Un-Queenlike Conduct (Matthias, Miskimina)

[Teller]

Miskiminalatallia didn't tend to struggle long in the daily search for her husband. She knew just how likely it was to find him in each place he tended to frequent, and typically started there. The trouble was if she caught him in transit--the likelihood of her finding him while he was going from one place to another was small, and then she had to check all of her previous assumptions a second time. Before that she usually resorted to shouting, and typically someone was able to shout back or approach to inform her of where they'd last seen her wandering husband, and where. 

Most people in the castle and its surrounding city were accustomed to their queen shouting. They knew that, for the most part, she raised her voice when she was in a good mood, and lowered it when she meant to threaten. Some said that a queen raising her voice was uncivilized; if they whined too often and too long, Miskimina sent them to whine from a different city. It wasn't because they bothered her personally; but allowing people to believe that persistent whining without evidence was an acceptable or civilized form of behavior did not satisfy her. This was her city, her kingdom, and she would not allow her citizens to turn each other into animals in the name of being 'appropriate'. 

"Matthias!" she called, striding briskly down one of the many wide corridors. There were so many halls and floors and twists in this castle that the hallways had all been named, like streets, so there was less confusion while navigating it. "Matthias!" There was more than one Matthias in the castle, she'd even met a few. But she only ever bellowed for one. Others said uncivilized; she said delegating her search. Plus it was wonderful not having to constantly be the perfect lady. Perfect ladies were boring and tended to die young from stress. 

Miskimina sighed, turning down another random corridor and shouting again. A few maids and butlers smiled or chuckled to themselves, and she smiled back. She hadn't yet met a member of the staff here she didn't like, though admittedly she hadn't met a wide percentage of them. 

Miskimina's smile widened, and she tucked her chin down to hide most of this one. Matthias could be rather slow sometimes, but she couldn't blame him this time. Most husbands hesitated to believe--let alone to point out--that their wife's waistline was thickening, and Miskimina would have to have most of her gowns let out soon, or have more made. She'd have to commission more soon anyway, for her approximately nine to eleven months of not having her usual slimmer waistline, but so far she'd gotten away without them. She just wanted to make Matthias squirm a bit until he both noticed it and mentioned it. Perhaps holding off telling him made her a terrible wife, but she doubted he'd mind. She'd wanted to spare him the knowledge of her losing it, too, just in case she did in the early weeks. That wasn't his burden to bear. 

The queen inhaled. "Matthias! For the love of lavender, what are you doing?" 

[Lindsey]

Matthias pushed his hair from his face as he pulled another hoof from the ground and looked at the bottom of the large, black equine. Eyes narrowed as he searched in the fire light of the stable to spot any reason for this animal to be limping. "Sire, do you see anything?" Matthias placed the hoof down and felt up the leg and into the shoulder before standing up tall and patting the animal on the neck. "No, I didn't. Let this animal rest for the week. I don't want to loss a horse." The man said as he did a quick check over the whole animal. "I want you to check this animal daily, walk him alone around the arena to give him exercise and in a week, if he is still limping, we will put him in the pasture and make him a sire." The man knew some of the mares in their herd would be coming into heat soon, so he wanted to get him out there quickly if he was retiring the animal. "Of course, your majesty." Taking the animal by the harness on his head, it was lead away and Matthias cleaned his hands in a bowl of water.

The man pulled on his sword, strapping it around his waist and putting his cloak on before he headed back out and towards the castle. The walk up the cobblestone walkway to a side door in the castle that sent him through the kitchen was a bit wet from the cook throwing out old water and food. The castle dogs were snacking away on some old meat and not paying him any mind. Slipping through the side door, he stole a piece of bread from the loaf that was sitting out and headed through the dining hall and out into the hallways. "Matthias! For the love of lavender, what are you doing?" The man chuckled at the sound of his queen's voice echoing through the halls, calling for him.

Emerging from one hall to another one, he saw her walking away and he walked in sync with her own steps, being as silent as possible and moving with her down the hallway. He wasn't too close, for fear she might turn around and punch him. He might be a bit taller than her, she had a fair punch and he hated being on the receiving end of that.

[Teller]

Miskimina was about to have dinner without him. Or just borrow a scent hound or four. Whichever she came across first. She’d been starving for half an hour, whether or not he was in fact still on time, and fully intended to inform him of this as soon as she located him. It was a husband’s job to know his wife’s every whim, wasn’t it? ‘They’ told her it was. Never mind that she frequently told ‘them’ into what many creative and dark places they could shove their outdated ideals.

”Pimma, have you seen the king?” Miskimina asked, slowing when she saw a housekeeper she recognized entering through another door. Just in case she hadn’t heard her shouting.

Pimma, usually quick on the uptake, hesitated. ”Ah, I’m afraid I haven’t, Your Majesty. Have you tried the kitchens?” 

Miskimina pursed her lips. Was that horse she smelled? ”Hm. Well I suppose I’ll have to. After all, there is ample access to weaponry there, if I should need it.”

Pimma cleared her throat and ducked her head. ”Yes of course, Your Majesty.”

Miskimina stepped around her and carried on, not bothering to wait for a courtesy. Mostly useless things, bows and curtseys. Unless one meant to judge the other based on their steadiness in the knees.

For the moment Miskimina stopped shouting, and only sighed. ”Blasted, irritating fool, doesn’t come when he calls.” She shook her head. ”What am I to do with him?” Being in the habit of talking to herself, it wouldn’t stand out to most that she did it now. She tipped her head to one side, considering. ”I could hang him from a parlor window, I suppose. Unfortunately he would probably only enjoy it.”

A pair of maids still setting the table dipped quick curtseys when Miskimina entered their smaller dining room, and she smiled in return. ”You may set dinner out, Illa,” she said, sweeping to her place and taking a seat with a flourish. Without raising her head she said, ”Darling, you should change your clothes before choosing to stalk me.” She lifted an amused eyebrow at him at last, as Illa fetched the meat pie the cook had been letting cool several minutes ago, which now had a hole in the middle where Miskimina had sampled it when she wasn’t looking. Of course the cook was used to this sort of unruly behavior, and had filled the gap with a mound of stiffened and stylized cream to hide the imperfection. Hilly was filling their glasses. Miskimina took a sip of her own wine then slid the goblet away. ”Did you enjoy your time with the ponies?”

[Lindsey]

The scent of dinner drifted through the hallways, as if following him from the kitchen and dining hall when he left it. The man had no problem keeping an eye on his wife, even though he knew he didn't have to, but it was easy. If she was around, she was looking for him, speaking loudly, and sometimes speaking to herself. This such thing was rather amusing to him and he walked with a light, careful step; that of a true fighter whom was light on their feet. "Pimma, have you seen the king?” The man glanced around the his wife, holding his finger up to ask the housekeeper to not say a word.

”Ah, I’m afraid I haven’t, Your Majesty. Have you tried the kitchens?” The man smiled, though he figured this could only go on for so long. The man smelt of the stables, it was sure to show sooner or later, right? ”Hm. Well I suppose I’ll have to. After all, there is ample access to weaponry there, if I should need it.” The man tried to hold back a chuckle at her words and he managed not to make a sound. "Yes of course, Your Majesty.” The man waited until she took a step or two and followed along with her, giving the housekeeper a smile as he walked past her and he thought he saw a smirk on her own face.

"Blasted, irritating fool, doesn’t come when he calls... What am I to do with him?” The man smiled, having to agree with him at some of her points. Yes, he never really came when called, it wasn't his way. He enjoyed making others wait, especially watching from a distance while they waited. "I could hang him from a parlor window, I suppose. Unfortunately he would probably only enjoy it.” Honestly, he would enjoy seeing her attempt to hang him from the parlor window. The man followed her to the small dining room they they used for just themselves, family, friendly guest and maybe one day, children.
”You may set dinner out, Illa,” The woman said to one of the ladies in the room. Taking her seat before him, he smiled at her as she spoke again, "Darling, you should change your clothes before choosing to stalk me.” The man chuckled and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning down, kissing her cheek. "Following... Stalking is different... I was merely following, my queen." The man mentioned to her as he went and sat down adjacent to her, so they could sit near each other. Removing his cloak and sword, placing them on a chair next to him, he took the wine and drank some before looking at Hilly. "Some mead please, Hilly." The woman nodded and after finishing, went to fetch a mug of mead.

”Did you enjoy your time with the ponies?” The man looked up and nodded. "It was peaceful... One of the black frisians is limping badly... I can't find a reason for it to be lame, nothing wrong with hoof... If it is still limping in a weak, may have to put it in pasture with the mares that will soon be ready for breeding." The man mentioned as he took the mug from Hilly. "Thank You."

[Teller]

Miskimina reached up with a smile to pat his cheek before it lifted away and he sat. ”Yes but ‘following’ implies that both parties are fully aware of its occurrence. Whereas you, my love, walk like a deer in the froth of the sea, and you know it.” She still planned on learning that, someday. His way of being present without others immediately realizing it. Perhaps it was something one learned as a soldier, but she also highly suspected it was just his way. Matthias commanded attention when he needed it, and avoided it when he didn’t. Whereas Miskimina walked into a room expecting others to see her, as she typically had need of things from the people she sought out. Granted, Matthias tended to hear things Miskimina didn’t, with his ability to avoid active notice. But sometimes she thought well-dressed women were more frightening; men expected to be frightened by other men, but not by women. Women had the natural ability to disconcert men, and it was a joy to utilize it.

Miskimina raised an eyebrow at the sword, but didn’t comment. She may not agree at its necessity—their ascent to the throne had been almost entirely peaceful, after all—but she’d rarely tell her husband not to provide himself ample means to defend himself. She didn’t want to be rid of him yet—nor did she want to be tired of him yet, either, thankfully.

”A pulled muscle?” she guessed in reference to the Frisian, leaning back for Illa to place a dish of butternut soup on the small plate before her. She blew on a spoonful of soup, this being one of her favorites. ”At any rate, he can have no better mentor in the art of stud services if you’re the one to resituate him.” She sipped at the soup, turned a page in the summary of the city’s day’s activities that Hilly had laid out, and absently stirred her soup, deciding she ought to purchase a skein of thread in the same rich, sunflower gold color.

Frowning, Miskimina tapped one of the paragraphs detailing a caravan that had trudged into town with only half its wares, claiming bandits had taken the rest. ”Love, have you seen other reports of bandits attacking the land merchants in the area? I swear I’ve seen others, and I think the ruffians in question are getting a mite too sure of themselves." She took a draw from her water goblet, still reading. "Should we send soldiers after them or find a useful project in the area to employ them for?” Depending on the particular brand of bandit, sometimes they couldn’t be trusted to honestly work. But she couldn’t remember what injuries the previously affected parties had sustained, or if there had been any. This particular clutch had only taken half of the merchandise and scattered, so they sounded more starved than savage. Unfortunately, that side of the state didn’t require any more wells; they’d have to think of something else to employ the men with.

[Lindsey]

The man caught her hand for just a moment to kiss the palm of her hand. It was nice to have such a wonderful woman in his life. "Yes but ‘following’ implies that both parties are fully aware of its occurrence. Whereas you, my love, walk like a deer in the froth of the sea, and you know it.” The man chuckled at these words and moved around to his seat. "Well, sometimes I do not wish for anyone to hear me... I thought you were use to this by now." Matthias took his place near her and looked at her fondly. Noticing the raised eyebrow, he smiled slightly.

"I know, it is pointless in a time of peace, but peace is easily shattered by those who don't want it..." And peace could only last so long before it would turn into madness and this Empire was overdue for it. The man took a sip of the mead that was brought to him and the warm feeling it made in went down his throat and into his stomach, it made him smile slightly. "Mmm, I've been needing this a bit today... So, what has your day been filled with?" The man hoped that she had had a good day, since he had spent much of his time with the Calvary checking on the horses. One had to be completely retired, another was too old and had to be sent to the back stable to be given comfort until his death, one mare birthed a beautiful colt, and then the one that was limping.

"A pulled muscle?” The man tilted his head slightly as he thought of it. It was one of the possibilities he had considered. Thanking Illa for the soup, he also took a bit of it as he sat in silence for a moment. "At any rate, he can have no better mentor in the art of stud services if you’re the one to resituate him.” The man grunted slightly as he sipped on his soup some and pulled out a scroll from his pocket and read over it. It was from a small forest village, asking for help with a criminal problem.

"Love, have you seen other reports of bandits attacking the land merchants in the area? I swear I’ve seen others, and I think the ruffians in question are getting a mite too sure of themselves." Looking up and leaning towards the report she was reading, he thought on it. "Yes, I believe I have read a few and I have been sending extra patrols down the roads... But it seems that either the bandits have been very lucky or have figured out the patrols." To be honest, he suspected they had Intel on the patrols.

"Should we send soldiers after them or find a useful project in the area to employ them for?” The man thought on that for a moment and sat back in a chair. "Hmm... That is an interesting idea. We would have to find them." Granted, it was not a good idea for the king to be involved, but for some reason he wanted to be... What was he saying, he knew EXACTLY why he wanted to be involved, he needed the action and needed the activity.

[Teller]

Miskimina took a breath, pausing from her stirring of the heavy soup. ”Well I got to work a bit on the small ‘tapestry’, as you call it, a bit this morning until duty called." Miskimina had taken to embroidery like a duck to a pond, and was currently working on a mountain scene the size of the average upper-body portrait. "There’s a blight in the north so I’m sending some of the excess grain from the west coast down at a slight discount so they don’t go bankrupt. I sold it at that discount to the farmers, who can in turn sell it at its proper price and close to their proper gains to those who normally do the distributing of foodgrains.” She still shook her head. Even a small blight was a loss to someone—the individuals or the crown. She preferred that the loss fall on their shoulders, as theirs were she believed more able to bear it, but they still couldn’t afford to be overly generous with their funds. There was still a military to upkeep, grants given to the schools and orphanages, the wages paid to run most of the mines, and the general upkeep of the entire country. ”We’ve been productive,” she said at last. Not a bad day. Not an outstanding one in either direction, honestly.

”If they’ve figured out the patrols perhaps we should begin flipping coins to make determining decisions,” she said with a frown, sliding her soup dish back so the staff could serve the main course. At least once what’s-his-face, the big bearded and blond one sitting adjacent to her, had finished. For the moment she peeled the crust off a bun to eat it in increments as she thought.

Miskimina’s eyes slid up to inspect Matthias’s as he considered the thought of locating and employing the bandits, given that they’d thus far avoided most significant injuries, at least those who were following this particular pattern. Then she lifted an eyebrow again, leaned back and crossed her arms. ”We just had a battle,” she pointed out. ”Or have you forgotten about the moderate uprising we just put down? It wasn’t so terribly long ago.” She wanted a number of memories immediately following the settling of that mayhem eradicated from her mind, but unfortunately sometimes those in power had to know things they did not want to, thinks that kept them awake, and when they could not sleep they had to rise every morning following for the rest of their lives no matter how they felt. Striving to be a better queen than the last was a competition Miskimina won whether or not she left her bed.

Miskimina’s laced fingers tapped absently against the backs of her hands, against her stomach. ”You need more hobbies. Didn’t you used to spar with the knights and those in training? Go fight with a few friends.”

Miskimina’s stomach churned and mumbled, and she raised an eyebrow down at it, too. It displeased her when not every part of her body adhered to the rules of being ladylike. But it had been quite a long while since lunch and she was hungry. She took another piece of bread.

[Lindsey]

”Well I got to work a bit on the small ‘tapestry’, as you call it, a bit this morning until duty called." The man chuckled slightly at her for a moment. "I'm sure it will be beautiful, Miskimina." The man said to his beautiful wife as he smiled to her. It was a goofy smile, one that was a hope to make her laugh or chuckle. The man was not into her embroidery, but it was important to her and so he made sure to pay attention and always compliment it, but he still made sure to point out an imperfection as soon as he saw it so that she could fix it before she finished, if she could.

"There’s a blight in the north so I’m sending some of the excess grain from the west coast down at a slight discount so they don’t go bankrupt. I sold it at that discount to the farmers, who can in turn sell it at its proper price and close to their proper gains to those who normally do the distributing of food grains.” The man nodded, happy he had married a woman who knew what she was doing when it came to businesses. "Good... I wouldn't want our northern lands going hungry or bankrupt... Do you know what is causing the blight?" Sometimes the King did not keep up with everything, though he tried. It was why he enjoyed there meals together. They could go over everything and he could try and work things out.

"We’ve been productive.” The man nodded, something he agreed with. "Yes, I think we have been." The man mentioned as he took another sip of his soup before pushing it to the side and looked at his lovely wife.

"You know... There seems to be a bright glow about you this evening." The man mentioned as he looked at her, taking in each aspect of her lovely face.

”If they’ve figured out the patrols perhaps we should begin flipping coins to make determining decisions.” The man thought about that. "Yes, or each month a different council person picks different times and doesn't tell anyone until they give the order... It would be different." The man thought as he tapped the table for a moment and thought about the idea from both of them.

"We just had a battle... Or have you forgotten about the moderate uprising we just put down? It wasn’t so terribly long ago.” The man glanced at her and back at the wall across the hall. "No my love, I had no forgotten... And we don't need another one." The man mentioned as he remembered the battling and fighting. It was something he would rather not have repeated.

”You need more hobbies. Didn’t you used to spar with the knights and those in training? Go fight with a few friends.” The man chuckled at the thought and looked at her for a moment. "I have enough on my list... I don't know when I would have time to go and fight with my friends... Granted, that is an strange statement..." The man mentioned as most people wanted to fight with the enemies. The man heard the sound of a strange rumble and glanced towards his wife. "I guess we should get the main course..." As he said that, is own made a familiar and equal sound. "Apparently, I agree."

[Teller]

Miskimina shared with him another smile. She appreciated that he took time to note the details of things she did that didn’t particularly interest him—she tried to do the same for him. Indeed it had taken her quite some time to find the intrigue in working on something so abstract when you were so close to it, and so slow to progress, but these days she found it soothing. She didn’t understand Matthias’s insistence on taking such a personal interest in their horses, cleaning out their hooves, checking their ears, and making sure each bone and hair was where he’d left it, but it pleased her to see him doing things he enjoyed which weren’t necessary for him to do. As king, there were a great many things expected of him, somewhat fewer of her, and his doing things he wasn’t duty-bound to do eased her stress nearly as much as she imagined it eased his.

Miskim only sighed to his question regarding the cause of the blight. ”The trouble is that most molds prefer the more humid air like we have here, so blights are uncommon in the steppes and areas close to them. Unfortunately most high-yield crops also can’t handle the short growing season up there so they’re limited to thinks like beans and potatoes.” At last she shook her head. ”The actual answer is no, no one has come forth with a suitable explanation yet.” These sorts of small, multi-layered challenges always pleased her to snarl through, not that she was pleased by the impending food shortage. At any rate, comparing and contrasting variables and their varying weights gave her no end of satisfaction.

His next observation made her grin, though she tried to suppress most of it as she absently stirred the vegetables in the stew. ”Thank you, but I’ll have you know that I glow every day. I am radiant.” She’d give clues if she needed to, but it was more fun to string him along, as terrible as that sounded. As far as the problem with the bandits and the patrols went, Miskimina said, ”Well, you move people and I move things, so I’ll leave that for you to sort out.” Indeed Miskimina could sell a rich man a poor potato and make him thank her for it without realizing he’d wanted a carrot before she’d engaged him in conversation, but finding the best places for things like troops and other people-movers was not her area of expertise. Carrots and potatoes didn’t argue with her, and she could only handle so many individuals’ arguments at once before giving up on them and simply handing out orders. Or warrants of arrest. Matthias was indubitably better at getting large numbers of people to do what he wanted them to, or to get them to think they wanted the same things he did, through one means or another.

”I don’t know when I would have time to go and fight with my friends.”

Miskimina chuckled. ”Yes indeed it is.” She utterly ignored the look he gave her when her stomach made its statement, refusing to acknowledge the rather rude sound it had made without her permission. She raised a hand to call for the next course, setting her bowl aside to make room. ”Do we have any large events or programs or vacations planned for early next summer?” Provided nothing went wrong, that was roughly when their first child was due. She knew about any pending social events, but Matthias may have been ruminating things he hadn’t yet mentioned.

They’d been scheduled for a roast pork with green beans that night, but Miskimina had sent a note down that morning to cancel the green beans. They had been getting into quarrels with her other organs when she ate them, lately. Parsnips were apparently the cook’s choice of replacement, which suited her well enough. She hadn’t had any arguments with parsnips lately.

She’d had arguments with a few other people though. Her mother and father were on their way to the capital for a week to do business, and Miskimina had every intention of being elsewhere. The more involved she got with Matthias’s work, the more involved her family wanted to be in the kingdom’s affairs, in which they had no right to meddle. The better a wife she was to her king, the lesser a daughter she became to her parents. The thought never ceased to twist her spine with guilt, but thus far she knew she had made most of the right decisions regarding her family and what they wanted as opposed to what they ought to have. ”I need to visit the southern islands for a few days,” she said abruptly, though she hadn’t yet decided just what would give her good enough reason to go as the queen, since as a daughter she ought to stay.

{*How much Matthias knows about her ‘strained’ relationship with her family is up to you, though for plot purposes I’d recommend that he not know all of it. Miskimina would also be ashamed to tell him all of it.}