Reka's Point of View
Her husband's gait was unsteady as he braced himself against her on the way to breakfast.
Perhaps I was a trifle overzealous in our play, Reka considered. Making love in her demon form would have to remain an occasional treat, at least until Brad's body could be further fortified.
It was a danger, she knew now. "Wife" was a power word with ancient magic in it. It had been some time since she wielded such a weapon.
Reka should not have been surprised. The wedding ceremony had all the makings of an arcane ritual, complete with standardized garments and incantations. Earth's peculiar magic continued to fascinate her. With every step of progression from girlfriend to fiancee to wife her power grew.
Brad winced a bit as she helped him into his chair. She leaned down to kiss his pain away, feeling a small shock of power when their lips met. Yes, the marriage bond would need to be explored further. What else had changed?
"Walking funny, huh?" Julie teased from across the table. They stood not on ceremony in the royal apartments and her friend was already eating, even before the Queen sat down. Reka didn't care. Protocol was for public events, not her circle of intimates.
"It was our wedding night," Brad explained in a rough voice. "What do you think happened?"
Innocent Julie blushed prettily. Reka decided that Brad would need to sleep more tonight. There would be less lovemaking, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make for her husband's well-being.
"Your graces," Galiban entered the dining room and greeted them with a bow, serving Brad and herself in turn. Today it was eggs, sausage, and bundas kenyer, which was something like French toast.
"Thank you, Galiban," she said, watching Brad through the corner of her eye to make sure he was eating. "How fares our drug business?"
Brad coughed a little, her poor man. Reka rubbed his back in sympathy; she really needed to watch herself with him. The sex was so good now, the feelings so acute, that she took more than her husband could comfortably give.
I must be more restrained, she thought guiltily.
"Mass production of the weight-loss formula will be trivial," her butler reported. "In your highness' royal demesne the law will not prove a hindrance, but in other kingdoms the situation might be otherwise."
Julie looked at Galiban and listened intently, as well she should! This was her department, after all. Reka admired her diligence.
"We were thinking about making the clinical trials public," her friend added. "It seems too good to be true, but then again, so were your fusion crystals. The world is ready to believe you can do miracles, well, most of the world."
Reka knew what she meant. Brad's homeland of America had failed to send even a diplomatic congratulation on the occasion of her wedding. Were they not proud one of the countrymen was now a king? It honestly puzzled her.
"They just need a demonstration," her husband said. "Honey, if you could completely eliminate obesity at a nationwide level then the world wouldn't be able to ignore it."
Julie hummed in agreement while she sipped her coffee. "So many problems are tied to obesity: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, all the biggest killers and biggest costs. If nobody in the whole country was overweight the amount of money the healthcare system would save would be staggering."
Her friend smiled wickedly. "It's just the kind of thing you would do."
"Thirty six percent of adults in Hungary are obese," Galiban said helpfully, placing more food on Brad's plate at Reka's silent instruction.
"Honey, this is too much," he complained.
"I think not, husband," Reka corrected him. "You need your protein; finish the eggs at least."
As ever, he obeyed. The Queen kissed him again between bites, just a quick one before she stood up. "Galiban, what's on the agenda today?" she asked. It was time to get down to the business of governing. Her Prime Minister Janos Magyar had his instructions but the Queen was certainly not about to sit idle in her palace.
Quite unnecessarily, her butler paused as if considering. It amused him to affect human speech patterns and Reka didn't find any fault in it. An instant reply wasn't needed.
"An official visit, your grace," Galiban informed her steadily. "The first purpose-built fusion plant designed to work with one of your crystals is about to be completed. Our Chinese friends have sent dignitaries."
They wanted her crystals, Reka knew, but she supposed she couldn't find fault in their manners. They were open about their agenda and offered assistance her small country could really benefit from.
"It's actually crazy how fast they work," Brad said after he finished his eggs. "The boiler, the turbine, all shipped over special and brand new, top of the line. The guy I talked to said it was a modular design; they can pack it all up, ship it anywhere, and assemble the whole thing like a Lego set. Just fuel your crystal and pop it in."
Brad was so delightful when he talked about something that interested him. "Oh, and how did the rest of the meeting with the Chinese investors go?" she asked, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"The Chinese direct investment is full speed ahead," Brad said, leaning in to her touch. "YBD and Tianhua to start. That's electric cars and phones, but more to come. They are very interested in joint ventures, want to make Hungary their number one European trading partner. Blimp has really alienated the EU with how he's turned a blind eye to Russia attacking Ukraine and the whole handling of fusion and you. Sorry to say it, but my country really fumbled this one. Their loss is China's gain."
Reka hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek. "We'll visit again one day, my love," she assured him. Conquering such a large country would be difficult, but now she didn't have to worry about concealing her combat automaton factories. Her undying legions would soon arise.
Julie stood up as well. "I think that's enough true love for today; I have to get to work."
Dutiful as always, Reka observed. The cancer formula would be a welcome addition to her line of national products; Julie and Galiban had their instructions, so results could not be far. Since it was a consumable and not a permanent effect, the active ingredient in their drugs didn't even require all that much magic. Honestly, it might've made more sense to focus on the drugs rather than the crystals to start.
"Newlyweds," Julie snorted as she walked out. "But then, you've acted like newlyweds your whole relationship."
"If I love Reka a little more every day, then every day is the day I love her the most," Brad said profoundly.
You're not making it easy, Brad! I was supposed to go easy on you tonight!
With an effort of will she restrained herself from holding him tighter; her love was tender at the moment. Brad was far too reckless with his words sometimes!
Doesn't he know what he does to me?
"Well then, husband," Reka said, "let us dress for the road. The royal motorcade awaits!"
Dear Alice, looking fetching in her guard uniform, was their driver for this outing. They'd had a long conversation about her time as the Hero some time ago. The duplicity of the elves was galling! To falsely promise marriage like that was unconscionable. Reka had half a mind to build a dimensional portal to punish those arrogant pointy-eared fops once this world was fully under her control.
A matter for another day, she supposed.
Once Brad had been up and moving for a while his soreness seemed to abate and his stride improved. It was well, since he was to be the one to cut the ceremonial ribbon.
The new fusion plant was erected in the outskirts of her royal capitol of Budapest. Alice drove them to a designated drop off point and Reka led Brad through the cheering crowd, liberally distributing handshakes and polite words here and there. From what Alice said, the people they were greeting had already been cleared by her security team.
Efficient indeed. Reka heartily approved.
Chinese and Hungarian workers gathered behind the stage that had been prepared for her, the flags of both countries flying proudly.
A speech was expected, Galiban had informed her. In this world, the ordinary duties of a Queen mainly consisted of officiating at events like this one. Reka didn't find such a thing disagreeable; indeed, fighting battles every day would get tedious. She would know.
Ascending the podium to loud cheers, the Queen held up a hand for silence.
"It's been a chaotic few months, eh?" she began.
The crowd laughed.
"The world is changing," she said firmly, the microphone carrying her words not just to the crowd but the world. Camera crews from many lands were fixed on her.
"Six months ago, I was in America, building the world's first fusion company and planning my wedding." She paused for effect. "We all know how that turned out."
The crowd laughed again.
"Delayed as it was," she shifted her tone to be more serious, "I was eventually able to have my wedding, but there are no guarantees in this world. This world is beset by challenges, our nations of Hungary and China no less than others.
"There is an energy crisis, a water crisis, and an unemployment crisis. The potential benefits and detriments of artificial intelligence force us to make hard decisions. Will machines serve man or shall man serve machines? General chaos grips the world in uncertainty. It is our task, then, to navigate these stormy seas. I know many of you spend your free time scrolling on social media and feel hopeless as it seems the world is only getting worse. Well, today that changes.
"This plant is our first step on the journey towards energy independence, clean energy, mind you! The finest minds and hardest workers of our two great nations contributed meaningfully to the project."
Reka inclined her head towards the people behind the stage and let the crowd cheer them in turn.
"Cheap, clean energy in great abundance will do much to stave off the worst excesses of the present chaos, but I do not mean for our country to stop there! These problems can be solved! The potential of humanity to adapt and thrive in trying times is the reason we are the dominant species on this planet. Then, let this be but our first victory in the struggle for a brighter future!"
She breathed in slowly through her nose as the adulation washed over her. The people were with her; she could feel it. This was what it was like to rule with love.
What a lesson to learn after one thousand years...
"I won't take up much more of your time," Reka said once the crowd cheered itself out. "Let my beloved husband, King Brad, come forth and cut the ribbon, and let us inaugurate the European fusion era!"
Brad stepped forward gingerly and did the honors, getting a cheer of his own for his trouble.
They love you too!
After things quieted down, Alice told her that the Chinese representative, a Mr. Zhang, wanted a word. They met in a private corner of the new plant.
"An impressive speech," the fellow complimented in English. "My government was wondering about your present rate of crystal production."
A minimum of pleasantries and right to the point, Reka observed. She would repay his candor with her own.
"With recent developments in the efficiency of the process, my team estimates one new fusion crystal every three days."
"Three days," Mr. Zhang repeated, looking taken aback. "Ten a month..."
"Just so," Reka confirmed. "Not only that, but the Hungarian grid already has all the crystals it shall require. Indeed, we shall be exporting excess electricity, quite a lot of it."
"What about the other European countries?" Zhang asked keenly.
"Environmental groups in Germany are attempting to block any deal for my crystals, if you can believe it," Reka said. "We suspect some hostile foreign country is backing them."
"Russia or America" went unsaid.
Zhang made some polite noises about how unfortunate this was but Reka could see the greed in his eyes.
"Yes," she confirmed. "That means China can have them all. Just keep investing and helping me build up my country."
That sovereign wealth fund was growing larger by the day.