The King's Choice - Red Queen Fanfiction

Chapter 8 (Mare POV)

Once it's 2:30, I step out of my room. There are no ladies-in-waiting in sight so I'll have to find Maven for wedding planning. I walk towards Maven's room. I knock on the door and Maven calls, "Who is it?"
    "It's Mare," I reply. He immediately opens the door.
    "Hey Mare, you ready for some wedding planning?" He offers me his arm but I don't take it. I've made my choice. I know who I want.
"As ready as I'll ever be, King Maven." He looks sad for just a second and I have to fight the urge to just take his arm and kiss him. Maven turns away from my and leads me up the hall.
He takes me into the elevator. We just stand there awkwardly, neither of us wanting to speak. Many times he opens his mouth and closes it again. I can't look at him. Finally he finds the words to speak.
"Mare, I don't understand why you're acting like this. A few hours ago we were totally fine. Now it seems like you really don't want to be here."
"Maven," I sigh, "are we really gonna do this right now?" He presses the stop button on the elevator and turns to look back at me.
"Yes, we are doing this now. I don't get it, you act like you care about me and then you can't look at me. I don't know what you're feeling but whatever it is, you know that I'm here for you, right?"
"I know that you're here for me Maven. I just don't know how I feel. I know that I care about you, but I know that I love Cal. I did this for him. I'm here, ready to become your bride, so that he can be free. I've made my choice. My body can belong to you, but my heart will always be with him." Maven turns away from me. When he looks back I can see tears streaming down his face. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. I grab his hand. He tries to move away but I stop him.
"Maven, in all seriousness, I really did love you. Back at the beginning, when we were together, it felt like there was no one else in the world. I wanted to feel like that forever. But things changed. You had different interests than I did. There was really no way it was gonna work. You need to understand that if things were different, I would want to try to keep a relationship with you. But things aren't different. I ended up with Cal. If you tried, you could find someone. I know you could." The elevator dings and the doors open. Maven steps out. His face is expressionless but I can see pain behind his eyes. I step out behind him. Without looking at me, he walks off and I follow.
Wedding planning is painful. The planner is an old man who obviously can't see that we're not deeply in love. He continues to talk about the "values of marriage" and how this has to be perfect because we're "connecting two souls". We pick a color theme and a center arrangement for the tables before Maven stands up.
"I think we've done enough for today. I have a meeting to attend. Mr. Ellion, please escort Mareena to Julian. He has a message for her. Mareena, I'll see you at dinner."
"I look forward to it, King Maven," I say as I curtsy to him. Mr. Ellion takes my arm as Maven leaves. Then he whispers to me, "You two are such a cute couple."
We arrive at Julian's room. Mr. Ellion knocks and Julian opens the door. He frowns when he sees me.
"Ah, Mare, come in. I have to talk to you. Jasper, thanks for bringing her up here. I'll accompany her back to her room." Mr. Ellion nods and walks away. Julian grabs my arm and pulls me into his room, slamming the door.
"Now that we're alone, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? I tell you to go far, far away, and now you're marrying that monster we call a king? Tell me how you ended up back here."
"Julian, you have to understand, I had no other choice. Maven has raged a war against all Reds. He was gonna find the newbloods and kill them so we couldn't use them against him. I have to protect my people. He sent me a letter saying that if I married him, he'd end the war and stop the killing. On top of that, he said he'd give Cal his freedom. I couldn't turn it down." Julian shakes his head and looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Ah, little miss in love. My sister thought she was in love with a Tiberias too. You remember what happened to her I assume? You did this for him? For Cal? You're a fool to give up your own freedom for his. Do you even know what side he's on? I'm Silver and I think that Maven's insane but I'm almost alone there. Most Silvers agree with him. Cal might be one of them." I didn't expect this from Julian. I thought he would praise me for making sacrifices for the greater good. I must look taken aback because he just sighs.
"Look Mare. I get that you were trying to be brave and selfless but you have to remember that without you, the Scarlet Guard is practically useless. You know things they need to know. You can do things that they need to be able to do. Anyway, what's done is done. I just want to warn you, not everyone here accepts Maven ending the war in exchange for you. There are people who want the war to continue. Be careful, you never know what side someone's on." He takes me arm and leads me down the hall and into the elevator. We don't say a word until we reach my room.
"Remember Mare, never assume if someone's friend or foe." I step into my room and close the door behind me. I collapse on my bed and start to consider what Julian said. As I fall asleep, all I can think about is, did I make the right choice?

Here's a long update for y'all. Hope you're having a great 2017.