Chapter Sixteen • The Usurper's Queen

                                    

                                          
-Jade- 

William escorted her to his tent. Not a word passed his lips on the way. The only sound that came from him was his boots hitting the ground. Had Jade not known her king so well by now, she would have thought that his silence and the graveness in his face was the cause of something she had said or something she'd done. However, now she knew that this sullenness and stoic expression was his usual self and exterior, at least when they weren't alone.  By now, she knew better than to assume that she was the cause for her husband's mood. 
"What's-" William gave her a look that said 'not now'. She could still hear the same words echo in her mind. She licked her upper lip and reluctantly kept her questions to herself for now. 
Jade wondered what could have caused this rapid change in behavior in William. It had to be about that messenger. It had clearly taken him by surprise that his uncle had sent a messenger to his camp, but why was he acting so stressed and why was he practically rushing her to his tent? Luckily, the soldier hadn't noticed William's surprise... Sometimes it amazed Jade how well she could read her husband. The tell tales were small, minimal at times, but she could still read them like an open book - and him for that matter. 
As they walked, Jade threw quick glances at William. He himself was throwing looks in every which direction he seemed to be able to find. It was as if he was looking for someone, or something. 
By the time they reached his tent, Jade was convinced that the messenger was the reason for William's sudden change in behavior. However, she was confused why William had made the  decision to have the messenger shackled and incarcerated. How dangerous could a mere messenger be?
"What is happening?" She asked while William ripped open his tent, but gently ushered her into it afterwards. 
"I do not know yet." He answered and followed her inside. "Let's not speak until we are alone." he said and followed her inside. 
"Why not?" She whispered, looked over her shoulder and at him. His eyes were clouded with stress and anxiousness. "What?" She whispered. 
"Please, just wait until we are alone." He said before making sure the tent's entrance was closed properly behind him. 
After a couple of minutes, Jade stood in what appeared to be William's temporary bedroom. She studied the construction of his tent. Strong wooden pillars stood in each corner, holding the majority of the weight of the fabric which the tent was made of. Her eyes wandered from each corner and then to a bed. She blinked, slightly puzzled. It amazed her that room she was standing in was large enough to fit a real bed into. The bed wasn't as large as William's and her bed back home, it certainly didn't look as comfortable, but it was still a real bed! In a tent! She wondered what the soldiers were sleeping in, or maybe 'on' was the correct term. They would hardly be sleeping in real beds. 
"Jade." William's voice called on her from another room. It was first now she realized that his tent consisted of actual rooms; his bedroom, and the one which they had walked into when they had entered his tent. "Come here, please." He added. 
She found him standing by a table, filled with maps, small pawns symbolizing his forces and his uncle's, and a variety of parchment rolls. She tried to read him while she walked towards him, but it proved harder than before - she already knew he was upset, but now there was something else in his eyes. 
William grabbed her cheeks as soon as she was within arm's length of him. It woke her from her thoughts. 
"Tell me what is worrying you." She told him quietly, closed her eyes and leaned into his right hand. How she had missed his touch... William stroked his right thumb underneath her eye and it sent sparks through her whole body. When she didn't receive an answer, she opened her eyes again. William was - unsurprisingly -looking at her and immediately met her gaze.  "William."