Page 54 of The Nightmare Queen

Knock knock.

I look over my glasses to Bennett peeking his head in. “Thought you could use this.” He states placing a glass full of bourbon in front of me.Unexpected but I’ll take it.

“I expected this to be coffee.” I say, lifting the drink up to my lips.

He takes the seat opposite me dusting off his pants as he stretches out. “Ah. Well,thatdrink is waiting in front of the very sound asleep queen out there. Coffee didn’t seem strong enough for you.” His face is as hollow as I feel at the moment. I’m not ignorant to the fact that the hit to Bair’s post affected him the most. Being the Commander over this post while I was away hasn’t been the lightest job, and I would bet money he’s feeling responsible for Wriercliff.

“You look tired, friend.”

He chuckles, “so do you.”

My head drops into my hands, “Fuck Ben…I don’t know how to get us out of this. I thought by bringing the Obsid’s here we’d tank them quickly. A massive show of force, an immediate win. But…”

“But?” He asks softly.

I suck in a deep breath, “but…I’ve only cost them their lives. Men and women who don’t trust me but are willing to fight on the word of their queen. They trust her enough to gamble their lives for people they hate. But my own soldiers, my own men, don’t trust me enough to not fucking betray us.” His body shifts to lean forward resting both arms on the desk.

“They’re my men too Rorin. And they were under my control while you were gone. How many times have we had to flip flop the roles of command due to your responsibilities in Valen?” I groan into my palms. “As for the queen…not to be insensitive but you contracted them. They’re getting paid to be here. Which is more than I can say for our men, unfortunately.” Anger crawls up my neck as I think about the hand my father has had in all of his citizens’ lives and they don’t see a dime for it. “Gods, this is all a bloody mess.” He grunts in agreement, reclining back in the chair again to stare at the ceiling. The two of us ruminating in the silence.

“Will’s furious with me.”

“Ha. When is he not?” I know it’s meant to be a jest, but the barb stings all the same.

“Right.” I mutter.

He gives me a soft look, "we’re not boys anymore Ror. Tough decisions have to be made…and Will well, he had an easier time growing up than we did.”Maybe.I think.Or he was just better at staying out of trouble. Maybe if we’d been a little more like him we all would’ve avoid the haunts of our pasts.

A quiet knock and a young voice grabs our attention, "prince?"

Ugh.“Whatnow?”I ask. The page’s face goes white before I wave him in, he apologizes quickly for interrupting and hands me a missive with the royal crest on it.

“Please tell me that isn’t more bad news?” Bennett asks tentatively.

I shake my head, “it’s not.” He starts to sag in relief until I add, "it’s worse than bad news.”

“Greeeaaat.” He says.

“Apparently we have pressing responsibilities to take care of before the Valen Celebration in two weeks. They want us home, now.”

Not exactly great timing. War is encroaching on our doorstep but sure let’s keep our regularly scheduled programming at court. Gods forbid we don’t spend another dreadful evening together dressed as gussied up show ponies.I snip inside of my mind.

He peers over the edge of the paper. “Anything about the queen in there? Do they know you’re working together?”

I give him another shake of my head, “if they do they aren’t letting on. For now we still have that element of surprise but…we’ll have to prepare Eveera.” I hand him the document to read over himself.

“Prepare me for what?” A very sleepy-eyed and mussed up queen stands in the doorway. Something tugs in my chest at the sight of her. If she greeted people like this all the time some might confuse her with being innocent, sweet, and harmless. No one would guess the tiny woman with a bird's nest of tangled curls on her head and a coffee mug in her hands finds enjoyment in watching people's brains melt. I slip back into reality when I see her stepping towards the paper Bennett waves in her direction.

It takes her a moment to read it. She sets down the mug and holds the paper closer to her face, reading it a second time. Her eyes peek up over the edge of the page, looking a little more awake now, as her lips curlinto a feline smile. “Hope they don’t mind you bringing a plus one.” She quips before tossing the paper back to Bennett.

Ohthey’ll mind, my conscience says.They’ll mind.

Eveera

Not everyone was as eager about the news as I was.

Rorin’s been puffing about the apartment since last night, slamming doors and drawers, and snapping at his men.

His feelings towards returning home are obvious and while I could feel pity for him, I don’t. Meeting the king gets me one step closer to ridding this realm of the two Vellaran leeches responsible for my early rise to power. It honestly couldn’t have worked out better, us getting a summons. “You’re going to burn a hole in the floor from all of your pacing.” I comment. Watching him spiral at first was humorous - now it’s just annoying.

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