Holdridge was a strange place.
 
Well, it wasn't just Holdridge so much as it was all the country of Harrdust. The years were never kept. The country, in a way, was timeless. The days were counted. The minutes, too, and there were months and years but nobody knew which year was which. This bothered me, being that I was a person who liked facts. I prefered to know the day of the week compared to most people. I liked the keeping of time and knowing which month was what, unlike the people who never payed any attention to such things. Time was about as important to the people of Harrdust as a grain of dirt. Time was meaningless.
 
To question the lack of year counting was something that would surely get you hung. Nobody knew why King Kamijou disliked years so much as to make a law against counting it, but there were rumors. People assumed he had a witch that had been keeping him alive for most of his life. A witch that gave him immortality, years upon years of extra life. People said he was so old that he didn't like people knowing how old he really was, so he made a law against anyone counting the years. That was years ago, and soon enough, the people who were still counting even after the law was made gave up. 
 
His Majesty was a very much disliked man. He was a cruel man, with a glare so fierce it felt, as some would say, like a stab to the heart. He would kill any person, man, woman or child, who so much as got a speck of dirt on his royal robes. He was hated by all, loved by none. Not even his own sons, Princes Shou and Ruki, loved that man. Shou, as he preferred me to call him instead of 'Prince', or later 'King', told me this himself. Shou said that even after his father died, proving all rumors wrong, he still never came to love that man. 
 
He was one of my closest friends. We were so close that people often mistook us for brother and sister and, even worse, secret lovers. The idea of such a thing was repulsive to me. I would never, and could ever, fall in love with Shou. We were raised as family and did not take to .
 
Until the day he asked me to marry him.
 
He looked frazzled and out of character. He ran like a mad man into my home, panting and stuttering. When he finally calmed down enough to form a coherent sentance, he said, "Mayumi, I need you to do me the hugest of favors."
 
To this a raised a brow. He, being the new crowned King, did not usually ask favors of anyone. I stopped brushing my long, blonde hair and paused to listen.
 
"The men were teasing me -"
 
"As they always do," I cut in, nodding.
 
He continued, paying no attention to my comment, "- About my being a King and not having a wife. They said they would marry me to that horrid Princess, Maki. I became flustered and told them I was already planning to make a girl my Queen, that I already had somebody in mind. I told them she was the most beautiful and talented girl in Harrdust." He paused for a breath.
 
"What a title the woman will have to live up to. What is the name of the girl you told them?" I asked. I became a little disappointed in Shou for not telling me he was in love with a girl.
 
He paused, as if trying to force the words out, "It's you."
 
I was surprised. I had never thought anything romantic about Shou. He was a friend, a person of which I knew as well as my own brother, Chiyu. To be married to him would be anything but nice. I could never fall in love with a man whom I treated as my own brother.

 

"Im sorry," I said shortly, "I can't marry you. I don't love you."

 

"It is the same for me," he said, "And nobody of our status marries for love, Mayumi. You should know that." He said. He was right, though. Women were sold and married to any man that would bring their family power.

 

"Why me?" I said, upset by the fact that he would volunteer me into such a situation, "Why couldn't you have said any other person but me?"

 

"Because you're the first person that came to mind." he said, then gave an uncharacteristic huff. "You're the only person that would make sense. The daughter of a powerful Duke. The person I spend most of my time with. Just marry me. I will need an heir, but that is all. You can have anyone you want in secret, you will not be tied only to me. You will be a queen, the most powerful woman in Harrdust. Your family will be richer than any other." he bribed, but I my mind was still working.

 

"I'll think about it," I said, then I waved my hand, "Now get out of my room so I can change."

 

--- 

 

I thought about it over the next few days.

 

It would bring me great power; my family would be rich and happy. My many siblings would be of high regard in the kings court. Then again, I would be unhappy. I would have to bring an heir to Shou, though he did say that I could have any man even while we were married. I decided the good things to come outweighed the bad, and told Shou I agreed to do it.

 

We were married and I was crowned the Queen. I had many ladies in waiting and I was always entertained. We travelled places often. People would do anything for me if I only asked. I wore the most beautiful clothing and had the nicest jewlery. We feasted heartily and all was fine.

 

Shou, the Boy King of only nineteen, and his girl wife of seventeen, were popular and loved dearly by the people of Harddust.

 

And Shou was great at acting. We pretended we were in love and showered each other in compliments and gifts whenever we were in public. Behind the doors of our chambers we would laugh at the many fools who believed us. The only people who knew we were not in love was our families and Shou's greatest friend, Saga. It was like a joke that the few of us shared. Somebody would gush about how in love we seemed, and we'd smile a smile that said 'If only you knew.'

Even though Shou said I could have any man I wanted on the side, nobody had caught my eye. I knew Shou never went , like every king before him had, because he was not easily tempted by women and such things did not interest him. He would not go hunting, either, even though it was something his father did as often as he could. Shou was a soft hearted man, and to see any animal or human in pain made him feel like he himself were hurting.

 

He would, however, send his men out. He would tell them to hunt for him, to have fun for him, and bring back good meat so we could feast. While his men were gone, he and Saga would sit all alone and play a game or two. Sometimes, though very rarely, I would join them. I would sit, not playing, and listen to their conversations. I noticed how close the two were, even closer then Shou and I.

 

It seemed strange to me, the two men so trusting of one another. I grew up in a land where no man could trust another too wholly in fear of being betrayed. The previous king, rest his soul, was not a man who objected to war. He was a violent man who, if anything, started more wars than he ended. It seemed fitting that he would die in battle, leaving everything to his third youngest, my husband, Shou.

 

After we were married, I started to think that I may have had feelings for Shou. The way he smiled made my heart flutter, when he looked at me it was if I was the only person in the room to him. Of course it was all an act, but I couldn`t help but fall for it.

 

There was a day where I thought I was in love with him. In love with the man that had been my best friend, my brother, for years. I was going to tell him, feeling bold and confident. I burst into his chambers, proud and determined, to find him , sweaty and panting in bed over a man.

 

And that man was Saga.