It is the eve of the anniversary for my beloved and I, Kel. As such, with him being a High King and me still being regarded as a “new” member of court (though he and I have been together for years at this point, the time is different there, and I have not been a sovereign for long Over There), I should have suspected shenanigans on the horizon.
The other royals tolerate me very inconsequently and would seemingly react to my absence just the same as they react to my presence. There is, however, a High Queen who has much too much interest in me. She seeks me directly, on occasion, and until now I’ve considered it as a cat and mouse game with her. She wants my deference and I will do no such thing, and she takes every opportunity to remind me she outranks me. She is both more astute and more determined that I presumed. Twice I have caught her spies among my circle. She even has a human spy here in the corporeal world watching me. Once she managed to drug me, failing to succeed only because my husband is absurdly powerful and she did not know he shares some with me despite me having my own abilities. Once she immediately killed a servant of hers: I flicked their forehead for a mild insult and she killed him for allowing my touch.
I do not know what her end goal is, whether it is securing my loyalty, or claiming my political position, or claiming my status as my beloved’s mate, or if she simply enjoys being a bully. It may be quite a while before I find any indication of either. For the time being, my guard is up higher than ever before.