Crimson Bird 2 (bwwm)

Chapter Two

Standing in the window, and watching as the first prince alighted his carriage and left, the queen's fingers played with the rosary in her hands. Her eyes focused like a hawk on his back, their yellow glow disturbing in the dimness of her chamber. She clicked her tongue and continued softly muttering. The rosary she held had seen years of such treatment and now were smooth and worn. The black lacquer that had shined now appeared like soft cashmere.

Hearing her door open behind her, she spoke, not facing the person who'd entered. "Do you believe that your father will hand you the throne?"

She half turned and smiled, her eyes empty of love or humor. "He isn't a foolish man... I couldn't abide a foolish man." She stopped shifting the rosary with a sudden click, and fully facing Fitzwilliam, she walked towards him, stopping at the table that separated them. Her bedchamber reflected her character, done in colors of dark browns and beige. It held hidden depths, and then suddenly, there was the black that reached out, and like her, swallowed you whole.

"That's why when Father asked me what I wanted, I said," she paused, laying her rosary down, "Queen. I wish to be Queen."

Her golden eyes lifted to his own darkened ones. "Now, Fitz...what is it you wish for?" She straightened, bringing her hands before her, seeming beatific, but Fitzwilliam knew his mother was finally demanding his cooperation. "I've allowed you to play, as I felt a small amount of guilt in the death of your brother. Yet, now, I have no such reservations. You will gain the throne, with or without Gwen's hand in marriage." She smiled. "As it should be. Our blood should have sat upon the throne some millennia ago."

Fitz shifted, the nervous feeling growing at the shine in his mother's eyes. She turned her attention to the window. "Your brother is leaving on a mission that I'm sure is meant to curry favor with Parliament." She smirked, her eyes flickering with some hidden joy. "It will be hard to curry favor if he does not return... I see it as only fair; a son for a son."

Unwittingly, his mother allowed her aura to leak, and Fitz felt the icy chill lick along his flesh. He gritted his teeth against it, holding back from cringing away from it. Suddenly expressionless, she laid a hand on the back of the chair. "You will no longer play at gaining your father's crown. Forget that little girl and prove you hold my blood in your veins."

Once done with the private meeting with his mother, Fitzwilliam walked along the hallways of the palace, unable to forget the joy in his mother's eyes at the idea of ridding herself of his brother. His expression brooding, he avoided the eyes of the servants who moved back and forth in a rush. How had he been born from such a cruel woman?

He paused, his brooding eyes lifting just in time to see Gwen enter. Her steps were light, but she appeared troubled. He spoke, not thinking. "Princess..."

She stopped, her hands holding her gown up tensely. Her eyes of violet light had widened before they fluttered. Lowering and shuttering her eyes from his sight, she quickly moved to walk past him with no word.

So, in his desire for her to look at him, he spoke once more, "The queen!"

Gwen stopped short at his words.

Fitz half turned stiffly, his doleful expression silently pleading for her to change her mind, and to fall into his arms. "The queen...wishes for me to abandon my chase for you." He swallowed. "If I do as she says, there will never be an us."

Gwen stood, her back to him, stiff in her pose. She closed her eyes against the pleading sound in his voice. "Was there ever an us?" She turned around coldly facing him. "I've no memory of us. I've only the bitter remembrance of waiting, and waiting for you to appear and to save me from this fate."