The Queen's Guard

The Queen's Court

        "You can't be serious?" Armelia screamed. Pounding her fist against the table. "Men cannot be trusted. If we want to win this our own men need to be locked away before they join the enemy."

    Of the ten women, in my court, two others were nodding their heads in agreement. 

    Armelia was at one end of the oblong table while I was at the other. The rest of the women were divided evenly on either side and practically divided evenly in their beliefs. I was arguing for allowing the men to fight alongside us and Armelia was fervently arguing against it. 

    "You interrogated our spy." I stated. She lowered her gaze immediately and I sensed embarrassment but the moment was fleeting. "He told you we were outnumbered." She nodded. "Brute force cannot win this battle. Our advantages are being on our own territory and the knowledge that they are coming. However, strategy alone may not be enough. What else has the spy told you?"

    "He told me that the connection between men and women is powerful." Armelia failed to meet my gaze as she spoke. "He told me that it was more than worth fighting for, it was worth dying for." 

    I thought over her words. We were fighting an unknown enemy. "Ladies, we cannot fight what we do not understand. I will choose a man and try to understand what the spy has described. However,, we do not have much time, so if any of you could join me in understanding this power please choose a man of your own." I stood up signaling the meeting had ended. The women gaped at me as I made my exit.

    I can't lead my kingdom against a power that I do not understand. I thought to myself. I remembered the smug smile of that insolent spy when he asked if I had ever been touched by a man. What did he mean? Then he followed it with words such as licked and caressed. What purpose would those words have in any interaction between a man and a woman? Absentmindedly, I walked through the halls of the castle. Armelia's behavior was strange today. It was unlike her to oppose me. Of course, we had our differences, but I was still her Queen. Her tone had almost been mocking as she questioned my chosen course of action. Then when I mentioned the spy, she had averted her eyes. She is not my enemy. The voice within my head was calm, steady and deep. Suddenly, I was craving those brown eyes, I wanted to feel at peace. I turned to my hand maiden. "Bring me the man I trained against, yesterday."