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My fists clench at Atlas’s stubbornness.
Long gone is the boy who would say yes to anything I asked of him.
“Very well. Send word to me the minute he does,” is my clipped reply.
“I’m sure the king of the west will come to his senses soon enough. Gods be good that at least King Teodoro has sent us enough food to last the winter,” Monad chimes in, rubbing his pot belly, no longer looking grief-stricken that he won’t go off to war on my behalf. “I had the pleasure to check his crates myself and can tell you that he’s been very generous. He even sent us strawberries, my liege. Strawberries! I haven’t eaten strawberries since I was Your Majesty’s age,” he adds, licking his lips like he can already taste the sweet fruit in his mouth.
A smile tugs at the corner of my lips with the way my chief of arms’ eyes sparkle in glee. If I knew strawberries would make Monad so docile, I would have begged Teo to send them to me years ago.
But queens do not beg.
They rule.
It’s time these kings remembered that.
With firm resolve, I end my goodbyes and step into my carriage, anxious to meet the first antagonizing king on my list. By my count, my entourage and I should be over the northern mountains and reach King Levi’s camp by the week’s end.
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised that he ordered his troops to return east, but a little ticked off that he didn’t go with them. No matter what my council believes, Levi staying back in his campsite just to escort me to his castle himself is anything but chivalrous.
It’s a strategic power move.
I can just picture it now. Levi entering his city’s gates on horseback, looking majestically draped in his armor, with me trailing behind him in my carriage. He’ll make a grand spectacle of it, of that, I’m sure. It will be enough to show his people that even though he didn’t go to war, he still won his prize.
He always was smart.
Smarter than Teo, Atlas, and I combined, back in the day. Always picking up on our weaknesses before we ever could. A fact I need to keep in mind and be wary of when I meet him.
Thankfully, I’m no longer that young impressionable girl who was blinded by his mere presence.
Or by his smile.
In the last six months as queen, I’ve learned that for men to take me seriously, I have to remind them that my father’s blood courses through my veins. If Levi wants a show of strength, then I’ll give it to him.
Just so happens, I have the perfect performance in mind.
“Your Highness, we should be arriving at the camp within the next ten minutes,” one of my riders advises me through the small window of the carriage’s doors.
“Thank you. Please ride ahead and alert King Levi to my arrival,” I retort, giving him consent to drive off before closing the royal blue-rose printed curtain.
My bones and muscles ache from the ten-hour ride down the last mountain. All I yearn for is a warm bath and a good night’s sleep, but unfortunately for me, I still have Levi to deal with tonight.
I bet this was his plan all along.
I’ll arrive looking disheveled and worn out from the past seven-day expedition, while he’ll look fresh as a daisy.
Any other day I would laugh at the comparison of Levi to such a flower, but my sore body would no doubt protest at the endeavor.
I should have thought this through.
Maybe even have ordered my men to make camp on the mountain overnight and then ride down to Levi’s camp in the morning. But deep down I knew that wouldn’t have been a wise alternative. The weather up in the mountains has been brutally inconstant. Our winter winds and blizzards don’t intimidate me much, but avalanches, on the other hand, are true cause for concern. I couldn’t put my neck—as well as the brave men and women accompanying me—on the line for another night, just so I could look well rested for Levi’s sake.
No matter.
If this is how I’ll meet the treacherous king after seven years of not laying eyes on him, then so be it.
A few minutes pass before the first signs of a campsite come into view through the small crack of my curtain. Even though Levi’s soldiers have left my border, there are still traces of their previous stay all around the large forest. Thousands of unlit fires, soot, and ash coloring the white snow on the ground.
Gods.
