Decreash Imperial Palace
Racheal was seated on the edge of the bed, her soft gaze lingering on her son, Amilek.
She had just put him to sleep after minutes of endless yapping about his friends, an owl…ridiculous.
She rose to her feet, crouched down, and then planted a kiss on his forehead before heading out of his chamber, locking the door behind her.
She wanted to make her way to her room, but she changed her mind and headed for Ragaleon's chamber.
When she got to the door, she didn't knock; she simply pushed the door open and stepped in.
The chamber was dim, the glow of a few candles straining against the weight of shadows. At the center stood a heavy oak table, its surface dominated by a wide, weathered map. Tiny carved figures—knights, towers, and ships—were positioned across it, each piece marking a frontier, a garrison, or an enemy force.
Ragaleon loomed over the table, his hands braced against its edges, shoulders stiff.
His eyes roamed from one wooden piece to another, measuring distances, silently weighing lives against territory. A single flame flickered, its light catching on the hard line of his jaw.
His tired eyes lingered on them, not as toys, but as the fate of his realm condensed into fragile wooden shapes.
"You are awake."
His enchanting voice muffled, before he fixed his gaze on her.
"Amilek kept me up all night, refusing to sleep." Racheal said before catwalking into the chamber, the red nightgown she was wearing gliding on the floor behind her, elegantly.
She had a predatory gaze; her emerald green eyes glistened under the radiation of the candlelight in the chamber.
There was silence for a while; she only lurked around him, watching as he moved the statues on the map.
"What do you plan to do with Tamina now that she has lost her mind?" Racheal suddenly breaks the silence, and Ragaleon raises his hand, signifying her to be silent.
"I do not want to hear a word about her…for now." He said it bluntly, and Racheal was pleased. She had actually wanted to know if he was still attached to Tamina.
She sneaked up from behind him; using her hand, she encircled his waist, then rested her body on his, pressing her chest against his back.
"It has been long since we shared a moment together." She cooed, her hands tracing his spinal cord in a sensitive manner.
Ragaleon could now fathom the intention of her visit.
"You seemed to have avoided me like a plague when Tamina was pregnant." She said, her voice laced with envy.
"She was carrying my child; she needed me more than you did." Ragaleon said coldly, and Racheal rolled her eyes, but he didn't see her since he was backing her.
"Of course, but now that she has failed terribly in delivering our expectations, should we not try and…recover the lost time?" Racheal said, gliding her hand from his waist down to his lower abdomen.
Ragaleon was wearing a plain white robe, but her touch was still sensitive enough to stir up arousal.
"I have been craving your touch for nights; the mere thought of your hands in me wets my thighs." She said shameless.
Ragaleon was surprised at this side of Racheal. Was it just him, or was she desperate?
"There are other queens I am yet to touch; you don't see them begging for it." He said it plainly, and Racheal frowned. She sighed, then slowly loosened her gaze on him; obviously her tactics weren't working.
"Is it bad for a wife to crave the touch of
her husband?" She said turning away from him.
"Of course not, it is only normal." Ragaleon said.
"You seem to have forgotten your promise to me." Racheal said and then crossed her hands tentatively. She looked docile in the red nightgown; her brown curly hair was let down, flowing down her shoulders.
"I never forget my promise, Racheal." Ragaleon said his eyes were fixed on what he was doing.
"Why did you get married to me?"
Ragaleon was about to move another statue on the map when he froze for a fleeting moment, then regained composure.
"Why do you ask?"
He said nonchalantly, running his hand through his thick shoulder-length hair, his golden brown eyes moving strategically across the map, scanning it with scrutiny.
"I am not the only one seeking the answer to this question, but I am the only one that has been bold enough to ask; I just want to know."
"So you ask to satisfy the cravings of others, to have something to say in return when they throw such questions at you?" He arched his brows, terribly annoyed.
Racheal bit her lips, then lowered her gaze. She walked around the table and reclined opposite him; they now stood face-to-face, but the table was between them.
Her eyes lingered on the figures spread on the map, the carved knights and towers frozen mid-conflict. Slowly, she lifted a hand and, without asking, began to move them. Her fingers, adorned with slender rings, brushed lightly against the wooden pieces, yet every motion was deliberate and measured.
An enemy marker was nudged aside on the map, its placement undone with effortless certainty.
She moved as though the battlefield were already won in her mind, her wisdom guiding each adjustment with elegance.
"Every day I wonder…"
Racheal began, avoiding his gaze.
"Why me? Why did he choose me? It could have been anybody else, or maybe it's just politics; who knows?"
Her eyes were cold and unwavering, cutting through both the map and the silence that cloaked the room. Each placement was not just strategy but judgment, a reminder that her mind was as keen a weapon as any sword drawn on the field.
Ragaleon watched her with keen interest, without saying a word.
"You got married to me, not minding the fact I already have a child…" She smacked her lips, then sighed.
"But then it becomes my burden to bear the mockery; no one will say a thing to your face. They will only talk behind your back."
"What is it that you want?"
Ragalean asked calmly, his deep voice warming its way into Racheal's heart. His gaze was still fixed on what she was doing.
"Assurance…for me and my son."
"Our son."
Ragaleon corrected, tapping his finger lightly on the wooden table.
Rachael paused; she drew in a heavy breath. There was silence.
Her cold gaze traced the new arrangement she had wrought upon the map. The carved soldiers and towers were now set in a new formation on the map.
She studied it, unmoving, her face unreadable. Then, after a brief thought, she reached once more and slid a knight into a strategic mark on the map.
Only then did she lean back slightly, her eyes lifting from the board to meet the Ragaleon's. Her lips parted, her voice low, calm, and cutting through the chamber like steel.
"Perfect."
She said before walking away from the table. Ragaleon reclined at the table, examining what she had done; it was, indeed, perfect!
He had been standing for hours trying to pinpoint an inevitable formation, but it took Racheal only a few minutes to have it figured out.
"Assurance?"
He said, rubbing his palms against each other before turning around. Racheal was already losing the rope of her nightgown.
"I chose you because you had something in you that I needed in a wife."
He started walking up to her.
"A belligerent woman filled with the wisdom of even the oldest men." He added, still making his way to her, his hand crossed behind his back.
Racheal finally tugs at the final rope on the dress, and it slides down, exposing her nudity.
"I want to remind you of your promise."
She said before stepping out of the dress on the floor and kicking it aside. Ragaleon crossed the space between them; encircling his hand around her waist, he brought his mouth to her ear.
"You don't have to remind me, Racheal. You will become the mother of my heir." He whispered, repeating the promise he made to her months ago.
Racheal smiled, her face filled with desire; she felt his hand snaking up her thighs, and she closed her eyes, parting her legs wide to give him access.
"Ohhh!
Racheal purred when his hands landed on her wet spot.
She pushed her body down, wanting to feel it inside of her. She started gliding her pelvis on his hands, and as he did magic fingering her, her eyes were still shut tight as she moaned.
"I will answer your question, Racheal."
He whispered, still moving his hands between her wet folds, gliding inside of her, his pace increasing.
"Ahhhgh! Ughh!
Racheal was on cloud nine; she threw her head backwards.
"I married you because you have everything I need in a woman."
He said before spinning her around, he pressed her against the edge of the bed, bending her over, her chest resting on the edge, her ass raised in the air.
He took his clothes off within the wink of an eye. Racheal waited patiently for him; she was already aroused and needed him badly… Her wait finally ended when he rammed into her from behind.
Racheal's eyes widened, a small gasp escaping her lips.
"Oh good lord!
She moaned, clenching the bedsheets, trying to stay in position; she was going nuts with pleasure.
He banged her from behind for a while before switching positions; they both entered the bed properly and continued their night of bliss.
For almost an hour they made love to each other, satisfying their burning cravings, after which they lay side by side breathlessly, their skin glistening with sweat.
Racheal's hair was sticking to her face, her chest rising and falling.
"I want a public declaration; the whole of Decreash should be aware of your promise to me. The queens in the harem are venomous; they will do anything to have their child on the throne…."
"Do you trust me?"
Ragaleon asked, interrupting her.
Racheal blinked her eyes, absorbing his question.
"Yes, yes, of course I trust you."
She says, avoiding his gaze, It was intense.
"Then you will let me do things my way."
He retorted calmly, and Racheal nodded; pushing this discussion further might sour the blissful encounter they just had.
"Does Amilek say anything about me to you?" Ragaleon asked, and Racheal was stunned by his question.
"He doesn't. I guess he is just lonely; he refused to be acquainted with anyone, and he prefers to remain in solitude." Racheal said sadly.
"Then we must change that; he needs an ally, someone he can connect with."
Ragaleon had always felt a sense of responsibility towards Amilek, even though he wasn't his biological son.
"I already have handled that."
Racheal's face brightened up; it was time to let him know. She slowly took one of his hands, then slowly brought it to her stomach.
"I am pregnant."
She says, locking gazes with him, searching his eyes for any sign of excitement. For a while there was silence.
She thought she would be disappointed; after all, Ragaleon was a rigid man, and he hardly expressed himself.
Ragaleon gazed at his hand resting on Racheal's stomach, his heart stirring with something he never knew existed.
"You are not just saying this? You mean it?" He asked just to be sure, his voice cold. Racheal nodded, smiling.
"I have a child growing inside of me, our child." She says, and instantly her lips are captured; he kisses her slowly…deeply.
"This is the best news I have gotten in a while." He says after pulling away. That was all he had to say?
What a pompous man!
Maybe he will be comforted by his loss if Racheal's baby survived.
Racheal was gladdened by his words; for many months she has lived in the castle, insecure because of her own thoughts. Her thoughts ate up her peace and gave her sleepless nights, but not anymore.
From now on things are going to be different.