Heavy is the Crown

Reyna awoke when a spiteful winter gust slammed the window violently. She'd had a dreamless sleep for the first time in so long, but as she woke up beside her ruined ball gown to a grey morning and an empty bed, she wished she could just go back to sleep.

Her eyes flicked frantically around her bed-chamber. Where was he? Where was Rowan? The armour was there, while every trace of him was gone.

Fear filled her up like a bubble as she rolled out of bed, put on her nightgown and a heavy fur coat, shoved her feet into her riding boots and ran out into the long corridor, terrified. She hadn't been terrified since Jo's death, then Rowan came back and now she had too much to lose.

Maybe she'd already lost it.

A small part of her hoped that he hadn't gone for long and that she could still catch up with him at the gate. This time, she would at least knock him unconscious for lying to her face and playing with her heart.

As she swept past the throne room, loud familiar voices pulled her to a halt. The guards bowed as they saw her and opened the door for her to enter. This was the worst situation she'd ever walked into. Lance was standing beside her throne accompanied by only two of his guards. He was wearing his fancy black suit and black fur coat with a sword strapped to his right hip. His shiny raven hair was uncombed yet as perfect as it could be, and his stern gaze was fixed upon the man kneeling before him.

Rowan.

His was the first pair of eyes in the room to catch Reyna's, and his shocked expression got three other heads turning to the door.

"There you are, Your Majesty," Lance spoke, his voice rough and echoey as if he was presenting a show. "I wasn't sure if I should send a servant to wake you but I was going to anyway."

"What is happening here?" she asked and strode up the steps to her throne.

Lance eyed her up and down, making her conscious of the fact that she wasn't properly dressed. The humour was etched on his face, yet he made no snarky remark and motioned to Rowan. "That happened."

"Let this man go. He's my servant," Reyna commanded the two guards behind Rowan, only to realize they weren't holding him down; he was kneeling on his own. He didn't even seem scared or worried. Maybe a bit guilty, but it was because of her presence.

What was happening?

"Actually," Lance said, "he came to me on his own. Showed up in my room at dawn. Can you believe it?"

"What?!" she cried out, her eyes pinned on Rowan.

He did not speak.

"Yes," Lance answered on her lover's behalf, one elbow resting casually on the side of the throne. "Did you say he was your servant?"

She cast a tentative glare at him. "Yes?"

"Then why did he ask to join my army?"

Reyna started, and then her head burnt with rage. She was angrier than she was confused for she had no idea what was happening and why Rowan had snuck into Lance's chamber and asked to join his army. Rowan had not said a word to her about this plan (if this was a plan). If she didn't love him, she'd probably let Lance's guards beat him up.

"He did not know what he was talking about," she said, glaring at Rowan.

She did not expect him to speak, but then he rose to his feet and told the Prince, "I do know what I'm talking about. I wish to join your army if your men still want to fight for my Queen and Isolde." Then his gaze flicked to Reyna for a brief second. "I knew Her Majesty wouldn't allow me to join her army so I came to you, Your Grace. Once again, I apologize for the chaos."

Chaos?

"Yeah, right, I forgot to tell you." Lance nudged Reyna slightly with his knuckles. "Your servant somehow managed to disarm ten of my guards to get into my chamber. I could have killed him myself, but only a fool would let such talent go to waste."

Reyna clenched her fists while Rowan refused to look at her. It made her blood boil. She would kill him once this was over, only if Lance hadn't done it first.

"He is my personal guard. He is not joining your army."

Rowan arched an eyebrow slightly at Reyna, and she realized she sounded like an angry mother when her child asked to go play in the snow. Better safe than sorry, she thought. She did not get him back to lose him again.

Lance held his hands behind his back and stepped closer to whisper to her. "My army will fight with yours, Reyna. He'll still be by your side."

That was the moment she realized, Lance knew. She had no idea how, but he knew who Rowan was and how much he meant to her. But could she actually believe that this prince was doing this for her, so that she and Rowan could be close without her people's prejudices?

Her eyes searched for Rowan's again. This time, he didn't avoid them. He stared right back and she knew that look; she'd seen it too often during their journey to the South. It said, 'You've got to trust me.'

And she really wanted to.

"Won't you have to take him with you to Attwell?" she asked Lance, not breaking eye contact with Rowan.

"Once you've accepted my proposal, one thousand Attwell soldiers will come to Isolde and serve in your court, and this man can join them."

Rowan seemed indifferent to the mention of the proposal. He knew that in order to keep him she would have to marry Lance. She told herself to just give him up and turn Lance down, but she was also well aware that her own army could not last an hour in battle with the South. She'd be outnumbered and the Isolde soldiers weren't well trained compared to Theros. Not to mention the fact that she'd already lost a handful of alliances after the massacre in this throne room. Suddenly, she understood why Rowan was doing this, and still, it didn't make her hate him any less.

She bit her lip and sucked in a deep breath. Rowan and Lance seemed to be holding their breath while waiting for her final decision.

"Very well," she said forcefully. "But I want two thousand men with fleets and strong horses."

"Deal." Lance flashed a smug grin and offered his hand in a businesslike manner. She didn't take it. Amused, he stepped closer. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Rowan flinch as if he was about to attack the Prince right there. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. If he still managed to get jealous maybe he should not have manipulated her into marrying the Prince.

Lance got so close that she could smell the winter from his coat. When he lowered his head, her heart jerked at the thought that he would kiss her in front of Rowan, but then his mouth was at her ear, and he whispered, "You really thought you could make him your personal guard and people wouldn't talk? Grow up, Reyna. Let me help you."

"I could just take your sword and gut you right here for talking to me like that."

She could feel a ghost of a smile on his face in response to the threat.

"You can protect him. But I can protect you, Reyna."

Lance drew back and their eyes locked for a second. His expression remained cold as ice, yet there was rare tenderness to it, or she was really hallucinating.

She didn't say another word to him. "Rowan, come."

And shoved Lance away before she stormed out of the room.

She kept on walking as Rowan's hurried footsteps echoed behind her. Once they had returned to her bed-chamber, she slammed the door shut and crossed her arms over her chest. The look she was giving him said, 'Go on. Explain before I kill you.'

"If I stay," he began, fingering his own belt out of nervousness, "you've got to let me help you."

"You could help me by not offering your head to the enemy on the battlefield."

"Are you really telling me you would sit behind these walls while your men fight to the death, Reyna?" She blinked at her real name, yet he didn't notice her reaction or he didn't care. "I know you'd be on the battlefield and I'm not going to stay here knowing I could lose you any minute."

"Then you could have talked to me first! You didn't have to manipulate me into marrying him! You made me feel bad for even considering it and then you went behind my back and–"

He closed the distance between them with two long strides, and she backed against the door with a thump as he cupped her face and kissed her like he had the night before. She didn't resist him. The kiss warmed their cold lips with one another, and her heartbeats gradually slowed though her anger hadn't subsided.

He pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. "I do not want you to marry anyone but me. Especially him. But you cannot stand a chance against Calanthe, and the last time she came to see me, she made it clear that she wanted you dead."

Reyna was taken aback. "She came to you? Did she–"

"My family is safe," he sighed, "for now, but I don't think your people will be." The words made Reyna shudder. Rowan went on, "On my way here, I've heard so many whispers about how you are illegitimate to the throne. Your people didn't like Egon but at least it made sense to them that he was the true heir and not you. Their faith is already fragile. Calanthe could easily turn them against you, and you keeping me as your guard will not help." He thrust his fingers into his hair. "I didn't only come to say goodbye but also to warn you about Calanthe. I thought I could just move on, but I couldn't leave you to fight on your own. So please help me and help yourself. But you also knew that, didn't you? When you agreed to the deal with the Prince, you thought you did it for me, but it was also for your kingdom, love. You know your people need this."

"I don't trust Lance," she whispered, shutting her eyes. "And what were you thinking sneaking into his chamber? He could have killed you. I saw him kill–"

"I know him."

Reyna's eyes shot open and widened. "You what?"

Rowan pursed his lips, looking rather indifferent, yet she knew he was not. "Well, actually, I know of him. He used to captain a ship and his crew went from kingdom to kingdom to free slaves and recruit them for his own army. He was as much a prince as you are a princess, and therefore, he's got as much to lose."

Reyna ground her jaw and threw her arms in the air. "Great. I don't even know my betrothed used to be a pirate."

"Don't call him your betrothed," Rowan said bitterly. "The marriage would be fake."

She stabbed a finger at his chest. "You should have thought of that before you made me accept his fake proposal."

Rowan opened his mouth, though it seemed like he was out of arguments.

"So you're saying he can be trusted?" she asked.

He lifted his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. But he could have just killed you and Egon if he wanted Isolde, right? Why bother to go along with a riskier plan unless he's just as desperate? No offence."

"None taken." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

Rowan curled his lips as he nudged her cheek with the tip of his nose like a horse. "Also, I don't want to be mean but from what I've heard, he's kind of a player. Just so you know. I'm the safe bet here."

"You're the least safe thing I've done and I've duelled my own brother to the death."

He gasped at her remark and she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his arms around her waist.

"More than myself," she answered.

"Good. Because as long as we're together, I'll never let anything bad happen to you."

Reyna touched his face as she returned the smile. He could promise her the world, but heavy was the head that wore the crown. The royal court was her battlefield, and she would have to make sure nothing bad would ever happen to him.