"Your Majesty, ladies really shouldn't be messing around with weapons. Especially not queens – "
"Queens can do whatever they want, correct?" she says, focusing on the target she's aiming her arrow at instead of her Head Counselor.
"Well, within reason – "
"Yes or no, Xavier?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"That's what I thought. And since I am Queen and I can do whatever I want, I do target practice." She lets her arrow fly and it hits the target perfectly in the center.
"But Your Majesty, you should be focusing on – "
"On what? Planning a tea party? Signing my name?"
"You could get hurt – "
"Get hurt?" she asks, turning to face him. "Get hurt?! When I was nineteen years old, I almost got attacked by a bear, I was almost executed, and I got stabbed! So if you think that I'm gonna fall apart just because the bow string gives me a little burn or because I get nicked by an arrow, you are very wrong. I can handle myself."
"You're not an outlaw anymore, Your Majesty. You're a Queen. Perhaps you should start acting like one," Xavier says, his frustration evident in his voice.
"Perhaps you should stop acting like my mother," Ally replies, shooting another arrow.
"I just want what's best for you – "
"No you don't!" she exclaims, laughing bitterly. "You don't want the best for me, or you'd quit trying to force me to be this 'perfect queen' you want me to be! You know what these do?" She holds up her bow and the arrow she's holding. "These help me defend myself. No other queen has been able to do that."
"Because they don't need to. They have the guards, knights, and King to protect them."
"And what about when all of that fails?"
"It won't."
"You don't know that. I have almost died way too many times without having any control over the situation. If I know how to defend myself, that gives me control. As much as I trust the guards and knights and Austin, I trust myself the most to save my own life."
Xavier takes a deep breath. "Your Majesty, you shouldn't be messing around with weapons. The Queen shouldn't even be in the weapons room."
Just then, the door opens and Austin walks in.
"There you are," he says, walking over to her and kissing the top of her head. He glances at Xavier. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's peachy."
"Please tell the Queen that she shouldn't be in the weapons room," Xavier tells Austin exasperatedly.
"Why?"
"Because it isn't Queenly to use weapons."
"If the Queen does it, it's Queenly," Austin says with a shrug.
"Thank you," Ally says, nodding curtly.
"But – "
"You probably shouldn't be criticizing her or her skills, either. She can have you hanged. And I taught her everything she knows."
Xavier swallows nervously and walks out.
"They're still getting on you about that?" Austin asks when Xavier's gone.
"Of course they are," she replies through gritted teeth, shooting another arrow at the bullseye.
"That's so annoying," he says, leaning against a table covered in dull swords waiting to be sharpened.
"I'm pretty sure they're trying to convince me that I was never an outlaw. It's like they want to wipe that part of me out of existence because it's not 'Queenly.'" She shoots another arrow, but this time she misses the target completely because she's so frustrated.
Austin sighs and gently takes the bow out of her hand and lifts the quiver of arrows off of her, setting them on the table of swords.
"It's like I'm not good enough for them, like the Queen they have in their minds is this perfect image that I can't live up to, so they're just gonna keep trying to change me until I've been brainwashed to be that perfect Queen and I'm not even myself anymore."
Austin presses a gentle kiss to her lips and wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back to relax her. And it works.
"You're your own perfect Queen. You're my perfect queen. And if no one else can accept that, then that sucks for them because you're their leader."
Ally sighs. "Why am I not good enough?"
"They don't like the Queen thinking for herself. You've known that since before you ran away. And you, Your Royal Wifeness, are the queen of thinking for yourself. Which is great, because if I was doing all the thinking for both of us, we'd never be able to run these two kingdoms."
She looks up at him. "You don't think I should change?"
"I think that you should be you."
"Even if I'm loud and outspoken and – "
"Ally, I knew you before you were Queen, remember? I knew you when you were a naïve, nineteen-year-old runaway princess who couldn't even pull back a bowstring. And I also knew you when you would pick the pettiest arguments with me just to get on my nerves. And I fell in love with you. So if that doesn't prove that I'll love you no matter how un-Queenly you act, I don't know what will."
Ally smiles slightly. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Austin kisses her temple and pulls her into him again.
"You really couldn't do this without me?" she asks him.
"Not a chance."
"I still just can't believe he would say that to me. It's so aggravatingthat even as Queen I can't get a break from people trying to tell me how to live. Do they not understand that I could have them hanged? I have more power in my little finger than they'll have in their entire lives. Xavier is only the Head Counselor of political issues. He can't tell me how to live my life! If I wanna do target practice, then I'll do target practice! If I wanna be present in meetings about how to run my – our – kingdom, then I'll be present in those meetings! I don't answer to anybody except myself! Why doesn't anyone understand that?!"
"Ally, honey, breathe," Austin says from where he's sitting in the bed, watching her pace back and forth across the room while she rants.
"Why should I? Someone will probably criticize me for flaring my nostrils too much when I inhale!"
Austin chuckles good-naturedly, and she groans and collapses face-down on the bed. She feels the bed shift as he moves to sit next to her, and she relaxes when he starts rubbing her back gently.
"You know what I love about you?" he asks her.
She turns her head to look at him. "Everything?" she guesses.
He smiles. "Yes. But I especially love your determination. I always have."
"Even when it almost got me killed?"
"Even then. Maybe a little less then."
She smiles at him.
"My point is, I know that you're not just gonna let them walk all over you. It may take a while, but by the time you're done with them, they're gonna know their place. And that place isn't telling you how to act. You won't give up until you get what you want. And I really love that about you."
"You're determined too. It used to be my least favorite thing about you. You never let me do what I wanted."
"Then what happened?"
"You didn't give up on me."
Austin moves back to sit against his pillows and he pats Ally's spot next to him. She crawls over to him and he wraps an arm around her.
"I will never give up on you," he promises her, kissing her temple. "Even if everyone else does, I will always be rooting for you, a hundred percent."
"I don't know what I did to deserve you. But if I've ever done anything right, that was it."
"You are amazing, Your Royal Wifeness. And I adore you. And I am going to kiss you now. On the mouth. And no one can stop me."
She smiles and tilts her head up to kiss him. She feels his lips curve up into a smile against hers as he rubs her arm gently.
She pulls away slightly. "I love you," she says quietly.
"I love you, too."
"Perhaps her mother could say something – "
"No, bringing her mother into it would only make it worse."
"What if we convinced the King – "
"The King will just defend her."
"Unless we convince him that it's for her own safety."
"How do we do that?"
"We could show him how she could get hurt. Or remind him that the people could rise up against her."
"He knows the people adore her."
"We could make the people not adore her."
"How would we get that past the King and Queen?"
"Alright, what's our next idea?"
Ally looks over at Austin as they listen through the door to the Counsel Room, where they usually conduct meetings with all of their counselors. However, there seems to be a meeting going on right now that they weren't invited to.
"We could go old-fashioned and just lock her up."
Ally frowns at Austin, who narrows his eyes at the door.
"That's the worst idea yet, Jeremy."
"It could work."
"Yeah? And what would the King think?"
"Well – "
"No. You know what, just get out. Go."
She hears footsteps, and she grabs Austin's arm and drags him around the corner right before the door opens and they're caught.
They look at each other, mirroring the same frustrated, determined look.
"I can't believe them!" she whisper-yells as they continue walking down the hall. "I should have them hanged! This is treason!"
"You're not gonna have them hanged," Austin says.
"I know that. I said I should. Don't they know that I do just as much good for this kingdom as you do? I'm not some impulsive teenager anymore!"
"I know that," Austin tells her. "They'll figure it out soon enough. But freaking out and acting on your impulses isn't gonna help your case."
"Then what should I do?"
"Nothing. We aren't supposed to know about that meeting anyway. So just let it fuel your determination to prove that you're the best queen this kingdom has ever seen."
"How do I do that?"
"Be you."
Ally frowns and Austin wraps an arm around her waist, rubbing his thumb over the jewels embroidered into her gown.
She takes a deep breath. "Maybe…maybe they're right."
"What?" The blond looks over at her incredulously, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
She stops too, turning to face him completely. "Maybe I should try to be a little more traditional."
"Ally, what're you talking about?"
"Well, we've already been married for almost a year – "
"Which is hardly any time at all."
" – and we've been ruling the country – "
"Ruling it well, just being our nontraditional selves."
" – and people are starting to wonder – "
"Who cares what the people wonder about? We care if they're happy."
"Austin, all I'm saying is that – "
"The whole point of this is to not be traditional, to make things better!" the blond exclaims.
"I think we should start thinking about an heir," she tells him sternly.
He looks at her, his eyebrows shooting up. "What?"
She takes a deep breath, trying not to shy away from his initial reaction. "I want a baby."
He looks even more surprised. "You…what?"
She exhales and grabs his hands, desperate for him to understand. "Austin, I want us to have a baby."
She can tell the exact moment when what she's saying clicks into place in his mind. His face softens, and he squeezes her hands. "You do?"
"I do." She nods. "And – and think about it. It would make me happy, hopefully it would make you happy, it would mean producing an heir, which would make the counselors happy, and a Royal baby would make the entire kingdom happy! Everybody wins! And we get to have a baby!" She can hear her own desperation, but she doesn't care. She's been staying up at night thinking about this for months, wishing and wanting and wondering when would be the right time to voice it to Austin. And even if this is the wrong time, she doesn't care anymore. She wants a baby.
"Whoa, slow down, Princess," he says.
Her excitement is cut short. Her grin fades and she snaps her head up to look at him. Does he not want this? Does he think it's a bad idea? She knows that in the past they've had their struggles with trust and commitment and feelings, but she thought they were past that. Is he still fighting that part of him and she doesn't know it? Or does he just think she's still too young and naïve to raise a child?
"You…you don't think we should?" she asks, feeling so incredibly small. Heat rushes to her cheeks and she looks away from him, staring at the ground. She didn't mean to sound that shattered.
"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't say that," he says softly, tilting her chin up so she's looking at him again.
"It sounded like that's what you meant."
"I just wanna be sure you want this for us, not just to get the counselors off your back."
She shakes her head. "I've been thinking about it for months. I want this."
"And all the responsibilities? It won't be easy raising a kid."
"I want all of it. More than anything."
He smiles at her, and she sighs in relief. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Let's have a baby."
They've been trying for months. She's spent countless hours in the hospital wing while doctors tried to figure out why she wasn't getting pregnant, but the only thing they've been able to come up with is the possibility that her stab wound from a couple years ago made her infertile.
But then she got sick. Except…all she did was throw up. She hadn't eaten anything bad, no one she had come in contact with had been sick recently, and nobody could figure out where she got this stomach bug.
She hasn't voiced it to anyone, mainly because she's worried that it'll only give her hope that'll be crushed once they figure out what's really wrong with her, but she thinks she knows why this is happening.
Her hope only grows when she misses a certain visit or two from Mother Nature, and then she finds the gowns she wears regularly feeling just a bit too tight.
That's when she knows.
But she goes back to see the doctors anyway, and sure enough they tell her that they were wrong about her infertility, that everything checks out, that she should probably tell the King and everyone else that a Royal baby is on the way.
Her next big issue is figuring out how to tell Austin. Should she just…say it? Should she come up with an elaborate plan that'll both blow him away and deliver the big news in a way that truly honors the excitement of the occasion? Or should she wait, let him figure it out himself as he notices her gradually growing belly?
Her mind is racing with excitement and baby names and questions and answers all at once as she walks into their room. She finds him sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. His hair is disheveled from running his hands through it so many times.
"Hey," she says, sitting next to him. He doesn't look up, and she tries to come down from Cloud Nine to sympathize with whatever he's going through. She wipes away her grin and rests her hand on his arm. "What's wrong?"
He still doesn't move. "Why isn't it working?" he asks her, his voice slightly muffled by his hands.
"Why isn't what working?"
"Is there something wrong with me? We've been trying for months, and it's not working."
"You mean…about the baby?"
He finally looks over at her and nods, looking hopeless.
If anytime is the right time to tell him, now is that time.
"About that…"
He looks up at her. "What about it?"
She searches his tired eyes, feeling comforted by the familiar swirling mixture of brown and green. They aren't cold like they once were; now, all she sees in his eyes are his love for her and his inner turmoil. She can see how badly he wants this baby, how afraid he is that their struggles are his fault, how hard he's trying to keep her happy when all he wants to do is break down in frustration.
"You should stop worrying," she says gently, giving him a small smile and rubbing his arm.
He gives her an exhausted, dejected look and buries his face in his hands again. She feels him tense up as he tries to hold in his emotions like he's so accustomed to doing.
He doesn't say anything, but she can hear his deep, ragged breathing. She knows she should just come out and say it, but now she's afraid. Of what, she doesn't know. But when she opens her mouth to tell him the good news, nothing comes out.
"You know I never stop worrying," he finally tells her, his voice muffled by his hands.
"Well, I'm gonna need you to learn," she says, keeping her voice gentle as she moves her hand to scratch his back soothingly. "Because for these next nine months, I'm gonna be the irrationally worried one, which means you're gonna have to be the logical one calming me down."
He looks over at her, frowning in confusion. "What?"
She smiles at him, her confidence coming back to her. "Austin."
"Yeah…?" His back is tense under her hand in anticipation, and she can see the worry slowly leaving his eyes as a smile gradually starts forming on his face. He knows exactly what she's about to say.
"We're ha – "
She doesn't even get halfway through the sentence before he's kissing her, his hands in her hair. She smiles more and kisses him back, resting her hand over his pounding heart.
He pulls away, resting his forehead against hers. She opens her eyes and meets his loving gaze.
"You're serious?" he asks her.
"You didn't even let me finish my sentence."
"Am I a dad or not, Princess?" His voice is shaking with nervous excitement.
She grins too. "You're a dad."
He pulls away from her, laughing breathlessly and running a hand through his hair. "We're parents," he says, his smile fading into a look of awestruck wonder as it all sinks his. He meets her eyes. "We're parents."
"We're parents," she echoes, her voice sounding as excited and shocked and amazed as his.
"Who do we tell first?" he asks. "My parents or yours?"
"Both at the same time. And then we send letters to the others. And then we tell the kingdom."
He nods in agreement. "I can't believe this is happening. We're parents, kid."
"You can't call me that anymore. There's gonna be an actual kid running around here and – wow, there's gonna be an actual kid running around here."
"This is real," he says, almost as if he's trying to believe it. "We're having a baby."
She laughs and he wraps his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. She hugs him back tightly.
"We're having a baby."
This one-shot was birthed from the void that Peaceful Misery left in my heart when it ended, so it's basically just me revisiting the world and the story for my own personal pleasure. But I don't like finishing things without publishing them and I remember a lot of people liking Peaceful Misery, so if you too have a void in your heart, I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with our favorite Royals. :)