"Women," Coron muttered as he downed another drink.
Van nodded, but didn't indulge in the same type of drink as his friend. They both had been given the cold shoulder from their wives. Mena wasn't happy about the supposed cancellation of her daughter's naming celebration, and Hitomi was angry that she was, well, basically told to shut-up.
Armand tagged along with the kings after having the door slammed in his face, and told by his Queen she had no need for a male person in her presence except to hit and blame. He made himself too busy the rest of the day to hang around.
"She was so upset she threatened to name my daughter 'Infant' until she gets the ball," Coron sighed dejectedly. "I guess it is better than some of the names she could have chosen."
Van was nowhere near as bad a spot. Hitomi had been furious, but sooner or later she'd get over it—he thought. Never having been on the extreme side of her temper, he was treading blindly through uncharted territory.
"There isn't much we can do," Van tipped his juice around in his cup, watching the pulp slosh around the bottom. There wasn't much he wanted to do. The ebony haired king knew he was in the right about this; it wasn't another person's place to tell a king how to run his kingdom. However, he had come to find out from visiting many females as potential brides; women hardly ever cared what was right or wrong in regards to a fight as long as they were apologized to later.
"You can say they were right and give them what they want," Armand offered.
Coron snorted, Van just stared at the other blessedly single male. Perhaps he was drunk, after the incident a few years ago Armand was rather heavy handed with the liquor. Too bad for him it took a great deal to get the man soused.
"Why?" Van inquired. He wasn't sure what he would have to do to get Hitomi to unlock the door to the bedroom. All of his clothes were in there and he was sure to start to smell without changing them daily.
"Because if you give them what they want you do have to swallow a lot of smugness from them, but on the other hand, you get certain—rewards."
Coron's eyebrow rose. Van cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"Imagine how grateful they will be to have such an understanding husband; they'll cling to you like a shirt to a sweaty bar maid."
Van sighed; the man sometimes had the most unintelligent ways of expressing himself.
"Sounds like you speak from experience?" Coron prodded gently. Armand made a noise in the back of his throat, not agreeing or disagreeing to the question. "What good would it do to give into her when I wouldn't before? Mena will know. She always knows."
"She might be too happy to care why," Armand suggested after a few minutes.
Van excused himself shortly afterwards, not wanting to be responsible for any of Armand's insanity. What was worse was that Coron seemed to be slowly buying into it. If the castle ended up pink or something just as ridiculous, Van wanted his hands to be clean of the crime.
----------------
It had been two days since the minor explosion between both married couples. Van, not wanting to have the door slammed in his face as it was in Armand's, didn't try to get into the bedroom they were staying in. Oh, he could have tried, but when he heard her crying on the other side it injected his heart with a weighty guilt.
As he strolled down the hall, with no where really to go, the king felt out of place. He'd received the morning reports from his kingdom and everything wasn't falling to ruin without him. The councilors advised him to relax and enjoy his final week of honeymoon before he returned to Fanelia.
What was to enjoy when his wife lorded over him like a mad woman?
Coron had mentioned that it was a conspiracy. Women were trying to drive every man insane in order to become the high rulers of all Gaia.
Van had snorted at that idea.
With nothing save walking to do, the king decided to examine the gardens again. If he could, he'd make a copy of the park and put one in Fanelia, but his worrisome mind would never let money be spent so frivolously on a personal desire.
There was a light fall of rain, but considering he hadn't been able to change into his clothes and bathe properly, some rain might help disguise any smell that was ripening on him. Running a hand through his wild and damp locks, the king stood still in the middle of the path, and allowed the sweet droplets to kiss his face.
The sound of a light tap on one of the stones caught his attention. Sliding his eyes over to where the noise oriented from, Van made sure his face was blank, but his expression switched to surprise when he saw Hitomi's hastily losing herself in the garden.
It was either now or he'd start to grow something unnatural on him from lack of bathing.
"Hitomi," he called out, his feet taking the same path she went down. She either heard him or figured he wouldn't follow as she came to a stop by the tall, thick peach trees.
Her heart leapt in her chest in embarrassment at the sound of her name. She had been simply wandering around, loving the feel of the rain and sweet scent of the flowers when she saw him.
Van's eyes were closed; chin tipped up faintly, and lost in some semblance of peace that usually escaped him. He never had been more handsome than he did with the rain dripping down his face and fingertips. Hitomi was so entranced, she had taken a step forward unconsciously, and the noise it caused snapped the spell he was under.
She had felt her cheeks flare red, just seeing him like that made her forget about the anger. The ire had faded when it was over powered by—something. It was that unknown something that made her turn and walk away.
It was a realization over that same something that made her stop.
"Hitomi?" Van's hand touched her shoulder lightly and the girl nearly crawled up a tree in surprise. She turned her eyes to him. Those garnet colored eyes said it all. He was ready for a fight. Anything she could have pushed at him, he would be ready to handle.
"I don't have anything to say to you," she stated without much conviction.
Van sighed.
"Before you say anything, I'm not mad anymore about what you said. Mena explained it to me, very thoroughly, and I just want you to know that I'm only upset because you didn't say it in a better way," she confessed softly just as she had rehearsed in her mind over the past few days.
"I could have approached the subject in a different way, yes," Van admitted.
Hitomi wanted to faint at his words. He agreed! Just like that! What was he up to? Or better yet, had Armand talked him into?
"You'll get sick if you stay out in the rain too long," the man lightly admonished.
Hitomi wished to call him hypocrite, but she called him sweet inside her head instead. "What about you? Don't tell me that you are tough enough to not get sick."
"I can't get into the bedroom to change."
Ah, that's why he was being sweet, it was a set up. She smiled and shook her head.
"Then walk with me," she turned and started down the peach tree path. The trees acted as a partial guard against the rain as the couple passed under their branches and leaves. Hitomi decided to ignore his perceived rudeness from a few days ago for the peace between them and his presence. Her mind went blank when he quietly reached out and threaded his fingers between hers.
They didn't say anything and neither of them had the nerve to look at the other.
It wasn't an apology, it was better.
---------------
"I knew he'd listen to reason," Mena crowed as she brushed her red hair. "He said we could have a ball, but made it so we could only have royalty in the castle. The main courtyard will be for the villagers," she turned, her veil securely in place.
Hitomi smiled at the excited woman as she cooed over all the plans she had arranged to celebrate her daughter's life and name. The blonde nodded and gave her opinions when asked, but her mind was chased away somewhere else. Without being able to explain it, she was confused. One moment she was fine, the next, she couldn't keep her feet on the ground, and her mind was fluttered away to another place.
"Did you have some bad fruit?" Mena's question was a direct one, shaking the girl out of her stupor.
"No, no I'm fine."
The Queen lifted an eyebrow.
------------------
Van tugged at his collar, irked that he was once again dressed in the formal attire of his kingdom's colors. Not that it was a disgrace, but everything felt itchy. Only thinking about this outfit left him with the need to scratch.
"Where's Rai when I need her?" He muttered, fumbling with the puff around his neck. This had to be the worst part of the whole outfit, the darn cravat. After many failed attempts and barely concealed curses, Armand walked in with all smiles and hair and declared the Queen was ready.
After fluffing the annoying fabric around his neck, Armand was off like a bee to the nearest rose garden. The knight tingled with anticipation. Not only was the Queen so distracted by whatever was currently bouncing around her petite head that she didn't argue with him, he also got her into the lowest cut dress in her wardrobe.
It wasn't supposed to be his duty to ensure an heir, but he was worried with all the fighting that there would be no heir. Two of the most stubborn people ever to have been born on Gaia, and they were supposed to breed.
He shook his head, rolled his eyes, scrambled down the steps, and into the greeting hall where he breathlessly reported that the couple was to make an entrance soon. Most of the other attendees were already filling the main hall that there was hardly standing room left.
Since Armand was a visitor and friend of the royal family, he was allowed to stay around but had to stay out of the way. Out of the way meant by the dessert table to him, and that was just fine by him. When the couple made their appearance, the crowd hushed. When the royal family of Slena came gracefully down the steps, applause thundered in the marble structure. Then the young princess started to wail in protest to the noise, people chuckled and laughed at her 'cuteness'. Armand snorted, it might be cute if one didn't have to hear it for two weeks straight.
"Sir?" Armand turned his attention to Jill who was the personification of nervousness as he shuffled from one foot to the next.
"What? I have cream on my face or something?" The brunette chuckled at his own joke, but Jill didn't laugh. That wasn't good, Jill was a person easy to make laugh or perhaps a good brown-noser, but this time he didn't laugh. That meant it was serious trouble. Putting down his cake, the senior knight turned to the novice. "What is it?"
"S—she's here."
"You'll have to be a bit more specific, as you can see there are a lot of 'shes' around here."
"Look to the stairs."
Armand sighed and glanced in the direction the younger knight had instructed. It was a good thing he wasn't eating or he'd have chocked and died on the spot.
"Did anyone tell the king?" Armand's voice was barely above a whisper.
"No, sir. We didn't think it would be wise to—"
"Don't tell him," Armand commanded, and marched boldly across the floor toward the woman.
In an ice blue dress, there stood in all her glory, the living nightmare of Fanelia.
