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Carden’s Pov
Perhaps it is my fault this uproar started, maybe it is Jude’s. We will never know, and I hope for the sake of the council member who leaked the information of a royal court meeting, I do not find out who they are.
I had attended the meeting to go about my royal duties. I am glad Jude was not at this meeting, glad the Bomb had dragged her away to go dress shopping or whatever task she had taken her under the excuse of royal work.
Because if she were here, she would have agreed, she had also been stressing about the topic of a child, and yet, I could not really bother about it. She wanted to take the weight of the crown off Oak. I would have loved to do the same, pass down the Greenbriar legacy, but to me, if we do not have children, however much I want them, if we cannot have any, then that is the reality.
The council members disagreed. They argued past the point in which they were allowed to speak. They said words about their queen in such a disguised mockery, that if they said the true meaning out loud, their heads would have been taken by me before they finished their sentence.
They crossed a line, so I played a little game, a game of eleven cups of cider, and one cup of poison, one of them drops dead. They immediately apologized of course, but now, one of those self righteous greedy, insufferable morons had leaked private conversation to the public, if I find who, I will let Jude deal with them, a much crueler way to die at my wife's hand than mine.
But nonetheless I hated the look on Jude’s face, it gave away nothing of course, she looked stunning as usual as she dragged me to our chambers, carved by the deity who allowed Elfhame to lay eyes on her, high cheekbones, deep brown skin which makes her beauty stand out among the Faeries, eternal beauty, and curves that contrasted the woman among my own land, and their sharp lines compared to her softer features and brunette hair.
A goddess in every right.
People say women in Faerie possess eternal beauty, comparing them to mortals makes them look even more beautiful to some, but what most people don’t understand is how wrong they are. Or perhaps it is just Jude who is unique. As beautiful as any faerie, if not more. She cannot compare for any other woman beside her looks pale in comparison.
That is the reason I do not want another wife, I will not be able to live with myself if I ever get in another bed that isn’t one with Jude. The council just doesn’t seem to understand that part.
Jude shuts the door behind me, her green dress glides behind her, golden dagger visible up the slit on her thigh. She has a scowl on her face. So this wasn’t why I thought she dragged me to the room… .
“May I ask when you were planning on telling me my subjects think I cannot bear a child and that you should start courting?” her voice said it like the question was rhetorical, I knew it wasn’t.
“Why tell you something that is based on rumors alone. I do not plan to court, and if you cannot have children, I do not care. Simple as that” she frowned, crossing her hands in front of her. Why was she frowning?
“That wasn’t my question” I didn’t try to lie, knowing the sentence would not pass from my lips.
“I answered it, you just need to look” I took off my crown and set it on the table.
“Are you saying you disagree?” My head snapped up, I had seated myself on one of the chairs in the room, my lazy smile turned sharp,
“Are you saying you want me to agree!?” she didn’t answer. She simply sat on the arm of the chair, looking at the ground. After a minute, she answered, but it seemed she was choosing her words very carefully.
“I am not saying I like it, Carden. I am saying, though I may not like it, I can see their logic in the answer, and they are not wrong…” what in the world was going on.
“Are you saying I should..?” she looked away from me, I usually got a thrill from arguing or disagreeing, I wasn’t feeling anything but dread right now.
“I…oh I don’t know” she put her head in her hands, I pulled her off the arm of the chair to sit on my lap so I could brush her hair, it soothes her usually, “they aren’t wrong Carden. I know the doctors say there is nothing wrong with me, but then why haven’t we had a child yet. They have reason to worry. Plus any child you have with me will be half mortal. I know you aren’t thrilled with the idea, and I am selfish. I do wish to keep you to myself, and the thought of you with another woman horrifies me, but if the measure has to be taken, then…it must. Mortal women cannot bear children till we are old and gray, unlike folks here, you know that. And I am getting old as well” my face twisted at her words, she honestly believed this.
“It is my decision, and if I refuse, you cannot do anything about that” my voice is sharp, I feel her walls going up, defensive even though she doesn’t realize it. So I soften my voice.
“Jude, do you honestly think I want another woman with you beside me” she takes a while to reply.
“It isn’t a matter of love, is it?. The line needs a child borne by the blood of the king. If I cannot manage it, someone must”
“Oh but it is about love” she looked up from her hands, disbelief etched onto every corner and line of worry on her face.
“How can it be?” she turned fully to me, brunette hair gliding behind her back.
“Take my father for example. People say he was a good king, I agree with them, that he ruled just and fair. But only his children could tell you he was a horrible father. He had six children, and paid attention to only two, Baelkin and Dain, you saw first hand how badly that went. Spoiled those two rotten and didn’t give a crumb to the others. It is because we all felt some hatred for him in a way, if he loved our mothers, maybe they would have cared for us more, loved us more. But because he was a fool, and had no pity for infants, as soon as our mothers gave birth, he got tired of them. We hated each other, we hated him, and we hated our mothers. It is a cycle of hate and growing up, I saw not a single speck of love from my family” I swallowed hard and continued, my voice slightly strained as I recalled the memories of the past.
“So it is a matter of love. I refuse to love any other women except you. Take it as a declaration if you want, but I will not have consorts and additional lovers, as if the one I come home to every night isn’t enough, when you are so much more. People here are greedy, they look out only for themselves and no other. Most mothers care for their children only extend as far as how useful the child is. I do not want a family like that. I know you are scared of being a mother, of not being good enough for them, but I want my children to have some of your features, traits, and if that is not possible, let the line die for all I care. It is far past the time when this line should have ended, and maybe it will be me who ends it” her lips parted slightly, a small smile crawling up her face at my words, she knew it was the truth, or I wouldn’t have been able to say it.
“You truly believe that don’t you….maybe you are right” my lips turned upwards in a sly smile, hands going to her waist to steady her.
“My, is my ears deceiving me, or did my queen just say I was right?” she takes a strand of her hair, the pieces that frame her face and twirls it around her finger.
“Think nothing of it. I do have to compliment you once every decade or so, don’t I. To keep him wrapped around my finger a bit” I kissed her, I told her my intentions, and I was happy to see she finally agreed. I pulled back slightly, looking into her stubborn eyes as I said it, my thumb brushing her jaw gently.
“Jude, you really don’t know the power you have over me” she smiled, all teeth and pride.
“Oh darling, I do”