The Floating Nation, Gonzagas

Not Really a Suggestion - Salazar

Salazar was walking up the stairs to the upper east wing of the Palace. This is where his living quarters are located, along with the other living quarters for royal family members. There are also many elaborate rooms for close friends to stay in when present, although currently, all are empty aside from the living quarters at the end. That is where the children's rooms were located, along with the family lounge, nursery, and bedroom for the king and queen. Topping the stairs, he rounded the landing and turned down the hall of elaborate high-rise white doors with gold trim. A decorated carpet that silenced his footsteps from the marble tiles beneath went the whole length of the hall from the landing to the living quarters. Paintings and curtains hung on the walls while sconces left a comforting hue under the night sky. As with most of the roofs and ceilings in the Palace, it was domed with glass that allowed natural light in from above. He loved this time of day in this hall, it really allowed for a sense of peace as he walked. He felt really dragged down after the conversation he had with Alloy, even more so than normal. He felt like a dark gray cloud of failure followed him as he felt all he had done lately was tell people his failures. He had to tell him though, he had no choice at this point, things were really starting to feel more off for him. He could tell he was not getting better. He found himself unable to sleep at night, and he was starting to shake more. He could no longer keep the secret from his right-hand men. He had to tell him what was happening, and what happened months ago.

*Flashback to eight months prior*

Salazar was sitting on the floor of his lounge with his twins matching up puzzles and showing them how to color when Dedra walked in from the nursery with their nurse. She had just put Calia down, their one-year-old. She smiled at Salizar and instructed the nurse to prepare the twins for their bedtime. As Salazar arose from the floor, he hugged and kissed his children goodnight. He then followed the nurse and Dedra to their other children's rooms to check-in, visit, and ensure they were off to dreamland. About an hour later, Dedra and Salazar were finally in their lounge alone. Salazar crashed on an overstuffed sofa chair with his head thrown back when she sat across from him on a matching overstuffed couch. She wore an elegant yet modest nightgown with a robe of the same design. Her straight hair was let loose around her soft face, 'she looks beautiful tonight', he thought. She was holding two books from their Royal Library. Salazar had recognized them.

These are some of their history books that hold many records of their kind, how they lived and how some of their nations have died over the years. Some of these books have even been collected over time by the Gonzagas family line when they come across actively falling or already fallen fellow kingdoms. For a long period when Salazar was a kid, his father was always running into fallen kingdoms. The steppers would either be dead or were dying in the rubble, and it was almost impossible to tell what caused their collapse. When the steppers as a whole realized this was becoming a pandemic of sorts and that something was wrong, they knew they had to trace it, to find what it was; an illness? a m******e? They didn't know, and still don't for most. Fallings were happening at such an alarming rate back then, that they all started keeping their own history books. This way, they could mark any strange event or describe their history, just in case a fellow king found it. If they could find the kingdom's history book, they could possibly identify any patterns that may help them prevent a fall of their own. It was any ruler's worst nightmare to lose power, to just fall like that, to just lose a whole history and bloodlines of a nation was devastating to any stepper that survives.

Salazar knew that his own nation housed the remnants of fallen kingdoms. Some of his father's encounters led to few survivors. Although he doesn't remember much about them. And now, as Salazar rules, he hasn't run into many other surviving floating nations. Only two since the big one that everyone remembered, the one they watched fall. That one happened about twenty years ago when he was in his early twenties. That one was stuck in everyone's mind who managed to witness it firsthand, as it was saddening and traumatizing to see. Salazar was on his knighthood path when it happened, so, of course, he was dispatched to step over to the falling land for recovery and rescue. Their goal was to find survivors and to figure out what happened. However, it was almost impossible to find survivors to ask. The land was on fire and crumbling, the dead were everywhere. Their Palace Square was riddled with the bodies of the nation; men, women, and children. The palace seemed to have been half gone, crumbled away before the Gonzagas nation found it. No one could find the king, or even knew who he was. From what Salazar was told, no one really knew what happened. His father did return with their history book right before the fall hit the ground, and that was Salazar's first introduction to his history books.

Salazar noted that this particular history book was not in the arms of his queen though. Why did she have them? Deedra noticed Salazars gazing at her and the books in her arms. "Sal, we need to talk," she said softly, barely able to look him in the eyes. Salazar's head lifted off the back of the chair. "Uhh Ohh, please don't tell me you have a honey-do list this late at night." he jokingly said as he readjusted his position to give his wife all of his attention. She looked nervous and seemed distracted as she could barely keep eye contact with him still. This wasn't like her, he noted, something was wrong. She was fiddling with the books in her hands as she moved them to her lap. "You know how we are always trying to remain open-minded, right?" she said as she proceeded to open the first book by its ribbon, to a marked page. Looking up, he saw that she was serious. 'No jokes here,' Salazar thought. They had been together long enough by now for him to know her mannerisms. "Sal... I am worried about you." she continued in a sultry-like purr. Salazar was taken aback. "What are you talking about?" She let out a big sigh, "Alloy and Raj came to me a couple of weeks ago. They were asking me all kinds of questions about you. Your sleep, your eating, your leisure time..." she trailed off as she cleared her throat, still only glancing at him. She knew he was going to be pissed. "Now why the hell would they do that?" he said sharply. "Why would they bother you? You have nothing to do with anything that they should be concerned about," he said in a steady, steely tone. She shuffled her feet... "Sal, Honey, they are worried about you too." She said, still softly. "Why?" He trailed. "There's no reason to worry Deedee, I am fine," he said as he got up and sat next to her on the sofa. He placed his hands on hers, bringing her towards him. However, to his surprise, she pulled away. "Sal, you're not fine. Everyone is worried about you. They told me about the power." She said quickly. Salazar sat for a moment with a stony face. He was trying not to feel irritated that his men had gone behind his back to spread their ideas to his wife. What business was it of theirs to disclose this to anyone? Let alone his wife? No wonder she's scattered and jittery lately. "That was not any business of theirs to tell you. And why Raj?" he said, flustered as he pulled away from the couch, now standing. "He's our doctor, Sal, what do you mean? We are worried," Salazar interrupted, "What exactly did they tell you about the power, Deedee?" he said. Dedra was looking up at him. She knew she had no reason to fear him, but he did seem so menacing right now standing over her. "Alloy told me that you have been faking the numbers in the Gallows. That we are not really at 46 percent, but rather 36 percent." She slowly spoke. Salazar was the first to break eye contact as he tried to calm himself. "At least they did tell me Sal, because the heavens know you wouldnt." she said in a dejected tone.

Now slowly sitting in front of his wife, he just looked at her. "What do you want me to say, Dee? Yes, I have been lying to the public about the power supply, about my power." "And you have been lying to me, Sal." She interrupted. As Salazar went to respond, she interrupted again. "I know, Sal, I know, I am not... mad. I think I understand why you have hidden it, but Sal, we have a problem... Don't we? And it is not getting any better, is it? and I am getting worried... and scared." she trailed off. Salazar was sitting forwardly hunched with his elbows in his lap. "Yes..." he sighed. He had no idea why he was losing power. Wiping his hands down his face, Dedra really saw how exhausted he was. His eyes were sunken a bit and his skin tone was pale, for him anyway. "I can't cause panic, Dee... The whole nation will get scared. I can't afford that, on top of every other worry," he said. Noticing the puzzled look on her face, he got up to retrieve some liquor. "We need to lower in order to mine for supplies and fuel for the Gallows as well... We've been running through reserves for the last two years, and worse, at full burn." He stated as he turned to look at her, his eyes now dark. "I don't have enough power to do it." He said as he downed the alcohol, shrugging. "I have been lying about the numbers simply to avoid panic and discord. I have to remain calm and try to figure it out," he said, emphasizing every last word. "Alloy and Cider have been assisting me in their fields with some of the administrative work I normally do." He said with a huff, leaning back. "How did it get this bad, Sal?" she asked. Salazar looked thoughtful for a moment,"I... don't know. I can't really remember when it all started. I just remember that I realized there was a problem when I dropped below 40%. That's when I decided to go full on the Gallows. They brought us up to 46%, but I was still dropping. That's when I decided to lie." Dedra was staring at her hands and silent for a bit.

"Have you spoken to Raj?" she finally spoke. However, she already knew very well that he hadn't gone to Raj for at least the last couple of months... she would have known. "Dee, I don't need to see Raj, all he's going to say is that it's mental, that I am tired or some shit..." he mumbled as he trailed off. Laying on the chair, he was staring at the sky. The stars seemed so peaceful. "I did talk to Raj a couple of months ago," he said. We evaluated me then. I seem healthy. No illnesses, no additional strain that I am leaking... I don't know Dee..." he said softly. It feels different from everything else. It just feels like I am walking around with a weight constantly attached to my chest." Dedra looked down at her hands as they both paused and sat in silence for a while. Then he shot up quickly, stepped over to his wife's side and held out his hand. Dedra stared at him in confusion for only a second before Salazar reached over, not even looking at the books in her lap as he removed them. After placing them on the table, he grabbed her hands and pulled her into his arms and into an embrace. Dedra was reaching for the books, complaining that she needed them to show him something important still. "Shhhh... Sweetheart... love, calm down," he whispered to her. He was quite tall, and even for a woman, Dedra was small. He was quite hunched to get to her ear, as he reached his hand from around her backside, his fingertips trailed his motions up her body. He deeply inhaled the smell of her hair and nestled his nose against her neck. This sent chills through her, he could tell because her body shivered against his, causing her to lean more into him for comfort. He slowly let a smirk rise on his face as he looked down at her. 'Maybe... tonight we could... be...' His mind trailed off... He started to sway from side to side while holding her against him as she started to complain that she wasn't done. She then let out a soft hiss as she began to follow his motions. For a moment they swayed in the silence as Salazar lifted her hand gently, then lightly trailing down her hand, wrist and down her forearm with his fingertips. "Remember when we first got together and I made you dance with me?" he said as he twirled her so that her back was warmed by his chest. "Mmm.... you MADE me take all of those classes, I was so terrible at it," she said with a grin and a giggle. "You were so into it!" she added with a smile on her face. "Still am," he said with a smile as he raised her hand and led her into a twirl. Stopping her as she faced away from him again, he lowered his hands down her sides, rubbing her down to her hips. Grabbing her, he pressed his hips into her. This is what he really wanted. His mind started to trail off again, tracing her form with his hands, exploring her, he wanted to see the little shiver bumps appear on her skin. He wanted to affect her, he wanted her to want him physically. But just as he was learning to expect, Dedra let out a slow sigh and pulled herself away. Resisting the urge to hold her in place, he let her go. They had always had a non-verbal agreement that things like this would never be forced. His arms fell in defeat as she rounded to face him.

"Sal. Please, sit, and listen to me for a bit, just, don't talk for a second, OK?" she asked, giving a pout as she directed him back to the couch. He chuckled a bit, "I don't know Dee, that's a tough one for me." He joked as he raised his hands in defeat. Maybe they could just go to bed quicker as his excitement melted away. They sat down and she reached for the books. She opened the first one from the ribbon again, looking up at Salazar. She was nervous. With one movement, not looking away from Salazar, she placed the book in front of him. There, Salazar read one phrase that stretched across the top of the page. "Royal Concubine." Salazar just sat for a moment and stared at the book with a flat emotion that Dedra could not read. She felt even more nervous as she could feel anger start to well up in him. Salazar stared at the words as if they seemed alien to him. Maybe he wasn't reading it right, or maybe it was a mistake. He slowly moved his eyes from the book to Dedra without moving his head. She was flushed, fiddling with her bedrobe, she wouldn't look at him in the face. "Dedra?" he said in a low whisper and paused, making her look at him. "Concu-bine?" he said slowly and paused again, he was struggling to believe that she showed him this, or worse, thought that this was a solution to anything. What on earth was she trying to say? That she didn't want him anymore? Physically? Dedra was the first to break the silence that Salazar didn't realize was stretching longer than normal as he struggled to make this make any kind of sense. "uhem, Sal, have you heard of a concubine?" she said coyly. Salazar erupted like a volcano, he lost his s**t. "OF COURSE..." he yelled, then, lowering his voice so as to not wake their daughter, "I have heard of a concubine, Dedra." He shot up to his feet out of anger. If he was tired before, he certainly has some energy now, from this confusion and anger.

"Sal, please calm down, I am not trying to anger you or make anything worse, I am trying to help! To let you know it is OK, and that I understand your needs!" she started to cry, ""Since I can't meet them." she said as tears started to leave reddish trails down her cheeks. Salazar instantly softened, he hated it when Dedra cried, it meant to him that he wasn't doing his job as a partner. "No Dee, you cant do that, you can't sit there crying after an idea like that." He walked over and sat next to her and took her hand.

"What on this floating rock makes you think I would ever cheat on you?" He demanded. "Sal, it's not cheating if we discuss it and I am OK with it," she said as she wiped her eyes. "Sal, I have not been able to please you for a while and I feel so guilty. This is all my fault." Salazar immediately felt guilty for getting angry. It is true that they have not been as intimate as he would have liked, but she hasn't healed. "No, Darling, that's not your fault, and its not about pleasing me. You need to heal, you have given us 5 beautiful children and I respect that. I am not going to cheat on you just because of that, you know me better than that," he said softly. "I will be nothing like my Father." He added bitterly. "Sal, please, I think your bitterness towards your father's actions are clouding your judgement on your needs." she sighed. Salazar didn't want to turn this issue into anything that had to do with his father. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her hand. Placing it gently on her lap, he instantly felt tired. He told her he was sleeping in one of the guest rooms tonight to get some clarity, much to her dismay. He had had enough of this strange turn of events and needed to process things he told her out of compassion for her to not feel so bad about suggesting such a ludicrous idea.

*Currently*

Salazar opened the door to their bedsuite and saw his wife lying on the bed with a light sheet over her, fast asleep. He closed the door and walked over to the couch to sleep there for the night. It was better to distance himself for now. Every turn he made in the last eight months she was trying to point out women she thought he would like, or women that met his fancy sexually. He held fancy dinner parties, even though they couldn't have auxiliaries on. She was holding concerts for potential performers to become the new face of the Palace Melodies, turning them into grand events. She dragged him around, introducing women to him. He was drained and frankly tired of it all. Why was she pushing so hard? He had assumed it was because she was blaming herself for his current state, and for the last eight months they argued almost every night about it. She had nothing to do with his weaknesses, but no matter how many times he told her this, she wouldn't listen. She was a woman on a mission, one of the main reasons he picked her as his queen. She was a daughter of an old noble, it was in her blood to be persistent. This wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined not to be anything like his father. what was more irritating is that today when he told Alloy, he completely was on Dedra's side. he felt betrayed, he had hoped that even his right hand man would be on his side. Salazar fell asleep in a whirlwind mind, causing an even more restless sleep.