The Last Warrior Queen

Chapter 11

“Enough!” King Halvor roared. “Gunnar!”

Gunnar shockingly appeared in the doorway immediately. “Yes my King?”

“Take this little wench back down to the banquet and bring us up some food. I won’t subject my wife to the harassment of her so called family any longer. Oh, and tell the wench’s father that if anyone bothers us tonight I won’t hesitate to put my sword through them.”

Gunnar bowed and hauled Talia to her feet. Before she could even cry out, Gunnar grabbed her arm and forced her down the hall. King Halvor slammed the door behind them.

The king made his way over to a large dressing table and began taking off his boots. I glanced around the room, noting how large and rather luxurious it was. A huge stone fireplace with a fire crackling and several chairs and couches placed in front of it. A large table and four chairs off to one side and at the other end of the room was a huge bed and two dressing tables flanking it.

I decided to settle in a large chair by the fire and warm up a little. To my surprise, King Halvor took a chair next to mine and began warming his hands by the fire. We said nothing to each other, however the silence was comfortable.

Soon there was a knock at the door and several maids arrived with platters of food. They silently placed the food on the table and left. My eyes widened at the amount laid out before us. Meats, cheeses, desserts. I had never seen such a fine display in my life.

“Come, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

I nodded and followed the king to the table. I waited for the king to fill his plate before me. However he just stood and stared at me.

“Well, aren’t you hungry?”

“Oh yes, my King. I…I was just waiting for you to fill your plate first.”

He chuckled and said “No need to wait on me. You’re my equal now that we’re married. And you can call me Halvor now as well.”

I nodded and carefully grabbed a plate and began filling it with food. I put one of everything on my plate, wanting to try everything.

I sat down and waited for Halvor to do the same. Once he filled his plate and sat down I instinctively waited for him to start eating. He simply looked at me until I awkwardly began to cut into my meat. He chuckled and did the same.

I quickly devoured the food, each item tasting better than the last. I had never had food this tasty before.

Once I had cleaned my plate I glanced up at Halvor, who had a smirk on his face.

“You act as if you’ve never eaten before.”

I blushed and looked down. “Well, they never had food like this at the nunnery” I murmured.

“Why were you sent there?”

I was surprised at his blunt question. “Well. My mother came to Lord Regan when I was younger. She was dying and struck up a deal with him. She traded the small amount of wealth she had in exchange for getting me safely to the nunnery. She also allowed him to legally adopt me, so that he could use me to gain more power through my marriage.”

“Where is this nunnery of yours?”

“In the north. It’s very small and obscure, most don’t even know it exists because of its remote location. The Nunnery of Saint Patricia.”

“Is it in a castle?”

“Yes! You know it?”

“I’ve seen it. It’s very close to our border. But I’ve had no interaction with them. It’s just a bunch of women there?”

“And a few knights for protection. They don’t interact much with outsiders though. I’m surprised you even knew of them.”

Halvor shrugged and took some more food. I was too full to eat anymore.

I sat at the table in silence until Halvor had finished. Finally he said “Come, let’s go to bed.”

I felt my breath catch in my throat when I remembered exactly what bed meant. Halvor strode over to his dressing table and began to unbutton his shirt. I slowly made my way to my dressing table and began to unpin my hair. I glanced over towards Halvor and he was already shirtless and in nothing but his underwear. Scars riddled his back and chest, making me realize he must have seen many painful battles. I blushed and quickly looked away, resuming the task of undoing my gown.

“I won’t have you tonight” Halvor said abruptly. I looked over to him as he was pulling back the covers on the bed.

“I will decide if you are worthy of bearing my children before I bed you.” I let out a small sigh of relief and nodded.

“Then, shall I sleep somewhere else?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. What kind of man would I be to make you sleep elsewhere? My wife will always sleep in my bed.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. If I’m to always sleep in his bed, then what happens if he doesn’t think I’m fit to have his children? Halvor interrupted my thoughts.

“Besides, we need to at least pretend that we consummated our union.” And with that Halvor took a small knife and made a small cut in his hand. He held his hand over the bed and let the blood drip down.

I realized that he was doing it to show we had intercourse and prove my virginity. The maids would be looking for the sign tomorrow when they tidied the room.

I grabbed the cloth that my hair comb was wrapped in from a pocket in my gown and tore off a strip. I walked over to Halvor and now it was his turn to look confused. I gently took his wounded hand and wrapped the bandage around to stop the bleeding. When I had finished Halvor examined the dressing.

“This is good. Where did you learn this?”

“At the nunnery. It was up to us to dress any wounds that occurred.”

“And did many wounds occur?” I bit my lip. I couldn’t very well tell him that wounds occurred all the time during training. The Head Mother had been very adamant that we not tell our husbands of our skills for fear of punishment.

“Well the knights would often spar and some would occur minor injuries that we tended to.”

“So you’ve dressed a man’s wounds before?”

I shrugged, not sure what response Halvor was looking for. He grunted and got into bed. I finished undressing and climbed in next to him. He blew out the candle next to the bed and I did the same. Now we only had the dull light of the dying fire illuminating the far end of the room.

I laid very still so as not to accidentally touch Halvor. Soon he had fallen asleep. I was unlucky and sleep didn’t claim me for hours. When I woke it felt like I only slept for mere minutes and I realized there was something heavy over me. It was Halvor’s arm draped across my waist.