Chapter Text
Shifting in her uncomfortable chair at her seat on the council, Aulea let go of a soft sigh in a fruitless attempt to stifle a yawn.
Over the years, she had become accustomed to listening to the mindless, empty-headed and borderline racist remarks from the council, but Lord Quinitus Melbourne's voice was something else entirely! It was bland, painful to listen to, and was enough to send even Clarus Amicitia off to sleep, although her husband's Shield would furiously deny it. That was without even mentioning the fact that the Lord had the personality of a vacuum! The Queen could, unfortunately, recall too many state dinners and balls where the man had chewed her ear off about some dull painting, the invention of the light bulb or the evolution of Lucis' countless wildlife. It had taken every ounce of her being not to appear bored or sound relieved when Regis stepped in, like a knight in shining armour, and saved her from her torment in those harrowing moments.
Aulea would love her husband forever for those acts alone.
Reaching under the table, Aulea took Regis' hand in her own and gave it a little squeeze in case he was taken by the plague of sleep. The gentle squeeze and the tender thumb gliding over her knuckles as thanks assured her that Regis was not in any danger of offending their council in that manner today.
Which was a relief.
Regis had gotten into a nasty habit of falling asleep during these important budget meetings as of late. However, it wasn't entirely his fault… the strain the wall had on him was slowly taking its toll…
"Is everything alright, Your Majesty?" Lord Melbourne's dreary voice flooded her ears; unfortunately, Aulea knew that question was directed at her and not the King.
"Yes." The Queen replied brightly, trying her damned hardest not to look at the man's thinning, greasy and poorly dyed brown hair.
"You seem a little tired?" Melbourne continued, meaning he had clearly noticed her attempt to hide her fairly big yawn….
Great.
Aulea smiled brightly at the Lord, straightened her posture, and tucked a loose lock of her brown hair behind her ear to give herself enough time to consider her response. "Not at all. Please continue your point on the importance of maintenance concerning the old docks."
"We were on the topic of the New Wall, Ma'am." Melbourne replied politely, trying and failing to hide how offended he was by her lack of interest in his words. "We had move on from the docks ten minutes ago."
Fuck!
"Oh."
The loud, uncontained snort to her right thankfully took the attention away from her reddening face of embarrassment, and solely onto the tired King of Lucis.
At least that meant Regis hadn't been paying any attention to what was going on either.
"Is that where we are at?" Regis asked nervously, using his free hand to rub his face in one singular motion. "My apologies, My Lord, for my wavering attention."
"Not at all, Your Majesty." Lord Melbourne replied, shuffling his papers and straightening them by banging them against the marble table with a little more force than intended. "Would you like me to start again?"
Aulea's stomach dropped, as did the rest of the members of the council!
Oh gods no! She screamed in her head, snapping her head in Regis' direction to get him to stop this! But her husband looked too traumatised with the possibility of that actually happening and aimlessly stared at the Lord in absolute horror.
"Perhaps we should move on." Clarus chimed in loudly, the sound of his chair scraping across the flooring as he rose to his feet, told the rest of the room that it wasn't a suggestion either. "For His Majesty has a medical appointment that he can not be late for once this meeting has concluded, don't you, sir?"
"YES!" Regis nodded empathically, shifting his gaze between his Shield and the boring-arse Lord in a bid to sell the very obvious lie. "Yes, I do! Thank you, Lord Amicitia, for reminding me of that, very, very important appointment that I must attend."
"Yes, thank you, Clarus." Aulea smiled, wanting to kiss the man full on the mouth for sparing them, and the rest of the room, from another ten torturous minutes!
With a nod, Clarus sat back down and allowed Lady Livia Fabius to take the floor.
Thankfully, she was the last speaker of the day.
After this disaster and embarrassment of a meeting, Aulea could really do with a lay down.
"Not long to go now, my love." Regis whispered, leaning ever so slightly in his wife's direction, so only she could hear him.
The Queen nodded, taking her husband's words as gospel. He was the King after all; if he wanted to end the meeting, he could. But Regis wasn't like that… that's what she loved about him.
Not once since he had inherited the throne from his tyrannical father, had Regis abused his power. Whatever he did was in the name of protecting and bettering the lives of the people he ruled over. Although it bored him to death, Regis always sat and listened to the concerns, worries and requests from his council. He tried his absolute hardest to be polite, approachable and caring to all his subjects, and those who worked within the Citadel, even when a few individuals did not deserve it. (Looking at you Lord Melbourne.) What Aulea loved most about her husband was his dedication to their beloved 16-year-old son. If fate would allow it, Regis would always choose to be a parent over the role he was born into, but that sadly wasn't to be. However, when Regis could step into that role, when he could be one hundred per cent present there for Noctis, he was the best father any son could possibly hope for.
Aulea knew how lucky she was to be Regis' wife.
She simply could not have asked for a better husband…. even if the man was a bit of a goofball.
"Good." Aulea whispered back, leaning closer towards Regis, letting go of his hand to trace her fingertips over his thigh. "We need to have our own 'little' meeting, which I fear is frightfully overdue."
"Is it, indeed?" Regis smirked, resting his hand on her knee, under the table where prying eyes could not see.
"Oh yes… but after your doctor's appointment, of course." Aulea teased, briefly side eyeing the rest of the room to double check that no one could hear her words. "We need to assess how much strain your knee can take."
"Why is that?" He asked curiously, twisting the fine fabric of her dark blue dress between his fingers, tightly.
What I wouldn't give to have those fingers between my legs right now…
"So you can partake in, ummm, some intense form of exercise… I am afraid that clothing is not an option during the activity that I have in mind." Aulea murmured, moving her fingers dangerously close to the upper part of Regis' inner thigh.
"Oh, really?" Regis chuckled, digging his nails into her leg, like he always did when she had gotten him riled up.
"Yes." Aulea bit her lip, feeling the bridge of her nose burn slightly, at the thought of touching him in public. "It's the rule, and I regret to say, I do not make them."
"Well then… I'd better wrap this meeting up." Regis told her, his words laced with a promise of what was to come, before placing both his hands on the table to hoist himself to his feet.
As he did so, the rest of the council went to stand, but the King waved them down to stop their advancement.
"Thank you all for bringing these matters to my attention." Regis began, clearly uncomfortable with the weight distribution on his bad leg.
It made Aulea's heart sink to see him in pain.
She didn't even need to look at Clarus to tell him to actually make a doctor's appointment for their beloved King at the earliest possible time, preferably later on this evening, before they had their scheduled dinner with Noctis. The pain medication Regis was on clearly was not strong enough anymore.
Still Regis stood tall in front of all his councillors and fought through the pain as he closed the meeting. "I will be sure to consider all of your concerns and points with great care and discuss them further with Lord Amicitia to see what we can feasibly accommodate. However, before you all leave and return home to your families, I would like to put forward a motion myself that I wish to be acted upon immediately."
Aulea frowned, a little taken aback by Regis' statement.
He hadn't discussed anything with her before the meeting, which wasn't like him at all.
More often than not, Regis would run the problems he wanted to discuss with the council by either herself or Clarus beforehand. But by the look of complete perplexity on Clarus' strong features, it was clear to see that Regis had not spoken to him about it either.
From the tone of his voice… it sounded serious…
Very serious.
With her anxiety building, and her mind racing with every possible topic Regis would bring to the council's attention, Aulea couldn't help but pick at her nails as the nerves took hold of her body.
"What I am asking is for something that has never occurred within this Kingdom before; however, I feel strongly on the matter."
"What matter do you speak of, Your Majesty?" Clarus asked, his tone reserved, keeping his eyes locked onto Regis.
"A divorce," Regis said plainly, staring at the golden doors at the other end of the room, the only way out. "To further clarify… my wish is to divorce the Queen."
And just like that, Aulea's entire world collapsed around her.