AN: I do not own FMA. Enjoy!

When Roy Mustang first met Riza Hawkeye, he did not yet consider her royalty. In those first few months, she was two things to him: the young mistress of the Hawkeye household and an enigma. Riza was a very guarded girl, keeping to herself most of the time and speaking to Roy only when necessary; if she could, she would only respond to his questions with a small nod or a quick shake of her head. At first, Roy wasn't sure what to make of her. After all, the women he had lived with before coming to live with Riza and her father had never been quiet; they would always find something to talk about. It would've been easy for Roy to dismiss Riza's silence as her being cold if not for her most expressive feature: her eyes. Roy had been captivated by her eyes, big, tawny orbs that always had the slightest shine to them. These organs always gave away her true feelings, her real thoughts on things. He saw something in those eyes, a heart breaking display that, once he saw it, he wanted to eradicate immediately.

He saw loneliness. This girl, who was at an age where she should have been smiling and laughing at all times, was amazingly silent, the saddest version of her real feelings etched in those beautiful eyes. He decided he was going to be the person she needed. He was going to befriend her. It wasn't going to be just because of her lonely eyes but because Roy wanted to know Riza. He wanted to see her happy and surprised and even angry (although he hoped it wouldn't be directed at him). He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted her loneliness to disappear.

Slowly but surely, Riza started to open up to him. She was beginning to trust him and he could see the gradual fading of the despair in her eyes. Anything that Riza told him, any instance where she would reward him with a small but warm smile or a laugh (Roy was especially fond of the latter; he considered it melodious and loved the way it made her whole face light up), he considered a victory. As he got to know her, he discovered a few things about her. For one, she was extremely intelligent, often times knowing things that Roy, who was nearly two years older than her, had no clue about. She was abundantly kind and very sweet, traits that, Riza once told Roy when he had complimented her on those two things, had also belonged to her now deceased mother. She admitted that her memories of her mother were scarce (she had passed away when Riza was only seven) but the ones she did have were all good ones.

"I remember that she was always smiling," she explained to Roy on their way back from the market that day. "She was always really nice to everybody, not to mention beautiful, too. I guess being beautiful is the only thing I didn't get from my mom, huh?" Riza had punctuated her self deprecating comment with a slight chuckle but Roy found himself suddenly troubled by her words.

'Don't say that about yourself, Riza,' Roy thought. 'You're beautiful, too.'

It was only when Riza had stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide and a blush on her cheeks, that Roy realized that he had said that out loud.

That night, it became apparent to Roy that his opinion on Riza had changed. She was no longer to be described as just "mysterious" or "the mistress of the house". The proper way to describe Riza Hawkeye would be smart, kind and beautiful, much like the princesses in fairy tales were. From then on, Roy secretly thought of her as his princess, someone who deserved to be cherished and protected.

Of course, despite these sentimental thoughts, it took him a little while longer before he would admit to himself that he had fallen in love with Riza. By then, though, he was practically scrambling for time. He was going to be leaving for the military soon and was faced with the possibility that he might not ever see her again. As soon as that thought reached his mind, he quickly resolved that he wouldn't let that happen. He loved her too much to simply leave her behind forever. As soon as he could, he was going to come back for her. He would come back for her and marry her and take care of her. He told her all of these things in the early hours of the morning on the day he was to leave, the two of them falling victim to insomnia. Then, as if to prove that his words were not the "ramblings of a man in desperate need of sleep" (as Riza had so delicately put it), he leaned over and kissed her. After they broke apart, he spoke again.

"I'm going to come back, Riza. I don't care if I have to crawl out of hell to do it. I'm not going to leave you here. I promise."

Little did Roy know that Riza wasn't exactly planning on waiting for him. Little did Roy know that, two years later, he would see her in the one place he never expected her to be: Ishval.

To say he was surprised to see her there would be an understatement. The two had lost contact shortly after Roy was sent to Ishval, which had been a year ago. In that short year, there was a part of him that had become grateful that Riza didn't know what Roy was doing in that hellish desert; he knew that she wouldn't want to have anything to do with him if she did. Now, here she was, a beauty in a place that lacked it. It didn't take him long to realize that she was there because of him. He had told her how he was going to help better the country and gotten her invested in his childish dreams. Now, his sweet and innocent princess had the eyes of a murderer. She had become the one thing he had never wanted her to turn into: a killer.

When Riza stood before Roy not too long after Ishval with the intention of following him, there was a part of him that wasn't surprised. She had survived Ishval with him, because she had followed him there, so why not complete the circle by becoming his subordinate? While he still had some guilt about bringing her into all of this, he had realized that her decision to join the military was one she had made herself. He may have had some influence in her choice but it was, in the end, her own choice. As long as she was going to follow him, he was going to do his best to protect her from further harm in any way he could and make sure that, when Roy became Fuhrer, he kept the promises he had made to her all those years ago.

Later that night, as he lay awake in bed, he realized for the second time that Riza was no longer his princess. However, he didn't regard her solely as a murderer, either, even though he knew she would always think of herself as one. To him, Riza had grown up to become a queen: strong, determined, loyal, independent and, as always, beautiful. This time, though, there would be no changing this title. To Roy, Riza would always be his queen, someone who still deserved to be cherished and someone who, while she could protect herself, sometimes needed someone else watching out for her.

And who better to watch over the queen...

Then the king?

AN: Can I just talk about how much this story monopolized my whole day today? From almost the time I woke up to now (as I type this AN, it's almost midnight), my whole focus has been this darn story. It was for an important cause, though! You see, there is someone on DeviantArt called The Kings-Queen (I can't tell you how much I love their username!) that is awesome and has a birthday coming up on Thursday. I told her I would write her a little birthday fanfiction and BOOM! This was created. The whole concept of Riza being Roy's queen is something that I hold close to my heart and I'm shocked it took me being into my Royai fanfiction writing career for almost a year before I wrote something about it! OK, I've babbled on for long enough. Until next time?

-Violet