The Last Warrior Queen

Chapter 25

I opened the door to my chambers and made my way over to a bench by the window in the sitting room. I opened the window and looked out over the castle grounds, fiddling with my necklace absentmindedly. I wonder if I can ask to sleep in separate rooms from the king? Would he really force me to sleep in his bed each night if he had no feelings for me?

My thoughts were interrupted by Halvor bursting into the room. I quickly stood up as he bounded over to me with a grin on his face. He pulled me to him in an embrace, which I did not return. He didn’t seem to notice as he pulled away and placed his hands on my cheeks, gently brushing a wayward strand of hair from my face.

He had a huge smile on his face as he said “You were magnificent. I’ve never seen fighting like that in all my life. No one has. You fought like a true queen. No like a goddess.”

I maintained a cool expression on my face. “How is Diana?”

Halvor shrugged and said “She is badly wounded but she will live. The Royal physician is with her now.” I nodded and replied “Sorry for maiming your mistress. But at least it’s just her hand, so you should be able to visit her chambers soon.”

Halvor’s smile fell and twisted into a look of bewilderment. “Visit her chambers? What are you talking about? She isn’t my mistress, she lost the fight and badly. Why would you think I want to sleep with her?”

I couldn’t tell him that I was eavesdropping on their exchange before. “I know you could have stopped the fight before it even began, but you didn’t. Clearly you and she had some sort of understanding and a plan.”

Now Halvor looked angry. “I didn’t stop the fight because there were already rumors about you being a weak girl from the south. It put my position as king into question. By allowing the fight I knew that you would win and no one would ever question us again.”

“You knew I would win? How? You’ve never seen me fight before!”

“I knew you could fight well after I saw what you had done to those bandits in the woods. And then the knight at the nunnery confirmed it with his words of praise for your swordsmanship.”

“It still seems like a large gamble to me. What would you have done if I lost?”

Halvor clenched his jaw. “Then the winner would have become my consort.”

I nodded.

“But if I didn’t let the fight happen, then I would have been forced to take a consort by the nobles anyways if I tried to protect you.” Halvor countered.

“I’ve barely been here a week. Today was my coronation. You didn’t think to ask me yourself to prove my fighting abilities?”

Halvor swallowed and paused. “The greater display of strength the more thoroughly it shuts down opponents. This has stamped out any sense of doubt among our subjects.”

I nodded again and brushed by him. He caught my arm and I waited for him to say something, but he only looked at me with a pained expression on his face.

“I will have a bath now” I stated.

“Of course. I will call for hot water. And…and I will wait for you to finish.”

“If that is your wish” I replied coldly, feeling the icy walls of my heart build up even more.

I walked into the bathing room and waited for servants to bring jugs of hot water to fill the tub. I sank down into the soothing water and again fiddled with my necklace. Willing myself to relax. I stayed in the water until the tips of my fingers were wrinkled.

I sighed as I realized that I would have to come out eventually and the water was getting cold. I got out of the tub and dried off. I grabbed a robe and wrapped it around myself. When I went to open the door I could sense someone behind it. I focused and closed my eyes. I didn’t see a fight unfold before me so I thought it would be a servant waiting for me.

When I opened it I was surprised to see Gala waiting patiently and Halvor was no where to be seen. She curtsied and said “My Queen, Royal of Oran.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean Royal of Oran? And why are you in my chambers - where’s Halvor?”

Gala smirked and said “Only the royals of Oran can fight like that. Come, we need to get you dressed and discuss what we are to do with you.” She neglected to fill me in on where Halvor was or why she was here in his stead.

I furrowed my brow but followed her instructions. She led me to the large war room that Halvor had announced my coronation date in. Once again there were nobles gathered around the large table. Gunnar was there as well. Halvor stood in the center with a scowl on his face.

“Gala what’s the meaning of calling this emergency meeting? And why are you bringing Sylvia into it?” Halvor said angrily.

Gala pursed her lips at Halvor’s remarks and essentially ignored them.

“Has anyone here ever seen someone fight like our Queen just did?”

I looked around the room as all the nobles shook their heads. Gunnar cleared his throat and said “I have seen fighting like that.” Everyone turned to look at him.

Gunnar continued. “Long ago, when I had just become a warrior - before King Halvor was even a year old - I went with the old king on an expedition to the east. A small kingdom had called for aid from both the Northen Kingdom and the Kindgom of Oran against an uprising of bandits from the south. We arrived to find that a small group of princes and princesses from Oran had also answered the call. At first the old king was appalled that Oran would send so little aid to their allies. However when we saw them fight, we realized the small group of royals could defeat an army. The way they moved. Too fast to be touched. Like they knew what was coming.”

“I’ve never heard of Oran” Halvor interjected.

Gala replied “It no longer exists. It was destroyed not long after they fought against the bandit uprising. It’s now the Kingdom of Inhar. The gift of battle is strongest for those in direct line to the Oran throne. The further out in the bloodline you go, the weaker the gift is. One of the royals of Oran barely had any gift to speak of and was bitter. He poisoned the royal family and took over the kingdom with the rebels who had sworn allegiance to him. He stamped out any recollection of Oran until it was nothing more than a faded memory to old men. However there were rumors that one of the princesses by marriage escaped with her daughter, but that eventually she succumbed to the poison. No one knows what happened to her daughter. Until now.” Gala turned to look at me and my hand flew subconsciously to my necklace.

“Queen Sylvia is the rightful heir to Oran” Gala continued. Everyone stared at me with their mouths open.