"You summoned me, Your Grace?"
"I did, please have a seat"
Sir Simon nods and he takes a seat by the table, I glance at Hayden "You too"
He gives me a questioning look but takes a seat as well and I say "We're just waiting on one last person then I'll start"
The doors open and Raya walks and the men looks a bit confused but I say "Have a seat, sweetheart"
"Thank you" she takes a seat and they all three glances at me expectantly
I clear my throat "I haven't heard from Lord Noah and Lord Elliot ever since….the incident. And it's pretty obvious that their loyalties do not lie with me." I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear before saying "Lord Simon, Elliot, Noah and Lincoln were Romero's trusted men when he was king. And look where that got him." I glance at each of them "I need my own trusted people on the council. And I choose you."
Simon is the first to say "I'm deeply touched, My Queen" he glances at Raya "Your daughter?"
Right. "I know having my daughter discuss tactics is probably not the best thing but I need her to know what's happening within and outside of the castle."
Simon nods and I find myself looking to Hayden for his approval and I relax when he nods as well.
"Okay with that being said, Sir Hayden you're no longer my knight" they look outraged and Hayden actually looks a bit hurt, I rush to say "I want you to be my right hand man"
He blinks in surprise "You do?"
"Of course" I say softly, truthfully. "There's no one else I would trust more than I trust you and you know my best interests and the interests of the people of Ronder"
He lets out a huff but I can tell he wants to smile so badly "I accept"
"Perfect" I glance at Simon "You'll be Commander-in-chief"
He smiles "I accept, Your Grace"
I nod in approval before glancing at Raya "You'll handle the Royal Chancery"
She frowns "What's that?"
"You'll be drafting royal documents such as laws and letters. Can you do that?"
She nods "I can do that"
"Good" I pat her arm before saying "Now. Let's start our first ever meeting as a council. What do we have so far?"
"Prince Lincoln has taken an army" Simon says hesitantly
"I see" I say calmly even though deep down I'm pissed "And have we gotten word back from at least one neighbouring kingdom?"
"We have" Hayden says and I glance at him to find his eyes already me "It seems the royal gold you exchanged for livestock was more than enough to get the kingdom on the east to be loyal to you. They are willing to stand by you if Prince Lincoln were to attack"
I nod "That's good. Thank you, Sir Hayden"
He licks away a smile and butterflies erupt in my stomach "You're welcome"
Simon coughs awkwardly and I glance to him when he says "If we get the support of the kingdom in the west then that'll leave Prince Lincoln with only one entryway to attack us"
"Well king Nicolas hasn't written back yet to any of my letters, I'll have to hope that he comes around"
"Sometimes no answer is an answer" Raya says and we all glance at her, the men is surprise and me in agreement.
"We need soldiers" Simon says "A lot of them."
I sigh but Raya pipes "Perhaps we could find out what the kingdom of west desires. Surely there is something the King needs and perhaps we could provide it in order for his loyalty and perhaps soldiers."
I frown and glance at Hayden who stares at me for a moment before nodding. I say "Good. Lord Simon could you arrange a meeting with King Nicholas?"
He nods "Of course, I'll see to it"
"Perfect. You're dismissed"
As they get ready to leave, I say "Good job, Raya. I appreciate your input"
She smiles, even though it's not as bright as it used to be "You're welcome"
She and Simon leaves while Hayden lingers behind and I stand up from my seat "Do you need something?"
"You really made me your right hand man?"
"Of course"
He frowns "But who's going to protect you?"
I roll my eyes "You obviously. Well at least until I find another knight I can trust with my life"
He nods and steps closer to me and I have to crane my neck to look up at him "Are you going to kiss him too?"
I huff a laugh "No, that happen to be a one person treatment"
He hums and takes my hand into his "How are you holding up?"
I shrug nonchalantly "Great"
His eyes narrow "Princess Raya tells me you're either crying in Junior's room or having nightmares"
I stiffen and try to remove my hand from his but he doesn't let me go and pulls me closer to him before nudging my chin up to make me look at him again. "It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to let your guard down and make it known that you're hurting"
"The last time I let my guard down, I lost my son." My voice cracks on the last sentence and his eyes soften as he pulls me into his chest and I immediately wrap my arms around him. It's kind of crazy that the place I feel the most safe is in his arms.
"Romero and Romero Junior have each other now, you know how they hated being a part and now they won't ever have to be." He presses a kiss to my head and my chest warms at the thought of the two of them being thick as thieves even in the after life. "You need to grieve both of them, Sophia because you've been doing everything but that"
I sigh "I know"
He pulls away so that he can look at me "And just so we're clear when we meet with King Nicolas, you are not marrying anyone if that's something he wants"
I let out a soft laugh and his whole face brightens like he can finally start his day now that I've laughed "Seems fair"
He hums before asking softly "Can I kiss you?"
"Always"
He gives me a small smile that makes a warm feeling spread throughout my whole body before he presses his lips against mine. So gently and tenderly, like I'm the most precious thing in the world and he doesn't want to hurt me. It's a stark difference to our last kiss but I love it just as much.