A/N: This is a short chapter, but an important one for the progress of the story.
Quinntana Week 2014 is coming soon (quinntanaweek2014 on tumblr) and I've decided to participate for the AU theme. It'll be a one shot with Santiago as a successful professional soccer player, married to Quinn who has a career of her own. It's a lot of smut, basically. Hope you guys will give that a chance!
Which story would you guys like me to update next?
Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it :)
Santana rubs her face, sighing in frustration. She glances at the drawing Eduardo made of Quinn and her heart clenches. She misses her family so much and if it weren't for her responsibility to her country and her people, she'd just leave it all behind to go be with them. There is nothing she wants more.
She looks around the tent. She supposes it's nice enough, especially compared to the tents of the soldiers, but it's a far stretch from the Royal Palace. They tried to decorate it, probably to try and make her forget where she is. But no amount of tables, maps and tools, chairs and drawings can make her forget she's in a tent, fighting a war she feels closer to losing every single day.
She looks up when Mike enters the tent, admittedly glad for his company. He's one of the few people she completely trusts. "How are things?" she asks, not caring about formally addressing him with his title or sugarcoating her words.
He seems to share the sentiment. "Morale is low. Soldiers are wondering what the point in these fights is. Our men are tired and growing desperate."
Santana sighs. "What did I get this country into, Mike? Did I make a big mistake?"
He raises his eyebrows. "Do you want my honest opinion?"
She gives him a look, stretching her legs and getting herself more comfortable.
He scrapes his throat. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean - I do think it depends on how you look at it. There's no denying that right now, we're losing and there's no real hope for winning this war. But you couldn't know that when you declared war. You had very good reasons to hope for a different outcome."
"Did I act too rash? Was I so blinded by the prospect of finally getting to join the countries and of finally marrying Quinn that I lost sight of just how weak we are?"
Mike purses his lips. "Well, I don't know. Sure, we could have done more extensive research on the Fylingi. But would they have appreciated that? Wouldn't they have felt offended? Also, the queen-lady - I mean, the former queen-lady Rachel… she wasn't going to sit tight for much longer. I think she was very close to doing something that would have blown everything up. She couldn't stand Quinn and I'm pretty sure something was cooking in her mind. She didn't want this marriage any more than you did by the end of it and she would have found a way. At least you had the time to prepare. Just imagine how bad it would have been without preparation and without the Fylingi."
Santana frowns. "I have to be honest, I hadn't taken that into account. I think we would have had to surrender, and I'm not sure Rachel would have let either me or my family live. If she had, it would only have been in a most humiliating way."
"I think you're strong and brave, Queen Santana," Mike suddenly blurts out. He blushes, suddenly aware of himself. Then he swallows and continues. "You're doing the right thing. After all these centuries, finally, you're fighting to make Limahio one country again. You're giving freedom to the Fylingi. You're restoring the way things were before."
Santana lets out a long sigh. "I just wish there was a way to stop this senseless loss of lives. We need something - anything - to either get the upper hand or to get out of this. But I just don't see it. I keep imagining I was just a citizen of Kinleysia, and that Quinn would be sent to war and I'd lose her and know her loss would be senseless because we can't win this. I would… I don't know what I would do. All these people who have lost their loved ones, it must be so incredibly terrible."
Mike gives her a small smile. "Quinn really got to you, if I may be so free, my queen. I'm sure that before you met Quinn, you never would have seen things that way."
Santana doesn't know what to respond to that, except to admit that it's true. Then Sam enters the tent and announces: "Holly brought a visitor, my queen. Permission for their entrance?"
Santana gives a curt nod, curious who Holly will have brought. Santana has to admit that Holly has been a real asset, very involved in everything.
Santana's a little startled when Holly enters the tent, followed by a very large, very scary-looking man. He has to bend a little to fit in and his torso is just… giant is the only way to describe it. He has markings all over his body and seems to be carrying weapons in places she never would think of.
"Queen Santana," Holly states proudly. "May I present you Guhr Turar."
Santana knits her eyebrows, racing through her brain in an attempt to recover any memory of having heard that name before. She comes up blank.
"Guhr Turar is one of King Temyrs five Guhrs. They're the highest ranking warriors of King Temys' guard. King Temyr of the Sautori. All Sautori are descendants of the Fylingi."
Santana's eyes grow as wide as saucers. They're the tribe Holly told that story about - the Fylingi who didn't agree with the Great Friend's style of ruling and who moved away to form their own kingdom.
Santana gets up and makes her way to Guhr Turar, not sure how to greet him. He just looks at her with his fierce, dark eyes. He doesn't greet her, and when he speaks, his voice is low and his words almost incomprehensible because of his accent. But she hears him very well. "The Sautori heard of the war. You're losing."
For the first time in a long time, Santana blushes. "Unfortunately, we are." She's thinking on her feet now. "Would King Temyr be interested in joining the war. It is being fought for a just cause."
Holly smiles. "I explained the specifics of our cause to Guhr Turar. The Sautori know their history very well, as well as ours."
To Santana's surprise, the giant Guhr Turar falls to his knees in front of her - still towering over her. He casts his eyes to the ground when he speaks again. "We have heard of you, Queen Santana. The ruler with the mind of a woman and the ability to both make and feed children. We admire you greatly."
Santana frowns. She supposes that's true. "Fight with us, Guhr Turar, and we can offer you the woods of Carmeltonia that were once yours."
Guhr Turar looks her straight in the eye and Santana has to admit it's quite frightening. "King Temyr is ready. I shall send word for his army to march on Kinleysia. Together, we will win this war. We have been preparing for it for centuries."
Santana has to restrain herself from hugging this giant man. She knows that first, she has to discuss the exact terms and the plan of action, inform the soldiers and set out a new strategy. But she resolves to write Quinn about this new development as soon as she possibly can.
"How long will King Temyr's journey last?" Santana asks Guhr Turar.
"Ten days, Queen Santana."
Santana smiles. She knows something better than writing Quinn - she's going to visit her family. Finally see them again, and finally hold Quinn in her arms again. Kiss her and make love to her. She knows if she leaves Mike in charge, things will be run the same way they would be if she stayed.
She immediately sits down to write Quinn about her plan to ride out for a visit the very next day.
A/N: I guess for those of you who know me by now, this means smut next chapter...