NO HOVERING MALE

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

Birthed in my heart. Alive in my veins…

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

The General loomed over some of the best of Valcresh’s soldiers, who were leading him and his comrades toward the carriage that had brought the previously judged prisoners.

Nadezhda and Zorgan had gotten to their carriage that was stationed parallel to the carriage of the Royal soldiers.

Zorgan’s hand was stretched out to her but she had stopped just before the stairs of the carriage.

Her eyes were asserted on one of the apprehended men – the one who was prominently apparent. He was also about to enter the carriage before him.

At that very moment, his head gradually swerved toward Nadezhda’s path. She could not see him clearly as the breeze tousled his loose hair that covered both sides of his face.

His sight of her was vague, but her clothing had offered a glimpse of who she could be.

‘‘Another clucked Princess! Bloody Southern Royals’’ He cursed, right before he was jostled into the carriage.

Nadezhda lifted her gown and with eyes ahead, she bypassed Zorgan’s hand. He tsked as he settled after her.

The carriage began to edge forward and from the atmosphere that descended, he discerned that Nadezhda must have been startled by the abrupt assault.

To set the air lighter, he quipped, ‘‘Perhaps that was your initial encounter with a public assail, but there was no need to have left my hand hanging.

You know… the same hand you said was important’’ Zorgan said with an awkward chuckle when her lips remained sealed.

The wince of her facial muscles, particularly the scrunch of her nose had him turning to the other side of the carriage. He was mortified for trying to behave normally around her, and he shut his eyes as he rocked his molars.

She appeared disinclined to comprehend his intention.

They were close to their home when her tongue eventually let loose some words.

‘‘It was all just a performance, as you know, and I’m genuinely delighted that you are heading to the front lines.

At war, you may lose both hands to carelessness…’’ Nadezhda said in a straight voice.

Turning to him, she added in a subtler decibel, ‘‘But you are not permitted to lose your life’’

Zorgan gazed at her. He had no particular thoughts to express, except that they collided in his head at once.

‘She doesn’t care if I lose my hands, but she does care if I lose my life.

Is it because my life is the only thing that allows her to live the untroubled life she wishes for?

Or is she miffed that I had not told her I was going to war? She had appeared sore when Mael had cited it.

Or is that her inference that she cares for me? Could that be a mild declaration from that cold heart of hers?’

‘‘Why in the heavens are you staring at me like that?’’ Nadezhda voiced, tearing him away from his thoughts. He hadn’t even realized that his eyes were still on her. He had been so lost in the words of his mind.

He cleared his throat lightly, “I had no idea I was-”

‘‘I’m eager to step outside now’’ She cut in.

They had arrived.

He quickly stepped out from the carriage and didn’t bother holding out his hand to her.

And instead of allowing her to walk before him in the gentlemanly fashion he had been trying so perseveringly indulge, he left her behind.

‘Never will I read meaning into anything she does or say. Heavens…Never Again!

Damned Cunning Witch!’ He thought as he sent a small rock flying off the ground with his foot.

Nadezhda, who was behind him, narrowed her eyes like she had seen one more thing to add to her knowledge of Earth’s most unusual incidents.

***********************8

Her skin felt smoother, and her eyes were still shut, but there was a smile on her face. The airflow in her nostrils was crisper than she had ever known it capable of.

‘‘What’s that scent?’’ She asked rhetorically.

A moment later she screamed,

‘‘No Hovering Male!’’

Her eyes immediately flew open as she realized she had said that out loud. Her hands clamped over her mouth but her smile returned when she realized there was no one around.

In the tender hush of the morning, Zorgan and Dorian had en routed for Valcresh’s main palace where his soldiers and other soldiers were gathered.

Prince Mael and two other Commanders – one from the Kingdom of Eryndor and another from Adabbon – were already present.

Commander Zorgan trotted with his horse to the space given. Clad in his armour, his hair was let loose and his helmet was trapped against his bicep.

With glacier-dark eyes, he looked over the soldiers before him.

Some were armed with spears and shields, some with arrows that bristled like the tips of torched sticks. And others sat back on horses with their swords gallantly begging to be drawn.

Addressing them, he began with a sharp intensity tuned with the aura he exudes,

‘‘My Brothers! My Comrades, we initially thought we were only up against Strays. But from the attacks yesterday, there’s a chance that the people of the North have conspired with the Strays against us.

The Purpose of this gathering is not a pleasant one. But regardless, our sweat and heart is to make it yield a pleasant outcome.

Do not shiver, do not tow and like a command I recently received, I charge, ‘You are not permitted to lose your life’’

All at once, the men lifted their fisted right hands as they shouted enthusiastically. Although some of them could not help but wonder who had given their Commander such a command.

Prince Mael ground his teeth as he recollected how Zorgan had immediately taken charge of the situation in the dais yesterday and had even ordered him to protect the King and Queen.

But his frown soon smoothened to a smile as he remembered the little surprise he had left behind for Zorgan’s wife.

‘Oh Brother, oh Comrade, let’s see if your wife can be as smart as her words.

You should have not listened to her, you really should have stayed behind and let me lead us to victory’