Impromtu Short Story: King and Queen

So I challenged myself today to come up with an original story, completely impromptu, and post it for my work this weekend. It took me about two hours of continuous writing, but here it is. Hope you enjoy!

There once was a kingdom ruled by a young King and Queen. For generations this kingdom had been the strongest and most fertile of all the lands, respected and feared by all others. When the old King died, having led his people through an era of peace and prosperity, his son took the throne with his new wife.

The son, Alexios, always looked up to his father, and wanted to be a better King than he ever was. He got up early every morning and dressed his very best, fine suits, tail jackets, clean pressed pants and shined shoes. He slicked his hair back and kept clean shaven. He walked the halls of the palace with an air of confidence and power. Dignitaries and royal aids greeted him with bows and walked behind him as they explained the needs of the kingdom. Alexios had his desk set up in the throne room, which his father would only use for ceremonial purposes, prefering to work in his study, but Alexios prefered the throne room, feeling that a King should sit on his throne. He worked hard for his people, thus demanding respect.

One morning Alexios approached the intricate oak doors to the throne room with his usual entourage of royal aids carrying documents for him to go over. As they approached, the guards on either side of the doors snapped to attention. Alexios stopped to wait for them to open the doors for him, but before they did, the one on the left spoke.

"Your Majesty, the Queen is inside, and she said she wanted to talk alone with you this morning."

Alexios hid his reaction, merely nodding to the guard in recognition. The guards then pulled the doors open and Alexios walked in alone. He stepped through and the guards closed the doors behind him. Alexios walked further into the marble and glass room, lined with busts and portraits of hundreds of years of great Kings and Queens, cementing their place in history. Alexios hoped to have his place in history remembered as among the best of them. At the front of the room was a wide stage, at the top of which were two gorgeous thrones, and in front of the bigger one was his desk, waiting for him. Waiting behind the desk for him too was his Queen.

Celeste had been his wife for two months before Alexios' father died and he ascended to the throne. When he was just a Prince, he had all the time in the world just for her. They were the portrait of young love, and her wild spirit was what drew him to her in the first place, and his steadiness of mind and sense of purpose kept her grounded. They were perfect, but now Alexios was King, his mindset had changed, but Celeste didn't quite change to her role of Queen. Her old self had only intensified; she often went out and partied like they used to. Half the time he awoke alone in his bed.

And now there she sat, on his throne and at his desk, smiling her playful seductive smile, wearing a simple but sexy black dress, adorned with plenty of royal jewels that were only meant for show, wearing several gold and silver rings, a pendant with a beautiful emerald, and a jeweled rose hair comb in her long black hair. "Hello, sweetie," she cooed innocently.

"I'd prefer you address your King the way all of my subjects do," he corrected her.

She leaned over on his desk and made a little pouty face. "I never called you "your Majesty" when you were a Prince," she reminded him.

"It's different now, Celeste, and you know it," he said. "I need my desk right now."

She straightened up and slowly walked around the desk. Alexios noticed she was barefoot, and the floral patterend stockings she wore. Celeste knew he liked those, but he maintained his composure in front of her. She walked to him seductively. "You never tried to control me before, either."

"It's not about control, it's about respect for my position," he told her. "The guard said you wanted to say something?"

"Yeah," she replied. She reached up and kissed him passionately, pressing her whole body against him. "I've missed you. You're so busy, and we haven't done anything in a long time."

Alexios agreed, he had been busy, but he was busy today, too. "I know," he said, "and I'm sorry, Celeste. How about we have dinner tomorrow."

She ran her fingers through his hair and wrapped one of her legs around his waist. "I don't want to make plans," she whispered in his ear. "I just want you, now."

Alexios gently pulled her off him, but firmly said, "I will not perform such debaucheries in the Hall of my fathers. I'll make plans tomorrow."

Alexios moved past her and sat at his desk. She turned to face him and simply said, "I won't be able to tomorrow. I'll be leaving for the coast to oversee the new merchant fleet's completion."

Alexios stopped. He had forgotten she had agreed to that, but in the back of his mind wondered if she had actually planned on going. "Then we'll make plans for when you return. Please send for the royal aids outside."

He went to work going over a document left on his desk that morning. It was something about the production of a new medicine, but Alexios wasn't able to get to far into the document, as Celeste had climbed up and over the desk and was now straddling his lap. "Why make plans?" she asked as she settled into her position. "We're both here now, alone. C'mon, just relax, Alex."

She started kissing him again, but this time Alexios kissed her back. At first it was slow, but Celeste started to get friskier, and Alexios started to get more passionate. He pushed her back until he was laying on top of her on top of the desk, running his hands all over her, kissing her neck and chest as she moaned with pleasure.

Then all of a sudden something switched back on in his mind. He pushed himself off of her and walked over to the portrait of his father. The portrait was very regal, the man in the prime of his life, strong and wise, the man Alexios had looked up to his entire life. "Celeste," he said as he turned back to his wife, who was still sitting on the desk, "my love, I'm sorry for being absent in your life, but you must understand my position. I have to be strong for my people, and I have to do everything in my power to protect them. This is still new to us both, I know, but I have a responsibility to this kingdom."

"You made another oath before you became King, though," Celeste said as she got off the desk, becoming confrontational. "You took an oath to me, to us, before all of this. And in becoming king you forgot you were a husband." She placed her hand on his chest. "Remember what we would do before this?" she asked gently. "The picnics, the games, the shows, just spending entire days in bed together. Before the funeral, before the coronation and all of the ceremonies and appearances and official business. Don't you miss all of it, too?"

"I do," Alexios admitted, almost shouting. "I miss it so much, you don't know. I miss you, Celeste, and all of the fun we had, and I sometimes wish I was never a prince. But I can't change my family, and I can't ignore my heritage. Please understand."

Celeste sighed and looked down. The silence was deafening until Alexios made a decision. "Forget about the merchant fleet tomorrow."

Celeste looked up in confusion. "But one of us has to go."

"I'll just send another representative," Alexios explained. "A duke or duchess would be glad to go. And I'll open up my schedule tomorrow, and no one will bother us all day, if you'll wait till tomorrow?"

Her face lit up and she ran to hug him. He hugged her back tightly, and they embraced for several long seconds. She backed away, bowing. "Then I'll see you tomorrow, my King." She then walked out of the throne room, allowing the royal aids to come in after her.

Alexios went through his day only thinking about tomorrow. He silently made the decision that one day a month he would lay everything aside and be a husband to his wife, forgetting they were King and Queen.