(no subject)
The grass was still cool and wet when the queen emerged from her tent and made her way to the central pavilion where she and her advisers spent many hours. The guard outside of the pavilion wasn't surprised to see Her Majesty awake at that hour, and bowed briefly to her as she entered. Moments later, he followed her in, poured her a glass of water, and resumed his post at the entrance.
The queen sipped at her glass as she gazed down at the large table that dominated the space. A large map was pinned to the center of it, with smaller diagrams and charts around the edge. She sighed. She had spent almost half a year on this campaign, and lately it had seemed more futile than ever.
She moved slowly around the table, hoping that her changing position would grant her new perspective. So many things were still to be discovered, so many people to still be found and spoken with. Her bare feet whispered on the packed earth floor of the pavilion as she moved.
After a few minutes, she sat down at her seat at the head of the table, and folded her legs under her. Setting the glass aside, she allowed her thoughts to wander. Anyone peering into the pavilion would have seen quite a sight - the beautiful queen, in informal attire, curled into her chair like a girl, deep in thought.
With low-slung harem pants and a simple, sleeveless vest, the queen's casual style was something that her advisers had grown accustomed to (perhaps not willingly, but they had acquiesced all the same). Although the queen was usually clothed in simple clothes, her regal bearing and the single piece of jewelry she wore - the royal seal - forbade anyone from forgetting her titles and responsibilities.
As her mind wandered, the queen's eyes came to rest on a small stack of letters on the floor beside her chair. With a small smile, she picked them up and shuffled through them, satisfactorily noting the names of the senders - one message from an emissary-friend who was keeping an eye on things in the capital, one message from a courting baron of a nearby fief, and another message from her knight gallant - her favored protector and guardian - who had been stationed in the outlying lands of the capital to await her return. Scattered amongst these men's missives were a few other notes from others, asking for her attention on various matters.
She enjoyed the weight and heft of those letters, but her pleasure was briefly interrupted when she noticed a lack of a message from one of the last people she had met - a member of the ambassador's party from a neighboring state. When the ambassador and his entourage had met the queen and her party for a few days of friendly exchange, she had struck up a playful banter with the ambassador's friend, and the two of them had spent lovely hours together, whiling away the dark hours.
Now, this morning when the sun was still young in the sky, those hours seemed frivolous, and their meaninglessness was underscored by the absence of any word from this man. Irritated, the queen dropped the letters to the floor. She arose and paced around the table one more time until, when she had arrived at the foot of the table, she looked up at her empty chair on the other side and paused.
I am a queen, she reminded herself. And queens do not pursue. Queens do not allow their plans to be disrupted for bawdy bards and lusty minstrels. Queens have higher goals - better goals - than to allow themselves to be distracted by men with stupid objectives.
Taking a deep breath, she began to move towards her seat one more time. She addressed herself as only she could - as both familiar and as ruler.
We are powerful, and we have a campaign to execute. We have reports to write, lands to explore, and people to meet. We have treaties to sign and agreements to forge. The world does not wait while a queen succumbs to girlish anxieties. The world does not pause for a queen to snap out of depression. No, the world waits for no one - and so neither will the queen.
Feeling energized, the queen called the guard, and requested that he inform the camp's chef that she was awake and desired breakfast in the pavilion. She would take the quiet time before her advisers gathered to collect her thoughts and play with a new scenario that she had been mulling over for the last few days. With renewed energy, she leaned over the table and took in the advanced stages of her campaign.
There are victories to be taken, deaths to be defied, and a new world to be birthed. We wait for no one.
The queen sipped at her glass as she gazed down at the large table that dominated the space. A large map was pinned to the center of it, with smaller diagrams and charts around the edge. She sighed. She had spent almost half a year on this campaign, and lately it had seemed more futile than ever.
She moved slowly around the table, hoping that her changing position would grant her new perspective. So many things were still to be discovered, so many people to still be found and spoken with. Her bare feet whispered on the packed earth floor of the pavilion as she moved.
After a few minutes, she sat down at her seat at the head of the table, and folded her legs under her. Setting the glass aside, she allowed her thoughts to wander. Anyone peering into the pavilion would have seen quite a sight - the beautiful queen, in informal attire, curled into her chair like a girl, deep in thought.
With low-slung harem pants and a simple, sleeveless vest, the queen's casual style was something that her advisers had grown accustomed to (perhaps not willingly, but they had acquiesced all the same). Although the queen was usually clothed in simple clothes, her regal bearing and the single piece of jewelry she wore - the royal seal - forbade anyone from forgetting her titles and responsibilities.
As her mind wandered, the queen's eyes came to rest on a small stack of letters on the floor beside her chair. With a small smile, she picked them up and shuffled through them, satisfactorily noting the names of the senders - one message from an emissary-friend who was keeping an eye on things in the capital, one message from a courting baron of a nearby fief, and another message from her knight gallant - her favored protector and guardian - who had been stationed in the outlying lands of the capital to await her return. Scattered amongst these men's missives were a few other notes from others, asking for her attention on various matters.
She enjoyed the weight and heft of those letters, but her pleasure was briefly interrupted when she noticed a lack of a message from one of the last people she had met - a member of the ambassador's party from a neighboring state. When the ambassador and his entourage had met the queen and her party for a few days of friendly exchange, she had struck up a playful banter with the ambassador's friend, and the two of them had spent lovely hours together, whiling away the dark hours.
Now, this morning when the sun was still young in the sky, those hours seemed frivolous, and their meaninglessness was underscored by the absence of any word from this man. Irritated, the queen dropped the letters to the floor. She arose and paced around the table one more time until, when she had arrived at the foot of the table, she looked up at her empty chair on the other side and paused.
I am a queen, she reminded herself. And queens do not pursue. Queens do not allow their plans to be disrupted for bawdy bards and lusty minstrels. Queens have higher goals - better goals - than to allow themselves to be distracted by men with stupid objectives.
Taking a deep breath, she began to move towards her seat one more time. She addressed herself as only she could - as both familiar and as ruler.
We are powerful, and we have a campaign to execute. We have reports to write, lands to explore, and people to meet. We have treaties to sign and agreements to forge. The world does not wait while a queen succumbs to girlish anxieties. The world does not pause for a queen to snap out of depression. No, the world waits for no one - and so neither will the queen.
Feeling energized, the queen called the guard, and requested that he inform the camp's chef that she was awake and desired breakfast in the pavilion. She would take the quiet time before her advisers gathered to collect her thoughts and play with a new scenario that she had been mulling over for the last few days. With renewed energy, she leaned over the table and took in the advanced stages of her campaign.
There are victories to be taken, deaths to be defied, and a new world to be birthed. We wait for no one.