Hello friends! I think you guys will really like this chapter for...uhhh...reasons ;)
"Hey, that's not fair!" a young girl with short blonde hair exclaimed indignantly to her raven-haired playmate.
The smirk that crossed his face made him look far older than his ten years would suggest. He had a hand placed firmly on his hip and was holding the other up far above the little girl's head, her favorite toy of his clutched tightly in his hand.
She reached for it a few times, letting out indignant huffs each time she was unsuccessful and narrowed her eyes angrily at his self-satisfied grin.
"Life's not fair. You're always taking my stuff, it's about time you got a taste of your own medicine," the boy replied.
At his words, the young girl stopped her vain attempts to snag the toy from his hands, cursing the height his extra three years had on her, before she crossed her arms and lifted her chin haughtily.
"You're really mean. I thought boys were supposed to be nice to the ladies."
If possible, the boy's smirk grew wider at that. "You don't seem like much of a lady to me. Besides, you should do what I say anyway. Mama says we're going to be married one day."
The little girl's face scrunched up in disgust at his words. "Ew, gross, I don't want to marry you. I'd rather eat a frog for dinner."
This time it was the raven-haired boy's turn to take on an indignant look. "W-well, you don't get a choice! What Mama says goes."
"So? Your mama isn't my mama. And I don't want to marry you."
"Well, tough! You'll have to. Hey! Quit it! Stop chasing me. Try acting more like a girl instead of a little demon."
The blonde girl let out a rather sadistically happy laugh as she began chasing the raven-haired boy around the gardens, intent on claiming his toy for herself once again. Watching the display with worried eyes was the Queen of Aerugo as well as Lady Helena.
Cordelia let out a long sigh as she watched the young prince and princess fight. "Perhaps we should stop encouraging their behavior. I'm worried they'll carry this animosity even after they've grown."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much, dear," Helena reassured, an amused glint appearing in her eyes as Riza managed to push the Amestrian prince down and take back the toy that had started their argument in the first place. "They're both very strong-willed, it's true, but something tells me if they get out all their frustrations in childhood, it'll make their future marriage better once they've matured."
"I hope you're right," Cordelia replied in an unsure tone. "I'd hate for either of them to be unhappy when they're together. As much as I look forward to the joining of our kingdoms, I still feel Riza's unhappiness would be a high price to pay."
It was silent a moment as the two elder women thought about what had been said, before Helena replied in a knowing voice. "Something tells me those two have a lot more in common than what we see now. I think they'll make a great team one day, even if it's difficult to imagine."
Cordelia made a noise of affirmation before nodding her head. "Yes, we can certainly hope for it. Riza! Come here, Riza dear!" the Aerugonian queen shouted, deciding to finally put an end to the children's fight. Quickly turning toward her mother's voice, Riza begrudgingly relinquished the toy, shot Roy one last dirty look, and ran over to her mother.
"What is it, Mama?" the young girl eagerly asked.
Cordelia smiled down at her daughter. "Let's go for a walk, how does that sound?"
"Okay!" Riza answered, all previous annoyance completely washed away by the prospect of an adventure with her mother.
The two Aerugonian royals walked hand-in-hand for a while, simply enjoying the crisp summer weather in each other's company. Suddenly, and without any kind of warning, the scenery around them changed abruptly. Instead of the blooming palace gardens, they began walking through a dark and dreary forest. The trees were practically closing in on them as they walked.
A thrill of fear shot down the young girl's back as she clutched to her mother's hand tightly. "Mama? Where are we?"
In quite the contrast to her daughter's feelings, Queen Cordelia looked to be perfectly at ease, as she pushed aside some of the forest foliage and beckoned her daughter closer.
"We're going to go for a swim, Little Riza. You've always liked the water, right?"
There was something about her mother's eerily calm voice that made the young princess feel even more ill at ease. She dutifully followed after her mother's steps only to come upon a strange pond in the middle of a clearing.
"Come, Little Riza! Let's swim!" the queen spoke in an excited tone before she abruptly let go of her daughter's hand and jumped freely into the water. Riza's eyes widened and she shouted at her mother's figure as it reappeared at the surface.
"Mama!"
"Come, Riza, it won't hurt you!"
"Mama, I want to go back home. This place scares me."
"It'll be alright, dear. Come on in, the water's great."
"N-no, I don't want to."
"Come, Riza. You're so close. Follow after me."
"Riiiiizzzzaaaaaa."
A shot of lighting illuminated Queen Riza's bedroom and she shot up from her bed with a startled gasp. She worked hard to get her breathing under control as she listened to the sounds of the summer storm raging outside her window. She placed a hand on her head as she tried to rid her mind of the horrible nightmare.
It had been a while since she had dreamed anything like that. Right after she almost died in the pond, she'd had a few similar dreams. They all started with a familiar memory, before they suddenly warped into an eerie and terrifying reminder of what had happened. Every one of them ended with her mother's calm and serene voice beckoning her into the water. Everytime she awoke, she'd had to fight to not hop on a horse and ride deep into the eastern forest.
This time somehow felt different, however. It wasn't winter. The wind wasn't whistling against the window. The queen had thought she finally rid herself of the godawful reminders that kept her up at night, but here she was, having another one months since her last, randomly in the middle of a summer storm.
A gripping fear overtook the queen's nearly shaking body. She hated feeling like this. Hated knowing how easy it would be to go under the water, see her parents again, and live happily in whatever dimension they were currently residing in. She knew she had things to live for back here. She had Winry. She had Roy. But she still felt the temptation to follow her mother's calls almost as clearly as that first time last winter.
She let out a shaking breath, not knowing what she was supposed to do in this situation. It wouldn't be enough to remind herself of the ones she loved. Whatever was happening right now was a completely different beast to deal with, so her old tricks would prove futile.
She made her way out of bed and grabbed her nearby robe, wrapping it around herself for some kind of warped sense of protection. She had to keep the voices away. She had to remember her duty and her purpose. Winry was getting married soon. A vitally important peace treaty was in the works that would spell incredible success for her kingdom. She was fiercely in love with that raven-haired boy from her childhood. She had a meaning here. She had a job to do.
So why did she feel like giving it all up? Why did she suddenly want to curl up in a ball and let out every pent up emotion that had been building within her steadily for months, hell, maybe even years? Was it because of everything that was going on? Though they were exciting events, everything that was happening all at once had begun to fray the wound-up queen's already fragile emotions. Was this some kind of byproduct of the upcoming weeks' stresses? She wasn't even sure who to turn to for answers.
Suddenly, as another flash of lighting illuminated her bedroom once more and a booming thunder echoed throughout the castle, the only possible solution she could think of hit her with the force of a typhoon. Immediately, she ran to slip on a pair of shoes, tugged her robe tighter around herself, grabbed a nearby candle, and rushed out of her room, intent on one very particular location within the castle.
Almost as soon as she was out in the oppressively dark castle corridors, her eyes turned down the hallway that would lead her to the stables. Even with the dangerous storm, the temptation to follow after her mother's calls was almost too much to bear. It began to frighten the queen even more that she wasn't even hearing a voice and yet she still felt the call to the pond. She shook away those thoughts, in an attempt to replace them with thoughts of those she had here to rely on, before she took determined steps to her one refuge.
While going to Winry's bedroom and waking her was a possibility, the fact that her younger sister had never actually gone into the water of the pond dispelled all thoughts of turning to her. While her sister could certainly comfort her, she couldn't really talk her down from the overwhelming temptation. Riza had no doubt that Winry wasn't feeling what she was feeling now, even if her younger sister had heard her mother's voice that first time.
No, there was only one person who would understand. Only one person who could help her.
As soon as the queen turned into the royal family's private wing, a feeling of doubt and uncertainty began to creep up on her. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea after all. It would look rather suspicious if someone found her randomly wandering into the king's private wing this late at night. She still had a reputation to uphold, even after everything they had been through, and this was a risky move.
Nearly turning back around after talking herself out of going to him, she was immediately stopped by a surprised voice from behind her. "Y-Your Majesty!? Is something wrong?"
The queen immediately turned to find one of Roy's personal servants staring at her with wide eyes. He was holding a candle of his own, no doubt patrolling the hallways to check up on the guards posted at night.
Not able to think of any viable excuse, and knowing exactly what it looked like for her to be here, Riza said the only thing that could help her in this situation. "Y-yes! I-I need to speak to the king immediately. It's...it's an emergency!"
While not particularly true, it did the job well enough, as the servant widened his eyes and straightened up, before leading her with desperate footsteps to where Roy was no doubt sleeping in his bedroom. He stopped her outside the main door, nodded to the two guards posted outside, and gave her quick instructions. The king's bedroom was divided into a primary sitting room and the main bedchambers. The servant would allow her the privacy to awake the king herself, and for this she was incredibly grateful.
Riza stepped through the main door into the dark and empty sitting room. Suddenly, now that she was here in one of the few places in the castle that was completely and privately Roy's, she felt as though she was overstepping her boundaries. What was she even thinking awakening the king from his sleep so secretively like this? As she nervously made her way to the door on the other side of the room that divided the two parts of the bedroom, she took a quick cursory glance around. The sitting room was neat and tidy with a few scattered chairs and couches and what looked to be a fireplace in the corner. Riza couldn't help but give a small and fond smile as she passed what looked to be a desk, covered in hastily scribbled notes and scrolls and other random paraphernalia that marked it as the king's.
Before she could talk herself out of it, knowing she had made it this far, Riza stepped up to the door leading into the actual bedchambers and knocked loud enough to rouse someone from their sleep. She still felt utterly foolish, but the pull to see her mother was ever-present, and she just knew letting it fester like this could only spell disaster.
Swimming in her own thoughts, she didn't even take the time to register the sounds of soft footsteps shuffling up to the door before it was unceremoniously swung aside and Riza met Roy's startled eyes with a shocked expression.
"R-Riza!?" he immediately spoke in a startled voice, still groggy from being suddenly awoken.
The queen couldn't even form words as suddenly every part of her brain began screaming that she was a goddamn idiot and this had been a terrible idea. Even given the severity of the situation at hand, Riza wanted to facepalm herself as her eyes, almost against their will, widened and drifted down the king's body.
Clearly having been fast asleep before she arrived, not taking any time to cover himself, Roy stood before her in nothing but a loose pair of sleeping pants. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes, though shocked, were slowly adjusting to the light from her candle.
"I-I...uh," Riza attempted, though as soon as the sounds passed through her lips, she knew it was a useless cause. She had never seen him in such a...state of undress before and was finding it very difficult to focus on what was happening (let alone form a coherent sentence) as her eyes drifted slowly down his conspicuously toned chest.
Ignoring her rather appreciative once over in favor of picking up on the signs of panic and fear, Roy immediately stepped forward and grasped Riza's upper arms, apparently thinking she was about to fall over. It was a poor choice on his part, she realized, as the distance between them practically vanished. The fact that the queen only came up to his chin didn't help matters much either.
"What are you doing here….what's wrong?" Roy questioned, picking up even more of a sense of dread and concern from the mute queen. He knew her well enough at this point to know that she wouldn't show up unannounced at the door to his bedchambers without a good reason.
"I-I...I'm sorry," she finally managed to get out as she tried to keep her eyes off the king's form. "I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have woken you," she quickly let out as she shook her head and twisted herself out of his grip, immediately turning to head back to the main doors, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.
"Wait! Wait a second Riza, hold on," Roy spoke, the undertones of sleep dissipating from his voice as the gravity of the situation started to register. He reached forward to grab her arm and gently turned her back to face him. He took the candle she was gripping with a white-knuckled grasp and set it down on a nearby side table. The queen nearly melted when both his hands moved to gently cup her face, forcing her eyes to meet his.
"You wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important. Tell me what's wrong." The concern practically dripping from his words managed to make Riza feel a little bit more at ease with her decisions. He didn't seem upset or wary. He sounded genuinely concerned, and the queen couldn't help but concede at least some of her reservations.
She let out a long sigh before, almost unconsciously, she leaned her head further into one of his hands. "I had a terrible nightmare," she finally admitted.
Understanding dawned on the king as his eyes softened and he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her form. Again, not his best decision, but there wasn't much either of them could do about it now.
The queen sighed against his bare skin and felt her muscles relax as his hand circled comfortingly across her back. "Oh, my love," he whispered with an accompanying kiss to the top of her head. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.
Riza sighed again and shook her head in his embrace. "I-I'm not sure. It's not so much the nightmare that's bothering me as it is what I'm feeling now."
"What does that mean?" the king asked in confusion, not stopping his comforting motions.
"I dreamed about my mother, Roy. About the pond. I felt her calling me in my sleep. I can almost still feel her calling me now. It's different from before, though. I don't hear her physically but I can almost feel the pull. Feel the temptation. I nearly headed to the stables instead of here to find you. I couldn't think of anyone else who could help me," she related, her voice breaking as she went on, finally letting the confusion and the fear from before begin to resurface the more comfortable she became in the king's embrace.
She wasn't looking at his face to notice, but Roy's eyes flashed in understanding before he pulled apart from her without warning. Almost immediately, Riza noticed herself become colder without the warmth of his arms around her. She looked up at him and was shocked to find a peculiar sense of determination in his eyes. He leaned down to grab her hand and turned toward his bedchambers. "Come here, I think I know what to do."
The queen had a minor moment of indecision as he leaned down to blow out her candle and the room was plunged into darkness, only illuminated by the occasional flash of lightning. He started to lead her to the other room and Riza couldn't help but feel a small amount of fear. Was...was he suggesting something like...no, she immediately shook the thought away. There was something about the way his eyes looked down on her, that peculiar wisdom behind them, that suggested he knew exactly what to do in this situation. And really, that was why she had come to him in the first place wasn't it?
She followed him into the other room and he immediately closed the door behind them. With anyone else, Riza would've been gripped by the fear and the uncertainty of such a...suggestive situation, but she found, as she continued to look at his eyes in the darkness, a strange sense of comfort and familiarity. She trusted him, more than she trusted almost anyone else in the world, save her younger sister.
After closing the door, he wrapped his arms around her form again, burying his nose in her hair. "I know what you're feeling, love. I had countless nightmares like that after going into the pond the first time, and after I saved you. I still have them every so often. It's not a fun thing to deal with, but it does happen. And it doesn't really go away."
Riza nodded in acknowledgement of his words, though she wasn't feeling incredibly encouraged by them.
"I always used to do something to occupy myself when the feelings came on again. It's scarier than hearing the calls directly, so I would try and find a way to put my mind on something else. Sometimes I would take walks, research, whatever I needed to do to rid my mind of the temptation. That night we sparred in the southern courtyard I'd had a really bad one."
Understanding dawned on the queen as she remembered that night. She had been shocked, and slightly skeptical, to hear that he had just been wandering around the castle aimlessly in the middle of the night. Now it made a lot more sense.
"So what do you suggest we do?" she questioned, leaning back from him enough to meet his gaze directly.
He softly smiled at her before gently moving her bangs out of her face. "The best way to expel nightmares are to have someone there to help you through them," he spoke in a knowing tone, before his eyes flickered over to his bed. She followed his gaze questioningly before realization struck her and she turned back toward him in surprise.
"We don't have to if you don't want to, I just think you need sleep. True, honest to gods, sleep. Staying awake half the night dealing with nightmares isn't sleep, and something tells me you haven't gotten a full night of rest in a long time."
At these words, Riza sheepishly looked away, knowing he was right, but not wanting to admit it.
"We could stay awake and try and get your mind off of it, or we could just get over whatever outdated sense of propriety is stopping us and comfort each other the best way we can at this point."
The queen mulled over his words, finding a good amount of truth in them despite her initial qualms.
Seeing her continued indecision, Roy spoke again. "We're just going to sleep. On my honor, I can promise you that."
Riza took one last look back at his bed, weighed her options for the umpteenth time, and sighed before finally conceding his point. She was exhausted, that much she couldn't deny. She really hadn't been able to get a full night of sleep in months and it was really starting to fray her, especially with everything else that was going on lately. Something told her the soft rise and fall of Roy's chest beneath her would be just the thing to truly set her mind at ease. She had plenty of reservations, especially given their relationship, but, as was always the case, she trusted him.
"Alright," she finally agreed in a small voice before she flashed him a teasing grin, "But you better not snore."
Roy returned her look with a boyish grin before he led her to the bed, flipped back the top cover and began climbing underneath, Riza promptly following suit.
There were a few moments of awkwardness as the reality of what they were doing weighed down on them both, before Riza sighed and shook her head, dispelling the last of her uncertain thoughts. This wasn't just any man. This was Roy. Her king. She had pictured falling asleep next to him every night for a while now. This wasn't some revolutionary or scandalous thing they were doing. He was there to comfort her, and she there for him. There was no point in dwelling on the implications. She was far too tired for that.
She curled up against his side, her hand resting delicately across his bare chest as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her in tighter. They laid for a while in silence, listening to each other's calming breaths, as Roy's fingers found the chain that rested perpetually around her neck, fiddling with it mindlessly. The ministrations lulled the queen into a blessedly calm and uninterrupted sleep.
"What do you mean he's still asleep?" Sir Havoc asked in an incredulous voice as he approached where Fuery stood in the hallway outside the king's bedroom.
The bespectacled man sighed and turned toward the main door. "His head servant said he hasn't exited his bedchambers. They brought breakfast, but it's untouched. I'm debating whether I should go in there to wake him up or not. The servants don't want to."
Havoc scoffed at this. "What the hell does it matter? He should've been at the meeting twenty minutes ago. I get that he needs his sleep, but he's also got work to do. A goddamn emperor is going to be here in a few days."
"I know that. But he gets kind of testy when you wake him up yourself. You wouldn't know that since it's never your job. He's good enough at getting himself out of bed every morning but every time he doesn't...it's not pretty."
The First Knight couldn't help but roll his eyes at this. "You should learn to get over it. He's a king. He's got a job to do. This isn't the time for beauty sleep. If you won't wake him up, I will," the tall, blonde-haired man declared before he pushed open the main door and walked into the sitting room.
"B-but, he could want his privacy! It's a violation of your position to disrupt that," Fuery offered, not even bothering to step past the threshold.
Again, Havoc rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'll remember that." As Fuery watched through the main doors helplessly, the knight demandingly marched to the door leading into the bedchambers, paused to consider the possibility of knocking before he, in his usual crass, no-nonsense manner thought 'to hell with it' and pushed through the door without a single look back.
"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead. You're late for your meeting and I don't think-," Havoc's words immediately faltered as he pulled aside the curtain that let the sunlight filter into the room and he turned to look toward the center. As soon as his eyes fell on the elaborate bed, he realized with a dreadful clarity that maybe Fuery had been right.
Roy groggily awakened as the bright sun hit his eyes. He rolled and grumbled and stretched before his eyes finally adjusted and he sat up completely unawares. "Havoc?" he asked curiously as he caught a glimpse of his thoroughly shocked knight standing stock-still by the window. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I-I...think the better question is...w-what is she doing here?" Havoc stuttered out, his brain immediately thinking up whatever convoluted ways the king was going to murder him.
A look of confusion overtook Roy's face, before he turned to where his head knight had indicated, promptly saw his blonde queen lying beside him (even though she was also beginning to awaken from her restful sleep), widened his eyes before immediately narrowing them dangerously as he turned back to Havoc.
"I-I'm s-sorry. I had n-no idea that…" the blonde knight spoke in a shaking voice as the full force of the king's anger was directed on him.
"Shut the door, Havoc," Roy gritted out angrily. Not wasting a second, his head court member rushed to the bedchamber door and shut it quickly, turning guiltily back to the very perturbed raven-haired king.
"What...the hell...are you doing here?" the king asked again, his voice shaking with barely-contained fury. Beside him, the Aerugonian queen was slowly awakening, as she stretched and sat up in the bed. Her eyes almost immediately found Havoc's and she let out a resigned sigh at the sight of him.
"Oh, wonderful. Somehow I knew this would happen."
Momentarily distracted from his anger at his First Knight, Roy turned back to Riza and gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry. It's my fault for forgetting the blackout curtains. We could've had the sun wake us up instead of...him," the king said with a nod of his head in Havoc's direction.
Said knight merely tried to get a handle on his shaking limbs before he gulped nervously. "I really am sorry, Your Majesty. I had no idea. You were just late to your morning meeting, so I..."
"Wait," Roy quickly spoke, interrupting Havoc's words. "What time is it?"
"Uhh, almost 9:30 in the morning," the knight informed nervously.
"Fuck," Roy immediately let out in response as the realization that he had slept in struck him full force.
"Watch your language, Your Majesty, there is still a queen present," Riza added in flat voice, looking surprisingly calm given the situation at hand. Roy lifted an eyebrow at her, but said nothing as Havoc continued.
"L-look, I promise I won't say anything, okay? You have my word. Knight's honor," he said as he placed his hand over his heart to help prove his case.
Instead of letting his bubbling anger boil over, Roy turned back to the queen, eyeing her curiously and silently asking what her thoughts were on all of this. Looking between the two men, Riza sighed and lifted the covers before hopping out of the large bed. She grabbed her robe from where she had placed it the night before and wrapped it around her body, trying to stay calm and collected, despite the mortifying embarrassment that was lurking within her.
"Sir Havoc, you can make whatever assumptions you'd like, I don't really care. It doesn't change the fact that I simply woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't get back to sleep, and came here for help before falling asleep in the king's bed. All I need from you now is your dedication to your promise of secrecy, and help getting back to my own bedroom without anyone else figuring all this out. Got it?"
The deathly seriousness of her tone made the blonde knight almost more afraid of what she'd do to him if he blabbed more than what his own king would do. He gulped again and nodded his head, offering up his promise once more for reassurance. He then quickly turned tail and ran out of the room to work on getting the queen back to her bedroom in private.
Watching his form as he retreated, Riza heaved another heavy sigh before turning back to Roy. "Well that lasted about as long as I thought it would."
Despite everything, Roy couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he got up from the bed and walked over to where she stood. "If it makes you feel any better, Havoc is trustworthy." He paused as his face scrunched up at a particularly unfortunate thought. "I can't make any promises that he'll keep it from Rebecca, though."
Riza rolled her eyes at that. "Of course."
Quickly, Roy's hands found their way around her waist and he flashed her an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry about this."
"Don't be," she answered. "For what it's worth, I don't regret coming here. We just need to be more careful."
"We will be next time."
Riza lifted a curious eyebrow at that. "Oh really? And what makes you so sure I'm going to find my way into your bed again?"
A familiar smirk spread across Roy's face as he leaned further down toward her lips. "You know, you really shouldn't say things like that."
"Why not?" the queen asked in a quiet voice as Roy's lips began toying their way around hers, teasing her with light caresses but never fully covering her own. The man was downright devious when he wanted to be.
"Because I might just have to make it a point to prove you wrong."
The low, husky tone of his voice combined with the dark look in his eyes nearly made the queen's knees weak, as much as she hated to admit it. Their lips, after ghosting around each other, had almost finally met before a loud and nervous voice from the other room called in a much too exaggerated tone, "Your Majesty! Ready to go back whenever you are!" Riza had to figure that Havoc had shouted from the sitting room in an effort to not catch them in another compromising position and, despite the fact that he had interrupted their little moment, she supposed she should feel grateful for it.
She sighed and turned sheepishly back toward Roy, who looked as though the last thing he wanted to do in that moment was let her go. "You should get ready for your meeting. I'll see you later," she told him with a quick peck on his lips, narrowly avoiding his attempt to take it further.
He groaned but let her twist his way out of his embrace. "Fine. Until next time," he said with a suggestive look, which Riza merely returned with a smirk and a roll of her eyes before she was out the door of his bedchambers to let Havoc lead her to the guest rooms wing of the castle.
Roy waited a few moments before he too let out a weighted sigh and turned back to the ruffled sheets of his bed, bemoaning the loss of its newest occupant. He could almost still smell her distinct scent lingering in the air. He shook his head when he realized how love-sick that made him sound, though he found he didn't really care.
He then started to quickly dress to make it to his meeting without wasting any more time, thinking about the next opportunity he'd get to wake up to the sight of a gloriously curvy body curled up next to him and the richness of Riza's chocolate-brown eyes.
Someone on my tumblr asked me if Margaret was ever going to cockblock Roy and Riza and to that I say, who isn't going to cockblock them at this point ;) Hope you guys liked!