“She shouldn’t be playing with that boy,” the king said to his wife as the two stood and watched the children in the courtyard. There was a striking difference between the two. The boy was reckless and dirty the girl was proper and clean, “It’s not right for a girl of her stature.”

“Oh, what harm can come of it,” the queen laughed and placed a hand on top of her husband’s. The two had been arranged to marry years before and they had never really loved each other. Their daughter brought them together and their duty made it tolerable, “There is disquiet amongst the people, maybe it will be good that they see a commoner playing with our daughter.”

“She should be inside, learning music and how to be a lady,” the king couldn’t tear his eyes from his daughter. He was afraid that she might disappear at any moment and he would lose the only thing he really loved in this world, “Not out here with that filth.”

“Speaking of them like that is why we are in a precarious situation in the first place, my love,” the queen and her husband had had much practice at being the couple they were supposed to be. Sometimes they even convinced themselves, “Let them play and maybe when she is queen then the peasants will not care for the crown as much.”

“The people are angry with us,” the king turned to his wife for a moment before he turned back to his daughter, “It isn’t out of the question that this boy could have been sent by them to kill our daughter.”

“Listen to yourself,” the queen giggled and covered her mouth with one hand while she did, “He’s just a boy, your grace; his only ill-intention might be to steal a kiss from our fair daughter.”

That notion didn’t make the king more comfortable. His daughter was a princess and would be a queen, one day or another. She could not be seen with the likes of this boy and the sooner they were separated the better.

10 years later


“No, I’m serious,” the princess laughed as her commoner kissed at her neckline, “You can’t be here, if my father finds out you’ll be in serious trouble.”

“You can’t live your whole life in fear of your father,” the peasant boy replied, his hands still on the young girl’s hips. She was getting older, her body was changing. The boy knew that soon enough she would be married away to some nobleman that she’d probably never met, “I love you Alyssa, and I know that doesn’t change anything about your situation but I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you’re gone.”

“Paul…,” she stroked his face with the back of her hand and looked into his eyes sadly. Alyssa had never let herself ask if she loved him because she knew she could never have him. He tried to kiss her and she tried to push him away. They tumbled onto the princess’s bed with Paul on top of her, “We can’t, you know that.”

“Come on, you can’t deny that you feel something for me can you?” Paul looked into her eyes and could see the answer in them, “Just say it, we both know it’s true, you can’t hide from it.”

“How would that help you?” Alyssa replied with a pained expression, “How would that help either of us? Don’t make it more painful to say goodbye than it has to be.”

“It’s going to be painful either way, milady,” Paul leaned down and planted a kiss on the princess’s lips. For a moment she relented and let him. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. She placed them on his arms and it was nice and comfortable and right. Then she heard her door open and she tried to push Paul off of her but she couldn’t.

“Alyssa, your mother and I have been…,” the voice shocked both faces in the direction of their visitor. Paul’s eyes were wide and he began mumbling every apology he could think of. Alyssa just stared at her father, her dress was in disorder and her hair was a mess, she couldn’t imagine what her father was thinking of her. The king looked at Paul and ground his teeth, “Get out.”

“My apologies, your grace,” Paul was on his feet and stumbling toward the door, “It won’t happen again I assure you.”

“Just get out before I change my mind about executing you,” the king replied in a calm voice and then turned to his daughter. Her heart was hammering inside her chest and she couldn’t breathe. He took the chair from his daughter’s desk and set it beside her bed. The king took his daughter’s hands in his and sighed,

“I’m not angry. I understand that there is a certain appeal to the cook’s boy. You need to let him go Alyssa; he is only going to get hurt when you leave. Please, if not for me for yourself and for your friend, let him go.”

The king stood and kissed his daughter on her forehead. “Good night Alyssa,” the king blew out her candle and opened the door.

Alyssa stared at the door as it closed behind her father for a few minutes, then she lay down, turned away, and cried.


“She was with that boy again,” the king sat in bed beside his wife. He was reading letters from his spies and the lords and ladies of the land. He sighed and set them down, “We need to marry her before it becomes anything more. He kissed her today.”

“She’s a good girl, when it comes down to it she will make the right decision,” the queen replied, “We had never met when I married you. She knows what she has to do and she will do it, exactly like you want. Let her enjoy her life while she still can.”

“You’ve always been too lenient on the subject,” the king growled and turned back to his papers. He wasn’t sure why he ever asked for her advice, she never told him anything helpful, “I’m telling you that it is a mistake. If she gets too attached to the boy we may end up in a very problematic situation.”

“Then send her away,” the queen said exasperatedly and rolled away from her husband, “That was the plan wasn’t it? Marry her off to one of the lords and keep her away from the boy at the same time.”

“Which one though?” the king wondered but there was no answer from his wife, “That man will be king one day. We have to decide this together. She is our daughter.”

His wife was still not responding so he finally blew out his candle and tried to sleep.

5 years later


“I remember your father, he was a good man.”

Alyssa couldn’t count how many times the lords and ladies had told her that as they walked past. She stared past them at the freshly dug graves of her parents. Her mother had died a few years before her father but she had been moved to be buried beside her husband.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” even after all this time she still recognized the voice. Paul stood to her left and watched her face for anything, “It must be hard.”

“It hasn’t been really,” Alyssa replied and looked at her old friend. He had grown up; he didn’t look like a child anymore, “I hadn’t even seen them in five years. It is sad, yes, but in the way you feel sad for the death of a complete stranger.”

“How are you?” Paul asked as the two stood alone in the graveyard beside the chapel, “How is he?”
“I’m fine, I have to do my duty,” the queen sighed and looked at her childhood friend, “I have to give him a son but so far I haven’t been able to give him anything. I think he’s becoming frustrated with me.”

“It’s been five years,” Paul looked at Alyssa worriedly, “Maybe you can’t give him anything.”

“If that happens there will be a war for the throne,” the queen shrugged as if it didn’t matter much, “My husband is not around very often. He has other…interests. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve tried.”

“Then why is he getting frustrated?”

“When we try I’m disinterested, I don’t respond to him,” the queen replied and turned back toward the castle, “He wants me to pretend like I feel something for him, but I don’t.”

“When are you going back?”

“Tomorrow.”


The door flew open and hit the wall with a heavy thud. The two young lovers laughed as they stumbled into the queen’s room, faces an inch apart. Paul closed the door behind her and then pressed his lips to Alyssa’s. She wrapped her arms around his neck and finally kissed him back.

She struggled with his jacket while he struggled with her dress and they fell over each other onto her bed. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Alyssa looked nervous but Paul only smiled reassuringly.

“You don’t love him?” Paul asked and the queen nodded, “You love me?” The queen nodded again and their lips met again. She felt good with him, like this was how it was supposed to be. She wanted it to always feel like this.

Paul pulled away suddenly and stared into Alyssa’s eyes. “Divorce him,” he said anxiously.

“What?” Alyssa brushed some hair from Paul’s face.

“Your husband,” Paul explained, his voice sounded almost desperate, “Divorce him and marry me.”

“Paul…”

“Please, you are the queen now,” Paul traced a hand along her fair skin, “You don’t have to worry about your father anymore. Let me be your king before he is.”

She nodded.


“A peasant and a queen? That is a heresy. Not only did she divorce but now she’s marrying that filthy commoner,” it was a conversation between two lords at the wedding reception as they watched their queen marry the cook’s boy.

“Still, there is talk of a revolution,” the other lord shrugged, “Perhaps this will appease the masses for the time being. Besides it isn’t like she was marrying you. Now all of the lords are on even playing ground. If things go wrong with this marriage every lord will have an equal opportunity to claim the throne.”

“You’re quite devious, did you know?” the first lord laughed and took another sip of wine.

“Some of us are born with power,” the other replied, “The rest of us have to earn it for ourselves.”

The queen heard this conversation as she walked past but she tried to ignore it. This was supposed to be a happy occasion; she was finally with the one she loved. Still, she ordered extra guards to be posted outside her room that night.

Paul took off his jacket upon entering their room and tossed it aside. The queen slipped out of her dress and stood before him in her corset and farthingale. He stared at her and smiled, “You are finally mine.”

“And you are mine,” she walked into his arms and nuzzled against him. Then she felt a sharp pain between her shoulder blades. She looked up at Paul, confused, “What?”

Then she fell and he caught her. “I’m sorry, my love,” Paul replied stroking her face gently and looking at the knife he had planted in her back, “We both know that sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do.”

“Why…?” She touched his face tenderly, almost as if she still loved him. Tears dripped from her eyes and onto the floor. She never got to hear his answer as she died in his arms.

Paul could feel his own eyes watering but he fought them away. Her death had been necessary. He removed the knife and wiped it down and replaced it in its scabbard. He gathered the former queen in his arms and carried her to her bed. Her eyes were still open and they stared at him accusingly.

Paul set her down and closed her eyes. He pressed his lips gently to hers, “I will always love you my queen.”