"Oh, so I seen you've heard the wonderful news!" Queen Madalena sat at her vanity, admiring herself in the triple mirrors where she could see every feature of her flawless face. She idly brushed her long red hair with the silver comb either Kingsley or Richard had given to her when they got engaged. Madalena received so many presents from so many different men in the past, it was hard to keep track of them all. "I guess your plan failed, now, didn't it?"

She didn't even look up as Gareth came storming into their bedchamber. His heavy boots clambered across the stone floor, making a racket but she ignored him still. The trained pup was not worth any effort on her part. He usually did what he was told these days, as long as Madalena reminded him that their power lay in being wed to each other and to the kingdom.

Gareth slammed the heavy wooden behind him, his breath heavy and hot with anger. He'd sent his friend, the old and wasted King Richard off on a secret voyage. Her ex-husband was supposed to be attended to by Galavant, but neither could do a damn thing after her troops caught up with them. She'd received news that morning that they were both dead, the ship sunk and she would be getting her happily ever after despite any attempts to thwart her rule.

Wasting no formalities and little time talking, Gareth hauled her up to her feet. In all the time she'd known him, despite all the brutal strength he exhibited to others, Madalena never feared him before. Still, as frightened as she was now, moreover she was pissed off by his sudden intrusion and haphazard way he picked her up. "What the blood hell do you think you're-"

Gareth clasped his hand over her mouth, silencing her. "I want to be the one talking right now."

Madalena's eyes went with with indignation, his hand tight against her jaw. The fear that he would hurt her was threatening to overwhelm the queen, but she pushed it down. She was better at swallowing her emotions than most people she knew.

"See, I've played along with your schemes long enough, you conniving little bint, but you don't know who you're messing it, do ya? Richard may have been a little-" Suddenly, Madalena bit him on the hand, causing him to yelp and take his hand away, if ever so briefly. He straightened a little but then went straight in and grabbed for her neck. "Ow, why you little.."

Gareth pushed her against the vanity, leaving her little room to move or escape. Her skin began to grow purple as he still held tight to her neck. Nevertheless, the fight was not entirely gone from Madalena. Though her words came out strained, she was determined to best him at his own confrontation. "Richard deserved.. everything he got. I'm sorry.. that you two were tied at the hips.. but he was weak." She broke away as Gareth softened at the use of Richard's name. There was pain there, perhaps pain that she could use to her advantage. "And weakness should never be tolerated."

"What about your weakness, then?" Gareth grabbed her around the hips, holding her around the waist with his huge palms. She struggled, but he was so much stronger. "How long did you think I was just going to pretend to be under your control? Be your little dog? The king may be a gentleman, lady, but I ain't one."

She squirmed as he managed to start pulling up her dress, pushing her back against the vanity. "What are you doing? I am your queen and you will obey me."

The threat hung in the air, abandoned with no power to back it up.

She pushed him away, but that only spurned him on to move faster, to pull the long fabrics of her dress up until her womanhood was on display. Madalena even resorted to turning on the waterworks eventually, but even though tears worked with Richard, this was an entirely new beast she was dealing with now. "Gareth, please, please don't. I'll do anything you want."

Gareth had only ever seen Madalena beg once in his life, back when he'd kidnapped her to be Richard's bride. She hadn't been pleading for her life back then, but for them not to rape her and leave her on the side of the road. Her tiny frame had quivered in the back of the carriage, but there was nothing but relief once Richard believed her vow of chastity.

Madalena was no idiot and knew exactly where to a woman's power lie. She'd slept her way to the top ever since, but even a queen, once defiled, would be looked down on by the kingdom. He started to unbuckled his pants, letting them drop around his knees. "You're going to pay for what you did to him. And I happen to be very good at figuring out how to hurt people where it stings the most."

She clawed at his face, but he managed to put both her arms behind her and hold them there until her chest seemed to rise with the motion. He laughed, seeming to like the fight and struggle. And then he moved until her legs were wrapped around him, forcing them open and around himself. There was nothing left to do but give in as he took the one thing that was her greatest weapon against the patriarchal society that tried to rule and control her and the other women. "No, stop, you're hurting me-"

"Good." As he pushed into her, Gareth grunted. "You hurt me. Now you know what it feels like, you little bitch."

Madalena lost track of the time as he tore her apart. She'd only ever been with gentler partners before- Galavant had been a happy-go-lucky boy when she met him and even though they did it three times a day, he always wanted to please and pleasure her back then. Jester was the same way, though more mischievous at times. But this sex was different, this was pain and anger and punishment. The only thing she would expect from a man who tortured people for a living, someone who took such great pleasure in searing pain instead of anything soft or gentle.

It might have went on for hours or minutes, she lost all sense of reality as her body betrayed her and brought her to the edge. When Gareth finally stopped and pulled out of her sore and aching body, Madalena's hair was a mess, her crown was on the floor at their feet and her dress torn. Her body heaved as she caught her breath, and despite herself Madalena rode the last high of an unbidden orgasm.

His thumb slid against her lip, smearing her lipstick. "Clean yourself up, you're a mess."

Madalena held her hand up to her lips, still gasping for air as the last ripples of pleasure faded from her body. Gareth turned to leave, paying her no attention as she sat there on the top of her vanity. She was not one to be dismissed so easily, though. He was the devil in her eyes, but there was no way he was just going to walk out of this room and think he was the winner. She pounded the desk with her fist, then stood up and crossed the room determinedly.

"I haven't dismissed you yet!" She pulled on his arm, whirling him around. She may have only been his wife and supposedly the subordinate in this relationship, but Madalena could be a hellbeast when she wanted something. She would hold onto it and sink her claws into whatever she desired, and for some reason, god how she wanted him now. The hate in his eyes when Gareth looked down at her only made that even more apparent.

She smacked him across the face, daring him to react but then brought her lips to his own. She didn't know why it felt so good, but she needed this now. She needed to show him that her power matched his own. Otherwise, the whole thing felt off-kilter and she would always be under his thumb.

Madalena ripped his shirt off, undoing all the bindings and tore at the leather until his chest was bare. Their lips continued to mash against each other's mouth, then she tasted his neck as he undid the corset bindings of her own dress. She moaned against his skin, wanting to feel more, needing it.

His hands moved up her body, playing with her hair until he grabbed a bunch of it and forced her to tilt her head back. "Never figured you would be the sort to like it rough. 's okay though. Let's make this interesting."

"Gareth, my dear, you have never been and never will be interesting." She whispered. "Even when you're fucking me."

Despite her words, Madalena pulled him to their bed. As she laid underneath his massive muscles, she was oddly okay with this- he could hurt her but she would make sure the power still balanced. And, as she was finding, hatesex was apparently the only thing that really did it for her anymore. She'd been through the young puppy love with Galavant and the playful sort with Jester, but this was something new and fresh. Something that could burn them both- and she did love a good bonfire.

She smacked his ass hard, begging for more punishment. Madalena needed to feel someone stronger than her after all those little boys, someone capable. She wanted to be stopped, wanted to be told no and to have them mean it, wanted to be controlled and put in her place- after all this time, she finally realized what she was looking for all along. A true alpha dog who could handle everything she could offer- a lover who wouldn't break as easily as the last.

.End.