The kingdom was celebrating.
Even from afar the queen could hear the cries of joy, her heart - feeling heavy for months now - finally was relieved when from the balcony of the throne room she saw the imposing figure of her loyal general on his black horse's back enter the palace through the huge gates.
Keeping her composture she left the balcony closing the double door made of glass. The long gown crept along the marble floor as she made her way to the huge throne in the middle of the room. She sat down and focuses on her breath until it was steady enough and she had calmed down her loud heart beat that echoed in her ears. She waited for minutes before the double doors of wood opened and the general entered.
Still with his armor and a sheathed sword to his hip, dry blodd soiled his face beneath the intense green eyes, his brown hair was dirty, heavy and messy. He probably hadn't showered in days, but she couldn't care less about those details, in his hands he had the crown of blood soaked diamonds.
He kneeled before her and bowed his head, lifting the crown in his hands for her to reach.
"Leave us". She ordered without taking her eyes off of the young man and the soldiers at the doors around the throne room obliged. When the last guard left the room the queen rose to her feet and stood in front of him.
"Get up". Her voice reached his ears. "I want you to be the one who crown me".
The general, always so good to her, rose. She lowered her head and he placed the crown between her perfectly matted golden hair. He was careful enough not to touch her with his metal gloves and swallowed hard as she lifted her head again, his eyes met hers and she had that look that he knew too well - after all no one knew his queen the way he did.
"How do I look?" His eyes went through the diamonds for just a tiny moment before they returned to focus on her face. His voice was a weak whisper as he answered.
"Perfect".
The coners of her mouth curved into a smirk and he saw in her eyes that she was also struggling to keep control over herself. One of her hands went to his face the tips of her finger lightly caressing the dry blood from a shallow cut and he almost closed his eyes.
"My poor general," her voice was low and so good to his ears "you must be exhausted. Months in a war only for a tiny tiara."
"No war will ever be too small nor too long for you, my queen". His answer brough a smile to her lips, he wanted to touch her so bad, but restrained himself.
"You don't know how much you please me". Her words hid their true meaning and that only made harder for him to hold back. "I must reward such loyalty." She whispered even though they were alone in the room, both knew anyone could hear behind the doors or come in any second.
She pulled away making him miss her warm touch on his skin. She returned to the throne sitting down with all the grace and magnificence he adored, the stains of dried blood on the diamond crown played out in contrast to the purity of the turquoise blue dress she wore and he thought again to himself that the greaterd reward he would ever have after his long battles would be the sight of his queen satisfied with yet another victory.
"Come and get you reward whenever you're ready. Dismissed." He bent down and left, not looking back to see the small smile on her lips.