AsYa: A Royal Affair Ch2 Pg3

The stench of blood had long penetrated the silk curtains billowing in the royal consort's residence. Hers was a state defeated and she, as the mother of a people who had succumbed lives and wealth to a power greater than their own, dutifully surrendered.

There was nothing left to be done. The enemy was already at the castle gates, her husband had been captured in battle and probably well on his way to the prison dungeons so notorious in the Indus Valley. Although a well wisher maid silently slipped a pint of deadly poison into her palm, her pride stood too tall and her foresight too wide to abandon a nation in its time of need. She was obliged to serve her subjects come hell or high water. And if her fate was to become the woman of one feared Emperor of the North, she would dutifully give in.

"Prepare your heart", she uttered her last words as the wife of a fallen ruler and slipped out of her queenly attire into a simple robe that stated servitude.

The man of the hour, a ruthless, blood covered military commander wearing a smirk barged in before the eunuchs could announce his entrance. The consort was already on her knees waiting to be acknowledged.

"Giving up already?" he taunted. Seeing her combat shoulder to shoulder with her slow witted husband, the victor emperor had never figured this proud queen would bow at his feet without him asking.

"The war is over sir. You have won fair and square", her answer was short without being disrespectful. As expected of a warrior woman, she had some tact with words. Somehow, his attendant didn't seem to agree.

"How dare you address the ruler of seven states as sir! He is emperor to you", the man shouted in exaggerated malice. One could faintly tell the queen was suppressing a smile but not without close inspection.

"Stop", the emperor interrupted. "She is still a royal. Be mindful of your manners".

He scooted down to her level and engulfed her shoulders in his embrace. The startled reaction he was expecting out of her was nowhere to be found. The woman remained stick still in his arms, her eyes clearly fixated on the dirt underneath his feet.

"You know what will happen next", he tried asserting his influence for good measure. She was not flustered, or if she was, she tried not to show it.

"May I request a moment of yours in private?" she arched her brows and looked him square in the eye. The two brown buttons glistening in her eyes made him curious at the very least.

"Everyone out!" he commanded and the cabins cleared up to ghastly abandonment. It was only the two of them in an infinitely large bedroom. The scent deprived air and minimalist furniture of the surroundings gave away no hints that the queen of a nation resided there. If you asked the emperor, the chambers were even unfit for his measly scholars. Could it be that the renowned goddess had lost favour with her fickle husband? Then again, he didn't keep official concubines so this possibility was next to impossible. Plus, when the queen is regarded as a reincarnation of the war God herself, the king better buck up and treat her well lest he should incur the wrath of the people.

"The first thing you do, if she has not killed herself yet", the Dowager queen instructed her son, "is marry her. Marry the defeated consort and bring her to your side. Only then can you dream to rule her people".

It was not that the emperor questioned his mother's advice. Nor was it his love for another woman that held him back. But he did not understand what was so great about the wife of a dim-witted king who single handedly brought down an empire built upon centuries of honourable legacy.

If the man was stupid, the wife had to be even worse to marry a bas***d who had no worth. There was no way this woman would bring him any luck. But since the Dowager queen insisted on those words, he had no choice but to obey.

Strangely, the consort in question had followed without reluctance. Her stance indicated she had expected this feat long before it happened. Perhaps his mother's predictions had been right. The queen may have already known what fate awaited her nation. And yet when he thought back to their close combat in the battle of lake Shiqi, he never could tell she had been a woman. The way she dodged his punches, attacked his weak zones, and gracefully accepted defeat when he flung the weapon out of her reach and landed atop of her, he did not caste a doubt on the ability of this masked warrior. Only when he ripped open her veil and revealed a reddened face did he realize what he had done. The enemy king had seemingly offended an entire army of loyal subjects when he insulted their mother queen with such heinous actions. How dare a mere mortal lay a finger on their goddess! When a swarm of angry soldiers descended upon his being without a care for sparring rules, the emperor realized the influence of this woman. A single petite body that commanded herds of men at her feet. It did not matter that they had lost, her royal name ran through their veins faster than blood. Indeed, if the emperor had any plans to establish a stable rule in this occupied country, it would have to include the captured queen.

No, not captured entirely. She had willingly given in.

"What are my options?" she laid her cards out in the open.

"You have none", he delivered a well-thought out speech. "You either do what I say or die".

She fluttered her lashes and replied, "what do you want?"

"Be mine. I will bestow you with greater titles, you will no longer be queen but..."

"Empress", she interrupted before he could finish. "I will accept no title lesser than the empress".

"Are you that confident in your beauty?" he retorted.

She did not deem his rhetoric worthy of an answer.

"What about your husband?" he continued.

"You must not torture him".

"Will he divorce you? Or, should I get rid of him once and for all?" he taunted.

"As long as you follow my conditions, I will not interfere with how you choose to conduct this business".

Had she really left the fate of a rival to him? The stupid king was as good as dead now.

"Please continue", he gestured.

"The king must never appear in front of his people, you must never mention his name, or mine in relation to him. For my people, you must act as though he never existed".

"Are you really that conniving?"

Truly, even his own evil could not compare to the level of heartlessness required to abandon your spouse like this woman just did.

"In your words, 'I have no other choice'". She answered with composure.

"Alright", he suddenly pulled on the drawstring of her blouse loosening its grip around her bosom. The woman in front of him did not flinch like a woman should. Instead, she slowly turned around and whispered, "I will do it myself".

He could not believe she was giving herself to him. Minutes later, she was standing behind a screen, her naked legs peeking out of the bamboo paper mesh. He walked up to her golden form, dropping the barrier in the process. As his fingers tangled into her hair and his lips explored her flesh, he felt the taste of a woman. Unlike their battle with bloodied clothes, her body underneath his now felt different from a sack of bone and muscle. Her supple form demanded to be held delicately, protected with care for the rarity that it was. She looked in that light like something he had never seen before. Indeed, she was a woman worth fighting for.