Seeing the pain in Sally's eyes. Maria realized Sally wasn't understanding what she was trying to say. Sally had taken what she said the wrong way. Maria knew she had to correct it and get Sally to understand that Cory valued her more than she realized.
"Sally, no! That isn't what I am saying!" Maria stopped us on the trail and faced me. "For a brief time, we thought Cory might claim her as a wife. Which would've been a nightmare to live under her corruption because we'd have to respect her as our Primary Queen. But John and the other men reassured us that Cory was only giving her everything she demand. Was only to shut her up because she never stopped nagging him. So Cory only let her think she could have a chance to be Primary Queen but she only lead herself on."
I was baffled by what she shared with me. It made it hard to think clearly. So Cory wasn't lying yesterday whenever he told me he'd only ever marry me and nobody else? I wasn't sure anymore. My mind was becoming frazzled with what to believe.
"Sally," Maria snatched me out of my thoughts, so I looked at her to continue. "I have never seen Cory behave like this with Rachel or those other Princess, he courted. Cory will only ever love you deeply, especially with having that bond connection. Him choosing you as a Primary Queen isn't a mistake. You would be the perfect chosen Primary Queen. You're so sweet, kind, and slightly stubborn, but you are loving like the other Queens and Elder Queens in Cory's family. You need to have a loving heart and have mercy to be the Primary Queen. Cory doesn't have a loving heart and he isn't always merciful when it comes to punishments. But you Sally can have a say and get him to change his mind. Whereas Rachel lacks what it would take to be a Primary Queen."
I was silent from being stumped on what to think or even feel for that matter. In one slow easy breath, I cooled my mind down to think.
"You think I can be a Primary Queen?" I asked lowly.
Maria smiled, "Oh, yes, you know I do!"
"I'm going to try," I told her still feeling unsure about whether I can do this and take on so much responsibility. For one woman who was only recently under enslavement.
Maria gave a smile and said. "Anyways, let's change the intense topic. What else happened between you and Cory. Has he tried kissing you yet?"
I giggled into a bashful peachy rip color. As Maria laughed too and we started hiking again.
"Oh, you gotta give me details!" Maria said giggling. "What happened?"
"Well, not like an actual kiss on the lips. He"s only kissed my head and cheek. Anytime, I thought he was going to kiss me I pushed him away. "I shared in a giggle.
Maria laughed harder saying. "Good for you! You always need to put your man in his place."
Now I laughed hysterically and declared. "He is not my man! But I made it clear I am not kissing him nor am I sleeping in a bed with him."
"Oh, he is so your man," said Maria laughing. "I hate to break it to you but he claimed you with that ring on your finger. And good luck getting it off."
"I'm aware the ring will never come off from its tight grab," I chuckled rolling my eyes.
Maria and I laughed for maybe a minute or who knows how long as we still hiked the trail.
"Well, that's good you set boundaries with him. He knows you want respect so he will. The men in this Kingdom are taught to be respectful with us women." Maria told.
"Cory informed me, he'll respect my boundaries up until we are married and then the deal is off. He said there won't be any more privacy but he'll still respect me from what he told me." I shared.
Maria pondered for merely a second. "That's likely why he's demanding this wedding to be right away. He wants you badly." She lastly teased it seemed.
"Oh, Maria!" I turned white speaking. "You don't mean!"
"Yes I mean sex," Maria laughed clarifying. "I did say men think about it daily. But he won't touch you because you aren't to sleep with a woman unless you're married. Most men will speed up the wedding just for that reason. Being engaged he can touch you as long as it stays within the boundaries that he doesn't sleep with you. Cory's expected to maintain control and wait until you are officially married. After that, he'll sleep with you whether you want to or not. From what I've learned, most of us ladies and marrying-age teenage girls go through this in the Kingdoms. However, Cory being a Royal Head King, you'll be expected to birth him a son."
My eyes gaped when I sarcastically said, "thanks for the input. Now I won't worry about being a Primary Queen!"
Maria laughed hard and teased. "Hey, what are friends for. But on a serious note, he won't hurt you. From my experience, I was petrified when John forced marriage on me too. I was his slave when he bought me but he engaged me fast and the next thing I knew I was married. But he relaxed me before he laid with me. So I was in the same boat as you. And trust me, I hated John and he knew I didn't like him."
"I didn't know that about you and John," I said baffled. "You told me, he bought you but you didn't share the rest."
Maria nodded when we passed up more teen girls and pups. "I ran, I screamed, I cried, and one time, I even kicked him so hard in the leg. He wasn't very happy about that because I cut his leg open deep. Since I was wearing heels when I ran from him. But he had patience and he was gentle with me. Kingdom men are abnormally stronger from their constant training. If they want to hurt you they very well can with little effort. It's the same way with the teen boys that are training. They're stronger than other Societies teenagers boys too."
"Wow, I never would have guessed that," I said amused. "You guys are so lovable with each other."
"And you don't think that will happen with you and Cory." Maria smiled when pointing that out. But I was surrendered speechless on this one.
"Here, let's cut through the opening," Maria randomly directed.