The next week passed like a strange dream. With the queen absent, and I in her place, I had great power. Not limitless, but enough to survey all that I had to do.
Lucius was quite right. He was indeed very intelligent, if stubborn. Things were softening between us, but there was still an iron core inside him that would not bend or break. As much as it depressed and bothered me, I found myself almost admiring it by turns.
I also found myself ignoring the harem pleasures as business took over. At night I was often so exhausted that the only pleasure I knew in the day was at the raising of the moon. My thoughts in the night were heavy, and not given to levity.
I had come here as a spoiled brat, I knew that now. Despite years of hard work and training for one single goal, I was spoiled and sheltered. Now the weight of the world rested on my shoulders. I found myself envying my sisters even more. A life to lead freely, to own a small plot of land, raise a family the way I desired.
At night Lucius seemed to understand, and he simply held me. Those were the times I liked him best that week. I sought his counsel in the day on matters of state and he was never shy about arguing with me. And he did not always argue what he believed; often he argued many sides so that I would see them all and weigh them similarly.
After my work was done, we raised the moon. At those times I felt almost like we were alone. I seemed not to notice the crowd below or the harem members present. Lucius would smile and I felt the goddess within me, the god within him. It was a thing of beauty and all that week the moon shone brighter than any could remember.
At night I pretended my luxe rooms were in a farmhouse and Lucius and I were married. There would be work early in the morning, and soon children. At night I dreamt of two women with swords, blood, fear, and watching Lucius' light fade. Each morning I woke to the haunting sound of the Queen's mad laughter.
There was not all that much I could do. I did spend much of my time researching Fisine and her religious order, almost a parody of the old religion. They too believed in the inner strength of women being the path to spiritual enlightenment of all, but they took it one step further. They seemed to believe men should be slaves, and that pain and pleasure were one in the same.
It explained a lot, including how the order had survived. It attracted many women related by 3 or 4 degrees to a noble house with no female heirs. The order believed a male child could not hold the estate until he married, they believed it should go to those distant female relations. As such, they aided their cases and received rich rewards when the estate was funneled into the hands of a distant female relative.
The queen had strengthened their position, granted them unseemly land allowances in the provinces and here in town. She had not made it the official religion...yet. She had however laid the groundwork by instituting harsher laws on men. If she ruled another twenty years we might see men become slaves well and truly.
Lucius in the morning would aid my communications with Cassipe. I mostly asked about the days before Antal's rule. All that remained in the records about the previous queen, Cassipe's queen, were stories of her beauty and talent. Information on her budget, military strategies, and policies on infrastructure seemed nonexistent.
From him I learned the military budget had been small, the provincial governments stronger, the central weaker, and tolerance had been a lofty aim. A far cry from the modern world.
The old religion had once been practiced in many different ways, as was shown in the harem. All of us in the harem showed that in the various ways we had been raised. Now there was little declension from Fisine's practice. The queen set the fashion and it seemed that women in our world were overly fond of wielding whips.
My goal became clear. I had to win the nobility. I would do it through their men. I dared not tell Lucius this yet for I worried how he would take it. I could not put into words why his defiance was so distressing other than my world needed one anchor, one thing I could count on working as I had always been told it would. Ii thought a consort would be that anchor, but Lucius was the most unpredictable element of my world.
I sent my orders for the ball and had the invitations written by hand, the scribes using the most beautiful calligraphy possible. I made note that the evening would honor the beauty and power of men and had them delivered the day of the ball. I wanted as little word to return to the queen as possible. After that night, I did not know what would happen.
I remained in the public chambers on the ground floor, allowing visits from the subjects. Most were land disputes, appeals for decisions by high courts, and it was dreary. After I would greet the moon, then the ball would begin. I would arrive late as was customary, and also practical. It would take me a time to make ready.
Before the last visitors entered the chamber I sent word to have the upper levels of the harem make ready to greet the moon. I heard the case, freshened up, and hurried with the guards to the higher levels where the queen's balcony looked over the courtyard.
Lucius waited. We needed little preparation. By then, since this was our only contact, we both had great physical need built up for the moment. I greeted my people, dressed finely for the ball, and as they cheered I covered Lucius. I kissed him first with a smile. I had a plan in place for later that evening, where his nature would be an asset.
Surprised, he kissed me back, raising his head to follow when I pulled away. I laughed as I rose up and slid him inside me. I was so nervous and my day so boring I had spent hours fantasizing about this, and the reality was sweet.
So sweet I almost forgot to raise the goddess. I moved over him, pumping, my hands stroking his lean, strong body, and when the hot curled tail of orgasm beckoned me I remembered to open myself to the great spirit.
Somehow the passion made her stronger and she shot through me just as I peaked. Lucius gasped and came with me, jerking up and placing his arms on my waist completely against tradition. I cared not, I felt the god strong in him.
There were gasps in the crowd and when Lucius and I slowed our panting and opened our eyes, we found the harem staring at the sky. I looked up and laughed.
The moon was eclipsed, looking bathed in blood. There were many legends of such an event, good and bad, the oldest was that only a queen of true power could accomplish it.
From deep within the queen's rooms I heard her cry out, and Marxim paled. "Go, now, and make ready. I will attend her."
"Tomorrow, Marxim, I swear this shall be your last night spent in fear." He gave me a look of hopelessness but nodded, and left for her inner rooms.
I disbanded the harem and let Lucius return to his rooms to make ready and I went to mine. I was dressed in a white robe shot through with purple dye flowing between bands of white. The piping at the edges was gold braid, and the gold and purple matched the ribbons wound through my hair. Again I was dressed in pounds of metal for decoration and coated with thick makeup. In the end I did resemble a living work of art, exactly the image a leader should project, but it made me feel tired when there was so much work to do.
At the edge of the harem, under the weight of stares from all the members, I met Lucius. He looked...amazing. He wore dark green clothes, the material thin and fine and silken, flowing over his body. At one shoulder a black cape attached, part of it anchored at his waist on the opposite side. His hair was damp and slicked back, looking much darker than its usual golden color and showing the sharp bones of his face. His eyes appeared almost as dark a green as his clothes. He gave off an aura of power worthy of a queen's consort.
"My qu- lady," Lucius said and bowed with a wink.
I frowned at the near slip. "My consort. Come, let us meet the nobles." Taking his hand we stepped forward and guards parted, though more lines the grand staircase.
We climbed down to the administrative floor and passed more as we rounded the corner away from the small hall that led to the pool, and took the stairs down to the public rooms.
A crier announced us, the woman's voice carrying loudly. The musicians paused for my name and Lucius', and the began a royal arch for our final declension into the throng. It was not the queen's song, but it was a variation on her theme.
Guards lined the way to the throne platform. I took the throne and Lucius took Marxim's seat as he would not be joining us. The other seat, planned for Lucius, was efficiently removed.
The throng fell silent as the tune faded.
"My nobles, gentleman and ladies, I welcome you. I am Virtal the Just, this is my consort Lucius. I wish to welcome you to the palace in the queen's absence. Tonight we celebrate...love."
There was no major reaction; in fact, if one dropped a pin in the outside courtyard, there in the ballroom I surely would have heard it.
"Love is the guiding force between the goddess and the god; love is what brought forth the blood moon tonight. Love is the answer to war, to fear, to uncertainty. Love is what we shall strive for, and tonight, it is what we shall celebrate!"
This was, I knew from records, the strangest speech every given by an heir of the throne. However, by the end of the short spurt of words, I knew I had the men. Their eyes were soft, some of them seemed almost infatuated. Who would have thought I would be a romantic hero? If that is what I needed, I would become it. If I had to compose sonnets and learn to sing softly with a lute, I would.
Applause began, shyly at first, but then the loud thundering of the men's claps overtook the women's, and the music began anew. I accepted a goblet of brewed wheat as did Lucius.
"To love," I toasted him and smiled at my consort's perplexed look.
When we had drunk a long sip I stood and held my hand to him. "Let us dance."
Down on the floor the crowd parted for us, still moving, but their eyes were fixed to us. Good; just as I wanted.
Lucius reached for my shoulders as the partner who would follow. Smiling, I placed his hands on my hips and put mine on his shoulders. "You know how to lead, yes?"
I had been expecting to have to ask twice but immediately Lucius took the lead. He danced like he moved in the arena, with pure, sheer grace. He lead the dance as well as any woman could and I found he made it easy to follow.
There were gasps from the crowd but they melted away from my mind. I looked up into Lucius' beautiful face and his smile was more dazzling than any of the chandeliers. We moved together like we had been partnered through life. I couldn't help but smile back at him and wink, dipping back on a slow turn in the dance. He laughed, a wild, free sound of joy, and when I came back up I tipped my head up and kissed him.
The crowd was moving slowly, their faces staring at us openly. Lucius kept up the lead. I wanted the world to see I would not treat men as objects; I wanted them to see my path was not one of pain and cruel power. If there was anything of love and friendship possible between these couples, I wanted to foster it, to strengthen it, and in such give men power.
I would not tell my consort just yet. He would have his day in the sun, but for now he needed to stand solidly with me; not in front of me, and not behind me. That was a giant step forward under this world Queen Antal had formed.
The song ended and I slipped from Lucius' grasp as he bowed to me. Taking his hand we returned to the dais and sat. There was a feast awaiting us as the dancers filed to tables lining the dance floor. The lesser nobles remained in the courtyard and I quite envied them.
It had only been two months since I had arrived, but it felt like an eternity. In that time I had not been outside, my only glimpse of the world from the queen's balcony. I wanted to dance out there, under the blood moon and the stars.
As we ate and Lucius and I made the pleasant easy talk of two people with ears all around, the urge grew. I could not help but think of that night with Cassipe and Lucius. Never had it so firmly been planted in my mind my place. I would be the next queen. I was the current queen's heir and steward.
