Queen.

Margery sat before her councilmen, after hearing the same topic repeatedly you tend not to listen nor care an ounce when it is brought up again. Her hand moved to the crown that leaned ever so slightly on her head, she’d been leaning to one side hands splayed against the table's top as she listened on absentmindedly. Her focus was past Secretary of State as he spoke, she was gazing upon the green pastures through the window behind his head of hair. She blinked slowly adjusting her crown, however her eyes never left the green grounds even as her hand moved back down to the table and rested there. She inhaled slowly, her stomach was churning in disagreement to whatever she had consumed that morning. She tugged at the collar of her exquisite gown, she felt like she was being burned alive in the clothing she wore and she hadn’t known why.

 “Your highness?” Cecil said as he stopped rambling on. “Your highness?” he asked again a bit of worry in his voice as he watched her, she hadn’t made a sound since she was escorted in and it was so unlike her not to give even the smallest bit of commentary to what the council pulled her into the meeting for. “Your majesty…” he breathed softly looking to her with worry “has thee fallen ill?” he asked her curiously.

 Margery barely heard a word she was so engrossed with the garden right in her line of vision. There was a lot on her mind of course how could there not be? She was the Queen, her whole existence revolved around her constantly having to think and make decisions rather for herself or others. However, this matter had nothing to do with the nation, it was much deeper than that. As she heard finally, Cecil ask her if she were ill she snapped out of her on self-induced trance and she looked to the man. “Brought to council, men” she stopped short. “Men who find me no spring chicken” she said wittily. “Men, who stop at nothing to see me marry” she breathed out slowly. “That makes me very ill. Twas it not you Lord Chancellor that waited until you were merely forty-six in age to marry someone that could have been your daughter?” she asked looking to him. “Chickens aren’t for springing, they are eating gentlemen. And we all know your royal highness loves a great feast” she said with a smirk.

 Robert’s hand idly pulled at his neck, there was good lace there, his best in fact. A man needed a bit of lace about him. A lot if he meant to make a good impression. He slid his hand down to the clasp holding the ornate velvet cloak in place. In one flourishing motion, he removed the garment, twirling it a bit, until it came to rest over his arm. It was a bit of a nuance there but it left his sword exposed. Even here people needed to be reminded he was no easy meat. The brisk pace he set through the halls of the castle brought many eyes his way. ‘Let them stare.’ He had been far too long from these gilded halls from her side. Two things he sought to rectify, forthwith. He slowed his pace as he approached the chamber doors and his face broke into a wiry smile as he heard her address the hall. There would be no quiet reentry for Robert.  He threw the doors of the chamber open, eyes falling directly on the one he sought so feverishly. “Wise and perfect words spoken by our most high sovereign” he announced, working his way towards the head of the table. “I wonder now who is truly the hen and who the rooster in this room.”  Finally, at his queen’s feet he bowed low making a perfect leg. “Majesty.”  

 Cecil looked to the Queen again, her response sadden him greatly she could truly be stubborn when she wanted to be. He didn’t quite understand her fight against the things she knew had to be done, to ensure the wellbeing of their kingdom. At her witty remark, me looked at his quill and sighed softly, he wouldn’t have a successful day pressuring her again he foresaw. However, as the large wooden doors shutting them off from the outside World flung open in a haste he looked up to see the one person he hardly ever liked to see around the palace. He was a nuisance and a distraction to the most high. He bothered him so, but he had no true authority over his presence. “Earl of Leicester” he said in a gruff voice. “Pleasantries; who summon thee? On account that the council can handle the likes of the Kingdom despite the absence of thee...” he said giving the man a knowing look.

 Margery looked to Cecil, before she daintily rested her head on the back of her hand, elbow pressed into the table she blinked, uninterested expressions gracing her face as she did. Upon the arrival of the man she daydreamed about she looked back, pleased to see him again in her graces. She hardly could contain the happiness as it wrote itself all over her face. Pale face, peachy toned it turned. Dull eyes, now bright and glowing hazelnut just for him. And suddenly like magic, her stomach no longer pained her instead butterflies twirled in delight of him. It was a breath of fresh air. As he knelt she smiled at him graciously “I” she responded back to Cecil as she raised her hand silencing anyone else before they could talk and annoy her further by ruining this moment for her, him, them both. Hand raised, her eyes were fixed on him and she raised his head with her other small hand, she wanted to look into the emerald eyes that reminded her so much of her gardens. The emerald eyes she gazed upon from across the room, from this very table, from above her in her chambers as he hoovered her at night for a kiss and other specialties she would never tell. “Earl” she breathed “at last, you grace thee with your valued presence” she said softly. “As if you felt the yearning of a wise man to sit before me, you appear” she said lovingly. “Welcome back Robin” she said with lust filled eyes.

 The angry chatter that erupted in the room at Robert’s appearance only served to embolden him. He had been left with little in his life, and with is father’s disgraceful death, even less. He’d long since shrieked off the need to be loved by all, it was an appointment he would never receive. Yet, here before him, his eyes danced contemptuously over the only love that could or would ever sustain him. He only briefly entertained squat Cecil offering him the smallest of honors, “Lord Burghley.” he poured out, with exaggerated kindness. Robert smirked even in his bowed position when, with a syllable, the Queen brought any further trivial questions to an abrupt end. His body weakened at her simple touch, and he named himself fool for making such a spectacular entrance. His heart had ruled his feet hastening them and now bitterly other appendages showed him his error. To be not surrounded by the world., would have offered them a more personal reunion. Robert held her penetrating gaze, heat rising up his back. He took her hand and kissed the ring that decorated her fingers. “Is it not a servant desire to fulfil the request of his master, before the master knows of her own need? That I am what I am, your servant, Highest.” he said bowing low again. He needed a respite from her sweltering gaze. It would do no good to lose his wits here.

 Her hand slowly lowered itself once she knew that the entire room knew very well what she wouldn’t allow on this day. Instead he grabbed it and kissed her ring, causing her eyes to roll shut from such a simple gesture. Maybe it was because in a more secretive place cut off from them all, it would have been her lips he graced and not her ring. As he began to talk she opened her eyes again, pulling herself out of her own thoughts “oh Robin” Margery chuckled affectionately as he gave her such kind words to hold on to. “Twas not a servant, I wrote. But a friend. Humbly, I graciously accept thee, for you waste not an ounce of time to return to me” she said resting her hand against her cleavage so delicately. “Lord Chancellor, I do believe my dear Cecil could use a companion on the right of him” she said gesturing him to rise and move from beside her. “My sweet Robin” she said standing to her feet for him, gesturing the taller man to stand “I could use you at mine” she said offering him a seat. “You’d be happy to give your thoughts on my courtship?” she said knowingly. “Maybe you can scowl these fools into accepting that their Queen is married to ENGLAND” she said ferociously as she stood before them. “Aren’t I enough woman and man for you?” she asked the men in the room as she leaned against the table, gazing at them. “Much work to be done, tis only the matter of who I bed and wed is gossiped here” she said rolling her eyes before she walked around the table slowly, her hands at her side. She stopped at a window and gazed at her beautiful gardens. “I shall not marry” she told them as she sighed heavily pulling herself from the window. “Tell them Robin” she added as she rounded his side of the table and moved to plop herself back down before them.

 Robert eyes rose to meet hers. How do you love a word, yet despise it completely? Friend. This inner sanctum of her closes advisers, men who have pledged their life to her and yet even here the barest minimum could be called themselves friend. For that he bore the title as a medal of honor. However, it did him also a disservice. Friend mocked him as it would never be enough. Never hold the depth of completion that truly existed between them. But as it was so uttered here from her succulent lips his hand clutched his heart whispering her title breathily, "Majesty." He rose to his fullest height, dangerously close to the queen's person, his jaw clenched as he breathed her in, holding her gaze as he moved. He circled her and moved to his appoint space, while being ran through by deadly glares of contempt. He settled himself and met each man's gaze, a small smirk at the corner of his mouth. How her word ripped through them all, showing them to be the fools they were. He held off his smile, as to not corrupt the seriousness of her words. He tapped his finger on the tabletop, face that of a stern taskmaster. "Our monarchy has been plagued by marriages that have done little to nothing to truly serve the people of England. Why then would we seek to shackle our sovereign so? She has pledge her love and heart to our country solely. Can any other sovereign claim such? Nay... I implore you gentlemen, do your duties and love our country half as well. And be on about the true matters of state."

 Cecil looked to the Earl, the disdain he shared for the man came with much purpose behind it. It was amusing watching the two most days, to see him like a lost puppy bowing and following her every word was comical. He was never a man with a mind of his own, and he wondered if the Earl had known. “Idle gossip does not concern the throne. Hath we not all bore witness to the King’s and Queen’s before thee not securing a marriage, and an heir, that lead to the Kingdom falling upon wrongful hands?” he argued back his hand gesturing to Margery, his voice raised which is something it hardly did. But he was upset now, his whole purpose for pressuring this very thing was constantly dismissed without even pondering. “We need an heir” he argued “to secure the Nation!” he told them all.

 Margery looked to Cecil, she gazed upon him “I bow to no man Lord Cecil” she said lowly as she continued to gaze upon him. She never took to people raising their voices at her, quite frankly it made her a very vengeful woman when someone challenged her superiority. “A table separates, I from thee. But thou shalt not forget my wrath” she warned him. “A tongue so vicious as such shall be made silent” she told him as she moved to stand up from the chair. She walked away from the men “Earl of Leicester” she breathed looking over her shoulder. “Shall we talk amongst each other in my chambers?” she asked him “reacquaintance?” she told him as she moved to exit.

 Robert loved to see Cecil become flustered, the outward disdain they had for one another was quite odd. Margery had chosen them both, appointing them to their positions. But how different the were in every conceivable way. Robert was a sports man, fond of wars and horse. Cecil, on the other hand, a lover of books. That alone shouldn't have separated them, on the contrary their bond should have been tighter for it. He dismissed the man, the Queen had spoken. Thus, the matter was closed. He past only half uninterested gazes on Cecil as he blew himself into a tizzy.  “The hands of our Highest are most capable, let the matter of heirs be left to our sovereign as it is her actual burden to bare.” He wanted an heir for the country, for that matter he wanted Margery married. But not to a foreign dignitary. No man could love her better than he, as such no other man would ever be worth of her. Robert moved to his feet as he queen stood, he watched as she exited the room. Mind to follow even if he was not requested. Blessedly this was not to be the case, he inclined his head, at her request and wordlessly followed her from the hall.   

 “They’d see to it I marry a horse, if a horse and I could conceive a King” Margery said as she moved down the long hallway. “Robin” she said looking back to him “do you find me, unreasonable?” she asked him seriously. She knew she could be a hard ass at times and a bit uptight, however she would have thought by now that her council understood the importance, of pleasing her people, came first. She watched many marriages come and go, the likes of which never amused her. “You are a married man Robin” she said honestly to him, for he was she herself should know. She attended the longtime friend’s wedding herself. “Does marriage, appease you so?” she said a bit of a smirk on her face, she was toying with him. For heaven sakes if his married bed was well suited for him than he’d not have a reason to lay in hers. But he did, often. She licked her lips looking to him again. “Is she but a dream?” she breathed “or a dreary nightmare?” she questioned stopping short as she gazed up at him in the partially empty halls.     

 “Oh, I don’t know.” Robert mused walking at her side only a step behind. “They worry over your legacy and theirs. Their purses may be a sight less stout if they couldn’t oversee your successor.” He answered honestly. “Never.” He said easily. She had long since sworn off marriage, and he often wondered how truthful she was being as child. “You deserve some peace in the matter. They have cloaked your marriage suggestions since your coronation. They shall not force you to marry, so it is unreasonable for them to continue to harp on a dead topic.”  Robert listened to her games, as continued there trek up the hall towards her rooms. He looked everywhere and nowhere then back to her, green eyes flashing.  “You know me well my queen.” He said advancing on her person.  “But you also know that my heart’s first love will always be England.”  He finished close enough to feel her breath on his face.   

 “Hm” Margery said as she looked to the tall man judgingly, “funny I thought she were but a dark haired blue eyed ordinary towns woman” she said insultingly as she moved to walk once more. She licked her full lips reaching the large doors to her wing, they opened for her as she moved inside she looked to the ladies-in-waiting and looked to him. “Go” she said shooing them all off sternly, yet sweetly. She closed the doors behind them and she looked to him again. “At last alone” she said as she moved to sit down.

 Robert's face was impassive as she openly insulted his wife. At once the quips might have angered him, but that time was past. His soul lay in front of him and if she wished to pummel him with insults to show her disdain, for the woman who had laid her claim to him. Good. The better for him, maybe she’d drop this pretense and claim him out right. He groaned and fell back into step with her. Entering her wing, he nodded admiringly at her ladies but kept his eyes fixed on her as they exited the room. Her heels clicked as she swept across the cobbled floors marking time til the chamber doors were closed behind them. “I’ve missed you.” He said lacking any flowery pretense and impregnated with true rich emotion.  

 Margery looked to him, like a little school girl she blushed at his words. They were simple but they meant a lot more than he’d imagine. “So, have I” she agreed as she looked back up, hiding her smile behind a bitten lip. “I dread you being far” she confessed as she crumbled beneath his glare, somehow, he made her do that. She began to fidget with her hands as she stood before him, wanting nothing more than to kiss him and be kissed. “I’ve been so alone Robin” she said quietly. She hated the fact that he wasn’t hers but she knew she had no right to be, she kept him away from his home far more for payback and then some. Plus, it was selfish of her, his wife probably didn’t deserve the toying she had on the man’s heart but she couldn’t help who she loved.

 There was a time he might have believed her but now… She, in her anger, had exiled him. And for so long. Maybe her love had dwindled? Except the mirth in her voice and the heat in her eyes said different. He took measured steps across the floor, until he was level with her. His emerald eyes, piercing deep into her being. He could ask now to make it sound like a demand that she never send him away again. It was a fleeting thought as he brought his hand up brushing her face softly.  “As have I. There is no other that touches…” His fingers slipped over her plump lips, remarking his territory. “The way you do.” He said eye going from her lips back to her eyes.

 Looking at him as his hands moved in to touch her velvety skin, it warmed to his touch and it flashed a bright shade of red once more. Margery cheeks creased as she said, “a kiss upon my lips would be greatly cherished” to Robert as she gazed upon him, hers eyes piercing his. He wouldn’t do so without her permission that she knew, overstepping her wasn’t much of an option. Plus, she knew he would test the waters dangerously close before actually making any attempts, after having been sent away she couldn’t imagine him acting any other way.

 Robert drew in a deep shaky breath. He’d been craving her lips since he he’d been sent away and now he gladly gave into her wishes. He gathered her in his arms, still holding her warm gaze with his eyes. “Would it?” He breathed close to her lips. “How can I be sure? A woman of your stature has only to take what she desires.” He quipped eyebrow raised.

 Margery blinked slowly as he wrapped his arms around causing her to stand again delicately and gaze back into his eyes. “I would” she replied simply, she was straight to the point avoiding his antics.

 Robert eyed only her lips as he spoke her short responds. The game was up, she’d won. She always would. The feel of her in his arms, so perfect, she had bent him to her will as it ever would. He closed the space between them claiming her full lips as his own.  Even if that ownership was a fleeting hope. He kissed her with deliberants, a hunger that only long night apart could create.

 A smirk graced her lips just as he kissed them, her eyes closed slowly basking in the feel of connecting with a dear friend. Margery tilted her head a bit, inhaling through her nose slowly as her hands moved to wrap around his body as well, the feel swelling her heart 10 times its current size. A strong willed and head strong woman currently melting like butter under his warmth and love.

 She was alive in Robert’s arms, warm and soft against his hard angles. Again, permission must be requested, at least this last time for formality. He licked across her bottom lip tasting her sweet skin, as he asked for permission to deepen the kiss.

 Margery opened her eyes slightly as the Earl simply swiped his tongue against her lip. She closed her eyes again and opened her mouth to him as he requested to deepen the kiss a little more. A soft moan leaving the back of her throat as she hugged him a little closer.

 Robert’s tongue moved between the part of her lips. Eagerness had taken control over any finesse he had. His eyes flickered open. He needed to know this was real. That he was back where he believed he belong. One pass of tongue brushing against hers. Taste, confirming the knowledge his eyes and arms already possessed. But this was deeper, his very being exhaled relief. He rolled over her muscle again, drawing it into his mouth, gentling suckling at her flavor.

 Margery body began to tingle all over the longer and the deeper they kissed, he had ignited something in her long ago. And though at times the flames burned out, she hated him so, some way or another the yearning crept up inside her and the smoke never seemed to clear. So, he’d end up right back in her arms, in the room, kissing her dear. She inhaled through her nose a little more, it was impossible to get in closer than they were right now, but she felt she melted into him. Fused as one. She pulled away as her lungs burn with the desire to be filled with air. “I loveth thee” she told him, with bright eyes hoping for nothing more than to hear him say it back.