DISCLAIMER : The characters of Xena and Gabrielle and some others belong in their entirety to Universal/MCA, Renaissance Pictures, and all the other powers that be. No copyright infringement is intended. I wrote this story at the urging of my muse; it should never be used for profit.
This story is a sequel to the stories “Lord Conqueror of the Realm” and "Queen of the Realm." I strongly recommend you read them first because in this story there are references to events that took place in them. Here is where you can find them:
http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/w/warriorjudge_lordconqueror1.html
http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/w/warriorjudge_queenoftherealm1.html
LOVE/SEX WARNING/DISCLAIMER : This story involves both love and sex (at times some rough/raw play with very mild BDSM elements – all consensual - nothing severe) between two adult women. If you're under 18 or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live, please do not read it.
SPECIAL THANKS : My humble most ardent gratitude to the excellent, most brilliant Beta readers Nancyjean and Alexandriaruth whom I can't thank enough.
Comments, thoughts, questions & feedback : MOST WELCOMED – The more you write me, the quicker I post – I mean it!
Part 9
It was nighttime. Princess Athena lay idly in Cynna's arms, resting her head against her mistress' bosom. She told her about all that had happened earlier that day on the practice field.
"My sister bears the same sentiments towards the Lord Conqueror as my mother does," she stated matter-of-factly. "They are the only ones in the entire world who not just love but worship the Conqueror without an ounce of fear or judgment. They bear the Conqueror pure love and worship… the kind not even the Gods receive from their most devout followers." Her words dripped of bitterness.
Cynna fondly brushed her fingers through Princess Athena's hair and said, "Even the most devout defy their Gods, sometimes."
Athena sighed deeply and shook her head. "Not these two."
Meanwhile, in the palace, the Queen was restless, tossing and turning in her bed. Her longings for the Conqueror knew no bounds. She was experiencing the same excruciating hunger as she had felt when she had been with the Amazons. Behooved by them, she lurched upwards, and opened the doors of her antechamber, which led to the corridor. However, as soon as the doors were ajar, she saw her Lord leaving the Imperial chambers, cloaked in her dark brocade robes and holding a burning torch in her hand, the orange glow accentuating the outlines of her exposed biceps, exhibiting power that the Queen lusted after. Her eyes followed her Lord as she made her way down the corridor then down the staircase till the Conqueror disappeared around the corner and out of the Queen's range of sight.
That wasn't the first time the Queen had witnessed her Lord leaving the Imperial chambers at the dead of night. The begging question as to the Conqueror's activities and whereabouts at that time of night mercilessly pecked her mind and soul. She had half a mind to follow her Lord and spy on her, but she knew that her Lord would catch her in a matter of moments. A profound, ominous sensation of dread rendered the Queen unable to form a single rational thought or a reasonable explanation.
She called for the lady in attendance that night, who was dozing off on a stool near the entrance of the Queen's chambers.
The lady in waiting jumped off the stool with a jerk as soon as she heard the Queen's voice calling out to her.
"Majesty," she curtsied, too embarrassed to rub her bloodshot eyes.
"Tell the Lady Satrina I wish to see her," the Queen ordered.
"Now?" the servant asked, momentarily forgetting herself, for it wasn't the Queen's habit to trouble the household staff during the small hours of the night.
"Yes, now," the Queen confirmed, impatiently.
The lady in waiting curtsied again and scurried out to do the Queen's bidding. A short while later Lady Satrina requested entry to the Queen's chambers.
"You wished to see me, your Majesty?" Lady Satrina asked.
Now that Lady Satrina was standing in front of her, the Queen felt incredibly foolish, but was unable to stop herself.
Her longtime friend and servant saw the distress and embarrassment about the Queen and in the name of their friendship and despite the differences in their stations, she decided to ignore the gap and reach out to the Queen.
"You seem troubled, Majesty," she encouraged the Queen to speak.
"Has my Lord taken a mistress?" the Queen asked bluntly, applying no restraints whatsoever.
Lady Satrina swallowed hard. "I cannot say, Majesty," the steward replied, all the while thinking it was unfair of the Queen to be placing her in such an impossible position.
"Cannot, or will not?" the Queen demanded the distinction be made.
"With respect, Majesty, I honestly do not know," the steward answered.
The irritated Queen turned her back to the steward. "I don't believe you!" she exclaimed. "You know everything that goes on around here, even when the rats in the dungeons below are breeding!"
If there was one place one should never find oneself, it was between the Lord Conqueror and the Queen, Satrina had learnt that hard lesson a long time ago, and now the Queen pushed her to that very spot.
"Majesty… I don't know."
"It's that young redheaded harlot, isn't it?"
Lady Satrina didn't recognize the regal, usually gentle woman who stood before her as her friend and Mistress. Never before had she seen her in such a state. It pained her to see the Queen being destroyed by her own hands.
"Thetis is but a servant, I think," Lady Satrina tried to offer reason and some relief.
"Never speak her name in my presence again!" the Queen's words were uttered firmly.
Lady Satrina suspected that the Queen fell victim to fear and therefore was beyond reason. "Majesty, the Lord Conqueror loves only you, I'm sure. You mustn't torture yourself…" she said on the verge of frustration.
"I can't help it. I cannot lose my Lord's heart… I've seen my Lord leaving the Imperial chambers every other night… It torments me to the point where I think I shall go mad." There was no denying the severe distress in the Queen's voice. "Make inquiries as to my Lord's activities…ask the Imperial guards,” she frantically ordered and grabbed Lady Satrina by her shoulders nearly shaking her.
To Lady Satrina, the Queen indeed appeared like a woman on the brink of losing her senses. "I cannot dare investigate the Lord Conqueror's private affairs," she claimed then added more softly with beseeching eyes, hoping to get through to her Mistress, "As your friend, Majesty, may I suggest that you reconcile with the Lord Conqueror and put an end to it?"
"I wish I could," the Queen broke down in tears. It was then that she realized she could not allow things to continue the way they had been, and that she must recruit all her efforts to reestablish some form of communication with her Lord, or else, she would lose the singular, greatest love of her life.
The following evening, the Queen ordered the cook to prepare lamb chops for the Conqueror's supper, and as the cook carved the meat, the Queen herself stood over the burning stove and prepared her famous stock, which was her Lord's favorite, nearly offending the cook by doing so. She did not care what the servants might think, seeing her slaving over the pots… a woman of her position, and all.
At dusk, when all was prepared the Queen herself took the tray to the Imperial chambers, hoping that her peace offering would earn her back her Lord's affections and favors.
She opened the doors to the Imperial chambers and saw the Conqueror hovering over some documents at her desk.
The Conqueror, engrossed by the documents, failed to notice that it was the Queen, rather than a servant, who entered her chambers.
The Queen laid down the tray and curtsied before the Conqueror.
"My Lord," she called out softly.
Surprised, the Conqueror lifted her eyes from the scrolls and beheld her wife.
"I thought you might be hungry, my Lord, so I've cooked supper for you," she spoke with an appeasing quality in her voice.
The Conqueror stood up and moved around from behind the desk. She ran her eyes over the perfectly roasted meat with its succulent pink centre and the steaming mouthwatering stock.
The Queen anxiously awaited her Lord's response.
"My Lady…" the Conqueror eventually said almost softly, in a way planting false hope in her wife's heart. "In the event that you might have forgotten, I will remind you that I can snap my fingers and have a banquet prepared for five hundred guests within three candle-marks, or have ten legions fully armed and ready for battle within less than a day. I can alter the lives of millions in my Realm with nothing more than my breath." The Conqueror paused, carefully examining the Queen's reaction to her words, wondering if she could anticipate the point she was trying to make, but soon realized the Queen did not. "These are not the sort of things I need a wife for," she went on to speak, calmly and slowly, "I need a wife… in my bed. Is that what you are offering?"
The Conqueror's words tore the Queen's heart into countless pieces, but they also generated anger, anger that her Lord, who was supposed to love her, rejected so callously her effort to become close once more.
Every sense of self-dignity she possessed demanded that she should point out to the Conqueror that she could snap her fingers and have a hundred courtesans for that as well, but her sense of reverence and submission before her Lord barred her tongue, and she vacated the Imperial chambers without speaking another word.
Once alone in her chambers, the Conqueror slumped down into her armchair, defeated.
The next day, the Conqueror sat on her Throne in the Great Hall, with Princess Terreis, whose wounded elbows and legs were meticulously dressed, perched on her knee. A choir of women singers and musicians preformed for the Royals' pleasure.
After a few songs, the singers and musicians began to sing the melody that sounded like hello and ended in goodbye, which the Conqueror had caught the Queen singing in the kitchen the first time they had traveled to Thira on the very day that they had finally spoke their love for one another.
The Conqueror felt something cracking inside her, like a small breech in a robust dam and torrents of pain rushing and gushing upwards strangling her throat.
"Enough!" Her sonorous voice roared and bounced off the Great Hall's walls and over the singing voices and the voices of the instruments. "Leave now! All of you! Out!" She shouted at the trembling musicians and they all ran out on buckling knees.
Princess Terreis was the only one who demonstrated no fear. She looked upwards and saw boiling tears running down her Sire's eyes, and although seeing a parent crying is a frightening sight for most children at that tender age, Princess Terreis felt nothing but pain and empathy for her silently weeping Sire.
She stood on the Conqueror's knees so to reach her face and collected a single tear in her wee finger.
"Don't cry, my Sire," she said, her voice laden with comfort, "I will cry for you."
The Conqueror lowered her watery gaze and beheld the daughter, who epitomized her wife and Queen to her, and embraced the child tightly against her body.
***
Another fortnight had gone by, and Cynna settled in the extravagant villa that Princess Athena had acquired for her. It was one of the largest structures in the best part of Corinth . True to her promise, Athena spared no expense. The finest of furniture and the finest of fabrics were used to decorate the bare walls. A dozen servants were hired to attend the Amazon, whose roots and origins could no longer be seen upon her.
When the Conqueror confronted Princess Athena about her lavish spending, Athena merely replied: "Well, she's out of the palace. Isn't that what you wanted, Majesty?"
Needless to say, in all that time, Princess Athena spent not a single night in her wife's bed.
When one of Princess Sieglinde's Nordic ladies in waiting could bear it no longer and said something about it to her Mistress, feeling her national pride being trampled over by the Realm, Princess Sieglinde hushed her, stating in her native tongue only this, "Search all you wish, and you would be hard pressed to find a single woman in my station or near it whose husband has never cheated on her. That said, I would forgive Min Herre all but one thing. That is, if she would be anything but the just and honorable ruler the Lord Conqueror is. As for me, I am well-contented to be in a position where I can do some good for the welfare of my subjects."
One evening, the Conqueror was reclining on the carpet and over a pile of cushions not far from the burning hearth in the Imperial chambers, with a map of the Persian province spread before her, teaching Princess Terreis the battle strategies while moving small figurines in the shape of soldiers, catapults, horses and chariots over it for demonstration.
Thetis, who was also present, sitting on the carpet as well next to the Conqueror listening riveted to the Conqueror's words, asked, "Majesty?"
"Go ahead," the Conqueror encouraged her onward.
"Does your Majesty think that everyone is capable of… killing a man?" Thetis asked.
The Conqueror smiled a half smile. "Before I answer your question, I will ask you this. Do you think you are capable of killing?"
"I am sure I cannot, Majesty," Thetis replied.
"Then you are wrong," the Conqueror said as she stroked Princess Terreis' gilded hair while the child played with one of the figurines, not paying attention to the adults speaking over her head. "Truth is, no one really knows whether they are capable of taking a life or not until they are facing the test. Some are certain that they are, but they don't have it in them, and some think they cannot until they do. It is my experience that in each and every military campaign I ever lead, there would be a few soldiers on the battlefield who discovered that they were not capable of shedding blood, even though they had exhibited excellent skills on the training field. On the other hand, when I sat in judgment of some who had been accused of committing murder, I often heard them claim that they never thought they were capable of it. So there you have it."
"May I ask, your Majesty," Thetis inquired further.
"You may," the Conqueror permitted.
Neither the Conqueror nor Thetis realized that the Queen was briefly listening in on their conversation from the other side of the closed doors, on her way to her own chambers.
"How did your Majesty feel after shedding blood for the first time?"
“I did not feel a thing. I did what had to be done to protect my homeland," the Conqueror said. Thetis thought that the Conqueror's answer matched exactly what she had expected to hear, however, her Master thought that that had been all that her servant needed to know.
The next morning, even before breakfast, when the Queen was just finished being dressed and prepared for the day by her ladies in waiting, Thetis was announced as she entered the Queen's chambers. She was led through the antechamber and into the Queen's main chamber, which was the largest in her suite.
When first she had received the summons, before she had retired to bed the previous night, she had wondered what the Queen could possibly want with her.
The Queen was expecting her, dressed in her regalia facing the entrance, with her crown on her head and with her fine jewelry sparkling all around her features like a luminous frame, and with her ladies in waiting standing behind her. Everything about the display was designed to clearly convey, 'I am Queen' .
“Your Majesty,” Thetis curtsied before the Queen.
The Queen acknowledged her with a slight nod of her head.
Thetis lowered her eyes as she spoke to the Queen, “You wished to see me, your Majesty?”
The Queen did not answer. She closed the gap between them with small, slow, almost deliberate gait, with her glaring eyes fixed on the redheaded attendant, like an archer would keep its target in his sights.
It was then that Thetis felt a twinge of uneasiness and she searched her mind for a cause as to why the Queen might be crossed or displeased with her, but she failed to come up with any offence she might have committed against her Sovereign Queen.
The Queen, still silent, began to sluggishly circle around the servant in a way she had occasion to watch her Lord do countless times over the years.
Thetis had never imagined that the Monarch, who was by all accounts, including that of her uncle, of well-disposition, could strike fear in anyone's heart, which was the Queen's intent exactly.
The Queen's ladies in waiting watched their Mistress in fascination, and the expression on their faces hinted to Thetis, who found herself nearly holding her breath, that they had a decent idea as to the reason for their Mistress' vexed state.
After completing a full circle, when once more facing Thetis, the Queen leaned in closer towards the nearly cowering attendant till the latter was forced to look away to escape meeting the Queen's gaze and thus not exhibiting barefacedness.
“Has my Lord taken you as a mistress?” the Queen asked plainly.
Nothing prepared Thetis for the Queen's flagrant question. The shock alone tied Thetis's tongue up.
Her lack of a response angered the Queen further like dousing burning fire with oil. It made the Queen even more distressed, as if Thetis's silence was an admission.
“Are you sleeping with my Lord?” the Queen asked with an elevated tone of voice and Thetis could feel the Queen's fuming breath singing her cheek.
Thetis couldn't for the life of her understand where this foul accusation stemmed from. Her mind was reeling in effort to make sense of it all but to no avail. Of course she knew that the Conqueror and the Queen were no longer sharing a bad over their dispute regarding Princess Athena's marriage, but the Conqueror had never been anything but appropriate with her.
Lady Astraea, head of the Queen's ladies in waiting, scolded Thetis, “The Queen's Majesty is speaking to you!”
Avoiding the Queen's glare was becoming harder and harder to do. Thetis wasn't completely ignorant as to why the Queen would ask such a question. She realized that had there been a reason to lie, she would have done so, gladly, for her Master's sake with accordance to her duties as a servant. She was scared. The Conqueror, she knew, would not defend her against the Queen. “Of course not, your Majesty,” she finally answered with a quiver in her voice, which made her wonder whether she sounded less convincing or sincere because of it. Since she wasn't looking directly at the Queen's eyes, she couldn't be sure if the Queen believed her of not.
“Do not think that you can win my Lord's heart,” the Queen hissed, “Get out of my sight!”
Thetis curtsied before the Queen and quickly left her presence, resolute in her mind not to speak a word of it to her Master.
***
Another season gave way to a new one taking its place. At dusk, Princess Athena came to dine with Cynna and to spend the night in the villa, which had become more of a home to her than the palace she had been born in.
As they sat at the table, conversing between them about the day that had gone by and who they had met and what they had done, being waited on by Cynna's servants, Cynna requested Athena for a new chariot, four horses, a groom and a stable to be built on the villa's grounds, so that she might travel wherever her fancy took her.
“Tell me when you wish to travel and I shall send one of the Imperial grooms with a chariot to you,” Athena replied and signaled a servant to pour her a second goblet of wine.
“Surely you wouldn't want me to trouble you whenever I wish to travel,” Cynna said.
“It's no trouble at all, sweetheart,” Athena replied and took the filled goblet in her hand.
Athena's answer didn't satisfy her lover. “Don't you want me to have my own means to travel as other ladies do?”
“Dearest, I cannot afford it at the moment,” Athena replied with a touch of impatience, hoping Cynna would take the subtle hint that she had no desire to continue discussing the matter any further.
Cynna understood as much but chose to ignore it. “What do you mean you cannot afford it? Aren't you the Princess of the Realm?!”
Athena emptied the goblet and with a sharp motion landed the empty goblet on the dining table. “What I own is what the Conqueror is generous enough to furnish me with.”
“Can't you ask the Conqueror to increase your allowance, then?”
“And when the Conqueror asks me what for, what answer should I give, do you reckon?” Athena's control over her temper was wearing thin. “The Conqueror dislikes you, to put it mildly, as it is.”
“So I am to be treated as some middle-class concubine?” Cynna protested.
“Of course not,” Athena said and placed her hand over Cynna's hand, which rested atop the table. “But would you have me begging the Conqueror for more means to support you?”
“You promised me that I should live like a Queen…” Cynna spoke with cloying sweetness, and as if the word ‘Queen' had given her an idea, she proceeded to ask, “Why not ask her Majesty the Queen? She refuses you nothing.”
“My mother has a lot on her mind these days and I shan't bother her with such matters, can't you understand?!” Athena rose to her feet. Her hands were fisted at the side of her body.
“Back to the Nordic mouse, is it?” taunted Cynna with a questioning look and arched eyebrows.
"I lost my appetite. I think it best if I slept in my own bed tonight," Athena informed Cynna with narrow eyes and stifled fury.
Cynna made no effort to stop her, believing her stance just, for what would her neighbors and acquaintances think if they saw her living below the means of other nobility in the Realm?
Princess Athena rode back to the palace. She was disappointed in Cynna for failing to see and comprehend her view and position. Wandering through the palace's corridors, she didn't wish to be alone that night and she was in great need to speak with someone, but there was no one. The Queen was troubled with her own plight, her grandmother was already asleep; her sister too young and she resented her for the love that the Conqueror showered on her, and the Conqueror… well, the Conqueror was the last person Athena wanted to speak with these days.
And not before long Athena found herself standing in Sieglinde's bedchamber.
"Min Herre," Sieglinde curtsied, showing none of her surprise at Athena's unexpected visit.
Princess Athena said nothing, but just stood there.
"Min Herre seems troubled and tired," Sieglinde spoke softly, doing her best to conceal her native accent. With hesitant steps she approached Athena, tentatively slipped her hand into Athena's and led her to bed.
Athena offered no objection or resistance. Sieglinde's tender care soothed her more than she cared to admit. Heavily, the Heir slumped onto Sieglinde's bed.
Sieglinde knelt in fort of Princess Athena, who was still sitting on her bed, and began taking her boots off.
"Being brought up as royals, we quickly learn early on in life that comfort is scarce. There aren't many places we are safe receiving it. We are expected to pretend like we have no need for it, but we do. I will be grateful to you, Min Herre, if you would be willing to receive it from me, your unworthy servant," Princess Sieglinde said and poured water into the basin she had placed at Princess Athena's feet.
Athena listened to Sieglinde's voice as much as she did to her words. It was soft and placating. It was like slipping into a warm bath. She beheld her wife as she was washing her feet and she wondered what her hair looked like beneath the cap she was constantly wearing.
"Tell me about the Nordic Lands," Athena requested.
Sieglinde smiled and as she handled the clean towel in her delicate hands, she knew she was happy not just because she was granted an opportunity to talk about her homeland, but because it was the first time that Athena showed kindness towards her and interest in her.
"The Nordic Lands are vast, Min Herre. There are staggering, snowy and rugged mountains with icy sea, wide rivers and some of the highest waterfalls in the entire world… If I could only show you, Min Herre, how beautiful, wild and pure-white my homeland is… It would take your breath away," Sieglinde spoke as she dried Athena's feet and her face was beaming. "I'm afraid I cannot do it justice in your language, Min Herre, for I don't fully master it, yet…" She then chuckled and went on to say, "I don't think I can do it justice even in my own native tongue."
After she finished washing Athena's feet, Sieglinde rose back up to her own. "Anything else I can do for you, Min Herre?"
"Have you any funds of your own?" Athena asked, feeling wretched as she did.
"I do, Min Herre," Sieglinde answered, masking her surprise for Athena's question was quite unexpected.
"I am in need of a substantial sum," Athena muttered.
Sieglinde pulled out a wooden chest from beneath her bed. She opened and revealed a handsome amount of gold coin. She had her suspicions as to what Athena needed the funds for, but it made no difference to her. "What's mine is yours to do as you please, Min Herre. Please, take it."
Athena took the chest with her and held it under her arm.
"If you need more, Min Herre, you can take these and sell them," Sieglinde offered as she handed Athena the small chest containing the jewelry that Athena had given her on their wedding night, the jewelry which the Conqueror had given Athena to give to her.
It was then that Athena felt shame stabbing her guts. She kept her features sealed with no small measure of effort.
"That won't be necessary," Athena rejected her wife's offer, equally out of shame and out of fear of her Sire, since she would inevitably find out about it, for nothing escaped her Sire. "Good night," Athena bade Sieglinde before she left, thinking that her Nordic wife was no mouse.
"Good night, Min Herre," Sieglinde replied with a warm smile and her gaze escorted Athena as she made her way out of the bedchamber.
The following evening Princess Athena arrived at Cynna's villa with a new four horses chariot.
***
A knock on the door to the Imperial chambers interrupted the Conqueror and Thetis' conversation. A servant entered and served them supper. The Sovereign and the attendant, who was invited to join the meal, went to sit at the table.
Thetis waited for the Conqueror to begin eating before she started herself. She poured wine into the Conqueror's goblet and from the corner of her eye, Thetis studied the Conqueror's expression and realized it seemed troubled.
"Nobleman Sirus suggested to me earlier today that I should lower taxes in his province by dispersing the tenth legion and assembling a small militia to diminish costs."
Thetis wasn't sure what her response should be. She wasn't required to give any so she held her tongue and waited.
"This is the second time since the wedding this type of thing has happened…" the Conqueror groaned as she held the knife in her hand and vigorously cut the meat in front of her, bruising its texture.
“Your Majesty suspects the two events are linked,” Thetis said.
“They must be. The two noblemen are plotting against me. It is no coincidence.”
“May I make a suggestion, Majesty?”
“You may.” The Conqueror was curious to see just how clever Thetis was and how her mind worked.
“Your Majesty might consider sending Lady Lila so that she may join them under the guise of a coconspirator. It is a well-known fact that… Well…” Thetis wasn't sure if she should speak her mind, worrying she might overstep her bounds and insult her Master.
“Go on…” the Conqueror urged her on, even though she already knew what her servant was about to say.
“All know that there is no love lost between the Lady Lila and your Majesty, despite her kinship to her Majesty the Queen. She is in a high enough position to approach them and the Noblemen might not suspect her at all.”
The Conqueror was quite impressed with Thetis's idea. She was truly her uncle's niece. “There is one major flaw in your plan,” the Conqueror remarked, “I do not trust Lady Lila.”
“Pardon me, your Majesty, for failing you,” Thetis downcast her gaze and rested it on her plate.
“There is nothing to pardon you for. The flaw can be remedied.”
“How, Majesty?”
“You know the servants in my household pretty well, do you not?”
“I do, Majesty,” Thetis nodded her head, and already she could guess the Conqueror's strategy.
“Find me one that is reasonably wise whom you trust… you may consult with Lady Satrina… We shall order Lady Lila to hire her so that she could attend Lady Lila at all times when she meets with Nobleman Sirus and Nobleman Drusus, and thus she could be privy to everything and report back to me.”
Thetis smiled widely, her adoration towards her Master overrunning. “I already have someone in mind, but just to be sure, I will consult with Lady Satrina as your Majesty suggested.”
“Very good. I leave it to you to set it up, Thetis.”
“Yes, Majesty,” Thetis replied quite proudly, proud of herself for earning the Conqueror's trust and esteem, but when she watched the Conqueror's countenance again she realized that the Conqueror was upset still. “Is there something else that is troubling your Majesty?” She carefully inquired.
"Noblemen coming to me with unreasonable demands…" the Conqueror's voice grew irate,
“Her Grace, Athena displeases me…And all the while my wife… the woman whom I married," her voice turned even louder than before as she slammed the knife down hard against the table's surface with great noise that startled her staunch servant . "Twice!" she continued more enraged after the pause in her speech, "Refuses me the warmth of her bed." She paused again with raging fumes coming out of her nostrils. "She has made a eunuch out of me!"
It was like all the Conqueror's frustrations reached the end of their tether and erupted at the dining table.
Thetis froze in fear in her seat. She stopped breathing. She didn't move a muscle but rather kept her hands folded on her lap, and quickly averted her eyes away from her Master. She didn't even conceive of making a sound.
“I did not mean to frighten you,” the Conqueror let out from between clenched teeth like she was trying to control the rage. “You may leave my presence now, dear Thetis,” the Conqueror attempted to sound less intimidating.
Thetis nodded her head, curtsied before the Conqueror and left the table.
When the Conqueror could no longer hear her attendant's footstep, she got off her seat and strode decisively out of the Imperial chambers and to the Queen's chambers.
The Conqueror barged into the Queen's antechamber.
The Queen was about to enter her bedchamber for a night's sleep but as soon as she saw the feral wrath across her Lord's face, she proceeded to her bedchamber and locked the doors behind her, denying her Lord entrance.
The Conqueror pommelled her fists against the heavy wooden doors, nearly knocking them off their hinges, “Do you think these doors could keep me away from you?!” she shouted through them. “Do you think they could save you from me?!” the Sovereign exclaimed as the doors were halfway to tumbling down, “Have you forgotten who I am?!”
The sound of the key turning inside the keyhole halted the Conqueror's poundings. The doors were calmly opened and the Queen appeared, taking a step forward to stand on the threshold.
“No one can save me from you, but you, my Lord, but I never needed saving from you,” Queen Gabrielle spoke with an unreadable expression.
The Conqueror observed her wife for what seemed like an eternity, as if she was contemplating whether she should take her Queen, by force if necessary, or let her be, till she finally turned on the axis of her heels, un-rooted her feet from the floorboards and returned back to her own chambers.