The Divorced Queen

Chapter 1

Tanhya

As I walked briskly down the corridor, a warm humid breeze swept by, forcing the strong scent of rain into my nose. I was reminded once again of the less-than-favorable weather conditions that had hit the kingdom recently.

It was late in the morning as I made my way to the Royal Court building. My entourage followed close behind me; my knight and lady-in-waiting.
A faint sigh escaped my mouth as thoughts of the meeting I was about to head into came to mind.

It was going to be a long one. Upon my arrival, my knight opened the large doors to the courtroom. An attendant who was waiting nearby looked in my direction. Realizing who it was he quickly turned to the audience in the building.

"Her Majesty Queen Tanhya has arrived!" he loudly announced.

Everyone stood up for me as I entered. I was taken aback by the rare sight of a full courtroom. All the dukes and duchesses of the kingdom were present.

The courtroom was commonly used for private discussions concerning the kingdom but only myself, the king and high ranking dukes attended.
However, when an important event occurred in the kingdom, such as in this instance, all dukes would be invited.

I moved towards the Queens throne in front of the room and took my seat.
Upon having settled down I turned to my right to see the empty seat of the king next to me. He hadn't arrived yet.

Normally, the king and queen should arrive together for court meetings, the previous king and queen did so, but it wasn't mandatory. So he didn't. That upon many other things he wouldn't do with me. Whilst I didn't care that he refused to escort me, it did make me look bad in the public eye.

I turned to look at the dukes that had long since settled down, to meet the stares of contempt directed towards me. Particularly from those seated close to the front. The dukes were seated in terms of status. Those of a higher status at the front and those of a lower status at the back. It wasn't that the higher ranking dukes hated me, more so that they didn't respect me.

A few minutes later an attendant from the opposite side of the room I'd entered from announced . "His majesty King Osric has arrived."

Once again everyone stood up as Osric walked in, except for me. I watched him from my seat as he made his way towards his throne.

He was tall with a muscular body that showed through the well tailored red and black suit he was wearing. It was one that was traditionally worn for official meetings. He brought a hand up to his striking dark hair and fixed a strand that had gone astray. He had his usual serious facial expression, which although was intimidating it was also equally mesmerizing. The combination of dark brown eyes, full plump lips and a sharp jawline would leave one awestruck. It was painful to admit but he was handsome. Then our eyes met.

Osrics' cold, unflinching eyes stared me down for a moment before looking away with disinterest. He then quietly sat down next to me and focused on the audience in front of us. As usual he barely acknowledged me and acted as if he couldn't see me. I wasn't hurt by his cold behavior though. Not anymore.

As soon as he was seated the meeting commenced. Osric's secretary, Duke Daiel came to the center of the room he bowed once in front of Osric and I, then turned to face the audience in behind.

"Lords and ladies of the Cerus kingdom, on behalf of their majesties I would like to thank you all for coming at such short notice." he started. "Given the circumstances of the situation it may have been difficult. We are truly relieved you all arrived safely."

Duke Daeil's voice echoed as he paced from one end of the room to the other. Making eye contact with all who were seated .

"Without wasting any time, I would like to get right to addressing the issue. Six days ago our kingdom was hit by heavy rains which resulted in serious floods that affected many areas. As you all know the rainy season is upon us and whilst we usually anticipate it with excitement, this year an unforseen problem arose. "