Ch. 4 Loyal Little Princess

I gave my mother a quick forced grin before taking the letter and looking down at it, my eyes skimmed it quickly. "So, these men will be here later today or tomorrow morning, and then what? If this guy decides that I'm," I quickly found the part I was referring to in the letter again, narrowed my eyes at the wording and read straight from the paper, "found to be favorable" I glared at my mother, "then what? He goes back to his King and reports that I'm good enough for the royal line and then I just pack my bags, wait for them to come and load me up and go live in a kingdom full of humans?" My mother took the letter back and put it in her pocket.

"You'd be leaving with the King's men when they leave tomorrow," she said softly, looking away from me. My chest tightened. 

"I didn't see that in the letter," I said, unable to grasp the idea of leaving my home, the only home I had known my whole life so soon.

"It was in the other letter. Your father and I thought that one was a little too sensitive and felt you didn't need to be bothered with that."

"I'm the one getting carted off, I think I deserve to know everything the King had to say," I shot back.

My mother sighed and shook her head. "Only thing I need to know is... Are you... Have you uhm..."

my eyes widened slightly. I had never seen her get so flustered before. This woman, who was always such a rock. So steadfast that nothing made her falter was tripping all over herself. "What, mom?" I didn't know if it was my tone, or the fact that I called her 'mom' instead of 'mother' for once, but the Queen Mage's eyes met mine and she took a deep breath.

"Are you still a virgin? You and Gil never..." She trailed off and my mouth dropped open slightly.

"What does that matter?" I asked her, my voice rising slightly.

"The royal family of Scepterfall are very strict on the cleanliness of their bloodline. They believe that the women of the family need to be virgins at the time of marriage and can only share their bed with their King. It's a religious belief, I believe," she explained. 

I lifted a brow and folded my arms, not missing the fact that she'd only singled out the women, "And what of the men of the family? Are they required to live by the same rules?" I asked, snarkily.

Sylvren sighed and shook her head. "No, it's the same double-standard male dominated religion you'll find with most humans. When men do it, they're expelling their seed. But the women take in things from their partners, so they're unclean if they do it. It's nonsense, but the bedside habits of your future husband aren't what's important. They never will be. All you need to worry about is being what your people need you to be, and right now, I need to know, are you a virgin?"

I was so stunned I couldn't say anything for a few moments before I finally stuttered out, "Y-yes. Gil and I have never... We've never gone that far..." I whispered out, mortified to be having this conversation with her mother. Now it was my turn not to meet her mother's eyes. 

"You're sure. I need you to be absolutely honest with me, Lyra," she said and I made herself look directly at the Queen, setting my shoulders as my temper began rearing its ugly head as it always did in situations that made me feel uncomfortable. In fact, my anger came to my defense any time I felt anything other than content, usually.

"Yes. I told him that I didn't want to risk pregnancy. So no, mother. Gil's dick has never been inside my-"

"Lyra!" She scolded and had the audacity to look scandalized. 

"You wanted me to be absolutely honest with you, so I was," I shrugged, picking at a piece of fuzz on my sleeve.

We both fell quiet after that, assuming my mother was trying to recompose that cool, haughty demeanor she wore whenever she was acting the Queen Mage. Which, was pretty much all the time. 

"So, in short, I marry into the King's family, make sure I stay a virgin and a loyal little princess until I can bare them an heir. We use our people's loyalty to get them to fight a war they have no part in, give up our freedoms and independence in the meantime and lose our culture as they force their beliefs on us," I summed up, my voice going soft in the dour mood my brash recap had set.

I turned to look at my mother and paused as a tear fell down the her cheek. Sylvren wiped it away faster than her lightning magic could strike and kept looking out over the edge of the floating island the mages called their home. I looked out over the swirling mist, deep in thought. I could barely see the outline of the mainland today due to the humidity and extra fog. I leaned out over the banister, looking down at the mossy covered rockside that held their little haven up, a breeze winding its way through my red hair. I took a deep breath, taking advantage of the quiet that had fallen between us to work through my thoughts.