Marlena sat at her bureau brushing out her hair. She looked up to see her husband's reflection beside her own. Her eyes fell from his form and she glanced at the brush in her hands.
"So you were visiting Tolamey and Morylyn?"
"Yes. My visit was long overdue."
"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"
"Because I needed to be away from the palace and alone to think.
"Away from the palace? You are the queen of Eternia. How do you think it looks to the people of our kingdom when the Queen suddenly vanishes without a trace?" He spoke to her reflection.
Very calmly she turned to him. "Is that all you care about? Your image?"
"Of course not. My wife suddenly disappears and I'm not supposed to be concerned?"
She turned back to the mirror and continued to brush her hair. "You can be concerned all you'd like. It's who you are concerned for that matters."
Randor kneeled down beside her. "Why are you and Adam doing this to me?"
"What are we doing?" she asked looking at his reflection.
"You both are acting as if I don't care."
"We know that you care. You care about your image and your kingdom more then your own family." Her voice remained calm and even.
"I do not!" Randor cried out furiously. He stood and began to pace. " I love you and Adam and Adora with all my heart."
"Well you have a strange way of showing it."
"What should I do? Hug you every five minutes? Tell you I love you every 3 seconds?"
"You can do and say those things as many times as you would like, but if you don't put the feeling and meaning behind them, they mean absolutely nothing. You've broken our trust. All Adam wants is to be accepted for who he is by his father and I want the man I married to return to me. The cold, bitter, King of Eternia is not him."
"You think that I'm cold?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You don't realize that's what you have become? You block out all feelings. I understand the need to do that in front of the people of the kingdom but your wife and children need to know that their husband and father is a caring man and not a cold robot like individual. After what you did to Adam while I was gone... I don't know if either of us can forgive you for that."
Randor sighed. "Marlena, Adam needs to learn responsibility, bravery, and become more involved in the Kingdom. Maybe what I did was foolish, but nothing else I have done makes that boy prepare himself for his future."
Marlena twisted in her seat to face him. "Maybe it was foolish? It was foolish and cruel. Why is it so hard for you to accept him as he is? Sure he has some growing up to do. Randor, Adam is not you. He hasn't been brought up the same way that you were. You were already well versed in the matters of the kingdom at a young age, due to certain circumstances. You were forced to grow up sooner then most, but Adam is not yet ready. If you want him to grow up, then give him more responsibility instead of projecting to him that he is a failure."
"I have been a fool."
"You've acted foolishly. I only hope that you will correct your mistakes and try harder."
"I must rethink things. What about you Marlena? Why did you go see Tolamey and Morylyn after so many years?"
"I needed their company. They accept me for who I am and who I was before Adam was born. I am much older then when I first came to Eternia but I still have that wild, adventurous streak in me. It's part of who I am. Sitting so silently in that throne has made me miserable. I needed to see old friends who knew me as I was and not as what I have become. I know how many times you disapproved of me spending time with Mory and Tolamey but they shared interests similar to mine. They have settled down with age as well, but they still know how to have fun."
"You are beginning to sound like Adam."
"Can you honestly say that sitting in that throne doesn't bore you?"
"At times it can, but I am usually busy with meetings, treaties and laws. It is not the best job in the world but it's mine and I try to be the best King I can be."
"And you are a marvelous King. With many new ideas that have changed this kingdom for the better. But when will you also be a man, a father, and a husband? Are these things simply going to be forgotten?"
"I am still those things. I will always be a husband, father and man."
"They are merely titles! Just as I am a Queen and I rarely use my power. I appear to be a Queen. I wear a crown and sit in a throne by your side, but I'm not really a Queen. Just as you almost never act like a husband. You and I don't enjoy spending time together anymore because the affaires of the Kingdom are higher up on the list and your mind is always elsewhere and not on me. You don't act as a father to your son, you act as a King, enforcing your mighty power without stopping to think of the damage you are doing. I don't know you anymore Randor. Lately I've wondered if I ever knew you at all." Her eyes were welling with tears. "I'm tired." She said in a near whisper. She moved from the bureau and climbed onto her bed, pulling the covers over her. She turned a knob on the side of the table by her bed and the light beside her bed dimmed and shut off.
Randor stood in the center of the room, tears welling in his own eyes and confusion clouding his mind. Had he really changed? And for the worst? What had he become?
"So you were visiting Tolamey and Morylyn?"
"Yes. My visit was long overdue."
"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"
"Because I needed to be away from the palace and alone to think.
"Away from the palace? You are the queen of Eternia. How do you think it looks to the people of our kingdom when the Queen suddenly vanishes without a trace?" He spoke to her reflection.
Very calmly she turned to him. "Is that all you care about? Your image?"
"Of course not. My wife suddenly disappears and I'm not supposed to be concerned?"
She turned back to the mirror and continued to brush her hair. "You can be concerned all you'd like. It's who you are concerned for that matters."
Randor kneeled down beside her. "Why are you and Adam doing this to me?"
"What are we doing?" she asked looking at his reflection.
"You both are acting as if I don't care."
"We know that you care. You care about your image and your kingdom more then your own family." Her voice remained calm and even.
"I do not!" Randor cried out furiously. He stood and began to pace. " I love you and Adam and Adora with all my heart."
"Well you have a strange way of showing it."
"What should I do? Hug you every five minutes? Tell you I love you every 3 seconds?"
"You can do and say those things as many times as you would like, but if you don't put the feeling and meaning behind them, they mean absolutely nothing. You've broken our trust. All Adam wants is to be accepted for who he is by his father and I want the man I married to return to me. The cold, bitter, King of Eternia is not him."
"You think that I'm cold?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You don't realize that's what you have become? You block out all feelings. I understand the need to do that in front of the people of the kingdom but your wife and children need to know that their husband and father is a caring man and not a cold robot like individual. After what you did to Adam while I was gone... I don't know if either of us can forgive you for that."
Randor sighed. "Marlena, Adam needs to learn responsibility, bravery, and become more involved in the Kingdom. Maybe what I did was foolish, but nothing else I have done makes that boy prepare himself for his future."
Marlena twisted in her seat to face him. "Maybe it was foolish? It was foolish and cruel. Why is it so hard for you to accept him as he is? Sure he has some growing up to do. Randor, Adam is not you. He hasn't been brought up the same way that you were. You were already well versed in the matters of the kingdom at a young age, due to certain circumstances. You were forced to grow up sooner then most, but Adam is not yet ready. If you want him to grow up, then give him more responsibility instead of projecting to him that he is a failure."
"I have been a fool."
"You've acted foolishly. I only hope that you will correct your mistakes and try harder."
"I must rethink things. What about you Marlena? Why did you go see Tolamey and Morylyn after so many years?"
"I needed their company. They accept me for who I am and who I was before Adam was born. I am much older then when I first came to Eternia but I still have that wild, adventurous streak in me. It's part of who I am. Sitting so silently in that throne has made me miserable. I needed to see old friends who knew me as I was and not as what I have become. I know how many times you disapproved of me spending time with Mory and Tolamey but they shared interests similar to mine. They have settled down with age as well, but they still know how to have fun."
"You are beginning to sound like Adam."
"Can you honestly say that sitting in that throne doesn't bore you?"
"At times it can, but I am usually busy with meetings, treaties and laws. It is not the best job in the world but it's mine and I try to be the best King I can be."
"And you are a marvelous King. With many new ideas that have changed this kingdom for the better. But when will you also be a man, a father, and a husband? Are these things simply going to be forgotten?"
"I am still those things. I will always be a husband, father and man."
"They are merely titles! Just as I am a Queen and I rarely use my power. I appear to be a Queen. I wear a crown and sit in a throne by your side, but I'm not really a Queen. Just as you almost never act like a husband. You and I don't enjoy spending time together anymore because the affaires of the Kingdom are higher up on the list and your mind is always elsewhere and not on me. You don't act as a father to your son, you act as a King, enforcing your mighty power without stopping to think of the damage you are doing. I don't know you anymore Randor. Lately I've wondered if I ever knew you at all." Her eyes were welling with tears. "I'm tired." She said in a near whisper. She moved from the bureau and climbed onto her bed, pulling the covers over her. She turned a knob on the side of the table by her bed and the light beside her bed dimmed and shut off.
Randor stood in the center of the room, tears welling in his own eyes and confusion clouding his mind. Had he really changed? And for the worst? What had he become?