The morning light shone through the window next to the bed, causing me to grumble and turn over to avoid the infringing ray. For a moment I was shocked to find someone else in the bed with me and I bolted upright. Before I could do anything rash or silly, the day and night prior came flooding back and I remembered that it was none other than the lovely Mistra sharing my bed.

I let out an airy laugh through my nose at my moment of confusion and stretched slowly, not wanting to wake the sleeping beauty. Her hair was a mess and she seemed to be hopelessly entangled with the sheets, but the way the sun shone on her richly tanned skin and thick, dark eyelashes sent a shiver down my spine. However I had managed to secure such a woman had to be nothing short of luck. I imagined that it was a much more beautiful sight to wake up to a woman than to a smelly, snoring man.

Taking care to step lightly, I got dressed for the day and pulled a comb through my hair. I didn't want to do anything but stay in bed all day with her, but there were responsibilities that I know was expected to attend to. I supposed that there would be plenty of time in the future to explore our new relationship.

Mari was waiting for me at the breakfast table, a wide, knowing smile across her face. I almost had enough decorum to blush, but instead I met her with a half-smile.

“Sleep well?” she insinuated.

“Never better,” I quipped and began to add sweetener to my morning porridge.

She laughed and shook her head. “You truly are just like Evonia, only bolder. Evonia had concubines, don't get me wrong, but she would have never named one as consort.”

“I have no interest in concubines,” I admitted with an indifferent shrug. “It seems like it would be a lot of trouble to manage one person and keep them happy and fulfilled, I can't imagine multiple.”

“I don't think that their happiness was at the top of her concerns, you get to make that sacrifice when you are the ruler.”

“But I believe that you probably should keep those you share a bed with in a good humor with you. If not, you might risk having a well-placed knife slid in your back while you sleep.”

“How did we raise you to be so practical?” she mused, pushing her finished bowl away from her for a servant to collect. “No matter, we need to discuss this matter of your desire to conquer your father's land.”

“Already?” I hadn't even finished my breakfast on my first full day as monarch and already the topic of war was brought up.

“The House Drak will want plans laid out as soon as possible, it may take years to build an army,” she said.

“Years? That seems like an awful long time, my father could raise an army in a month if need be.”

“I'm sure he could, but he had large tracks of land with throw-away villagers at his disposal. We have never maintained a standing army because our disputes have always been solved through magic and subterfuge. Plus, we never had the impetus to take on a whole kingdom like you.”

“No army at all... I feel like I should have known that, but I never really paid attention to any of those matters.”

“How could you? You were always in training from sunrise to sunset and it would be a practical thing to assume. It was something I always pestered Evonia about. It seemed strategically important to at least have a small force at the ready. She always relied on the fact that you must use the portal to reach this place.”

“That means we will need to use it for the army to leave this place as well,” I said with a frown. “How many people know of where the exit point is?”

“Only those a part of the House Drak and Yser, not even the servants have ever been allowed to leave the kingdom.”

“Can we assume that Rela and the twins have told no one?”

Mari began to speak, but then hesitated, her lips twitching. “Rela I think will not say anything, she was always the most level-headed. The twins on the other hand... I have always feared that they would find a way to take this land by force.”

My eyes opened wider and I was suddenly much more awake.

“You think that they could be planning on raising their own army against us?” That was an alarming idea to a queen with no army.

“Like I've told you before, I have kept my eye on them for a long while and they have shown no signs of raising an army, but the company they keep is worrisome at best.”

I pushed my bowl away, half-eaten, I certainly did not feel very hungry anymore.

“I do not anticipate that the Great Church will want to wage a war against demons at this time, but I cannot lie and say that it is not on their agenda eventually.”

I had heard of the Great Church before, it was a fanatical religious organization that fancies themselves their own kingdom. Their king was whomever was the church elder at the time and commanded a surprising amount of power for an organization that held little land or resources. People seemed to simply give them at least the bare minimum of lip service to keep them appeased. My own father had allowed them in the kingdom to preach and convert the peasants. I highly doubted that he, himself, gave their pious words much credence.

“But they do have an army, though small, if I recall correctly,” I offered.

“Yes, but they also spout that nonsense about the inherent superiority of goodness or some rot and that seems to get people to side with them on whatever cause they deem necessary to take up. That is why I am weary of them.”

“And the twins are a part of them?”

“Yes, rising members unfortunately,” she sighed. “They have risen through the hierarchy too quickly for my liking, I fear that they are trading what they know for political favors.”

“Why wasn't this addressed before now?” I groaned. Really, this was no way to start a monarchy.

“Evonia thought them not to be a problem because of their fear of her. Unfortunately, they do not have a reason yet to fear you.”

I sat with my head in my hands trying to process the information. Being opposed from day one was not what I had planned. I did not know if it was wise to pursue my own ambitions now while the little usurper was still very young or deal with the idea of taking on a kingdom that was possibly stronger. It really was much more tempting to just go ahead and squash the ten-year-old before he ripened into any proficient opponent.

“I should have crushed his skull when I had the chance,” I lamented through my fingers. “Should have just done it and claimed he slipped from the bassinet.”

Mari laid a hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “We all make mistakes sometimes,” she consoled, “I think you will feel better taking these matters up with Rafe himself. I am just a paranoid old woman after all.”

“I don't think you're paranoid, but I will have a meeting set up with him for this evening. We need to get moving on this as soon as possible. No time for a honeymoon period, I guess,” I said with a long sigh.

After breakfast, I met with Busby for my daily training. We had stepped back the training to only a few hours a day now that we had found my magical niche in fire manipulation. Oddly enough, I couldn't bring myself to start a fire through magic, but I could move and grow an existing flame in terrible and awesome ways. I was quite content with my progress and found myself often laughing from the sheer power of knowing the fire I was controlling could be shaped and expanded to burn an entire army of men. Perhaps my army need not be so impressive after all.

Exhausted from a morning of training, I dragged myself to lunch still riding the high of magic use. Mistra was already awaiting me, looking polished and well-dressed. Her long ashen hair had be combed into an intensely smooth braid and she had scrubbed her skin to a gleaming clean. One would never believe that just hours before she had been a sweaty mess.

“Training?” she asked, noting the sweat upon my brow.

“Yes, I need to improve as quickly as I can.” I took a seat next to her, motioning to a servant to bring our meals.

“And what is your specialty? There seems to be a lot of things we don't know about each other despite knowing each other very well,” she said with a slight flush.

“Fire,” I answered, “not making it, but controlling it.”

Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she turned her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. “That is an interesting ability to have while affiliated with the House Drak. It is often used as a weapon against demons by the religious zealots, something about fire being cleansing.”

“I did not know that,” I admitted, “it seems silly though. Fire burns everyone equally, perhaps they put too much belief in it.”

“That is generally their problem,” she laughed bitterly. “You do know that they will be a problem of yours eventually, correct?”

“Unfortunately I did not until this morning, it seems that my grandmother was rather unconcerned about the Great Church.”

Mistra pursed her ruby lips into a thin line and gave a disapproving shake of her head. “That is dangerous, she should have been preparing long ago. They will eventually find a way into this sanctuary and therefore, also into the demon realm. I have a particular interest in this since being half-human, half-demon makes me a particularly offensive abomination in their eyes.”

I hadn't considered that Mistra would be at a higher risk of danger, but it made sense that their zealotry would call for her demise.

“I know how they will find out, I just don't know what to do about it. I need to meet with your father tonight to discuss the issue, would you be so kind as to send word to him?”

She nodded in agreement, looking worried.

“Don't worry about it, I won't let any harm befall you. You are the queen's consort, your only concern should be keeping me happy and satisfied.”

“Am I doing a good job so far?” she asked salaciously.

“Perhaps,” I grinned, “we will have to see if it can get any better though.”