Tennyson

After I leave the throne room, I am taken back to my room. After the guards leave, I flop onto the bed. 

“Huh,” I sigh, “A female King.” 

I lay there looking up at the ceiling. I think about the conversation I had with the Que…King. With the King. This world is so different from mine. I hear a knock on the door. 

“May I come in, my Lord?” I hear a tiny voice say. 

“Yes,” I respond, “Come in.” 

I sit up as the door opens. A 7’0, 220 lbs woman stands in the doorway. 

“My Lord,” She starts, “It’s time for your meal. Please follow me.” 

I stand up from the bed and follow her out of the room. I look around as I continue following the woman. This place is dark. There are portraits hanging along the wall. Suddenly I stop. There is a portrait that’s covered in a black veil. 

“Who’s this?” I ask the woman in front of me. 

The woman turns her head towards the portrait. I see a wave of emotions wash over her. 

“You needn’t to worry about that my Lord.” She says as she turns away from the portrait and continues onward. 

I stare at the portrait for a second more, then I continue to follow her. 

As we reach the end of the hallway, I am instructed to stand in front of two large doors. They are similar to the one’s I stood in front of earlier. As they open, I am blinded by the light coming from inside. My vision clears and I see a long table filled with food and a chair at each end. In the end closest to the door, I see the King. 

“Come,” she says, “Sit and eat. You must be tired.” 

I walk into the room and take a seat at the table. As I sit there, I notice that the table isn’t as long as I thought it was. 

“Please enjoy.” she says, interrupting my thoughts. 

I hesitate for a moment, then I take a bite of the food sitting in front of me. It’s warm and smooth. I close my eyes as I swallow it. I hope it isn’t poisoned. 

“The food is safe,” I hear the King say. “I assure you, you have nothing to worry about.” 

I feel a wave of relief and I continue eating the food set out for me. As I finish, I notice the King staring at me. I start to feel uncomfortable. 

“Your Majesty,” I start. “Helena.” 

She interrupts. “My name is Helena.” 

I am stunned for a moment. I never would have thought that she would give me her name, let alone let me call her by it. 

“Helena,” I restart, hesitantly. “Is there a reason why I am here?” 

There is a moment of silence. Then, the King…Helena, stands from her seat and walks over to me. As she reached my seat, she kneels. 

“Marry me.”

Helena

I see his mouth drop as I ask him to marry me. I stand. 

“Your Majesty…” He starts. He takes a moment to consider his words. “We have only met today, and I’m just a mere human, and you’re a…a…” 

“A demon.” I interrupt.

“Exactly.” He says as he stands and paces.

“Look,” I start calmly. “I know this is sudden, but please listen. My people are very…traditional, to say the least. Ever since I came into power, they’ve been wanting me to marry in order to secure my throne.” 

Tennyson comes to a full stop and turns to me. 

“AND YOU THINK I’M THE BEST OPTION?” He yells. I rush to him. 

“Keep your voice down.” I say as I grab his arm. “Please, let me finish.” 

He looks at me, and nods his head. 

“I was engaged to someone, but he turned out to be only intrested in power, and I ultimately broke off the engagement. With my engagement now broken, my people are in an uproar, and I need to find someone to marry quickly.” 

“And where do I fit into this?” Mr. Bell asks. I turn away for a moment. 

“My mother, who was considered legendary in my kingdom, always warned me against marrying another demon. Her husband staged a coup, and almost tore the kingdom apart. If it weren’t for a human, we would have all been lost. Since then, humans have been celebrated. If I were to marry you, my people would be overjoyed, and my throne would be safe.” 

“So, I’m basically a weight, tying you to your throne.” He says with shock in his voice. 

“No,” I quickly respond. “In my kingdom, there can be no male king, so it would be more like me tying you down.” 

“I’m confused?” He says as he walks towards the table. 

“If you marry me, you can never go back to your world, but in turn you would be praised and worshiped as the Me’ah.” 

He turns around in confusion. “Me’ah?” He says. 

“The King’s great love.” I say. “In our history, there has always been the King or the Ia’ah and the Me’ah. It’s said that the Me’ah is born only to serve and love the Ia’ah. Some of our historians say that the Me’ah is the son of the God of Love herself. Either way, you would be afforded every luxury, and you would never have to worry about anything ever again. If you chose not to accept my proposal, I cannot protect you from the people here that want to see you gone. To my enemies, you are a threat that needs to be eliminated. They will not hesitate to kill you.” 

He starts to pace again as he weighs his options. “So let me get this straight,” He starts. “Either I marry you and possibly put my life in danger, or I turn your proposal down and I put my life in definite danger.” 

Tennyson continues to pace the room for a moment, then stops and turns to me. 

“Welp,” he says. “Fuck it.”