Winter had certainly begun to arrive In Alexandria; late at night and in the early hours of the mornings frost could be found covering the castle windowpanes. At two hours past midnight, most everyone in the castle as well as in the city had long since retired for the night, finding comfort in the warmth of their beds. Even most of the heavy drinkers at the downtown pub had already called it quits for the night.
Queen Garnet, on the other hand, had no intention of going to sleep anytime soon. Working by candlelight, she dipped her quill into the dark ink and began signing yet another parchment in the large stack of documents awaiting her approval. Some dealt with day-to-day affairs such as the amount of taxes collected or the amounts of grain that had been added to the castle stores, others she had deemed more urgent.
The previous parchment she had signed her approval for had been a formal letter requesting a stay of execution from the wife of a man who had killed his fellow carpenter. She pleaded for his execution to be delayed a few days until she could prove that it had been an unfortunate accident and misunderstanding.
The one she was reading now was a "polite" request from a large group of nobles demanding that their taxes be greatly reduced, as much of the grain that had be collected into the castle stores had come from farms they controlled. As a result, they felt they were suffering the blow of the impending winter more than others. It went on and on detailing their reasoning, but instead of finishing it or applying her royal seal, Garnet shuffled it back into the bottom of the pile to deal with later.
Frowning at the large discrepancy between her "done" pile and the stack she still had left to finish before the following week, she let out a tired sigh and propped her chin on her arms. It wasn't that she was lazy, she reassured herself, everything had just been so hectic lately. In the last couple of weeks, reconstruction of the city had ground to a halt. Most of the nobles and city folk blamed the halt of construction on the need to prepare for winter. While this was also true, the fact is that as whole, Alexandria was completely broke.
Groaning, she looked down at her pendant that rested near the edge of her desk. Subconsciously she knew she had scooted it to the edge of the desk so she wouldn't have to think about the possibility of parting with it. Just the thought of parting with the famous royal jewel would be ludicrous to most, but little did they know that under her direction the majority of the jewels that had survived the castle's destruction had already been sold or traded to fund restoring the people's homes. She snickered slightly at the thought of how her "wealthy suitors" would react if they knew the vault was pretty much empty.
Did that make her a horrible queen? She shrugged the thought off, grabbed the next document, and began to read through it. She knew her advisors blamed her for the condition of the treasury; not only had she refused to increase the citizen's tax rate, which she already thought was too high, but she had also adamantly refused to entertain suitors as well. It was obvious that they had a valid point, marrying a wealthy lord of Treno would finally cement an alliance with the thriving city and give Alexandria the economic boost it needed to be even better than it had been under her mother's rule. Placing her seal on the document, she moved onto the next one. "Speaking of suitors." Garnet groaned as she looked at the first, of what she knew was many, requests for her audience. They would all be worded differently, but they all might as well have said "I want to marry you so that I can be king!"
Even though she still had many reservations about what the consequences of a noble being king would be, she had exhausted every solution she could come up with on her own. How bad could it be? Both Steiner and Beatrix had assured her that after she married, they would stay fiercely loyal to her, even protecting her from the new king if need be. The thought of agreeing to spending her life and bearing children for someone she barely knew repulsed her, but she had sworn to do what was best for the kingdom and if that meant she had to be miserable, then so be it. Clenching her teeth, she began signing her approval to each one that didn't sound completely absurd or that asked her to consent to the marriage without even meeting them.
One letter however, caught her attention. It was from someone claiming to be the King of Mélamar. She furrowed her eyebrows at it, not remembering any kingdom they had encountered during their journey with that name. Maybe it had been very small, and they had just missed it? She decided to read it more carefully.
Your Majesty,
I hope this letter finds you, and finds you well. I guess I should start by saying that I'm sorry I haven't written sooner. With the help of my sister and dear friends, I'm slowly getting better at expressing my inner thoughts and learning how to cope with the changes in my life that I hadn't expected. I know that you probably get hundreds of letters professing love for you or asking for your hand in marriage, but personally, I think things like that should be done in person when the time is right. I also know that Alexandria has to be suffering. Until recently, I had no idea how hard it was just getting a kingdom ready for winter. I can't imagine what you've been through trying to do it on your own. In a way, that's the reason I am writing you.
My kingdom, or rather the one that chose me to be its king, isn't a very large kingdom but it is growing every day. I honestly didn't expect it to keep growing the way it has, but people keep showing up looking for a home and I refuse to turn them away. As it stands, the biggest struggle has been keeping up with the demands for food, but I think we may have solved that with a way to continue growing crops during the winter months. I'm afraid I can't offer you a fortune to repair your kingdom, but if you will accept it, we will share this technology we've discovered with you along with as much of our extra Gil as can be spared. It won't be much, but hopefully it will help until we can collect more.
I've recently learned that all things come at a price, some much higher than we ever hoped to pay. I guess my kingdom's price is that hopefully you will consider my us an ally in the future and that we can help each other prosper. As for me, I ask only for a few moments of your time and would be honored to have an opportunity to meet you again.
Sincerely, The King of Mélamar
"Again?" She asked aloud, puzzled. When had they met? Would an alliance with this supposed kingdom of Mélamar be the help Alexandria needed? If the letter was true and honest, she might not have to marry! Garnet chuckled at herself. Things were never that easy, so there was no point in holding out hope for something that was probably just someone's idea of a cruel joke. But, it had seemed so genuine and sincere; she mused. Had she really met this king before?
"Your majesty, will you be retiring soon?" Beatrix inquired through the crack in the door, sounding tired.
"Gods!" Garnet startled, dropping the letter. She had gotten so lost in what she was doing that she had completely forgotten that Beatrix had been waiting patiently outside the do.
"My apologies!" Beatrix started quickly. "I did not mean to scare you."
"No." Garnet replied, willing her heart to slow down. "I guess I'm just a little on edge lately."
"If I'm not overstepping," Beatrix began. "Have you come to any decisions?"
Garnet looked back at the desk and picked up the sealed documents, extending them out to the general. "I've decided I will marry, so I need to have these returned to their senders."
Beatrix gingerly took them, tucking them away in her breast pocket. "Are you certain this is what you want?"
"Gods no!" Garnet replied louder than she had expected, then deflated. "What other choice do I have!? If I don't do something, people will begin to revolt! A few people have tried to kill me already.."
"Don't worry, I will not let-" Beatrix defended, but was interrupted.
"I know, I apologize for snapping at you. Maybe it is time for me to get some rest?"
Beatrix smiled at her understandingly and ushered her out of the room. "You have not been sleeping much lately."
"Do you blame me?" She countered.
"No, I have no slept well either; though Steiner seems to be even more troubled than I."
"Any idea what's bothering him?" Garnet asked, as they opened the door to her royal chamber.
"He seems to be worried that-" Beatrix immediately cut the sentence short and drew her sword as the room came into view. The balcony window stood open, and the sheets had been ripped from the bed hurriedly. Drawers and their contents were scattered across the floor.
Garnet gasped as she took in the chaos from the entryway. "How did someone get in here?"
Noticing something she couldn't see, Beatrix commented. "You should leave, your majesty. This isn't something you should see."
Pushing past her, Garnet took in the view that had been obscured by a large armoire and covered her mouth in disbelief. "DEATH TO THE BAD BLOOD QUEEN" Lay smeared on the wall near her bead. Lissy, a chambermaid that she grown close to and often considered something of a sister, lay slumped against the wall covered in a pool of her own blood.
"No!" Garnet sobbed, dropping to her knees.
"I'm so sorry, your majesty.." Beatrix offered softly, gently grabbing her by the arm. "But we need to get you out of here. The killer could still be nearby."
"I'll kill him!" Garnet hissed through gritted teeth and clenched fists. "I'll kill whoever did this! She didn't deserve it!"
"Until they are found, there is nothing we can do." Beatrix replied dejectedly.
"Then I'll find them! I'll find the scumbag that did this!" She persisted, trying to pull her arm free. "Let go of me, Damn you!"
"I'm sorry, but you have to calm down and listen to reason! Let us get you somewhere safe, and I will work on tightening security and trying to find the assassin. This shouldn't have happened."
After a few more moments, she stopped struggling. Although she said nothing more, Garnet slowly nodded in agreement and followed her to a guest bedroom with no windows in the back of the castle. "This room should be safe for now. I will have two guards posted outside the door until I can return and guard it myself." She turned to leave, but stopped noticing that Garnet still stood near the doorway staring off into nothingness. "Will you be alright?" She added softly.
"I'm fine." Garnet answered emotionlessly. "Would she still be alive if I had never become a princess or queen?"
Beatrix placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You are a very good queen. The people are lucky to have you; and I to serve you. Do not ever forget that." With those words, Beatrix turned and hurried from the room attend her duties.
"Thank you." Garnet spoke at last looking up at the ceiling. "I'm just tired of people suffering because of me."
...
A/N: As always, thank you so much to everyone that's taken the time to leave a review! You inspire me to keep writing! Also, many of you are probably wondering why i chose the name Mélamar for the kingdom. I's an elvish word that i thought was fitting. Let me know what you think! even negative criticism is always welcome.