[IC] The Making of a New Queen

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled and danced with the King to the music. She wasn't used to this kind of music. When she danced at home, the music was upbeat and lively and the dance did not bring you as close to step on someone's foot. She blushed deeply when she did just that to the King, "I'm sorry, King Jeffery... I'm not used to this kind of dancing..."

Jeffery chuckled, "Only 6 months to become Queen, I give you permission to step on myself."

Anastasia laughed a little, "Why thank you," She caught a glimpse of Samsul talking to a young girl in green dress and smiled as they walked to the dance floor. Oh good, he wasn't just going to stand around. That made her happy but she couldn't help but feel a small pang in her stomach... She just hoped she wasn't getting sick again. King Jeffery looked over her shoulder, "I do believe you have an admirer, your majesty?"

"What?" Anastasia asked as she looked over her shoulder. She spotted King George, who was watching her, and blushed again, "You think so?"

The King grinned, "I know so," He nodded and moments later, King George was at their side. King Jeffery handed Anastasia off to him, "Enjoy yourselves."

King George placed his hand on her waist, she placed a hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her, "You look lovely, your highness."

[pyroman]

Samsul had become an excellent dancer over the years, and even though the lady he was dancing with didn't have nearly as much experience, they still looked great as they danced, and Samsul had even caught the attention of a few other ladies that were standing on the sidelines. He had noticed the looked that he received from them, and he had also noticed that King George was now dancing with Anastasia. He didn't like the sight of it, and for a minuscule moment, his form faltered only slightly. He quickly regained his footing, and had assumed that no one had noticed it.

"Samsul.. Thank you for having this dance with me.." Sara spoke softly as she let go of Samsul and took a step back. She looked at some of the others that were looking at him and smiled at the Lost Elf shyly. "I believe that others would like to dance with you as well..

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked over at Samsul again while he danced. King George caught her gaze and followed, "He is a fine dancer," he said calmly.

She pulled her eyes away and smiled, "He is, isn't he? He should have told me. Maybe I wouldn't step on your toes."

He chuckled, "Well, now there is no fun in that," he guided her away from himself and spun her back, "Besides you are very light on your feet, I hardly felt a thing."

As he spun her around again, Anastasia laughed. She looked at him, "I have a difficult time believing that, your majesty."

They continued to dance, the King holding the new Queen close, smiling at her, "Call me George," Anastasia was slightly surprised by the request. Yes, she had asked Samsul and a few other helpers around the palace to call her Anastasia, but she had grown up being called just Anastasia. No title, nothing. It brought her back down, hearing just her name. She wondered why the King wished to be called by a name without a title. Something that was probably foreign to him. She nodded, "Alright... George."

[pyroman]

Samsul nodded at Sara with a small smile and glanced once again at Anastasia and George. He didn't like the two of them together like that at all, and although he repressed his anger at the sight, he kept calm. One of the women who had seen his dancing with Sara had noticed his glances at the Queen and the other man, and slowly stepped up to Samsul with a smile on her face. "You shouldn't worry about the others, good sir." She looked over at the two and her grin was on the verge of becoming a smirk. "Your face lies of the emotions your eyes hold, Lord Samsul. If you are envious of their dancing, then you should have someone of equal skill dance with you." She held out a hand to him and looked at the Lost Elf. He hadn't expected for her to say that to him, and with a small nod, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor, placing his free hand at her waist like he had with Sara. Her other hand rested on his shoulder and the two of them danced gracefully together. He couldn't help but to steal a few glances at Anastasia to see how she was doing. The woman he was dancing with smiled at him and brought his attention to her. "Samsul, You should keep your eyes focused on the woman you're dancing with. My name is Elisif, and if we look like we are having the time of our lives together, then you might catch even more attention than you already have."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia danced with George, giggling whenever she stepped on his foot. Every once in a while, he'd gently tap his foot on top of her's. She looked up at him when he did, confused. He chuckled, "Just making sure I get the chance to step on your feet too."

She laughed and shook her head, "How gentlemanly of you."

The music picked up and her eyes widened, "I know this song!"

George's eyebrows knitted together as he listened to the song, trying to pick it out. Failing to do so, he looked down at the Princess, "Really? I... do not."

She stepped back from the King and started to dance in a choerographed fashion. Stepping toward him again, she took his hand, "It is a... commoner song. They used to play it at every event," She began to walk him through the steps. He looked at her, "You are a very good teacher, Anastasia."

She shook her head, "No, it is just a very simple dance," She spun herself around on his hand, grinning. This was her favourite dance when she was back home. It was quick and upbeat and George caught on very quickly and soon the two of them where dancing around the room. Some of the royals and Lords and Ladies, stepped back. Due to a upbringing in court, they had very little knowledge of the dance. The minstrels must have played it just for her. She caught a glimpse of Gerald, she had mentioned to him once in her lesson that this was her favourite dance. She wondered if it was him who had requested the song for her. She laughed as they dance along, forgetting those who were not dancing, were watching. Of course, those who still were dancing were watching, they were just trying to dance along.

[pyroman]

Samsul was having a good time dancing with Elisif before the music picked up, and unfortunately for the two of them, neither of them knew the song or the correct way to dance to it. Along with many of the other royals, Samsul and Elisif moved away from the center, but continued to dance while also watching Anastasia and George. He was mad at George at the moment, be hadn't found the reason why. Little did he know he was secretly wishing that he was in his position at the moment. Elisif moved her gaze back to Samsul and smiled a little. "It seems the two of them are having a wonderful time. Your eyes tell me that you wish to be having as much fun as the two of them, Samsul."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia spun one last time away from George and curtsied to him as the song came to an end. She looked at him as there was a small applause and laughed a little. The music slowed back down and George took Anastasia hand again but he did not bring her close to dance. Instead he guided her over to the two bay doors that led out into the garden. He walked with her and smiled, "That was quite the dance, Queen Anastasia."

She shook her head, "If I'm calling you, George, you are calling me, Anastasia," She looked at the flowers as they walked, "I love that dance... My Papa taught it to me when I was young."

George nodded, "That explains the lack of you stepping on my feet," Anastasia smacked his arm in return and he laughed, "Alright, I deserved that... Ana..." Anastasia looked at him, confused slightly by the sudden softness in his tone, "You know I'm courting you.... right?" She nodded and he did the same, "Good... I was thinking my brother would have been a better match for you... With us both already being rulers of two seperate countries... But when I saw you... Well, there was a bit of brotherly competition in the carriage before we got out... I know it would be difficult but before we do anything or promise anything," He fixed the crown on his head a little and smiled, "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come visit Urais..."

[pyroman]

Samsul was close enough to hear the conversation go on between Anastasia and George, and Samsul had decided that he had enough of it. With a apology to Elisif for leaving so suddenly, he looked at Anastasia and walked slowly over to the two of them. He gave George a calm stare for a moment before glancing at Anastasia. "I'm sorry but the visit to your country will have to wait. As she is now the official Queen, she will have to be here in Greenspring for some time before leaving to other countries"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia jumped when Samsul joined them. She looked between the two of them, there was something there between them and she wasn't sure she exactly noticed what it was. George smiled, as though the sudden intrusion didn't phase him, like he had been expecting it, "Yes, of course. Which is why I thought on our way to Urais, we'd head North."

Anastasia looked at him confused, "North? But... Urais is south of Greenspring..."

George chuckled, "Of course it is, we are the Southern Isles after all. But if we head north, we could take the long way and visit some key towns of your country on our way to mine."

Anastasia thought about it, biting her lip. It would be nice to see the country that she was now ruling. After all, she hadn't been out of her hometown until she was race to the Capital and now, she had yet to leave there. George smiled at the Queen considered it, "We'd have people bring you news from the Capital along with work, so you'd never truly be away from your Queenly duties, until we are in Urais for a short period of time. It would be a good break for you... You've been working hard, I'm sure, since they brought to here." She nodded, she had been. Especially in the last three months. George looked at Samsul, "And while doing a tour of her country, she'd been here for sometime still... And as for protection," He looked back at Anastasia, "You'd have to leave your most trusted man in charge of keeping Capital safe."

Anastasia glanced at Samsul, that would be him after all. She sighed and stepped away from the two men, "I think I need to speak with Gerald... get his opinion."

[pyroman]

Samsul listened to George with displeasure as he heard the plan. It had been like he was expecting for Samsul to jump in and attempt to keep Anastasia away from him. He was also listening when he had spoken about leaving 'her most trusted man' here in the capital to keep the area safe. It seemed that George knew that Samsul was this unnamed person and was all in his plan to get Anastasia away from Greenspring and himself. From what Anastasia had said to the two of them, he assumed that Anastasia was already thinking about leaving to tour the country with the possible suitor. Samsul hated the idea with a passion, but he knew that if he were to act out, it would only improve the chances of Anastasia leaving.

[tsubasa]

George looked at Samsul and smiled. He bowed to the man, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep my distance," He smirked at the man, "She and this country need a royal, not a guard with a title."

Anastasia returned slightly after, "Gerald says he thinks it would be a good idea... I haven't seen much of Greenspring, after all. He also said that taking a break would be a good idea," she bit her lip and looked at Samsul, "I can't help anyone if I don't know how they are living..." She looked at George and took Samsul's hand before pulling him away from the King. She looked up at him, "I know you are against this... And I know... That I shouldn't leave Greenspring because we are still at war and someone might jump on the chance to attack... But I'm tired," She confessed, "I've been working nonstop to become this Queen that I think everyone wants me to be... I have to keep being strong about what happened to my mother because everyone here is watching me... If I leave for a little bit... There won't be so many eyes on me and I can finally stop having to pretend like I'm okay..." She bit her lip, "But I want Greenspring to be safe while I'm gone and Gerald would do a wonderful job with taxes and trades but I need someone to protect Greenspring," She squeezed his hand that she still held, "Could you do that?"

[pyroman]

"I..." Samsul couldn't say anything to Anastasia at the moment. He felt horrible as he now saw that he was to blame for making her work so hard to become the queen. They could have simply taken it slow and allow the council to take care of things, but Samsul had insisted that she word hard so that a new queen could rule as quickly as possible. He knew that he was the one to look after Greenspring, but he didn't want to leave Anastasia with the King. He didn't like the man at all and he wanted for him to stay as far away from Anastasia as possible. After a moment of silence, Samsul slowly shook his head at Anastasia and looked at her with sadness. "I cannot... I'm terribly sorry.. I promised to your mother that I would look after you, and I will do that. I can't stay here and look after you, since I have little of an idea of when you will be back, and I won't know if something happened while you toured.... I can't take any chances Anastasia, and I'm asking if I can stay with you during the tour.."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at him as he said that he could stay behind while she left. She sighed and nodded, "Yes... Of course. Then you haven't anything to worry about... I'll stay," She took a deep breath and smiled at him, "I don't want to leave all of Greenspring is just anyone's hands."

She turned away from Samsul and walked over to George and shook her head, "I would love to go with you, George... But Samsul has requested to come and he is the only person I would ever leave Greenspring in the hands of," she gave him a soft smile, "Thank you for the offer."

George looked at her a little stunned, "Why do you just order him to stay?" He asked.

Anastasia blinked at him. She knew she had that authority but Samsul was her friend and she didn't enjoy the idea of order anyone to do anything they didn't want to do. Besides, he had good reasoning to come along. She shook her head, "That I cannot do..."

She curtsied to him before she walked around him and away. George looked at Samsul and shook his head before giving an overly dramatic bow and turning to follow the Queen.

[pyroman]

Samsul felt even worse now that he had just indirectly forced Anastasia not to go. He wanted for her to be able to have some freedom and tour around, but he also wanted to be by her sire to protect her if she would ever need him. He stood there with a slightly open mouth as he watched Anastasia walk away and George bow to him before leaving as well. The Lost Elf sighed as he looked at the two of them and fully closed his mouth. Slowly, Samsul decided to follow the queen as well and walked at a quickly pace to catch up to her. He grabbed her hand and looked at her calmly. "I'm sorry Anastasia. If it would make you happy, I will stay here while you tour the country as well as the islands. I'm sure that the other guards can do a good job watching you." He smiled softly at her and lightly squeezed her hand, in the same fashion that she did to him earlier. "Just please send me a letter every once and a while so I can hear how your doing. Okay?"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia was surprised when Samsul took her hand. She looked up at him, shocked, as he explained that he would stay behind and watch over the palace and country. She gave him a smile as he squeezed her hand, asking her to send him a letter once in a while, just so that he could know she was okay. She grinned, "I'll send you a letter every day if it makes you happy."

She squeezed his hand back, "Thank you, Samsul."

George looked up at the Lost Elf and nodded, "Yes, thank you, Samsul."

He then looked to Anastasia, "I'm going to talk to... Gerald. See when he sees fit that we leave. Go and enjoy your festivities, Anastasia."

She nodded to him then looked at Samsul and laughed a little, "I'm starving."

[pyroman]

Samsul smiled at Anastasia, glad that George was now gone momentarily. "Well I'm sure that Eric has already prepared food for the evening. I'm sure that he won't mind if we have a look while we eat." He was happy to see that Anastasia was happy, but he still didn't like the fact that she was going to leave with George for an unspecified amount of time and return possibly courted to each other. He looked at her calmly and let out a small breath. "Anastasia.. Can I ask you to make a promise while your out traveling the country?" He asked her slowly as he looked to the ground and back up at her. "I'd like for you to promise that you will not be courted until you come back here after the tour and everything. It is my only request, and you do not have you go by it if you don't want to."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked up at Samsul when he asked her to promise not to get courted before she got back to the palace. Of course, a moment later, he said she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to, thus making the promise pointless. She smiled and took his hand. She lifted it up and wrapped her pinky around his own, "I promise."

She walked with him to seek out food for the both of them to eat. As much as she wanted Samsul here to guard the palace, she couldn't help but think how strange it was going to be to be anywhere without him. He had been beside her for the last six months, and suddenly she was going to set out without him. She may have lived twenty years without him in her life... but the thought of him not being somewhere where she would just have to call for him was mind boggling.
~
The next day, once the Royal had all set out, Anastasia walked down the steps of the palace. In a simple travelling dress, she prepared for the long trip around the country. They would be bringing another carriage for her items as well as a few guards. She walked over to the first carriage and took George's hand as he held it out to help her in. She glanced back at the castle to see Samsul standing at the door to see her off. She grinned and waved goodbye, "Take good care of them for me!"

Then with George's help, she slipped into the carriage and soon after, they left.

[pyroman]

Samsul smiled happily as Anastasia wrapped her pink around his own and promised that she wouldn't. He was happy to hear that she wouldn't be courting anyone, Namely George, at least until they made it back to the Capital. He knew that he had to do a good job of watching over the castle until the returned and he would be sure to do just that. He walked with her to find food for the two of them to eat, and rest of the day went fine.

---

The Next day weighed heavy on Samsul, as he knew that he wouldn't see Anastasia for some time. Although it had only been six months, Samsul realized that without having to watch over Anastasia for most of the day, he would he free to do more of his own things. He stood at the castle door and smiled at Anastasia as she got into the carraige with the help of George. He nodded to his queen with a smile and waved back to her. "I'll be sure to watch over the castle until you return!" He said back to her, waiting until she began to move until walking back into the castle slowly. It would be difficult to adjust to not seeing Anastaisa, but he would make it work for her sake.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked out the window of the carriage as they rode along a beach of Urais. As she looked out onto the water, she smiled softly. She looked down at the letter in her lap and the pen in her hand. She had kept her promise to Samsul and wrote letters to him often. It wasn't hard. There was so much to see and she found that he was the only one she truly wanted to share her excitement with. She had even told the others that she wished to do a little bit of work to get the carriage to herself. She wrote:

Dear Samsul,

I've just come to realize that you are still making me work while on vacation. With all these letters I've written to you, my writing has become less laughable. Urais is beautiful and warm. I've even gotten to see the ocean. It is like nothing I've ever seen before. I wish I could show it to you. We had a picnic on the sand and George even got attacked by gulls. He deserved it, he had been taunting them with his sandwich for sometime. Despite how amusing the spectacle was, I was the only one to laugh. In fact, none of the staff seem as warm as those at home. The people here are lovely and joyful. There are celebrations almost everywhere we go. Although, I feel that is because we are there. I snuck a glimpse when we were moving through the night at a small town I don't believe I was to see. The people were nothing but skin and bones, begging the guards for food. One of George's guards even kicked a man away. I couldn't continue to watch. We really must deal with any hunger issues in Greenspring when I return...

There have been many days on my trip where I've wished that you could have come. However, I find it easy to relax knowing that you are watching of Greenspring for me. For that, I cannot thank you enough.

I miss home and soon we will be finishing our tour of Urais and returned to Greenspring. I can hardly wait. Urais is wonderful but I miss home. Everyone here, spare George, calls me Queen Anastasia, which is strange it itself. The people of Urais seem to love George and Prince Henry but I feel as though it is different from the love Queen Elena had, the love that I wish to have. These people gives us things as we go, in fact, George is currently sitting in the second carriage with three guards and a chicken someone gave to me. They wanted to leave it behind but I insisted we take and care for it. Besides, that could have been that woman's livelihood. I've named her, Bon. I hope you are taking good care of Melor for me. I miss him terribly. As I do you.

Sincerely,
Anastasia

[pyroman]

A few days had passed before Samsul read the letter that was written to him by Anastasia. He loved getting her letters, and it seemed that Melor had grown to love them as well since they carried the scent of Anastasia on them. Currently, he was in his room and sitting on the edge of his bed with Melor in his lap, just starting to sleep comfortably. Samsul read the Letter and smiled at is as he partially red it out loud. He was happy to hear that she had been doing so well, as well as coming up with ideas of what should be fixed in Greenspring. As he finished up the letter, he leaned over and set it down on his nightstand where all of the other letters were and smiled at them. He loved getting her letters, and it was nice to hear how she had been doing so far. Slowly, Samsul picked Melor up and off of his lap before standing up to walk to his desk where a candle was. He put out the flame quickly and walked back to his bed, making sure not to wake up Melor in the progress. He hoped that Anastasia would return soon, as he found it very hard to keep living his life without her there.