"Inspiration is a fickle thing. It comes some times and goes many times." – Danielle Juarez
A/N: Sorry for the wait. I hope it was worth it.
Chapter Eleven
James often times found himself fascinated with Lily. The way she stumbled down the stairs in the morning, her unorthodox way of dealing with the nobility, but especially the look in her eyes when she was working on project. Her current project was their wedding and for the last two months she had been working on making it perfect almost nonstop.
Sure, she asked his opinion on a few things. But James was old enough to know that the wedding was really all about the bride. So, he would just agree with her and smile at how happy that seemed to make her.
He knew though, that the time would come when he would have to tell her what he intended to do once they were married. The thought often times was cause enough to make the smile leave his face.
Currently Lily was sitting on his lap in his office talking nonstop about the wedding. She was showing him pictures of her dress and his suit and talking about whether or not they should insist that the guests wear one color.
"Lily, my love," James whispered in her ear. He felt her shiver as his lips brushed her ear.
"Yes, My King?" He loved it when she called him that. His hands gripped her hips and he pulled her back flush against his chest. But before he let himself get completely distracted by her, he had to tell her about his plans.
"Do you have a dream, Lily?" he asked.
"Well, yes, actually," she said. "I had a dream last night that I was flying on the top of a pumpkin. It was rather odd and I can remember thinking that it would not have been at all comfortable. What with the stem and all, poking into me bum. And it was not long after that I woke up. Because you know that the second you think something rational during a dream, you might as well be waking up your whole bloody head. You know?"
"Do you know how much I love it when you ramble?" James asked.
"No," Lily said. "But now that I think of it, I do ramble quite a bit. Especially about the wedding. Speaking of which what do think about these for my brothers?" she held up a picture of for James.
"Lily?"
"You don't like them? How could you possibly not like them?"
"Lily- Love, please."
"They are perfectly respectable suits I'd like to know what's wrong with them. They match my father's and you said that one was okay. So, what's wrong with them?" Lily demanded.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with them," James said.
"Good, we're in agreement then." Lily got off of James' lap, gave him a quick kiss and headed for the door. "Now, I have to go talk to the caterers. They want to serve lamb, but I know that you prefer beef and they need to understand that the king gets what the king wants."
"Lily, once we are married I plan to invade Ysse." James' office fell into silence. Lily slowly turned back to James, the smile now gone from her face.
"Like the country of Ysse?" she asked. James nodded. "Why? What have they done?"
"It is not so much what they have done, my love. But what I can do for them. People love living in Tunisia. For I am a good, honest, generous, loving king. If I invade Ysse I will be able to improve the quality of life for all that live there," he said.
"James, if you invade Ysse, won't Montenegro declare war on us?" she asked.
"How astute of you, my love."
"Well, isn't that a bad thing?!" Lily demanded.
"Not quite. If they declare war, no one will question when I invade Montenegro."
"How long have you been planning this?!"
"For as long as I have been king." Lily just stared at him for a moment. "Did your father ever wonder about how high the taxes are in this country?"
"Well, yes. He had to charge his tenants large amounts of gallons to be able to afford your taxes. He said it was all right though. All the money was going to the military," Lily said, brightening a bit.
"And it does. My soldiers are expertly trained, outfitted with the finest armor and weaponry. None can with stand my army," James said, pride evident in his voice.
"James, I don't understand. If people wanted to live in Tunisia, why wouldn't they move into the country as is now?" Lily asked.
"My father has never been proud of me, Lily-"
"And if that hasn't changed in the one hundred thirty nine years that you've been the best king this land has ever seen it never will. Your father isn't going to suddenly become proud of you because you've invaded another country!"
"I'm trying to make people's lives better," James said, shortly.
"And you have! The people who live here are some of the happiest people in world. Why isn't that good enough for you?" Lily demanded.
"Lily, you don't understand."
"Then explain it to me. Explain why you're going to war right after our wedding."
"I never intended to go right after our wedding. I have yet to prepare battle strategies, or go over invasion and occupation plans with the generals, let alone plans for how to manage the continent once the war is over. One does not invade a land without properly planning it first," James said.
Lily looked at him. Really looked at him. She could see everything he was feeling and thinking in his eyes. He wore his emotions clearly for her, but not for anyone else. She could see how much he loved her, how much he truly wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But she could also see fierce, almost frightening determination. He was going to do this, whether she liked it or not.
Lily took a deep breath. The only thing she could think to do was to prolong the inevitable. It was all she would be able to manage. She wanted him to be happy, but she also wanted there to be peace in her life, in her kingdom.
Lily walked back to James, and sat on his lap again.
"Please, tell me why you have to do this?" she begged. If she was going to concede to him invading every other country on the continent, she at least deserved to know why.
"I have a gift, Lily. I have the gift of money and power. And I have always tried my best to use both in a way that helps the people in my kingdom. I want them to love me, not because I am their king and they feel they must. But because I am good king, who loves them and wants the best for them. My only regret is that I can not spread this gift to all the people of this world.
"I know that invading and warring isn't really the best way to go about accomplishing this, but it is the only way. I have spent the last hundred years of my life researching, studying and thinking about this moment. I have waited for you my love, to join me, to give me the strength to go after this dream. And I need you to support me, to stand beside me and give me your blessing. Will you do that, my love? Will support me in this, my mightiest endeavor?"
Lily pushed James' hair from his eyes and kissed him.
"I will follow you in all that you do. But you must promise me one thing," she said.
"What? You know I will do anything for, Lily."
"Wait for a few years before you do this. Give our marriage a chance to grow and mature before going off to war."
James' fingers played in Lily's hair before tracing their way over her cheek, down the column of her throat to the valley between her breasts. All the while he stayed silent. He was antsy to get the war under way, but had to admit that he could not and would not deny his lover request. But he would do it for not only for her, but for himself as well. Those years would give him time to plan with Athor and his generals.
"I will wait for seven years. Does that please you, my love?" he asked.
"Your every breath pleases me."
Lily smiled, but she felt like crying. Yes, he agreed to wait and seven years was no short amount of time in her young years. She had only been alive for eighteen short years, seven years sounded like a very long time. She knew, though, that seven years would feel like nothing to James and that was why he chose that amount of time.
As Lily walked to out of the palace towards the rose garden on the estate, she slowly succumbed to tears. It was not that she thought James was going to war for trivial reason, in fact she thought his were very good reasons.
No, it was not that.
Lily was scared and Lily did not like being scared. Some where in her subconscious she remembered being a baby (because Pagans can remember being infants) and being scared because her mother had left her a strange place with strange people and she wanted to go where ever her mother had gone.
Lily sat down behind a tree and brought her knees up to her chest. She was scared that James would die in battle. She knew that he was not the sort of ruler who sends others off to fight his battles. He was like the kings and queens of old.
When his or her land went to war, the king or queen went too.
If it was up to her, which it evidently was not, she would go along with him. She would fight by his side, protect him with her life as he would not doubt protect her with his. She would be able to keep an eye on him, instead of being stuck in a castle worrying her bum off that he was in danger and there was nothing she could do to help him.
But Lily, even in her scared state, knew there was no way James would let her go to war with him. Someone needed to stay back, to rule in his stead. She should have been flattered and to a certain extent she was. But it did little to quell the worry growing inside of her.
The Dien were a prideful bunch, there was no way a king or queen was going to have their land invaded without a fight. And she was sure that there were a few kings in nearby kingdoms that were not too happy with James. Lily had always thought that they were jealous of how many people from their kingdoms and many others that moved into Tunisia when James became king.
But at the moment that did not really matter to Lily, all that matter was that in seven years time her true love would be off fighting in a war that might just kill him. And there was nothing she could think of to do.
Lily wiped her tears on her skirt and stood up. There had to be something she could do. Some way to make sure he stayed safe.
She thought for a moment that she could dress up like a soldier and sneak into the army. She quickly nixed that idea. James would be able to feel her in the crowd and the Tunisian army is noted for how well it is managed. There was no way that a new soldier just appearing out of no where would not be noticed.
No, that would never work.
But there had to be something. She would not just sit around dreading the day James would leave her side for war. There had to be something………