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It had always been difficult for Princess Chelina to keep her mouth shut. She had never been quite alright with the concept of sitting down silently and looking pretty while all the men do the work.
And because of that, she often got into trouble as a child, and even more as a teenager. But now, now that she was sitting at a council meeting, surrounded by no one but men, she knew that her strength would be to her advantage. She knew that most of the men were not going to respect her until they knew she could stand her ground.
But the same could not be said for the only other woman in the council. The young queen, Ella, had married Prince Kit, and it had shocked all the diplomats to learn that she was a commoner.
Kit, of course, had ordered everyone to treat her like a queen, but when he wasn't around, the other men in the council were less than respectful.
Chelina understood why Kit had decided to position her in these meetings between the nearby kingdoms. He was no fool. He knew that the men were not going to respect Ella, and when he wasn't around, he wanted someone looking out for his wife.
Chelina was merely surprised that he trusted her enough for such a task. Perhaps he just trusted her to be rude to men, as she usually was.
She had been listening to one of the most boring council members yammer on and on for almost a half an hour now. And at least three times Ella had tried to get a turn in speaking, but the man had merely ignored her. Chelina decided that she had finally had enough.
"Excuse me," she spoke, her sharp voice interrupting the dull conversation. "I believe the queen had something to say."
Everyone turned to look at Ella, who blushed deeply, but quickly recovered. Chelina allowed herself to forget about the conversation as Ella began to discuss the political issues, and was very pleased when no one seemed to talk back to her anymore. But once it was done, Chelina caught the same, boring politician talking to Ella:
"Do send my regards to your husband," the man said. "He is doing a fine job ruling the land."
"I believe Ella has something to do with ruling the land, too," Chelina said simply as she walked over to them, glaring at the man. "Or does the king not have a queen?"
"Of-Of course he does," the man said, a bit startled. "But naturally it is the king who-"
"Does some of the decision-making, while the queen does some, also," Chelina said patiently. "Isn't that so?"
"Yes," Ella smiled in delight, watching as the man struggled for words. Finally he decided to simply bow and leave the room.
"Why did you help me?" Ella asked as she looked at the woman.
"Women are discriminated enough in the world as it is," Chelina said with a shrug. "Far be it for me to turn against my own gender."
Ella smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And don't worry, if you're ever stuck with these boring blokes again without your husband to keep you company, I'm sure I'll be available," with that Chelina walked out of the room, hoping that perhaps one day she and the rather shy, young queen would become friends. For it was certain she could use a few more.