handmaid, rushes to her aid. "Oh no, we got to get you to bed!"

Lavina manages to chuckle, "I am fine, but a good rest wouldn't hurt." Lavina is closest with Yulina out of all the estate staff. She is more of a friend than a maid.

"Welcome, your Majesty." The estate staff greets Nol as he steps out of the carriage to stand behind Lavina. The staff seems different than what he remembers, they are more jovial. The Rainteau Estate used to be the summer villa that his parents would come to visit during the summer. Nol has been here twice before, once when he was five and the second six years ago before the war started.

Yulina leads Lavina to her chamber and Nol follows closely behind. Most of the staff has returned to their duty except for the head maid, Yulina, and Zyane.

"We have prepared the chamber according to His Majesty's order," Yulina tells Lavina as they approach her chamber. "It's a good thing His Majesty sent men to inform us beforehand, otherwise we wouldn't have known."

Lavina remembers Nol gesturing at Felix this morning, that's probably why she hasn't seen him all day.

"Here we are!" Yulina announces cheerily before opening the door. "A chamber for the newlyweds!"

The head maid smiles as Lavina and Nol close the door behind them. Zyane frowns.