"But your Majesty!" Called Milerna's chief secretary of state, as he bustled to keep up with the angry young Queen. "Please, just listen to me! It is of utmost importance that you produce an heir! I insist that the ceremony should take place this month!" Milerna stopped in her tracks almost causing the small man to bump into her. He redoubled his steps and dropped several papers as he did so. Bending to pick them up he craned to see his monarch's response. She glared down at the little man. She had no real reason to reject the minister's proposals but she was deathly afraid of what might happen if she didn't. It felt like a large shroud was suffocating her. Milerna knew she wasn't ready for this, especially with Dryden. How could she…"do it"… with someone she didn't love? And she didn't love Dryden, or did she?
There was something infuriatingly attractive about the man. Of course it was easy to say how much she disliked him when she was on her own or with her sister but when in his company it was a different matter all together. The man had an air about him that spread and affected the surroundings everywhere he went, just like his smell. Dryden could be comfortable in any social situation. He was educated and articulate enough to charm his way into aristocracy, sympathetic and good humoured enough to blend into ordinary life and as quick witted and sharp as a merchant needed to be. He was a man for all seasons with all the patience and sagely wisdom to view the world with eyes unclouded. Yet he spent all his time and effort in order to see her content and happy in trivial little things. He had ordered an adorable cocker spaniel puppy to be sent to her apartments as a gift. Apparently the dogs were much loved as a breed on the mystic moon. How he had managed to find her one was anyone's guess, but he was a shrewd businessman, if his possession of Sylvie the Mermaid was anything to go by. It amazed her that for all her husband's influence and control over Asturia he hadn't forced this "ceremony" on her earlier. In fact it was those who were aware of Milerna's dislike of the man who were forcing this situation on her.
The young queen huffed and continued walking, finding herself suddenly less verbally dextrous. The man stuttered and followed her closely clutching the scrolls and papers closely to his chest. "Your Highness, please, I need your consent on this!" Milerna threw her hands up in frustration. "I'm going riding" She called to him, subtly hoping he'd take the hint and leave her alone. But the vertically challenged advisor was persistent. "Mistress, This is a very serious affair, the high council will have my head if I don't get some closure on this!" He wailed following her smart decent down a flight of stairs. Curtly she turned "I said I was going riding" She sped away to her chambers to be properly attired, leaving the little man to flop down and proceed in wiping his brow with a daintily monogrammed handkerchief. Things would be much different if King Aston were still alive.
Dryden sat in his study massaging temples. He had been looking at a report from the Finance Minister, and things were not good. Asturia had lost a large amount of its vast fortune during the Destiny wars, and shortsighted economists had foolishly raised taxes and redirected education and housing funds in order to repair the Aston fortune. Now that Dryden had returned as regent he had officially taken over the managerial side of his marital relationship. Sitting on his desk along with the report was a bill to redirect the health budget in light of Fanelia's difficulty to keep up with her war repayments. It only required his seal, but the idea appalled him. Milerna had effectively "Rubber stamped" these papers, having been too naïve and perhaps sheltered to realise the great effect they would have on her people. Eries was the one who had really orchestrated Asturia's politics for the past two years, and she in her misguided wisdom had doomed her sister's kingdom to a life of depravity. He sat back and rubbed his face. Asturia's problems ran deeper than he had first thought, and those who were aware of it kept it hidden. As long as the royal family were in comfort and Asturia's façade was a prosperous one, then they had nothing to complain about. It would take a long time to sort all of this out and the young Dryden Fassa didn't feel replenished enough to deal with it.
He'd spent what was left of his convoy and wealth in setting up shelters for the wounded of the wars several months ago. It wasn't much, but at least it was productive. Otherwise those soldiers who had lost limbs, families, their livelihoods protecting their countries, would have ended up begging in the streets of a deceived Asturia. Why was it that the world was made up of corrupt people? Why was it than even when he was a King (or as good as) he couldn't even help people? Perhaps the world wouldn't end through something as mystical and aloof as Destiny or fate, but purely by the corruption that seemed to infect people like a disease. Dryden yawned and stretched in his chair. He hadn't left his chambers for three whole days and had taken his meals in his apartments. Milerna never invited him to dinner and he didn't mind. He'd waited for two years already and heaven knows how many more before that; he could wait a little longer until she was comfortable with his presence in the palace. In fact it had been a few days since he had last seen her.
The mermaid in the tank behind him a made a wistful, mournful noise, that caused Dryden to turn in his chair. "What's wrong Sylvie?" The watery maiden lay down on the sandy bottom so that her eyes were level with Dryden's. She looked at him with concern in her eyes. "Hey, Sylvie don't worry Milerna's just preoccupied at the moment, she'll be around sooner or later" He assured the mermaid, but he soon became lost in his own thoughts as did she in hers. What if Dryden waited his whole life and had trapped Milerna in a wedding that never produced any fruit? What if he doomed her to a life of unhappiness and emptiness? He never wanted her to feel like she did that night when she had almost ended her life. He never did speak to Eries about it and resolved that he would do his best to sort the problem out himself. Sudden an idea struck him. Standing up, his usual crafty air returned to him like it had never been gone.
"Sylvie m'dear," At the sound of her name the fish-girl darted about around the front of the glass. "I have a plan, but you'll have to help me" He stepped forward from his cluttered librarian's desk and sat on a plush red velvet viewing bench. The mermaid pressed her hands close to the glass in anticipation. "Do you believe that in the space of three months I can get Milerna to fall in love with me?" He sat back on his haunches, like a strange looking ape, waiting for the girl's reply. She stared at him for a moment scanning his face and then smiled brightly "You do huh?" Dryden smiled to himself. He hoped so too, or else he would release her from their bond…forever. "Well!" Said Dryden as he slapped his thighs and got up "I'm very pleased we agree on something Sylvie, so I suppose I'd better get started" He added rubbed his hands together. Young Sylvie flitted about happily as he left the room and smiled knowingly at the empty room. Lord Dryden would win the bet for sure.
Dryden breathed in deeply as he walked through Princess Eries' gardens. It was already approaching Red and the leaves on the trees were aflame with rustic colours. The air had a pleasant nip to it and he had taken to wearing his scarf to keep it from creeping into his vulnerable bones. He had been a sickly child when he was young and spent much of his time indoors rather than out in the fresh air. His mother hadn't helped by treating him like a china doll and wrapping him up in cotton wool. However of course, this had given him the time to develop his mind into a tool that he could carve a fortune from.
The white paving beneath his feet stopped and he found himself at the other end of the gardens far from the ornate decorations of palace life. A cluster of trees edged the boundaries of the gardens. Massive, old ancient trees, gnarled and knobbed like old men they sat hunching over year after year. Beyond them was colonial style picket fence and beyond that sat a white painted barn. Dryden strolled over investigating a piece of the palace grounds he'd never been to before. The barn sat in the tree-dappled sunlight, its large tower clean and welcoming. The front gates were open and a young blonde woman was leading a large caramel mare by its reigns out onto the trodden dirty clearing. Upon closer inspection Dryden was startled to find that he hadn't recognised his wife. But then again he had never seen her hair tied up in a French-roll before. She wore a lady's riding jacket, fitted to the waist and a practical pair of tight trousers and thigh-high black boots. She patted her mare's neck gently cooing sweet nothings into its mane. Only the birds chirping sweetly in the trees overhead could serve to sweeten the atmosphere, though Dryden as he leant casually on the fence.
Hiking herself up on one of the stirrups, Milerna swung her leg over the back of the horse and perched upright and gracefully on top of the saddle. The horse minced backwards and forwards before the young rider coaxed it into a swift even trot. She showed the etiquette of a true show rider, rising and dropping in her seat in rhythm with the animal. She called to the creature slightly as it cantered around the enclosure. Dryden had never known this side of his wife before and felt rather stilted to think that he didn't really know the woman whom he was so vehemently devoted to. At least now he had some common ground to stand on with her. He knew what she was passionate about, besides medicine, and it gave him some hope.
Watching her, he realised that she was so caught up in her jockeying to notice his presence, so he allowed himself to take privileges he had never before. The tight material creased attractively over her hips and thighs and reminded Dryden of how young and supple she was. Her back arched as the horse's speed picked up and her true form strained against her clothing. He couldn't remove his eyes from her. A desperate longing was writhing away in the pit of his being, a masculine loneliness was apparent and he needed something more to allay a long felt hunger. Milerna was very much a woman and until now he had tried to give her the little freedom he could, but even this drove her from him. He couldn't have that anymore. Dryden needed Milerna it was as simple as that.
The horse finally sauntered to a halt and it's young rider dismounted. It happened that as she breathlessly turned she saw a lone figure leaning against the fence. Its comfortable slouched frame was instantly recognisable. Like a great crow he sat there watching her, his robes hiding the slender, almost lanky reality of his body and made Milerna feel a little unnerved. As though he knew he'd been on her mind the entire exercise, he smirked in that admiring but almost pervasive way of his. That was the irritating thing about Dryden Fassa. He gave the impression that he always had the upper hand in every situation. Removing her bleached white riding gloves, she tucked them gently into her pockets, looking at her husband the whole time. He certainly was in enigma. One moment business-like and professional, the next smug and suggestive; he was tempting, but oddly threatening to her. "Spying on me?" She asked breaking the silence of the crisp cold morning. Her husband was not fazed by her accusing tone.
"No my dearest, just admiring" he replied quashing her attempts to be hostile "I didn't know you could ride so well" he said earnestly. Milerna couldn't help a smile as she pushed a stray lock of champagne hair behind her ear and ambled over to her regent. He stood up straight to receive her. She looked up into his naturally cynical and somewhat haughty green eyes, past his spectacles. "Dryden, you really can be quite complimentary when you want to be, she commented. He flickered an eyebrow in an almost sensuous way, causing some of the irrational fear and claustrophobia to creep back into her heart. She mumbled a goodbye and went to join her horse in order to groom it in the barn. She could never seem to stay in his company for longer than a few moments before she panicked. Glancing back, she noticed her husband still observing her calmly, if not a little sadly. Sadly? She shook the thought from her head as she led Hazel to her paddock.