Parisa had not come here expecting to be a queen, though perhaps it was always her father's hope- she suspected the real power lay with him and not her overly confident husband.. and perhaps it had always been at the heart of her own ambitious dreams. She had been there on his coronation, scared and kept far from the action.. but Shangyue had still come out on top.
And now here she was, sitting on top with him. Overlooking why exactly this happened now, it wasn't that bad of a deal.
"What's on the agenda tonight, your Majesty?" she asked, sitting tall and proud in the bright moonlight, not far from the royal den.
Shangyue, while not particularly thrilled with recent events, was rather pleased with how it had all turned out. He'd always known Parisa was the natural choice as his queen, he'd only been putting it off because his intention had been to avoid producing an heir too early. He was well aware that it would be a most fitting end for him, to be usurped by his own impatient child.
Naming Fasrin his heir was a risky move but so long as he had Parisa at his side, he was safe. And while his would-be heir was busy learning this and that about being the shaman, she was well supervised and always within his grasp. Everything had been turned upside down only to settle into the predictable end he had imagined.
"Nothing, my dear," he said with a smile, walking up and standing beside his queen, "The Great Lion is watching over us tonight, we can enjoy the night in peace."
Parisa glanced up at the moon. It wasn't quite full, it was a few nights past it, in fact-- a few nights since their wedding. But it wasn't yet wrong to suggest they were being watched over, the Great Lion was growing sleepy but not yet gone.
"We could go for a walk," she suggested, her tail swaying thoughtfully behind her, "But we've done plenty of public appearances lately, perhaps we could use a little privacy now."
While their marriage was a formal arrangement made between herself, her father and her husband, there were many things they did not openly discuss. Things that were implied but never spoken. She was not his wife for love, but that still made her the queen.
"We haven't had much of that."
Shangyue glanced over and then took a seat, he wasn't sure but he guessed they had finally come to the much needed private conversation that they needed to have. They were alone except for a few guards nearby but not too close, they could safely talk.
"We certainly deserve it," he said with a smile, glancing back ahead of them.
Parisa nodded, not looking back at Shangyue even though she could see his glance. She kept her eyes straight ahead and a small smile on her face.
"I am queen."
Interested, Shangyue turned his head to look at her. He nodded, his expression unchanging.
"Yes, you are my queen," he agreed.
"Yes," she repeated, "But our partnership is not out of love and trust and honesty. I am the queen, but do I really have the power?"
Surely no pride member with any brain would question her, but if she was only for show and to provide Shangyue with a legitimate heir, how long would that last? Finally, her eyes moved to the king.
"Our partnership is not from love but so long as you are honest with me, so long as I can trust you, you'll have anything you could ever dream to ask for," he said, his smile spreading, "And so long as I have your honesty and loyalty, you can have mine."
She was a much more appealing partner than Firaga, and from what he knew of her and what he had seen of her so far.. he was far from put off.
"Your authority is second only to mine, if the shaman and your father are wise," he said confidently, looking back ahead of them and watching the distant goings-on in the slave dens, "But to keep our subjects happy, we must treat the shaman respectfully. And to keep ourselves safe, we must trust your father."
Her eyes turned forward once more as well.
"Of course, you have my loyalty, my king," she said, "And I'll keep no secrets and tell no lies. So all we need now is an heir."
Shangyue stayed silent but nodded. Once they had an heir, they would have it all. And since he expected she wanted to remain queen as long as he wanted to remain king, he was confident she could be trusted to help keep the trouble to a minimum.
"I presume there is some secret to it," Parisa said, her tone neutral at first but becoming genuinely curious, "It can't be a coincidence that the royal family usually has high class offspring, you know what you're doing."
Which meant he should have known better with Kamia, but that was an issue she knew better than to bring up now.
"More secrets than you might guess," he answered smugly, looking over at her, his mind far from Kamia, "Anybody the ability to count can try to time it, and with some luck you might succeed. We are, naturally, very lucky."
Of course, it could matter on Lailah's trust in them.. but he definitely expected more from her than her predecessor.
Intrigued, she looked back at him and finally their eyes met. She smiled back at him, understanding that the secrets of being the king and queen would be revealed to her slowly .. and that timing was a major element to getting what you wanted. As it often was.
"Not tonight, then," she said, "I can count."
"No," he agreed, "But we can still enjoy a quiet night to ourselves. I hope you're always this interesting or we could be in for a very quiet marriage, I can be a terrible bore."
He grinned, stretching out and laying himself down comfortably.
"I doubt that very much," she said, settling onto the ground beside him.
Fin!
