Queen Kohra

She shouldn"t exist. Her kind of beauty shouldn"t be real. Oh, the cosmos is just so cruel. A beautiful face with a heart of steel. Oh, I"m married to her now. No amount of Ambroisa can get rid of that.

I"m prince consort Lesker now, instead of useless scholar Lesker. My, how things change in such a short while. I suppose I should appreciate small miracles.

It was my first time painting in front of an audience. I was anxious but what could I do? I feared if I shamed the queen, she would have my head.

I look around and see the queen mother"s encouraging face. I had wanted to paint the queen at first but the queen mother will do. And so, I painted. I was a lot nervous at first but brushing against the canvas repeatedly made me relax.

After I was done, I look at her for approval. Her eyes were indifferent but I see a little light in her eyes so I smile. I present the painting to my mother-in-law and I return to my seat.

The moment I was dreading came far too soon. We were to spend the night together. We walked in the corridor quietly, with me one step behind her.

She pushes the door to her room open and gives me a hard glare. I retreated a couple of steps and she enters. I enter after her and I could hear a small noise from her. She was annoyed with me in her room.

"I could leave if you wanted your majesty" I offer. I knew my way around the palace. I"m sure I could navigate the way without being seen.

"Stay" she says after a while. I sigh silently and sit on the couch in her room. She makes that sound again and I"m annoyed. Does she want me to stand?

I ignore her and make my self comfortable on the chair which wasn"t that hard. I look up but she isn"t there anymore. I hear sounds from the adjoining room. I a.s.sume she"s in there, bathing.

She must"ve portaled there. I click my tongue, jealous. I wish I could portal out of here too but it must be impossible. Her room would be like the Abbot"s house: impossible to portal in or out except for the Abbot.

I tap my hands rhythmically, bored of not doing anything. She emerges from the bathroom in a lace gown hugging her body dangerously. I catch myself before I stare too much.

"You can use the bathroom now" she says and I nod. I rush past her, eager to get rid of this ceremonial suit. My clothes are in the bathroom and I"m grateful to the maid that kept them there.

The bath is relaxing and I forget all my worries. Well, almost. Can"t forget you"re in a woman"s bathroom that easily. I can"t stay in there forever so I clean up and come out.

She"s on the bed with a book in hand. She looks up briefly and looks back to her book. Thankfully, the bed is big so I slip into the other side. She might be mad but I"m way too tired for that.

I"m about to slip into peaceful slumber, aided by this soft pillows when I hear a loud slam.

"Look, just because you"re married to me doesn"t mean you can act how you like. You are nothing but deadweight to me" she says.

Ouch, that hurt. She didn"t need to say all that though, I have no interest in laying a hand on her. I don"t want to die you know.

"Okay your majesty. After tonight, I"ll stick to my quarters and wouldn"t bother with you" I reply, sleepily.

"Are you trying to say I"m not worthy of your attention? Are you insulting me?"

What the h.e.l.l? What"s wrong with this woman? She tells me to leave her alone and now she says this? She"s f.u.c.ked up.

"No, I didn"t say that! What do you want from me?"

"I want you to grovel at my feet like the trash you are. I want you to serve me with your body and I want to suck your soul. I want to kill your spirit so all you depend on is me" her irises are black. She"s above me and in her eyes, is a vortex sucking me in.

She"s toxic. She"s insane. She"s bad for me. Yet, a part of me is excited. My head clouds with l.u.s.t and I find myself almost giving in. Telling her to take control of me. I stop just in time.

She shifts from me and says in a monotone voice;

"Paint for me"

It was an order. One I couldn"t refuse. I"m about to tell her there are no tools there when I see a canvas on her balcony. I question myself if that was there before or it just appeared. It didn"t matter.

I tiredly got up from the bed and went to paint. One look at the constellation, I decide to paint the moons.

By the time I was done, she was already fast asleep. Sighing, I dragged myself into the bed and wander off into dreamland as soon as my head hit the pillows.