Winterfall

Eight. I had until eight. I could fake an illness to get out of magic training. That won’t work. Damn it, he was right. It had been some time since we had practiced magic, since I used magic at all, which made me nervous.

I glanced down at the ring on my figure. Glistening - the ring was mocking me. It was fully charged. I didn’t want to take a chance to hurt him. I knew he was back to full strength but also had the occasional dizzy spell. He didn’t have one yesterday, at least that I saw. Progress right?

Yesterday was the first day I didn’t have one. Perhaps it was because I was up on my feet and not lying in bed all day.

Blame the bed rest.

When you go from being active all day to being stuck in bed, I think that is self-explanatory.

Whatever.

Maybe I should go to the arena and get some of this out before then. I didn’t think any more about it; I just did. I left my office, locked it behind me, and went to the training arena. Thankfully, it wasn’t being used at the time, as I did not want anyone to watch me use my magic.

I looked at the pillars in the arena and decided against targeting those. They may be sturdy, but I didn’t want to take a chance on breaking the arena. So, I found a few practice dummies that already seemed pretty used. I propped them up against the back wall and stepped ten paces back as I was about to utilize the first gem, a purple-hued color gem we hadn’t tested before. His voice echoed through the arena.

“Couldn’t wait, could you?” Theo seemed amused that I would go behind his back and try to fight practice dummies without him.

I sighed, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“We have been over this. I can handle it.”

“But that was before…”

“Before I used some of my strength to protect the city?”

I looked away from him. I knew he meant well, but part of me was still pissed that he did not tell me everything. I heard his footsteps fall behind me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and stared down at me. “Do you doubt my ability to protect?”

“No.”

“Then look at me.” His voice was firm. His words sent a wave of panic through my body. I didn’t doubt his inability to protect me or my kingdom. I honestly wasn’t sure where this was coming from. Maybe jealousy? Was I jealous he was able to protect the kingdom better than I ever could? Could that have been it? “Look at me, Maria.”

“I…” He turned me around to force me to look at him. As I stared up at him, he was concerned, worried. How could I say how I was feeling? Then again, I didn’t need to say it at all.

His eyes softened, “Maria, I do what I do because of you. I am here because of you. You are doing a wonderful job with this kingdom. Growing and developing every day.”

“Damn it.” I slapped his chest a bit harder than I intended, “Why can’t you let me be mad?” He didn’t even flinch. Not even a grunt.

“It’s my job.”

“Theo, how can I be a good leader when I need you to stop me from doing stupid shit like using my magic in the middle of the day?”

“Think of it this way: a Queen needs their King.”

I rolled my eyes, “You know you can be cheesy sometimes.”

“I know. But you love it.” He bent down and kissed my forehead. “Besides, you have stopped me plenty of time from doing stupid shit.”

“What a pair we are.”

“Indeed we are.”

He moved his lips down to mine and gave me a quick kiss. He pulled away before letting it go, too intense as anyone could walk in at any moment. “I have to get back to work. You need to get back to the castle.”

I nodded, “Eight then?”

“Eight.”

After he left, I’ll admit I was hesitant to go. I had the dummies sat up, I could Maria…I sighed.

Fine, I’ll go.

I waited a second before I left. I waited to see if he would still linger in my mind. Why are you still there? I couldn’t help but smile. I walked out of the arena and walked back to my office. Hey, I called it my office. That’s something.

I had all day to do absolutely nothing. I knew my father had a bunch of old files stashed in a locked door attached to his office. I could learn a thing or two.

I stood in front of the dust covered door feeling anxious. I couldn't help but wonder what secrets was hidden behind a door that only had access through the family's skeleton key.