NADEZHDA ON A TREE

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

Birthed in my heart. Alive in my veins…

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

The Throne Hall, Valcresh’s Main Palace, The South…

“My King, you requested my presence,’’ Zorgan said, bowing alongside a few of his elite soldiers before the throne.

Their armour gleamed under the light of the Throne Hall, where silence carried more weight than spoken words, and where the air always felt colder.

The King, regal and composed, gave a solemn nod. His fingers curled slightly over the eagle-carved tip of the armrest of his throne.

‘‘The King of Tavrodel has reached out to Valcresh.

There’s been a rise in crime across his cities and villages. More troubling- the number of missing children. It demands our attention and this isn’t something we can afford to ignore.’’

Zorgan raised his eyes. ‘‘May I speak, if the moment allows?’’

The King gave the faintest of nods.

He knew Zorgan well enough to know such requests came only within the walls of the Throne Hall. Beyond them, his unaccepting heir spoke his mind freely, sometimes recklessly.

Here, the authority of the throne demanded restraint- and the King welcomed that peace.

‘‘I know a few captains and ranking soldiers who can handle this,’’ Zorgan said. ‘They can eliminate this threat swiftly and cleanly and they’ll put an end to it in days.

I can recommend them if-”

The King blinked. Even the men behind Zorgan glanced his way, surprised.

‘‘Are you… passing on this duty?’’ the King asked, leaning forward.

‘‘Correct me if I err, my son, but it sounded like you are relinquishing a duty.” his voice edged with disbelief.

‘‘You are owed rest- half a decade, by my decree- yet you’ve never once turned away from any matter that desires your attention.

You have overseen skirmishes far smaller than this with all the zeal of a commander born. So I pray you tell me- what has changed?’’

He thought of the Queen’s whispered concerns,- rumours of Zorgan’s bride, a woman who was taken hastily to avoid the weight of courtly pressure.

A woman who wasn’t worth ‘much’.

He hadn’t believed them.

But his thoughts drifted to the last time Zorgan stood in the Stone Hall- the moment his son seized Leader Margo by the throat and choked him near to death, all because the man had dared to speak ill of ‘her’. There had been no hesitation, no flicker of restraint. Only fury- cold and precise.

Now a flicker of doubt stirred within him.

‘Could she truly hold such sway over him?’

Zorgan parted his lips to offer something about fatigue or recovery- but it withered on his tongue. The truth was simpler: the only rest he craved was in her presence. The rest he wanted was beside her and he wasn’t sure she even wanted him there.

‘‘It was only a suggestion, Your Highness,’’ he said at last. “I’ll ready myself and we depart at once.’’

He bowed low, then turned and strode from the Throne Hall, aware of the King’s gaze heavy upon his back.

It was past midday by the time Zorgan got back to his palace. He found Nadezhda in the garden and the sight of her made him pause.

His wife and two of her chambermaids were high into a fig tree, plucking its ripe, golden fruit.

Aida was on the ground, receiving the fruit they tossed down.

Their voices were rich with laughter, but hers whistled sweetly to him.

Leaves clung to her hair, and the elegant gown she had worn earlier was torn and smeared with dirt, but none of it could diminish the enchantment in Zorgan’s eyes.

He stood still, hands clasped behind him, watching with quiet awe.

For the briefest moment, the world seemed to be all good, grace and sunshine.

From the way Nadezhda moved and held onto branches, it was clear this wasn’t her first time on a tree.

Those above began to descend, when suddenly, Camille caught sight of Zorgan. She leaned in and whispered into Nadezhda’s ear.

Nadezhda’s head snapped so hard toward the entrance quickly and there he was, smiling faintly and waving. Clearly, he had been caught, and there was no point in running now.

She gasped, the response of her question to the physician, coming back to her mind as his face framed her eyes. She lost her footing and began to fall through the branches.

Zorgan dashed, panic flooding his chest- his nostrils flaring, his eyes wide.

Nadezhda succeeded in getting a hold of a thin branch and her legs dangled helplessly. She reached for another, but it was quite out of reach, and the one she held was trembling in her grip.

‘‘My Lady!’’ her chambermaids cried.

‘‘Oh Heavens,’’ Nadezhda breathed as her pulse roared in her ears. She had seen the ground about three times and the thought that she could have crashed caused a trickle of fear within her- more than a trickle.

‘‘Release your hands, I promise to catch you!’’ Zorgan shouted from below as he tried to calm himself.

‘She isn’t hurt. All is well. She isn’t hurt. All is well.’

She tried to glance down but the angle made it impossible to catch clear sight of him.

‘‘No... I should be able to handle this. I can handle this’’ she said, even as the branch warned her of its strength.

Hands on hips, Zorgan replied, “Nobody doubts that. But there are times you have to let someone help you. I just wish you will see it.

Please Nadezhda, let me help’’

Her chambermaids and Dorian exchanged sly glances but quickly composed themselves again.

She took a breath, feeling defeated.

“The Heavens bear me witness, if you don’t catch me, I will find another chance to drown you.

Zorgan! This time your head won’t rise.’’

He chuckled. “Again I don’t doubt y-”

She released the branch before he could end his words.

“Zorgan-” she screamed as the air rushed past her.

He caught her, both hands encircling around her upper body, trapping her hands in.

Nadezhda breathed hard, her little life had flashed past her.

Zorgan’s heartbeat was also not steady- he had not thought that he wouldn’t be able to catch her but all the same, his heart pace was wild.

He felt her regaining her composure.

‘‘For the love of all that is good, No More Trees.’’ He said calmly.

Her eyes met his. ‘‘Yes-,” she started and he smiled, “-No more coming close to any tree Dragon.’’

His smile fell.

“-If you had not been here, I wouldn’t have been in such circumstance.’’

Zorgan ground his teeth. She was simply claiming that her fall was due to his presence, and in a way, that was right. But it also wasn’t.

She was something else.

‘‘Tell me, why did you summon the physician?’’ he requested. Her eyes opened for a fraction and she started to squirm to be released.

He eased his strength around her, allowing only her hands freedom.

‘‘Place me down this instant!’’

‘‘No, tell me what I need to know,’’ he pressed.

‘Need to know?!

This infuriating Dragon!’ she thought.

He glared at her, she glared at him and the next moment, Nadezhda wrapped her hands around his throat.

‘‘I am not ill and I had thought too much of something.

My suspicions were proven wrong and that was it.

But if I don’t find my feet on the ground now, I’ll squeeze life and soul out, till you do’’

She was closer now, the outline of her face in his devouring sight.

‘‘Perhaps-” he began and Nadezhda’s fingers tightened- at least what it could.

‘‘Perhaps, I desire just that,’’ he said in a small voice, his tone complexed with something a part of her refused to understand.

For whatever reason, the rhythm of her heart fled the boundaries of what she would ordinarily like to do.

Her eyes traced the curve of his upper lip and there was a flame licking at the pit of her belly. Her fingers itched to move from his neck to his lips, to feel what those taunting lips of his felt like.

Zorgan wanted- needed- to pull her closer, his body straining, his muscles and joints warring.

‘Heavens help… she’s touching me.

My Rebel’s hands are on me’

The look in her eyes…

‘‘I want to go… I have to. Please, place me on my feet’’

His dimmed eyes recovered their size and that peculiar darkness waned.

‘Nadezhda is pleading. She doesn’t beg. She really wants to leave.’

He did as she requested and watched her hurry from him like he was truly a dragon breathing fire in her vicinity.

He finally remembered that he had an unrest to quell. ‘Yes, Tavrodel’

A few moments after he and Dorian had gotten ready, he took one last look at his palace, wondering when next he would come here, when next he would see her.

There was no way he was going to allow her to come for the King’s natal feast.

‘Someone like her isn’t supposed to be around my kin and certainly not me.

But Heavens, she touched me!’