"Are the reinforcements coming in?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Excellent."

You scrutinized the map spread out in front of you, if they covered the North things would work out perfectly. You smiled to yourself and nodded in approval, taking care to keep the crown on your head. Aurum, your hawk, stared at you from the corner of his perch, golden eyes looking at the map with a curious intuition.

Your kingdom was under attack by the neighboring king, who had risen to power after forcefully taking it from the heir. He didn't seem to care that you had only been coronated the month before, striking quickly and ruthlessly. Unfortunately for him, you had been thoroughly educated in the techniques and strategies of warfare and had quickly taken action to defend your people. There was a reason why the people called you the Rose of the Thorne Kingdom, you shone beautifully but hid a dangerous amount of cunning and cleverness.

"Queen Y/N," a soft male voice called and you turned to face the crown prince.

"Prince Seokjin," you greeted him with a curtsey, dismissing the other advisors in the room, "I have gotten word that the reinforcements are headed to the North, we should be able to push the main army away from the capital, giving us the leeway to retake your kingdom."

"Your Highness never fails to impress me," he answered.

"But of course."

"I can never thank you enough for the support you have given me," Jin said, coming closer, "How can I thank you?"

"By dropping the façade of propriety," you immediately said informally, grinning at him.

He sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness, it was getting ridiculous."

You greeted your betrothed with a light kiss, "Darling, you know we have to do it."

"That doesn't make it any easier."

"Your Majesty!" A messenger ran into the room, making the two of you separate immediately.

Jin coughed as you composed yourself, "Yes?"

"A message from the neighboring kingdom! They have requested you to meet with their diplomatic envoy."

You could see Jin automatically stiffen at the mention of his kingdom, "Diplomatic? He overthrows the crown prince and dares to send an envoy to straighten things over?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," he replied, "They are to be arriving tomorrow."

"They do not know their true king lies here," you murmured to yourself, "Excellent."

"Your Majesty?"

You turned quickly and smiled at the young boy, "Tell them that I shall meet with them, tomorrow at noon. Their False King has made a wise decision to try to lessen the damage on their army."

"My Queen," Jin says, but you cut him off with a wave of your hand. Only you knew the true mistake that the King had made.

You stood in full formal attire, looking beautifully intimidating in your dark dress. Reaching to the floor with 4 layers of some of the most expensive fabric, you wanted to look your best to meet with the envoy, wanting them to think that you were serious about their compromise. Silver and gold jewelry adorned your arms and neck, your signature pair rose earrings, one gold, one silver, complimenting the whole ensemble. The two metals were to symbolize your reign in both the night and day, your ceremonial crown of silver thorns much higher than your everyday simple circlet.

"They have arrived, My Lady," your main adviser said, not daring to look at you fully as he entered the room.

"Lead them to the throne room, I shall meet them there," you ordered, a lady-in-waiting slipping on your crystal lined shoes, "Ladies, let us go."

"This is what my King has offered in exchange for our peace," the leading diplomat finishes, ending the long monologue of his compromising. He bowed, lowering his head to stare only at the floor as he waited for your answer.

You sat on the throne, your poker face never fading even as the ladies-in-waiting started getting antsy or tired through the overly tiresome speech. 

"How utterly boring of you."

"Your Majesty?" 

You looked down at the small group with contained disdain, "Is this what your 'King' thinks a diplomatic mission should look like? You come here to barter with me as if a coup could easily be solved with a few elaborate words. It only shows the naivety of a False King."

"If I may, Your Highness," one of the ladies stepped forward, making you frown slightly, "I am King Gamja's betrothed and cannot stand his name being tarnished with the disrepute of being a 'False King.' One Queen to another, please accept this compromise so that our two kingdoms can coexist peacefully."

You sat there for a moment, brewing over the audacity of this common lady, and took in a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment. Your ladies in waiting exchanged looks with each other, each of them knowing what was coming next. 

"Queen Y/N," one of them murmured, "Aurum. He has a white ribbon tied around his foot."

You nodded and waved her off to fetch your pet, before you opened your eyes and looked at the offensive woman. Almost instantly, the whole envoy stepped back a step, the lady in shock as she looked at your expression. You drew yourself up slowly until you reached your full height and raised your chin slightly to look down at them. In your full regalia, you looked like the ruler of the galaxy, dark dress contrasting with the whiteness of the room. 

"You dare call yourself a Queen?" You laughed, voice dangerously light, "My dear, you are nobody. Your King overtook the throne cowardly, striking in the night as to not face the True Heir."

"You seem to think that you and I are on the same side in this game, that we are trying to benefit each other. But you, and your dear 'King', have missed one very important detail," you said as you made your way down the steps of the throne.

You inched closer to her, circling her as you explained, "I am the Rose of the Thorne Kingdom, the most powerful of the 7 Kingdoms of Bangtan. And before this little revolt, my father, in his attempts to solidify our strength, made a contract. A decision that changes this whole game."

Stopping behind her, you smiled cruelly, "The heir you tried to kill is my husband."

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What did you guys think of this? The idea came to me and I liked it but I thought that a one-shot would be a better idea to test the waters than starting another book (because dear god I have too many). Leave me a comment or vote to tell me what you thought of this :)

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