The Changeling Queen

Chapter Eight

I decide to drag myself back to bed. If I'm lucky, no one will come anyways, so I'll be able to get a bit of rest. Since I have no idea how long I'll be stuck in this game, I decide that I'll just try to make the best of it, and that includes trying to get some sleep. However, just as I get comfortable in the bed again, I hear a knock at my door. Interally, I groan, because I do not want to have to fake a reason to force whatever man is out there to leave. The next knock forces me to stand up and answer it.

"What is it?" I ask in annoyance as I open the door, though the words die on my tongue when I see that on the other side of the door, Prince Claudius is standing. "Prince Claudius, I'm a bit surprised to see you here," I say as I draw my eyebrows together confusion. "How can I help you this evening?"

"What game are you playing?" he growls as he gets mere inches from my face.

"Pardon me?" I gasp, taking a step back. His sudden agression is a bit frightening, but I don't really know what to do about it besides try to play it cool. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Your playthings. What are you playing at, telling them that you'll let the ones who are no longer willing to get out of their service?" he demands, stepping into my room and shutting the door behind him. "Do you have any idea how this affects treaties that have been made? Do you even care?"

"I will be allowing them a choice to be able to change what their service is for. I don't see how me not wanting to take certain men to bed is in anyway your business, that being said," I say as I move back towards the door, trying to keep from shivering under his angry, intense gaze. "You need to leave."

"I will not leave until you explain to me why you are risking not only your Kingdom, but all of the Kingdoms that you have treaties will because you are willing to let a few servants out of their endebted service," he hisses as he follows me back to the door, though he shuts it when I try to open it. "It's irresponsible, and as the future King of this land-."

"You will never be King," I snap, yanking the door open hard enough to actually open it, even with his hand still on it. "This is my land. This is my Kingdom. I will be more than happy to give your bethrothed the land that was her father's, but I will never give her the land that is mine, and has been in my family for more generations than your Kingdom has existed."

He scoffs as he rolls his eyes, seemingly even more aggitated. "You don't have the right to deny her what her father would have give her if he was still alive."

"You have no idea what he would have done if he had lived. Neither do I. He was not always the best man in the world." I say as I gesture for him to leave. "I will do what I think is best for myself, and for my people. Just because you seem to think that you know everything about me, and about my past relationships, doesn't mean that you do. All it means is that you are an arrogant fool who thinks that he deserves whatever he wants and will try to control others because he thinks that he is entitled to them," I don't know much about him, but he's grating on my nerves, and I'm hoping that by saying things like this, he will leave me alone.

Claudius stands in front of me, looking confused and honestly a bit startled. Is it really so hard to believe that someone would stand up to him when he's being such an asshole? I mean seriously, how can he just expect everyone to take whatever he says laying down?

"You have no right to speak to me like that," he says as he backs up out of the room, his eyes still narrowed. "You think that just because you have this land right now, that you always will. Going back on treaties will come back to end your rule."

"If you threaten me again, you will not like what happens," I say with a growl before I slam the door in his face. My heart is hammering in my chest as I try to catch my breath. What am I going to do if he really starts a war just because I reassign a few servants?

Before I can really think too much about it, there is another, hesitant knock at my door. I open it to find a tall, slim man on the other side of the door. "Good evening, Your Highness," he says quietly, a dark blush darkening his already dark cheeks. "I came by because, um, I was told that if anyone wanted to come to your bed, tonight, that we should."

"And you want to?" I ask, a bit in awe of the gorgeous man seemingly so bashful yet eager to come to bed with me.

Would it really be so bad to sleep with someone in a dream? I mean, it's like it would be out of character for the person I'm supposed to be in here, and it's not like it would affect my real life in anyway. People have s****l dreams all the time.

He nods, his curly, black hair getting into his face before he pushes it back with a large hand. "Yes ma'am. I do. I hope that that's not too bold of me to say."

I bite my lip, trying to weigh my options. It's not like it could hurt, right? And if Claudius is so angry about me rejecting those who don't even want to sleep with me, how would he feel about me rejecting someone who wants to? Even if it ends up not mattering because he's not real, and I wake up, I don't want to have to deal with another one of his outbursts. After a moment, I pull my door open slightly wider, "Alright, then. If you are really here willingly, why don't you come inside?"

A grin split his face as he looks up at me with his dark brown eyes. "Thank you, Your Highness. I would be delighted to join you."