No Queen

The boy had hardened into a ruthless, feral beast. He looked exactly who he was. A barbarian. 

She watched as his gaze openly roved down her person before moving back to meet her eyes. There was nothing in his cold orbs, no emotion, no judgment. They were like pits of darkness trying to suck her in. Rosalie also refused to look away. It was her way of conveying that he doesn’t affect him anymore. She was no longer the gullible lass he took on ride and abandoned.

Soon his lips tugged up into a smirk. Rosalie gripped her throne arms a little too tightly in indignation. It was apparent he was not taking her seriously.    

“ Bow to the queen,” one of her advisors admonished the barbarian in a loathsome tone. Ryker raise a brow in amusement. 

“She is no queen of mine,” Ryker spoke in his deep sonorous voice that could put any woman into an erotic trance while staring square into her eyes, rubbing her ego raw. He was trying to rile her up, get some reaction out of him. But Rosalie refused to get affected by his prepossessing features or humiliating words. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. 

“ Don’t forget your place, Barbarian. She is the queen and you are nothing but the filthy, abominable trash,” the other advisor lashed, deeply offended by his remark but a tinge of fear could also be heard in his words. The barbarians howled, indignant by the ministers' behavior toward their chieftain. The savages shot the advisor a deadly glare. 

“Enough,” Rosalie reigned before bloodshed could break out in her courtroom. The barbarians, however, didn't heed her command and continued to grace the royal hall with a slew of threats. Rosalie was seemingly put out by such unabashed dismissal of her command. A lopsided grin fell on the chieftain's lips as he took in her not-so impassive countenance. With one flick of his wrist, the silence settled over the courtroom in one instance. The savages retreated to their original spot without a word.

Rosalie was incensed.   

Once the silence was restored, Rosalie was quick to right her expression.

“If the barbarians don’t want to bow to the crown, they are free to do so…I suppose this is not the best time to teach barbarians about basic human etiquettes,” she spoke the last sentence while appraising the barbarian chieftan with a disdainful sweeping glance. 

Her words had hit the right note. His smirk narrowed along with his eyes. No amusement was illuminating his vicious orbs now. If anything, he looked displeased by her understanding of barbarians. 

“Oh no, your majesty,” he used the title in a mocking manner. 

“We barbarians bow only to two people. The second being the almightly and the first to our woman. And you are none of them,” Ryker stressed on the last part purposefully and searched her face for a hint of hurt but all he received was a polite smile. She was blistered to the soul but she would be damned to let it surface on her face. She won’t let him have the satisfaction of seeing her all broken. Not again.  

“I suppose I am not nor do I intend to be,” she replied gracefully in the light of his previous remark, wiping the arrogance off his face. A frown settled atop his bushy brows. Ignoring his reaction, she let her gaze sweep over the whole group of barbarians.  

“I hope you all had a pleasant journey and good rest. Avalon is happy that you could make it here on such short notice. The crown wants to negotiate with the….”

“What if I refuse?” Ryker cut her short. The entire court gasped at his imprudence whereas the queen regarded him coldly.  

“I am certain we can change your opinion with our offers and also do well to not interrupt me when I am speaking,” her cold gaze cut through his when she uttered the last part. The acommand in her voice loud and clear. The corner of his lips tugged up into a lopsided grin. 

“Aye, my queen,” he smirked cryptically.

She averted her gaze from him. “Now, please have some rest,” she said without looking his way. 

She asked one of her guards to come forward. 

“Show them around the palace. Taking care of our guests is your utmost duty,” she told the guards who nodded obediently. 

“I have no interest in seeing the damned palace. Show me to the brothel,” he remarked while looking at her with a wicked smile. The other barbarians howled in approval. 

Rosalie's patience was bursting at the seams. She was so close to exploding but she knew that is what he was aiming for.   

“Take them wherever they want to. But first, show them to the bathe. I am afraid our guests might get kicked out from the brothel if they went like this,” she looked down her nose at his appearance but didn’t let her smile waver. Two can play this game. A scowl was quick to fall over his features.   

“The court is dismissed,” she declared and rose from her throne. Without sparing a single glance at him, she climbed down the stairs and graciously walked past him as if he didn’t exist. 

Ryker clenched his jaw. 

Her ignorance didn’t settle well with him. 

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