Crazy Duke and Fallen Queen

Alexander straightens his back. He crosses his arms and thinks for a while. I also look at him, wondering what he wants in return for this little favour.

The elder waits for our reply to his question, nervous each second a little more.

«I can't promise you anything,» he says in the end. «But if you tell me your granddaughter's name, I might ask my friend at the court when I see them. I'll just hint to them that the girl should write to her family a letter, nothing more than that. I'm not going out of my way for you.»

«Oh, well... Thanks.»

«Just write her name here,» he continues, offering some paper to the elder. «I won't be able to remember it for so long.»

After getting the name, Alexander folds the paper in his pocket. I can read on the men's faces that they don't believe he'll do what he's said for real. They don't dare to hope.

«It's true that those people were sacrificed,» a girl adds from a nearby table, «and I'm sorry for your pain, elder. But we all have it easier thanks to them.»

«It's true,» another one adds. «The Ethirian let us live in peace, pretending nothing more than the taxes we pay. The bigger complaint we all have is related to the Moon Festival. We all thought we were going to be mistreated till the end of times, yet we're lucky.»

«It makes me wonder if we moved to war for nothing,» the first one rebukes. «We've suffered in a siege for almost a decade when we could have just changed the ruler and lived the exact same way as before. We didn't need to fight.»

«It wouldn't have been like this if we didn't fight,» the elder answers. «We reached a treaty because we resisted. If we opened our gates the moment they showed up, we would be treated like animals. Disposable goods. We first showed them our character, and they decided it's better to keep this part of their Empire peaceful.»

«Oh,» the girl murmurs. «If you say so, elder...»

«Do not forget the one that made them sign their promise. Our Queen gave her life for us.»

Ouch, it's not the first time they treat me as dead in this conversation.

«The Queen died?» I ask, just to understand what Ethiro has said to my people.

It won't be good if they hear that I'm alive and well after they despaired for their Queen, and even thanked her for a sacrifice she didn't make.

«Of course she is!» a young boy from a third table shouts.

The Ethirian soldiers turn to us just for a moment, and they ignore the conversation. Their laughs aren't that loud anymore, a sign that they're actually listening.

Only now I realise that people do not fear them. They're discussing such a delicate matter right in front of them. This should be proof enough that my people aren't mistreated.

My heart can be in peace now.

«She was brought away in chains, and no one heard anything about her for months. We can't even bury her in the royal crypt...» a girl says, her eyes dim. «I hope the execution wasn't painful, at least.»

No, it wasn't painful. But instead of dead, I ended up married. Has no one informed my people that I've become Duchess Kyre? Should I have sent some message to anyone in the Palace to spread the news?

«What a pity,» Alexander sighs. «It's a loss for Polis...»

As the rest of the people nod, he reaches for my hand under the table and squeezes. He smiles at me, and I nod to assure him that I'm all right.

«Are you done eating?» he asks, and I look at my plate still full of food. I was distracted.

«Not yet,» I say and return to chew.

«We didn't have any celebration from the end of winter. Last year, we had the Queen's birthday, but Ethirians won't allow us to celebrate it.»

«There's no point if there is no Queen,» I point out. It would be only worse if they remembered me more than this. I feel so guilty for being healthy and happy now. «You can celebrate the Emperor's birthday...»

«No way. Why should we? That guy took away the Queen, and now we should throw a party for him?»

«For his majesty,» the girl next to her corrects the sentence when a couple of soldiers turn with a frown. «For his majesty, not him.»

They return to their breakfast, just glancing at Alexander and me for a second. They don't recognise us.

Maybe, it's because they can't imagine their war commander sitting leisurely in a tavern, conversing with locals, with a familiar lady at his side.

If they're stationed here, then maybe they weren't involved in the war.

It was something Alexander told me once. He asked his majesty to avoid putting in charge soldiers that fought the war.

He didn't want them to abuse the citizens because of spite. Since the soldiers in Polis didn't fight this war, they have no ill feelings towards the city.

«How have the first days after surrender been?» I ask. It's the last thing I want to know. If Ethirians didn't steal from common people or mistreated my subjects, then their rule won't be as cruel as I imagined.

«Those were confusing times,» the girl chuckles. «I hid in the house for two weeks. We sent our father to buy food and didn't dare even to look out. We thought the soldiers would occupy the whole city, but they just settled in the Palace and took control of the harbour. They already left the Royal Palace, and most of them work in the Ministries' buildings.»

«There are many in the harbour, too,» I point out.

«Yes, they're running it. The officers taking care of it before have disappeared.»

Ah, these people think Diogenes and his men were executed or disposed of. Instead, they're just crossing the seas as pirates. Oh, they were.

Now they're respectable merchants.

Other than that, I can't find anything to complain about. My husband kept his word and protected my city after conquering it.