Josephine

𝓔𝓹𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓭𝓮 88: 𝓐 𝓛𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓞𝓯 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮

March 22, 1995

"It's okay Mattéo... one step at a time..." I whispered as I helped my husband down the hall towards the ballroom.

"Dammit, Josey I know!" He snapped, rubbing his forehead.

We stopped walking as I walked around to face him.

"Mattéo, you know I'm just trying to help you right?"

His hazel eyes dropped, "Ja I know... It's just... I hate that you have to help me..."

"Hey, look on the bright side, this is only for another month or so, at least I don't have to push you around in a wheelchair like Junior!"

He cracked a smile. That devilishly handsome smile made me swoon and fall in love with him all over again.

"You're right... alright, let's get to the ballroom!"

Mattéo had gotten shot last month by some random guy. It was just to achieve a little infamy so he didn't die a nobody, but it gave Mattéo a little limp. So I now had to help him get around. While he did have a cane, he almost always refused to use it because it made him 'look like an old man'. It was a little humorous, but he felt humiliated and emasculated when I had to help him around the palace or walk.

But I'll tell you where he definitely isn't emasculated- you know what? What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.

Victoria by now has been Queen of Persia for just over ten years now and she has been handling it brilliantly. She is in more of the backseat of Persian politics, but she makes sure her voice is heard. I think she also read my military manuals because she knows how to fight! The Russians sniffed an opportunity to take some lands in the lands of Samarkand back in 1986. She led an army north and at Almaty, she routed a Russian army three times the size of her own. Did she have luck on her side? Most definitely. But the Russians pulled out and she was hailed as a hero, even by her enemies in the Shia cleric.

She's also been very busy as a mother. She has three children now, Prince Bahman, the crown prince. Prince Maxwell and Princess Iryana. She supposedly named Maxwell after our Lord Maxwell who she viewed as one of her favorites. That man molded her and taught her in her school lessons, helping her with her homework. Besides Mattéo I'd even say he was like a second father to her.

But she and Ali... oh lord those two. She announced she was first pregnant three weeks after her eighteenth birthday, which gave a definitive idea of how eager they were to consummate their marriage once she turned eighteen.

But she's happy. That's all that it's worth. If she's happy, I'm happy.

I can't say the same for Junior, who has been miserable the past few years. She's finally starting to realize the effects of her paralysis and it's hitting her hard. She is what I would call a... hopeless romantic. She wants to meet a handsome prince, but they all seem disinterested, mostly because she can't walk and have children. I feel terrible for what she's going through, but in the end, I know she'll meet her knight in shining armor.

Then there's Ham... oh boy where do I even start with him! He's changed beyond belief. He sneaks out with his friends and parties and drinks and does other ungodly things. Even if I set a curfew for him he ignores it. He sneaks past his guard detachment and makes them look like fools. I've tried bringing in suitors to see if they can get through to him, but he either ignores them or humiliates them. I'm close to giving up on him, but he will need to change his ways or I will need to put Junior in the place of heir instead of him.

He has no empathy sympathy or emotions. He's cold, dark, and angry all the time. I can't even say this is just him being a teenager because it's not. Junior wasn't like this and Victoria wasn't either.