Just as she was about to move her rook forward, a servant woman came running forward. She bowed to each of them as she addressed the two. “My Lord… Your Majesty… A noble man from the West has come to see you,” the young woman said with very little breath. The queen nodded and sent the servant away.
Esmedella stood up and smoothed out the front of her emerald green dress. “Shall we go meet this man of nobility?” she asked her guard. The blonde haired man stood as well and nodded. “You go on ahead. I’ll change and meet you there,” he responded. They began walking towards the entrance to the palace interior and then broke paths, Kaiser heading upstairs and Esmedella towards the entrance.
The minutes seemed to simply drag along as the young blonde woman walked through the empty halls of the palace towards the entrance. Once she went through the front doors and was on the top step, Esmedella was surprised by the sight before her. There were two carriages rather than one and each was pulled by two birds that looked more like over inflated toy balls with feathers and beaks glued on. Their feather were red-orange in color and their eyes were pitch black.
The carriages were clearly different from one another. The first one looked like a carriage built for a noble that was never painted or had the interior finished. From within that carriage came three very muscular men, all of them with a deep tan and several scars. The carriage was painted pale blue with an ivory white along the borders and the interior had white, cushioned, leather seats. The single man who came out of that carriage completely sent a small wave of disgust through the door. He was a short, balding man who was CLEARLY well fed and rich. He was dressed in purple clothes with a matching robe that had gold stitched into the edges. The noble had an enormous ring on each of his fingers and at least five gold chains with amulets around his neck.
The noble looked up at Esmedella with a smile and spread out his arms. “Ah! Your Majesty! Such a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a bow. He then began to approach the queen. The fat man took her hand and kissed the top. “My name is Rajard Marronah, Baron of the land of Humares,” he said with a smile and looking into the blonde woman’s eyes. Humares was a small nation situation next to Jaideria in the West. Though they didn’t have an army, the tiny nation did in fact have complete control over the mountainous region and is the largest exporter of iron, Jaideria being the second.
Esmedella pulled her hand away and did a slight curtsey. “Welcome, Baron. I’m assuming that you’ve heard of the latest news about my… ‘situation’,” she said with a fake smile. Rajard grinned and nodded. “I will be frank. I have and that is why I’m here. Hopefully, we’ll spend some ‘quality time’ together,” he said with a devilish grin.
At that moment, Kaiser came down the stairs and interrupted. “Forgive me, my lady. I did not expect to take that long,” the blonde man said to her. Kaiser had changed to something not as formal as his uniform, but it did strike a sense of status. It consisted of a pair of dark blue pants, the boots with attached greaves, a clean red shirt, gauntlets, a shoulder guard on his right arm, and his sword on his left hip.
Esmedella genuinely smiled this time and faced the baron. “Rajard Marronah, this is Kaiser fon Rosen, Duke of Naden and General of the 11th Jaiderian Fleet,” she said with a constant smile. Rajard looked at Kaiser with a sense of shock and asked, “Did you say the 11th Fleet? The pride and joy of your nation’s army? YOU are the general in command?” Esmedella nodded and said, “That’s right. He’s also one of the greatest swordsman in the entire world.” Kaiser laughed a bit and responded, “You Majesty, please. You’re embarrassing me in front of our guest.”
Rajard raised an eyebrow at this last comment and asked, “YOUR guest? As in, the BOTH of yours?” Kaiser nodded in response. “Yes. I am the queen personal guard and I go where ever she goes. So, in short, you are a bit like my own guest.” Esmedella, now in a better mood, turned to face the short fat man. “You and your guards are permitted to stay the night and tonight the two of us shall have a private dinner.” Then a few servants arrived to escort the baron and the others to their rooms.
As the Rajard and his guards were following the servants to the bedrooms, he motioned for one of the men to lean closer. The baron then whispered into his ear, “That Duke is trouble. I want you and the others to keep him busy while the queen and I are at dinner tonight.” The man nodded and relayed the message to the other two. The baron was NOT going to allow some over-achieving, teenage punk to ruin his chances at claiming the throne he thought he rightfully deserved.
* * * * * * *
Later that evening, Esmedella was preparing for her “private” dinner with Rajard. She was now wearing a sapphire blue dress with silver embroidery stitched on the edges of the sleeves and on the bottom. The queen was sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair in preparation for the dinner. There was a knock at the chamber door and she looked to it. “Come in,” the woman said. A servant came in carrying a case and left it on the vanity. He bowed before turning and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.
Esmedella set the brush down and grabbed the box. It was a plain brown box that was tied shut with a note beneath the string. She untied the package and picked up the folded up sheet of paper. Opening it up, Esmedella began reading it.
Dear Esmedella,
I hope you like this little gift of mine.
Hopefully, it’ll give you good luck.
I hope you like this little gift of mine.
Hopefully, it’ll give you good luck.
The queen turned the paper over and then looked at the side with the note. There was no signature on either side of it or on the package. She brought the rectangular prism towards her and pulled off the top. Inside was a silver necklace with a sapphire pendant on it shaped like a tear drop. Esmedella was lost for words at first, but she began thinking as time passed. It was probably from the baron as a way to suck up to her. She knew that it would be rude to not wear it, so she put it on and then left the room to go to her arrangement.
Esmedella went to the dining hall to find that the long table was pushed to the side to only leave a smaller one with only two places set. Rajard was waiting for her at the table, already seated. He seemed to think that more gold and more extravagant clothes meant a better impression. To her, he looked like a walking target for robbers and thieves. “Your Majesty. I was about to sneak into the kitchen and take a little something for me to snack on,” he said with a smile. “Like what? A roasted boar?” Esmedella thought. Instead of saying what she thought, the queen simply smiled and responded, “Well, I wouldn’t have minded, as long as you had room for our meal.”
At that, the two sat down and servants began entering with platters containing various foods. The meal went pretty simply. While Esmedella was enjoying her food in silence, Rajard was engorging himself with food and drinking a lot of wine. Once the queen had finished eating, the fat old baron had eaten three times as much as her and drank at least two bottles of wine. Esmedella was surprised that this man wasn’t dead, but he probably ate like that every meal or maybe even more.
Esmedella hadn’t arranged for desert to be brought in just yet, so the two just sat there, looking at one another. The silence was broken by the baron. Rajard leaned forward, his elbows propping himself up on the edge of the table. Esmedella noticed the table tilting a little, but didn’t say anything, trying not to disrespect him.
The gems reflected the light shining on it and shading his teeth in various colors of the rainbow. The fat noble said, “Your Highness, may I give you my opinion of what kind of man you should marry?” The queen gave a mental sigh, for she already knew what kind of man she married. “One who’s the exact opposite of you,” she thought. However, the blonde woman faked a sincere smile and responded, “Of course.”
Rajard grinned as the light in his eyes changed from a false sense of honor to a darker, more conniving shimmer. “Your Highness, the man you marry should have a stable financial future for you. That way, not only would you secure your comfortable living, but your country would also have good economic growth,” the baron started. Esmedella just sat there, pretending to be listening to his words. The fat man then continued. “Your Majesty, an alliance with Humares would make Jaideria not only a powerful nation militarily, but also economically. Your treasury would have so much gold, that you would have to build a second just to store it all!” he said excitedly.
At this point, Rajard was grinning like a maniac. “Just think! Being able to have so much gold that you could even sleep on a bed of it and still have enough to support your nation through dozens of wars!” the baron said, starting to sweat a little. Esmedella was getting a little scared now. This man was on the verge of insanity and seemed to want to have his way with her. The queen grabbed the arms of her chair, waiting for the moment to push the chair out and run. But that moment was ruined by an abrupt bursting of the dining hall doors.
One of Rajard’s guards was sent backwards, crashing into the doors. This caused them to open and for him to fall to the ground. Kaiser came in, taking breathes, dragging the two other guards who were currently unconscious. He pulled them across the floor and left them next to the one who was sent flying through the doors.
Esmedella stood upright, followed shortly by the baron, and was just staring at the sight before her. The blonde man, her personal guard, had just come into the dining hall covered in various cuts and with three of the baron’s guards. Rajard’s face began to turn red and he yelled, “How dare you! How dare you attack my guards and interrupt our--” The baron never finished the sentence. “SHUT UP!!!” Kaiser interjected with a yell. The small fat man shut his mouth and became silent.
The duke took a few steps forward, heading towards the baron. “Do you honestly think that you can just send your goons after me and then think you can lie your way out of being blamed, you little weasel?!” he said, his words coming out with venomous spite. Kaiser was about five feet away from Rajard now, the queen watching his every move. “You sent these guys after me because you can’t stand a little competition. You, my friend, are a pathetic excuse for a human. Maybe you should spend the rest of your life in the pig pen,” he looked down at Rajard’s oversized stomach and then back to his face, “You do already look like one.”
At that moment, the baron attempted to run. The duke rushed forward and stopped him in mid-turn, forcing him to look straight into the blonde’s face. The pupils of the duke were dilated and anger seemed to just seep from his every pore. Rajard’s face was shaped by pure fear, afraid that the mad duke would gut him and roast him over an open fire like the ‘pig’ that he was.
“That’s enough!” Kaiser and Rajard looked at the queen. She was standing on the other side of the table and was trying to keep a straight face. The queen began to walk around the edge of the table and spoke as she did so. “I will not allow these acts to progress any farther,” she said. Esmedella looked at Kaiser and simply said, “Let him go.” The duke released his grip and stepped back. He bowed and responded, “My apologies.”
The baron fixed his robes and huffed. “That’s right. You should think twice before--” he started, but was once again interrupted. “You have no room to speak,” Esmedella said with a slight hint of anger in her voice. “You deliberately sent your guards to attack and possibly kill my own guard, who is also a fellow noble AND a military general, just so that you may raise your chances of marrying me,” she said. The blonde queen glared at the baron and spoke with just as much spite in her voice as Kaiser did, “You truly ARE a worthless piece of garbage.”
Esmedella turned her back and saw that the baron’s guards were just coming around and then said, “You and your guards are to gather your things and leave immediately. If you refuse, I will summon the guard and force you out.” When she didn’t hear a sound, the queen turned her head and glared at the baron. “GO!!! NOW!!!”
Rajard waddled off towards the doors, his guards stumbling behind him. He stopped in the doorway and looked at the queen and the duke, his face entirely red now. “You’ve made an grave mistake not taking my offer! The next time you need money or help in any way and come to me on bended knee, I’ll turn my back on you and your pitiful country!” he said with an enraged look on his face. That look didn’t last long, having turned back to fear when a dagger came flying in his direction and stuck fast into the door post. The baron looked behind him to see Kaiser handing Esmedella another dagger. “The next one won’t miss,” she said as she positioned the dagger to be thrown. Rajard then ran off, hoping to keep his head.
Esmedella handed the blade back to her guard. Kaiser walked over to the doorpost and pulled the second dagger out. He sheathed them both and started to return to the queen’s side. “I’m sorry for ruining your dinner with the baron. It was not my place to act in the way I did,” the duke said with a bow. The queen shook her head a bit and took a step forward. “Don’t be sorry. You had every reason to act the way you did. He almost had his men kill you and he was also acting like he was going to rape me just before you knocked the door in with your… battering ram,” she stated, laughing a little at the very end.
Kaiser gave a slight chuckle as well at the mention of his battering ram. “Well, he did have a thick enough skull to be one,” he said with a smile. He held out his hand and continued, “Allow me to escort you to your room, m’lady.” Esmedella took his hand with a smile and the two departed from the dining hall, headed towards the grand staircase. In the entrance hall, they saw the baron and his men getting into their carriages. The two blondes laughed and then headed up the stairs as the two carriages went off.
They stopped in front of the queen’s chamber door. She smiled at Kaiser and said, “Thanks again for stopping that psycho baron.” The duke just shook his head and responded. “Don’t thank me. It’s my duty to protect you,” he then looked down at the necklace around her neck, “Plus, you were lucky tonight.” Kaiser bowed and gave her a smile before turning and going to his own room.
Esmedella opened her bedroom door and went in, gently shutting the door behind her. She walked over to the bed where the remains of the package were, along with the letter. The blonde woman picked up the piece of paper and read it again. She whispered to herself, “Lucky, huh?” Esmedella took off the necklace and went over to her vanity. She opened up one of the drawers, seeing that it was empty. Pushing down on the back half of the bottom, the front half of the drawer’s bottom popped up.
She pulled it out and looked in to see her most prized valuables. Some were as simple as a chain bracelet that a dead relative gave to her at a young age, while others were more valuable such as a diamond and ruby necklace that was given to her by her father when she came of age. Esmedella looked at the silver necklace with the sapphire pendant on the end and smiled.
The queen gently set it down in the compartment on top of the others and replaced the false bottom. She shut the drawer and got up from the vanity. Esmedella got to her feet and went over to the window. She pulled back the curtain and leaned against the window, gazing up at the night sky. The stars were concealed that night, overpowered by the pale white light of the moon. She then thought, “Rajard was only the first. Hopefully, the rest will be better.”
