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"How do you feel?"

Maud sits down next to her husband, in the beautiful inner court garden. The pink, white and red flowers are covered in shadows, joined by more yellow and green colors. The sun has already fallen behind the palace walls, only the darker blue sky showing them light. Maud feels the grass from underneath the white stone bench tickle the part where her white shoes don't cover. She puts a hand on Adelio's, and lets him sit in silence while she waits for an answer.

His gaze is set on the tree in front of him, large and beautifully lush. The green leaves of the tree are almost completely hidden by the white flowers that always appear at the beginning of spring. Some of the white flower petals have fallen to the green grass below, laying like a pile of snow, reminding Maud of her home. She stares at the tree just as he does, and tries to figure out what it is that he sees in the majestic thing. Why is his gaze so unfocused and tired? While she waits, Maud listens to the birds sing from the trees and bushes around them. A comforting reminder that life always continues, even after the loss of another.

"This tree was planted when my father was born, it is his tree of life"

Melora looks at it. The white flowers suddenly seem even more special, as she understands the melancholy in her husband's gaze. White in this kingdom is the color of death. It is the reason why she is now dressed from head to toe in white, a simple white dress matched with the same coloured shoes. Adelio matches her too, a long white shirt matched with white pants and shoes. This is the only day where the servants and the royals dress the same, where everyone looks equal from the outside. To think that it would happen in spring...

She first arrived to this palace in early summer, and after going on her long royal tour she returned in late winter. Now it is spring, the flowers of the late king's tree bloom in white. The entire court blooms in white, from head to toe.

"These trees along this road were all planted in the honor of the birth of a king. Mine is right there, next to his"

Adelio doesn't even need to point, Maud can see where it is. A tree that seems much different from his father's, with bigger leaves and no flowers, grows next to the big one covered in white. It is smaller, younger, the exact same age as Adelio is. And Maud sees something small carved into the tree, the letters of her husband's name, just as the late king's name is carved into the tree with white flowers. She glances to the other side, where a variety of trees stand next to each other, each one older and taller than the last. For how many generations does this kingdom go?

"Is that small one Alaric's?"

Right next to Adelio's tree, there is a newly planted one. So young that a name cannot be carved into it yet. Adelio nods after a short while of silence. Maud lets him sit in silence after that, not wanting to upset him in any way.

Adelio never seemed to have any feelings for his father, but now that he has died Maud is surprised at the amount of sorrow and shock that oozes from her husband. They sit there in the garden, their first silent moment in what feels like a long while. Their days as crown prince and crown princess seemed to be over after lunch today, when the sick king began to die. It took him a while, the man is stubborn and refused to die without a long talk with his son, most of it in private. In the end Adelio was in the room alone with him when he died, the door closed. Once the crown prince emerged from the king's bedchamber, eyes tired but haunted, and slowly closed the door behind him, everyone on the other side of the door knew what it meant. Even Maud, who had stood there all day waiting for him without food or rest, knew the moment she saw that look in his eye.

And now, after a long day of running back and forth, preparing for the death of the reigning monarch, stressing over it, the two of them sit in silence in the royal inner court garden with nobody around to disturb them. This is quite possibly their last moment of peace, as the moment they wake up tomorrow their true duties will begin. Adelio as king, and Maud as queen. Alaric, the poor child, as crown prince. Maud doesn't even know which part to stress about the most, so she simply doesn't. While her duties as queen are important, her duties as Adelio's wife must come first. Comforting him must come first.

Even if she has no idea how to do that, never having experienced the death of a parent before.

So she sits there, hand in his, as they stare at the late king's tree of life, a beautiful silence surrounding them. Maud can only hope that this is the kind of comfort he needs and wants. It's hard to tell when he is being like this, shocked, silent, deep in his own thoughts. That's why it surprises her when he suddenly talks again, breaking their several minutes of comfortable silence.

"The coronation is in two weeks, Alaric can be baptized on the same day as he officially gains his new title, along with us"

Maud glances up at him as he talks, his eyes still set on that white tree. She nods even though he probably can't see her. In two weeks she will officially be queen. Surely nothing bad can come of that.

"Maybe you could find a wife in Red Lion, your excellency"

Makai watches as the gates of the Red Lion capital are opened to him and his guards and officers, cold eyes set directly on the city in front of him. He has fifty guards with him, and five officers. His vice general, his two highest advisors and of course, his uncle and cousin the duke and lord of Blue Knight. Together they are quite a strong group of people, traveling with their blue flag held high, horses dressed in the finest armor and swords in their belts. Sadly though, it is not a conquest they are here for, despite their lovely weapons and expensive horses. This is a show of might, a simple theater play.

Makai glances at his cousin, a boy around the same age as he is, with a hint of annoyance. The people around them who also wait for the gates to open shrink away in fear, as the infamous king Makai even looks in their direction. He has just as many rumors about him as Adelio has, cold blooded, evil, powerful and deadly. Gruesome on the battlefield, rumored to be a monster in the disguise of a handsome yet intimidating prince, with his dark hair and piercing dark eyes really sending the message across. Nobody has dared to cross him, not even his own father, and any peasant who even dares to utter his name in his presence can expect their necks to be on the cutting board the following day. The king of Blue Knight is more of a dark deadly shadow than a man, and he doesn't do much to fight those rumors. In fact, he lives by them. They are true.

"A wife?"

His cousin is among the very few who don't fear him, who can tolerate speaking to him without breaking down. His brothers also fit into that category, and Makai is sure that if he were raised with his sister she too would not have feared him as much as she did when he first brought her to the palace. Makai is fine with that, he does need people to talk to from time to time, and as long as they don't threaten his power he allows them to stay by his side in good spirits. But every once in a while his cousin has something stupid to say, and Makai regrets ever giving them the right to speak.

"Yes, I've heard that this kingdom has three unmarried princesses. The eldest, princess Alisiah is beautiful, rich and gentle. She would make a good queen, don't you think?

Makai laughs, as they begin to move into the city. He shakes his head.

"The whole reason we are here is because that Alaric brat is the heir to my throne, I'm not going to get married. What stupid things you say"

"Alaric, shush now, stop fussing with your clothes. You look wonderful"

Maud holds the whining baby in her lap, scolding him with a light tone even though she knows he can't understand her properly yet. She speaks in her native language with him, the want to raise him as closely to her own culture as possible, having increased lately. He is dressed in a golden baby dress, with red stripes over the collar. Naturally, the uncomfortably fancy gown is not fun to wear for a child as small as he is, but for now he's just going to have to bear with it. She too is struggling with her extremely complicated red dress, decorated with matching see through fabric, and a red veil, red lace and rubies all around it. It's by far the most heavy, uncomfortable and expensive dress she has ever worn in her life.

The reason they have to bear with it is because today is a very important day. Coronation day. She spends her last few moments as crown princess in her own bedchamber, one which will soon not be hers anymore, keeping her son company as the maids fuss around with reapplying her makeup or fixing her hair. In the main part of the palace, the situation is even more stressed, servants running around from one hall to another with food and jewelry and decorations. Everything must go perfectly today. There has never been a more important day than this one since the old king was crowned, and that was a long time ago. Nearly fifty years. The servants are unfamiliar with the ceremony and the mood in the palace has been stressed and busy ever since the king died. Especially Adelio has been quite occupied, they have barely talked once during these past two weeks, their last moment together being the one in the garden.

"This hair clip keeps falling out, should I-"

"Your majesty!"

A maid opens the doors to her bedchamber in quite a rush, bowing to Maud before walking up to her. She's the maid in charge of the waiting room, where she answers to those that knock on the crown princesses quarters door. Maud raises an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"The guests for the coronation have all arrived, they are at Saint's cathedral"

Maud nods, still confused. She doesn't understand why the maid is so stressed about that. After all, the guests were supposed to arrive during this time, it is nothing new. Outside the weather is wonderful, not too hot and not too cold either. The birds have been singing outside her bedchamber window all morning, occupying Alaric's curious thoughts and distracting him from the otherwise stressful atmosphere. The people have been gathering outside the palace house reach, a place where the newly crowned couple will soon stand with their son and greet their subjects after the coronation itself in Saint's cathedral. Royals from all neighboring kingdoms have been invited, along with nobility and other guests close to the kingdom, new king and queen. This day has been going perfectly so far, there really isn't much to worry about anymore. Maud rocks Alaric in her arms as she waits for the maud to elaborate. She hates how nervous the girl is.

"So?'"

"King Makai of Blue Knight is one of the guests, your majesty"

Maud stills in her rocking movement, eyes staring up with shock at the maid in front of her. Surely she has misheard the girl? She continues to stare, waiting for the maid's words to make any sense. The seconds tick by in silence, as all of her maids glance at her nervously, not daring to move too much or make any extra sounds. As the silence continues Maud realizes that her brother is indeed at Saint's cathedral and that her maid didn't lie or misspeak. Her hands begin to shake, just in the slightest, as she tries to keep calm for Alaric, not wanting him to start fussing again. She clears her throat and stands up, the new crown prince in her arms.

"Who told you this?"

The girl stumbles on her words, caught off guard by Maud's sudden question.

"The guards outside the door were talking about it, I happened to overhear. I thought it would be best to inform the crown princess of the matter, since it seems like this piece of information was kept from your majesty"

Maud looks down at her feet, a sudden dread and anger consuming her.

Men, why do they have to be so cruel? Why didn't Adelio tell her that Makai was on his way? Why did Makai have to come here? It's not like Adelio didn't know of the matter, a king always knows if a foreign regent is on his soil, otherwise it would mean war. And Makai could surely have sent her a letter about his visit, not to mention how odd it is that he would come visit in the first place. They aren't on the best of terms, after all. Maud did as he told her to do, she lied about her schooling background, studied day and night to become a perfect princess to fool Adelio into thinking that she had lived at the palace all of her life and then married him, a total stranger, despite fearing him so. And even though their marriage turned out to be great, and her fears were all nonsense compared to the kindness that Adelio has shown her, Maud is still not very appreciative of her brother and surely Makai must know this. After all, it was his choice to drag her from her previous home and marry her to the most gruesome crown prince he could find. It was his choice to threaten her and push her over the edge. Maud hates him and he knows that, so why is he here?

There must be something that he is plotting, something behind her back. Yet another scheme for more money? Yet another plan to make her even more miserable? Except this time it's worse, for Maud doesn't have to just worry about herself anymore, she has a son to worry about too. The thing that worries her the most, is that Makai is the one guy who has power over her. The one guy she has yet to stand up to. And if he somehow wants to drag Alaric into whatever evil plans he has in store, Maud is unsure whether she will be able to protect her beloved son or not.

So she stands there, with her son in her arms, only one hour away from the coronation, and curses out both her husband and her brother for pushing her into this complicated mess.

What could go wrong, right?

This time she isn't so sure anymore.

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