Chapter Three. Leave
Maria obediently followed Darius through the hallways of the massive palace,if only her fate hadn't been already doomed just a few moments ago, she could have been busy admiring the extravagance of the place, everything she set her eyes on to was just massive. The ruthless king's kingdom was definitely a rich one. Richer than she could ever have imagined.
Every turn he took, she followed. Not that she actually had any other option, the man was holding on to her hand almost clinging himself to it. She couldn't understand him so far. Earlier he had almost raised his voice at her. She couldn't believe her 'marriage' was already turning into a nightmare even before a single day has passed! Even if she were to accept her husband despite his looks and all that is said about him, the man seemed to have no room for his newly wed 'wife' that she was.
She kept wondering many things about him but she dared not mouth her thoughts again. She didn't want to get punished by the ruthless king on her arrival in his kingdom. Based on all she had heard about him in preparation for her fate ever since her father had announced she was to get married to him, she was well aware that he was a man of no mercy and she knew he wouldn't hesitate to pass his verdict on her even as she was just his new wife. The man was feared and for good reasons at that.
Finally,he stopped before a pair of huge double doors that Maria assumed should have been the throne room and he looked at her, she wasn't sure but she thought she saw him take a deep breath,was he nervous? What could ever make a creature like him nervous if that was even true? She concluded it must have been her imagination.
"We are going to see the queen mother" He announced to her and she just nodded. He didn't say more. Her father must have been right when he had said the ruthless king was a man of a few words. She looked down at their connected hands and then looked at him but the man gave no explanation for why he didn't let go of her hand and she grudgingly let it be. She still couldn't afford to get punished just because she foolishly angered her merciless new husband.
The guards at the opposite sides of the double doors opened them and they both entered. There was a massive golden throne on the other end of the room on what seemed to be an alter. She noticed there were one other similar throne but this one smaller in size even as it could have been as huge as her father's back home. The massive one was empty with no one sitting on it and Maria concluded it could only be the king's,the cruel king her new husband at that of course. But the smaller one was occupied. There was a woman who seemed to be in her late fifties sitting elegantly with her chin held high while her shoulders were as elegant as just anything else about her. Everything about her exuded pure nobility and elegance and Maria wondered whom she could be. She sat up there looking down at them from where they stood with a calculating gaze. Maria could already tell she had waited for long for them to arrive but she didn't seem to be in a good mood basing on how she looked at them.
"What took you so long to come back to your own 'mother',my dear 'son'?" There was a way that she put emphasis on the word 'mother' and 'son' that left Maria having her own questions running in her head.
"I Darius and my wife princess Maria Daman greet you, queen mother" Darius her new husband greeted the older woman without a bow and without answering her earlier question and in return, the woman sneered. Maria could already detect tension between the two and she was left wondering how on Earth a mother could welcome her son back from such a long journey in such a way.
Not to mention the woman was seated all alone in the throne room without any nobles or people of the assembly present and with the way she had welcomed them, Maria wondered if really welcoming them had been her sole purpose or there was something else...
"Your wife? hmph! And where did you get such thing from?" She asked and Maria wondered whether she was actually talking about her so she could introduce herself but she refrained not knowing what to do.
"She is princess Maria Daman, from the kingdom of Marlize and my new wife" her husband introduced and Maria finally understood the older woman had actually been referring to her and she curtisied. The other woman didn't look happy at all at what she was hearing and seeing though.
"And when did such thing happen as yourself getting married?"she asked and Maria almost lost the facade of calm that she had on her face as she almost gasped but she managed to keep her gaze down much as she was shaken. How could a mother not have known that her own son was going to get married? not to mention a king at that? She could feel the air in the room getting thicker as the tension between the mother and son kept growing. Her husband was now glaring at the woman the other side and Maria didn't know why but she felt something like sadness engross her heart before for the first time since he held her hand, she squeezed his hand back and that jolted him for a moment before he turned his gaze to look at her then their hands that were nolonger just holding but intertwined and then back at the queen mother as his gaze turned back to a glare once again. But he once again didn't answer the other woman's question making her look agitated.
"And you, little thing..." she said turning her gaze at her as she pointed "come here" she commanded with a gesture of her finger and Maria looked at her husband for a brief moment before she attempted to disengage their hands so she could go to the other woman but Darius refused to let go. Instead,he held her hand even tighter before he replied to his mother.
"Our sincere apologies, queen mother. But my wife and I would love to catch some rest after the long journey" he said turning around to leave and once again without a bow of his head but later Maria registered he couldn't bow because he was the king. A mighty ruthless king of a huge empire at that. But then again who was the queen mother? How come such a great king as Darius had to answer to her in such a way? And if she was his mother, what was the cause of the tension between them?
Darius then led her through several hallways to the other end of the huge palace. It was such a large palace that Maria felt like her legs would tire out soon if they kept walking any longer than they had already moved and to her relief,he finally took what seemed to be the final turn before he announced that these were his Chambers which were now their Chambers as they were married. They once again stood before two huge double doors before the guards opened them whilst bowing their heads as the King and his new wife entered,they could only hope she would stay. But then again,it was none of their business.
Darius led Maria to their Chambers and he finally let go of her hand that had been in his for a while now. He looked at her but there was no fear in her eyes,it seemed she had finally accepted her fate. She didn't even yank her hand away from his just as she had done to her father something that left him wondering what worse could her father have done to her that she had to do that yet not him, her new husband.
He went to his dressing room and removed his coat first,then his white shirt before he entirely changed into his sleeping cloths. He still couldn't find a way to talk to her so he decided to remain silent and not talk unless it was necessary. He returned to their bedroom only to find it empty and he looked through the other Chambers inside their Chamber but couldn't find her and he panicked not just slightly. Had she left already? 'But that would be too soon' he thought as he remembered how she had squeezed his hand back in the throne room. Could it be.... could it be that the queen mother was already making her moves? He couldn't imagine that as it would be too soon and he was sure he had caught her off guard this time. But you never know.
He was about to burst out of the chamber and head straight to the queen mother's chamber when she returned with two maids after they had changed her into a night gown and seemingly bathed her as well and he couldn't refrain from glaring at them. What were they up to?
"Your majesty,we took her highness away to change her clothig for the night. We beg your mercy as we didn't request for your permission first" the older one of the two panicked and rattled as they both bowed to the ground and he just stood there glaring at them before he saw her looking at him and he finally commanded
"Leave" he bellowed and the two maids hurriedly left the Chambers without daring to meet his gaze. Maria just kept looking at him before she turned her gaze elsewhere and then headed to the king size bed that they were meant to share and sat at the edge. It seemed she wasn't planning on talking to him either and he couldn't blame her.