Mariah
It was hard to breathe in there.
Sounds, anger, the stifling around us, the men who were already suffocating and the dread coursing through my veins, my thought that Alexia might be remembering when some of those faces still walking around the castle had beaten her to death was something I thought she wouldn't be able to bear, just as I was terrified, but then she fixed her posture and took the tension from her shoulders, her firm expression no longer one of anguish.
"The next person to touch me will regret it bitterly!" she shouted. She shouted and then some of the men moved away, once pressed against the men I could now breathe, she looked around, her expression became like fury, like thunder tearing through the sky she pushed one of the men out of the way "You damn troglodytes, don't you know how to treat a lady?"
"A lady wouldn't dress like that!" Said one of the men, causing some of them to laugh.
She turned to them angrily.
"The corset is banned from this kingdom"
"Have you gone mad?" asked an angry man.
"Are you saying that the queen has gone mad?" She asked, looking into his eyes. "If corsets are no longer worn in almost all the kingdoms, why do we have to continue if it's uncomfortable for us women? To please you? Heavy clothes in this heat, red lipstick, all this has evolved over time, just as the laws are weak, many were made only to benefit the nobles and it won't be like that anymore, tomorrow they would announce the laws have changed!"
"You can't do that!"
"I can and I've already done it, they've been sent to the city. No more money for you and misery for the people, we've just been through a devastating war!"
"You only managed to win that war because of our money"
"No, we were able to win because we had soldiers, people of the people to fight. There's so much money in your pockets that you don't know how to spend it, and I'm sure there are many families who need it, so I've valued most of the labor jobs where wages haven't increased for many years."
Shouting and commotion began, the nobles seemed about to advance on Alexia again and I feared for her life, when the first drew his sword not even the guard was so quick, just as the sword was about to strike Alexia's throat it hit her hard against an invisible shield created by her.
Alexia looked at the man who backed away in fear, everyone was silent, the guard advanced and she put her hand in front of him to stop him.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," he begged, getting down on one knee, touching Alexia's dress and letting out a loud cry in his throat, "Please have mercy!"
"Don't you think one war was enough?" She asked, raising her face to them. "Violence inside the castle will result in banishment."
She bowed her head.
"You are banned from Olimper Castle, the next time I see you in the vicinity you will be arrested."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said, rising quickly from the ground.
Everyone knew that he deserved to be hanged, that by law he would be killed in the courtyard in front of the nobles, but that didn't surprise me, Alexia had never been in favor of violence, on the contrary she had stood in front of the countess so that she could receive the lashes in her place, a woman she had disdained and beaten.
She turned to the men.
"Things will change, this is a kingdom that has been ravaged by war, the people need us and anyone who doesn't understand that can leave now." I saw one or two men leave with Alexia's words as they complained, "We are an old-fashioned, outdated kingdom in which women are always disadvantaged, you almost beat me up again because of a lipstick and the lack of a corset, so anyone who doesn't agree with this will have to swallow that times have changed and women haven't fallen behind men, but have walked alongside them and anyone who isn't in favor of this can leave. I'm not afraid of losing any of you, the kingdom is stronger now that Zaïm has been taken!"
I saw five men leave, and she took a good look at the face of one of them.
"You're not going?" She asked, and the man shook his head.
He was one of the men who had beaten her. I didn't understand how Alexia could leave them in charge, walking around the castle.
"If you're going to stay like the others, you have to agree with everything I say"
He shook his head.
"Perfect" She lifted her face and looked around "But does anyone have anything against it?"
There was silence.
"Come on Mariah, let's go, we still have a lot to do" She said, turning her back on them, leaving everyone speechless.
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Estevan
It had been two weeks and my dragon hadn't wanted to take me back, the islanders weren't like Kanue, they refused to take me to Olimper, most of them looked at me strangely as if they hated me and I knew that there, our reputation wasn't good.
Because I had arrived dressed as a dragon, people seemed to hate me and avoided talking to me. As much as Kanue insisted that I was a good person, when the explanation was that I had taken part in a war, they began to believe that I really was a bad person and that they should keep their dragons away from me, so I stayed isolated with Kanue while I tried to convince my dragon to come back, my only alternative being that he wouldn't even let me ride on him. Getting up and walking away, I shouted in frustration and rubbed my face, the sweat dripping from my face as I tried in vain, while Kanue watched me from the shadows, laughing at my failure.
"That's not funny!" I said to him and turned to Kanue "What do you want from me, look I'm fine!"
Kanue remained still and I looked at him.
"Do you want a name?" I asked as if he could answer "Your name is Prince, just like Alexia gave her dragon its surname, you're part of me, part of my Montemor Prince family."
I looked down at the dirt floor and hundreds of memories came back to me of Alexia.
"Prince, I need to go home. You're a mother, you have your children, I know you understand that my wife can't be alone, probably thinking I'm dead at this point in my pregnancy!"
Prince, who was licking her kittens, seemed to ignore me, this was only the hundredth conversation I'd had with her and in none of them did she seem to cooperate.
"Prince, I know you're worried about me, but I'm fine, damn it!" I spoke harshly, losing my patience. I approached her and Prince looked at me and raised her head again, showing resistance to taking me back.
"Are you going to leave me here forever? I want to see the birth of my son Kanue, to lie in my soft bed next to my wife, to see my parents!" I spread my arms, waiting for a reaction as she stared at me seriously, shook my head angrily and turned away.
"You're not going to convince her to take you back on the basis of irritation"
"I'm not going to be able to convince her either" I said, stopping in front of her, Kanue held up a bottle of water which I took "Thank you".
I poured the liquid down my throat.
"So you're giving up?" He asked, staring at me.
"Not at all, I'll never give up, I have to get home!"