Jean walked very slowly to the door.
She was dressed in a paper-thin dress that hugged her curves exactly the way she wanted. She had grown in a rather voluptuous woman. Men turned their heads to look at her when she walked by.
If a king had been the ruler of the land, Jean would be sitting on his lap for the entire court to see.
But alas, there was a queen on the throne, and her foolish son had already taken a mistress from the Heartrianne family.
Jean knew she could easily take him herself but fighting with another strong and attractive woman would waste her time.
Why bother with the young, reckless prince that you had to tirelessly keep a leash on when you could get the attractive older uncle who was sure to be easier to tame.
Jean placed both her hands on the doorframe before leaning forward to peep into the room leading through the door. Her large breasts swayed forward as she did so, holding her sensual pose as she looked around the room.
It was a vast bed chamber with a large bed in the middle. There were desks and cupboards pushed along the wall but that was of no interest to Jean.
The room was empty.
Where was Lord Ronan Ravenshade?
Queen Ravenshade sat alone on her throne. It was almost the evening, and she was bored out of her mind.
She called for her trusty aide Selic to come to her.
The man was quick to come to her side.
"When am I to meet this strong warrior, Selic?"
Selic looked confused, "A- Anytime your majesty pleases. She may call for him whenever she would like to see him. Why do you ask, your majesty?"
The queen gazed around her court.
"I am bored, Selic." She said, her voice drawling and her eyes were drooping. "The court will only bore me to death. My foolish son hates being here and wants nothing more than to frolic with his mistress and the trade ships are months away from here."
She let out an agonized groan that alerted more than half the court to whip around to look at her.
The nobles who were quarrelling in the very center of the court looked very surprised by the queen's inattention to them.
"Is there nothing? Nothing for Queen Ravenshade to do?"
Selic didn't answer for a few moments before he spoke to respond, "Your majesty, only two things are, shall we say, new on the horizon."
"Two?" The queen stared forward at her court, her expression disbelieving.
"Yes, madam," Selic continued, "One is, of course, our newest soldier. He has been added to our ranks. He was added this morning in the lowest position. Only a day's training has passed and already, he has beaten a good many men up to- prove a point, it seems."
Focus was slowly entering the queen's eye.
"The commanders have decided to rank him higher for now. He is quite obedient to them but seems to not take orders very well from people lesser than the highest officials."
"He knows his place," the queen whispered huskily.
"Y- Yes," Selic adjusted his shirt before continuing, "they call him one of the most ferocious men they have ever seen. His raw strength is setting a record in the training records and quite a few commanders are fighting over whose troops he will join."
The queen seemed transfixed at some spot in the ceiling as Selic kept speaking.
"He is quiet and well-behaved outside the ring but seems almost hypnotized inside of it."
"Does he?" The queen's thoughts were taken far away from the court. It had been a few weeks since her last lover had bored her. She had sent him packing to the country with a fine carriage full of expensive things and promise of a large house. The fool had looked surprised that she was not offering her hand in marriage. His last attempt to seduce her once more had caused her to laugh out loud that he had left the court slightly humiliated.
It was not the queen's fault that he wanted something she was not willing to give him.
Men who married the queen often had more power than the queen herself in time. It was easy for them to solicit support behind her back and then take the throne.
The queen only needed her needs to be met in bed. She would never risk taking a husband who would stab her in the back. She trusted no one and no one trusted her. It was exactly the way she liked it.
Without any other new young man around, the queen had been rather antsy lately.
Only old, slightly ugly men stood in her court. They often had wives and an inflated ego and that was not what she wanted in her bedroom.
She wanted a muscular man. Someone fierce and just a little wicked to satisfy her in bed. He had to dominate her while listening to all her cues.
Alaric Stormdew was too perfect for the role.
The queen knew never to expect perfection although she regularly demanded it of her court and subjects.
Alaric Stormdew surprised her.
He was tall, handsome and with a muscular body not built for cosmetic pleasure but exuding raw, furious power. He had bronze skin with dark hair and his eyes: they were the piercing kind.
Even all the way down in the arena, when he had looked up at her for a split second after his win at the tournament, his eyes had sent a bolt of lightning up her spine.
He was an electrifyingly attractive man, and he was now in the palace walls. She loved it.
The queen would not be hasty.
She would allow the gorgeous specimen to acquaint himself slowly with his fellow soldiers. She did not want him to lose his charm by just becoming her lover.
Alaric would grow a few more months before she summoned him to come to her bed. Until then, the queen had to be patient.