THE PERFECT COUPLE

I am not a queen because I rule, I rule because I am THE QUEEN.

Birthed in my heart. Alive in my veins…

***************

Normal couples spend the first ride to their new abode in a cozy carriage and in each other’s arms. But Zorgan and Nadezhda rode in separate horses, wordlessly competing against each other on the path to Valcresh.

The guards and warriors that were supposed to be stationed before and behind them, all rode behind. They wondered if the newlyweds were racing to meet their maker or if they were in the middle of a war.

Nadezhda opted to ride separately because they were no longer under the scrutiny of other royals and also because she was vexed at the way her father had given her up.

She had suggested returning to Isoloth with him so she could properly bid some persons and pick some things of hers, but her father wouldn’t hear of it. He had turned so fast from her to Zorgan so he could not so subtly begin to strategize on ways both kingdoms could benefit from each other.

The sight had set the hairs on her skin on fire and it burned all the way to her heart.

But during the ride, Nadezhda began to feel an unease in her belly, and as she persevered in her ride, the queasiness rose to her throat.

She hurriedly dismounted from the horse to throw up and Zorgan was not surprised. Everyone had gratefully stopped galloping and watched her wretch by the side of the road. Zorgan stood behind them, his hands on his hip as his slanted eyes took her in.

‘‘Thank you,” Nadezhda said to the warrior who passed a water skin to her. She gaggled her mouth before taking in some and she felt better.

‘‘I apologize for making us stop but I promise you all that I’m well. Let’s return to the journey shall we?’’ She said with a huge smile as she addressed the watchful eyes before her. They tried to return the smile so as not to appear rude, but most of them were genuinely concerned for her.

Most Princesses only rode on horses when a very serious circumstance demanded it, and even then, not the way she had been.

‘‘We won’t be returning to the journey because you need to rest’’Zorgan commented as she walked back to her horse. She heard him but she disregarded him like he had said nothing.

The agreement was that she would get to make her own decisions without his questioning, and showing weakness barely a day into the marriage was making her feel like she was beginning to get the shorter end of the stick.

Zorgan sighed at her attitude.

She placed a foot on the stirrup of the horse but before she could swing her leg across the horse’s back, Zorgan’s hands came on her waist and lifted her back to the ground.

‘‘What do you think you are doing?’’ She asked with wide eyes after quickly peeling his hands off her. A vein throbbed by the side of Zorgan’s head.

‘‘If you do not want to rest, you have to promise the guards that you will ride normally henceforth’’ Zorgan voiced angrily. Confusion twirled in Nadezhda’s eyes and she wondered why she had to make such a promise to the royal guards.

‘‘I owe them no promise. Now keep your hands to yourself because-”

Zorgan spoke over her, frustration and irritation in his tone.

‘‘You truly are ignorant! It’s bloody clear you are on a mission to harm yourself and I can tell this is your first time riding with such vigour!

If anything happens to you, it will be a hassle to transport your body to Valcresh, and to be true to my promise, I nor my warriors will offer a helping hand, and you will become the responsibility of the royal guards alone.

Is that still vague or should I list the many things that could very well happen to you if you choose to persist?’’

Nadezhda’s hands curled into tight balls. She so badly wanted to go against him that it nipped at her insides, but she knew she was wrongly channeling aggression at him, and his men were also watching. She decided to seal the built-up counter that was at the tip of her tongue.

Zorgan heaved, his hands still on his hip as the size of his eyes seemed to have become smaller.

‘‘I’ll ride slower then,’’ Nadezhda said after two heartbeats had collectively escaped them.

‘‘Whatever rocks your boat!’’ Zorgan retorted in a low voice before he turned away from her and marched to his horse. Nadezhda huffed as she watched him mount his horse and ride away, looking displeased and terribly annoyed.

She got back on her horse and rode as she had promised - not too fast but neither slow- even though most times, the urge to gallop and surpass the man with top-knotted hair way ahead of her and the group came upon her.

The party arrived in Valcresh by nightfall, and Nadezhda was surprised when there were not many guards standing by the gate and around the walls.

‘‘Why are there few guards in sight?’’ Nadezhda asked the warrior who had given her the waterskin the other time. From his interaction with other warriors, she had been able to pick his name – Dorian.

And although Dorian found her question surprising, he accurately answered her nonetheless.

‘’This isn’t Valcresh’s main palace and is only the Prince Commander’s. He doesn’t live with the other royals and has no need for strict security, hence the absence of many’’

Nadezhda’s mouth formed an ‘O’ as she wondered why he didn’t reside in the main Palace like other Valcresh Royals, but she shrugged her concern off.

She followed the royals to the stable and when she came off her horse, she felt soreness on her thighs and an overwhelming weariness. She was so exhausted that her brain was not understanding the structures and figures she passed by. All she knew was that she was being led by Dorian.

After climbing up a fleet of stairs, they reached huge majestic doors that had Nadezhda lifting her head so she could estimate how tall they were. They were about three times her height.

Dorian put both his hands on the door and pressed into it. The doors slowly opened, revealing a hall, large enough to host an event for a quarter of Isoloth’s population. A fire brazier partly brightened the hall, making it possible to make out objects and life forms.

‘‘Pardon me, Princess, but I must go in search of the Commander. He should be close by,’’ Dorian said, looking around, and Nadezhda nodded with a small smile.

Her legs were cramped and she felt like resting. But since the environment was new, she had to remain where Dorian had left her. She looked around and noticed two curved flights of stairs that led to a floor above. She sat on a stair tread and tried to observe the space she was in.

‘Silver opulent curtains!

I believe they weren’t his choice. He doesn’t look like someone with such refined taste and…stone walls?!

What can those engravings depict? This whole place feels so ghostly, just like its keeper. Can I really surv-‘

But soon, her eyes drew shut, and the world around and inside her quietened. Her body was truly not used to the treatment it had received today.

A few minutes later, Zorgan and Dorian found her slouched and asleep on two stair treads. She was almost perfectly scrunched in a circle but her jutting legs couldn’t complete the shape.

‘‘Who knew such a daring being could explore the world of rest?’’ Zorgan asked no one in particular.

He proceeded to lift her carefully, reminiscing how she had cast his hands from her when he tried to stop her from mounting her horse.

‘Brazen but reckless’

Unhurriedly, he took one step at a time up the stairs and only stopped when he was in the room he had been preparing for her.