THE CURSED PRINCESS

The Sad Queen

"My love," he called out as he stepped into her bedroom.

He rushed to her side as he saw her curled up in bed, holding on to a pillow and crying her eyes out.

"What is the problem, dear?" He asked as he scooped her into his arms, alarm ringing in his voice.

It was a happy day for everyone in the kingdom and he couldn't imagine that someone would be sad. He couldn't believe that the sad person would be in his household, his queen at that.

"Let go of me, Arthur." She cried, struggling to break free.

"Never." He snorted. "I made a pact to be with you forever when I married you."

"Arthur," she sighed.

"Tell me what saddens your heart, my queen."

"I hate being barren. It feels sad to be reminded of that today and I had to come inside. I can't stay out there and have fun, pretending to be happy while I feel this way. I can't let my subjects see me like this. They will be sad and their fun will be ruined if they see me sad."

"You shouldn't feel this way." He sighed.

"But I do!" She screeched, struggling to get away from him.

He sighed again and pulled her into his arms. "I don't blame you for how you feel, my queen, but I don't want you to be sad either."

"How won't I be sad when I don't have a baby to love like other women in town? It's been five years that we got married and I don't have a child yet."

"You aren't the only one without a child. Why do you torment yourself with what you aren't responsible for?"

"All other married women in the kingdom that don't have a child yet are probably those who got married last year. All those who got married at the time that we did already have a child or two. How can I enjoy the royal festival when those who meet each other today might get married and have kids next year and I might be here, still childless?"

"Diane," Arthur sighed and thought of Brood's announcement, his heart getting heavy with sadness.

He had thought that Diane would be happy to hear everything that happened during the day. He had thought that he would be able to share the excitement of the day with her. He had assumed that she would be happy that Brood found love with one of the maids in the palace but with the way she was, he dared not tell her anything.

She would cry that Brood and Agatha might become parents before they did. She might not want the two of them to keep working in the palace so she wouldn't have to see them have kids.

He decided to keep the news to himself.

"Arthur, my heart is heavy." She groaned.

"Is that why you didn't eat your dinner?"

"How can I eat when my heart is full of grief?"

"You should eat because your stomach is empty."

"My stomach isn't empty." She denied.

Her stomach chose that moment to grumble and show that she was lying. He arched his eyebrows at her, trying not to show his amusement.

"Are you still going to deny that your stomach isn't empty?"

"Fine," she sighed. "My stomach isn't empty but I'm not hungry."

"That wasn't what I heard." He said, glancing at her stomach. "Your stomach wouldn't have grumbled as loud as that if you aren't hungry. What I heard was certainly a cry for food."

"I don't want to eat." She insisted.

"I won't sleep if you don't eat." He said.

She winced. "You should sleep. You've been busy all day, my dear."

"As you have been busy crying." He sighed, hating that he had been having fun with the elders while his wife had been cooped up alone in her room and crying her eyes out.

Her eyes were so red that he wondered how long she had been crying for. He doubted that her maids knew that she had been crying. If Cora had known, she would have come to him in the palace and tell him.

Diane had probably sent all her maids out, told them that she wouldn't be having dinner and busied herself with crying.

"I will eat if that will make you happy." She said, finally relenting.

"It will make me happier if you don't cry anymore."

"It's not like I wanted to cry. I couldn't help myself."

"You should have told me that something was wrong with you."

"And burden you with my sorrows. You have enough on your shoulder. I know how hard you've been working all these years to make sure that the people are happy and break them free from the choke-hold that they have had to endure under the reign of your uncle. I can't tell you that I'm not happy because I'm not a mother yet. That would only put more strain on you. I can't do that to you."

"You are free to do anything to me, you are my woman. If I can't bear your burdens as your husband, how can I dare to bear the burdens of the people as their king?"

"Don't talk like that." She hushed him. "You do a great job as the king of the land. It's no wonder that the people love you."

"And they love you too, just as they will love our children." He comforted her. "Let me do a good job as your husband just as I do as the king of the land."

"I want a baby, Arthur."

"Let's have a baby then."

She chuckled. "It's not that easy. If it was, we would have had a baby years ago."

"We didn't have a baby because we weren't trying hard enough. If we really try enough, we will have our baby."

She smiled, loving his words. "Let's have a baby then. Let's give it all our best."

"Let's have a baby, my love." He nodded, moving closer to her. "Promise me that you won't be sad again."

"I won't." She shook her head.

"And you will tell me whenever something is bothering you."

"I will." She nodded.

"Don't keep things from me, Diane. It broke my heart when I walked in earlier and found you crying."

"I won't break your heart again." She promised.

"Good. I will be more observant to your emotions. I won't let you get to the point that you have to cry before I find out that something is wrong with you."

"You are a good husband, Arthur, just as I know that you will be a good father. You don't have to bother yourself because of me."

"Allow me to be bothered. On that note, I will send for the best physicians and healers in the land to take care of you and help improve your fertility so you can be a mother soon. I would have done this a long time ago if I had known that it was a source of pain to you. I'm sorry for my lack of sensitivity."

"You don't have to be sorry and I'm grateful for your consideration. I can't wait to meet the physicians."

"I promise that you will have the best of them."