Chapter 5: Dumb mistakes people make
Fye entered the bedchamber to find Tia standing in the middle of the room with a bandaged cut on her face.
Tia looked at Fye earnestly like she was expecting something from her. It made Fye uncomfortable but she was determined to save Keenan.
"Your majesty" Fye lowered her head slightly to the young girl since she was Queen. "May I have a word with her Majesty in private?"
Tia looked at Jessica but she made no move to leave the room.
"Jessica, I am famished. Go about the business of getting me something delicious to eat" Tia told her lady's maid
Soon, they were alone and she was offering the princess a stool to sit on.
"I saw you today. You are the crown princess of Maverick"
Fye took her time to really take in the appearance of this queen that just ruined her life.
Her strawberry blonde hair was up in a bun as her crown would have rested elegantly on the center if she was wearing one. Her oval face housed a perfect nose and dimples as she smiled showing a perfect diastema.
Her yellow dress dropped gently to the floor as she walked towards her.
Tia Cypher-Dumont was a rare beauty one doesn't come across everyday and even the beautiful Fye Raven wasn't a match. The princess of Maverick was beginning to understand why the Queen's father, the very dead King Cypher, kept his first born hidden from the entire world. A beauty like her wasn't meant to wander the world.
Tia had the symbol of her house on the mantle by the corner of the room and it was the symbol of authority over the Midlands and she was as old as Fye.
It took Fye a while to realize that what she was feeling was jealousy. Tia had everything and now, she was going to have Keenan too.
Fye tried to push through the heaviness on her chest.
"Your Majesty, your beauty is legendary and I thank you for seeing me"
"Please, call me Tia. All my friends do…will you be my friend, princess Fye? I don't have many lurking around, I must admit" Tia poured tea for both of them.
Damn it! She was making it difficult for Fye to hate her.
"Of course, Tia but I came to you on behalf of Sir Del'matal. My brother's mind is made up, Sir Del'matal will be executed as soon as the morning comes except we do something about it"
Tia blinked. "Why would your brother kill his knight?"
Fye tilted her head to the left. Was she joking with her now or was the young Queen that clueless about the workings of monarchy?
Fye stared at the tea cup before she answered her question.
"Because Keenan touched you…many kingdoms have gone to war on less, Tia. It's a crime punishable by death"
"Wouldn't an apology be sufficient, Fye and appropriate?" Tia asked and took a sip.
"It's out of our hands unless you agree to marry Sir Del'matal. Make him your consort and he will be in your protection" Fye was straightforward.
Tia laughed for a while because she thought Fye was joking but the princess' lack of amusement told her otherwise.
"You are not joking, are you?"
"No"
Tia dropped the tea cup on the table and stood up.
"But I can not marry that rude horse you call a knight. He is cold and he is mean, Fye" Tia went to a corner and picked out a storybook "See, just like this storybook…I have to marry a man willing to fight the entire world for me, that doesn't sound like the man you want me to marry, does it?"
"If you don't, he will die Tia! Keenan will die because of you!"
"Well, here is another option…Don't execute him! You can't ask me to do this! My only chance at happiness and a real family is to find a kindhearted brave man and have a family, Fye. I want a real family because my father and brothers were never like that to me!" Tia stared out the window.
Fye stood up immediately and she fought back tears.
"I will kneel for you, Tia if I must. I don't care about dignity anymore…just Keenan. I have known him since I was a baby, he is my brother's best friend and he means the world to me. I am begging you" Fye touched her arm as she talked.
"Is there no other way, Fye?".
"To save Keenan, you have to marry him" That was as blunt as she could be.
"There is no other way than to be trapped with a man who would resent me even though this whole mess was his fault to begin with?" Then it dawned on Tia, she was going to resent Keenan for trapping her too.
"I am sorry but it's the only option or he dies" Fye reminded her.
Tia thought about it for a while. She could convince herself that she wasn't at fault and his blood was not going to be on her hands. She could simply tell her knights that they would be leaving the highlands at first light and let Fye and her family deal with this problem. She could do a million and one things but only one thing was the right thing to do.
"Okay"
"Okay?" Fye was surprised and possibly confused.
"Okay. If it's the only way to save his life, I will make him my consort....I will marry the mean man"
Fye was suddenly speechless and sad for both herself and Tia.
"I am sorry, Queen Tia"
"This isn't fair…not to me and certainly not to Sir Del'matal. This isn't supposed to be my life but three days ago, I was made Queen. I was made Queen because bandits killed my father and brothers. This isn't fair" Tia was close to tears.
"Sorry Tia... Sometimes good people pay for other people's mistakes. Sometimes a man you love makes a terrible mistake and you are left with the sharp side of a blade. Sometimes, the right thing hurts like a beast bite...Sorry, Tia"
Fye said before she left to give the young queen time to feel in private.