The morning light shone through the window next to the bed, causing me to grumble and turn over to avoid the infringing ray. My arm shot out to grab the other pillow and hold it tight against my body, but instead it found something warm and drew it close. I had almost fallen back to sleep when my brain registered that what I had grabbed was another person. For a moment I was shocked to find someone else in the bed with me and I bolted upright. Heart beating out of my chest, the day and night prior came flooding back and I remembered that Mistra now would share my bed.

  I let out an airy laugh through my nose at my moment of confusion and stretched slowly, not wanting to wake the sleeping beauty. Her hair was a mess and she seemed to be hopelessly entangled with the sheets, but the way the sun shone on her richly tanned skin and thick, dark eyelashes sent a shiver down my spine. However I had managed to secure such a woman had to be nothing short of luck. I imagined that it was a much more beautiful sight to wake up to a woman than to a smelly, snoring man.

  Taking care to step lightly, I got dressed for the day and pulled a comb through my long hair. Though it was typically an easy task, this morning it was terribly knotting and unruly. It was often the case after a celebration, drinking made me sleep satisfyingly deeply, however it came with the downside of my tossing and turning my head and creating a bird's nest for a hairstyle.

  I didn't want to do anything but stay in bed all day after a night of rich food and free flowing drink, but there were responsibilities that I knew I was expected to attend to. There would be people to meet with, documents to review, and a whole new routine to try to establish. Still, my eyes wandered from my reflection in the vanity to the sleeping Mistra. I wanted nothing more than to slip back in next to her and sighed as I decided I should resist the temptation now so as not to establish bad habits. I supposed that there would be plenty of time in the future to explore our new relationship.

  As quiet as a well kept secret, I dressed in one of the new dresses Mari had gifted me as a coronation gift. It was made of beautiful dark emerald silk with a high neckline, but sleeveless with a slit up the left side that went all the way to my mid stomach. Putting it on felt like a cool rush of water against my skin instead of fabric. The sensation was invigorating and I understood why Mari always seemed to dress in nothing but the finest silks she could find. I would have to ask her at some point to help me curate a similar wardrobe.

  Mari was waiting for me at the breakfast table, a wide, knowing smile across her face. I almost had enough decorum to blush, but instead I met her with a half-smile.

  “Sleep well?” she insinuated.

  “Never better,” I quipped and began to add honey and cream to my morning porridge.

  She laughed and shook her head. “You truly are just like Evonia, only bolder in your own way. Evonia had concubines, don't get me wrong, but she would have never named one as consort.”

  “I have no interest in concubines or any other servant or slave of that sort,” I admitted with an indifferent shrug. “It seems like it would be a lot of trouble to manage one person and keep them happy and fulfilled, I can't imagine multiple.”

  “I don't think that their happiness was at the top of her concerns, you get to make those kinds of choices when you are the ruler,” she commented and picked at the plate of fruit and cheese before her. “Their purpose is to please you, not the opposite.”

  My eyes wandered across the large platter of fruit that sat between us and decided the strawberries looked particularly ripe and juicy. There was always only the freshed of fruit set out at every meal, some of which I had never seen or tasted before arriving at the castle. I had often wondered when I was younger where the fruit came from as the castle grounds did not have orchards or any obvious fruit fields.

  Now that I would be in charge of maintaining such things, I supposed it would soon be a mystery revealed to me. Though, it would be near the bottom of the list compared to all the other half-eluded to secrets my grandmother and aunt had kept to themselves all these years. It was going to be satisfying to finally have the veil lifted and become the next keeper of the mysteries.

  “I believe that you probably should keep those you share a bed with in a good humor with you,” I countered. “If not, you might risk having a well-placed knife slid in your back while you sleep.”

  “How did we raise you to be so practical?” Mari mused, pushing her finished plate away from her for a servant to collect. “No matter for now, though I will want to discuss certain particulars with you about the arrangement in the future. First, we need to discuss this matter of your desire to conquer your father's land.”

  “Already?” I hadn't even finished my breakfast on my first full day as monarch and already the topic of war was brought up. “It’s waited this long, surely it can wait just a little longer so I can get my feet under me and understand what being queen entails.”

  Mari sighed and looked away from me. “The House Drak will want plans laid out as soon as possible, it may take years to build an army. We will want to start preparing as soon as we are able.”

  “Years? That seems like an awful long time, my father could raise an army in a month if need be,” I replied with a short, disbelieving laugh.

  “I'm sure he could,” Mari said, “but he had large tracts of land with throw-away villagers at his disposal. We have never maintained a standing army because our disputes have always been solved through magic and subterfuge. Evonia had decided that having any army would be unnecessary and impractical.”

  “No army at all... I feel like I should have known that, but I was so wrapped up in training that I did not pay attention to any of those matters.” I groaned slightly in frustration. Both my grandmother and aunt had known all along about my ambitions, it felt like this should have been brought up as a potential issue long ago.

  “You were always in training from sunrise to sunset and it would be a practical thing to assume,” she assured with an understanding nod of her head. “It was something I always pestered Evonia about. It seemed strategically important to at least have a small force at the ready, but she was content to rely on the fact that you must use one of the portals to reach this place.”

  “That means we will need to use them for the army to enter and leave as well. Not the best idea to have choke points like that, but I suppose she was correct that it is also beneficial for us to know exactly where anyone would enter from,” I said with a frown. “How many people know where the portals are?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Only those a part of the House Drak and Yser. None of our servants who have entered or left the castle have done so without being blinded for that part of the journey. I have made sure of it. The only people outside these walls who would know are Rela and the twins.”

  “Can we assume that Rela and the twins have told no one?” I asked.

  Mari began to speak, but then hesitated, her lips twitching. “Rela, I think will not say anything, she was always the most level-headed.” She took in a deep breath and again looked away from me for a moment before continuing. “The twins on the other hand... I have always feared that they would find a way to take this land by force.”

  My eyes opened wider and I was suddenly much more awake. “You think that they could be planning on raising their own army against us?” That was an alarming idea to a queen with no army. “This seems like it should have been a very pressing reason for my grandmother to have started to make plans and draw up an army.”

  “Like I've told you before, I have kept my eye on them for a long while and they have shown no signs of raising an army, but the company they keep is worrisome at best.”

  My aunt was an expert at keeping her thoughts to herself and off of her face, however despite her attempts I could see there was a subtle current of unease within her about this topic. The idea it was worrisome enough for it to show at all on her face made my stomach start to curl into a worried knot.

  “I do not anticipate that the Great Church will want to wage a war against demons at this time, but I cannot lie and say that it is not on their agenda eventually,” she sighed.

  I had heard of the Great Church before, it was a fanatical religious organization that fancies themselves their own kingdom. Their king was whomever was the church elder at the time and commanded a surprising amount of power for an organization that held little land or resources. People seemed to simply give them at least the bare minimum of lip service to keep them appeased. My own father had allowed them in the kingdom to preach and convert the peasants. I highly doubted that he, himself, gave their pious words much credence. He was not one to let others dictate what he did or did not do with this life, regardless of how correct or holy they claimed to be.

  “But they do have an army, if I recall correctly,” I recounted. “And many people who would willingly give up all their worldly possessions or even their own lives to assist the Church.”

  “Yes, but they also spout that nonsense about the inherent superiority of goodness or some rot,” Mari said with a dismissive wave of their hand. “The leaders tend to avoid bloodshed. It looks bad on them to send people to war when they talk endlessly about peace and caring about their fellow man. However, the top leadership knows there is much wealth and power still out there for the taking and that is why I am weary of them.”

  “And the twins are a part of them?”

  “Yes, rising members unfortunately,” she sighed again. “They have risen through the hierarchy too quickly for my liking. I fear that they are trading what they know for political favors. That would be exactly what I would do. They might have been cast out of this family, but their blood is still Yser and I expect they use their talents for being cunning to benefit them whenever they can.”

  “Why wasn't this addressed before now?” I groaned. Really, this was no way to start a monarchy. “You have obviously known about all of this for a while.”

  Mari started to chuckle, then stopped herself with a shake of her head. “Evonia thought them not to be a problem because of their fear of her. Unfortunately, they do not have a reason yet to fear you.”

  I sat with my head in my hands trying to process the information. Being opposed from day one was not what I had planned. I did not know if it was wise to pursue my own ambitions now while the little usurper was still very young or deal with the idea of taking on a kingdom that would likely only become stronger as he came of age. It really was much more tempting to just go ahead and squash the ten-year-old before he ripened into a proficient opponent.

  “I should have crushed his skull when I had the chance,” I lamented through my fingers. “Should have just done it and claimed he slipped from the bassinet.”

  Mari laid a hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “We all make mistakes sometimes,” she consoled, “I think you will feel better taking these matters up with Rafe himself. I do not know everything, though I do try.”

  “I don't know what to make of any of this just yet, but I will have a meeting set up with him for this evening. We need to get moving on this as soon as possible. No time for a honeymoon period, I guess,” I said with a long sigh.

  With too much on my mind after breakfast, I met with Busby for my daily training. We had stepped back the training to only a few hours a day now that we had found my magical niche in fire manipulation. Oddly enough, I couldn't bring myself to start a fire through magic, but I could move and grow an existing flame in terrible and awesome ways.

  I was quite content with my progress and found myself often laughing from the sheer power of knowing the fire I was controlling could be shaped and expanded to burn an entire regiment of men. Perhaps my army need not be so impressive after all. If I learned how to wield my magical talents more effectively I could become my own army.

  Exhausted from a morning of training and hard realities, I dragged myself to lunch still riding the high of magic use. Mistra was already awaiting me, looking polished and well-dressed. Her long ashen hair had been combed into an intensely smooth braid that reflected the light. Her skin had also been scrubbed to a gleaming shine. One would never believe that just hours before she had been a sweaty mess.

  “Training?” she asked, noting the sweat upon my brow.

  “Yes, I need to improve as quickly as I can.” I took a seat next to her, motioning to a servant to bring our meals.

  “And what is your specialty?” she asked, voice velvety despite the night of hard drinking. “There seems to be a lot of things we don't know about each other despite now entwining the path of our lives together.”

  “Fire,” I answered. “I’m becoming quite proficient with controlling it.”

  Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she turned her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. “That is an interesting ability to have while affiliated with the House Drak. It is often used as a weapon against demons by the religious zealots, something about fire being cleansing.”

  “I did not know that,” I admitted, “it seems silly though. Fire burns everyone equally, humans burn just as well as demons. Perhaps they put too much belief in it.”

  “That is generally their problem,” she laughed bitterly. “They put too much faith in a lot of misguided ideas.” She paused for a moment and looked towards me out of the corner of her eye. “You do know that they will be a problem of yours eventually, correct?”

  “Unfortunately I did not give it much thought until this morning,” I admitted with a little bitterness in my voice. “It seems that my grandmother was rather unconcerned about the Great Church. She has left me quite a bit to think about it and a potential mess to figure out how to go about cleaning.”

  Mistra pursed her ruby lips into a thin line and gave a disapproving shake of her head. “That is dangerous, she should have been preparing long ago. They will eventually find a way into this sanctuary and therefore, also into the demon realm. I have a particular interest in this since being half-human, half-demon makes me a particularly offensive abomination in their eyes.”

  I hadn't considered that Mistra would be at a higher risk of danger, but it made sense that their zealotry would call for her demise. She represented something abhorrent, she was a tainting of their perceived human perfection.

  “I know how they will find out, I just don't know what to do about it yet,” I said. “I need to meet with your father tonight to discuss the issue, would you be so kind as to send word to him?”

  She nodded in agreement, looking worried. “I will send an urgent message right away for him to arrive after dinner.”

  “Don't worry too much about this for now, I won't let any harm befall you. You are the queen's consort, your only concern should be keeping me happy and satisfied.”

  “I'm afraid that I am not sure what that means just yet,” she remarked with a soft laugh. "I never thought that I would end up in this position. We hardly know each other beyond the basic pleasantries."

  “I am aware,” I confessed, allowing myself a gentle grin despite all the worries on my mind, “but it is done and we will figure it out together.”