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Marie walked hurriedly across the hall. If not for her status here as a queen, she'd rather stomp and grumble about her weekly private tea party with Gabrielle being disrupted by a so-called "important meeting". Her servant keeps glancing at her every time she sighs heavily. She knows she shouldn't be this openly annoyed to be called upon a country's matter, but when the entire country already labeled you as a squandering devil, paying attention to the littlest thing like that hardly mattered. It's not that she's deliberately a sluggard, but maybe she'd appreciate it if they could leave her alone for just a single day after weeks of talking, convincing, and lots of yelling at those pompous and annoying nobles, thank you very much. When she still busied herself cursing nobles on her mind, the sound of the door being opened took her back to the matters at hand.
She sweeps her eyes across the room and meets with familiar faces. Blaisdell the minister, Lafayette, Fersen, and the King collectively standing from their chair when she entered the room.
"So, gentlemen, I heard there was an urgent thing to discuss that was worth disrupting my private time." She pays no mind engaging in etiquette and bluntly being curt as she sits on her chair.
" I apologize for the disruption, my Queen, but I'm afraid if we're not discussing it right now your private time might be disrupted indefinitely or perhaps will no longer exist." Despite the apology, there is not a tiny bit of remorse in the Minister's voice. The second he spoke with that sarcastic tone of his, she knew she should've just stayed with Gabrielle and let this country be damned if that was the last thing she does rather than hear that damned voice.
"Blaisdell." The gentle yet authoritative voice takes the attention of every head in the room. His usually sweet face is now exuding firmness and authority. Upon hearing his name being called, Blaisdell only nods a little at the Queen and the King. The king then shifts his eyes to her with the familiar sweetness.
"My Queen, I apologize if we had to call you now. I know you've been roving tirelessly for this past few weeks, but the people are restless because we haven't made any meaningful progress with the nobility taxes. And we need your input after you've been talking to them personally." The authoritative voice didn't leave him, but he also spoke it with the gentleness that he usually does every time he finds her upset.
Marie only sighs heavily and averts her eyes from those gentle eyes. If she spends a second longer gazing at them, she might just throw courtesy out of the window and throw herself in his arms, precisely on his lap. Her heart aches. Oh, how she misses him badly. First time meeting him after weeks and it has to be in this damned room. She can't even meet him first thing in the morning today because he has to visit his relatives. She spent her tiny private time with Gabrielle talking about how she missed her husband and Gabrielle before being disrupted. This meeting pissed her off not just because she hates being disrupted, but also because it felt so long since the last time she can be Marie, not as a queen of France, just Marie. It's that little time with Gabrielle where she can feel like a regular woman and now they take it from her too.
When she realizes her mind starts to wallow in self-pity, she hurriedly takes a breath and then gives her husband a small smile, if only to assure him that she's okay with it.
She should've known that nothing was going unnoticed by her husband. Louis looked at her worriedly. He reaches for her hand and then squeezes it gently. If anything, his touch just makes her heart ache more. She gently removed his hand from her and cleared her throat.
"Why, I apologize too for disrupting your discussion. So, how far has the discussion gone?" She swiftly tried to change the subject, but she saw Louis from the corner of her eyes retracting his hand slowly with a dejected look. She can't afford to feel bad or else she'd start to regret being here more. Louis quickly takes the lead and tells her the brief of their discussion.
The discussion runs smoothly. Despite her rude greeting, the rest of the men in that room listened to her respectfully. There was occasionally an opposing stance from Lafayette or Blaisdell, but otherwise, everyone agreed to the solution and the discussion closed with enough satisfying results.
After Lafayette excuses himself from the room, Fersen follows, leaving only the king, the queen, and the minister in the room.
"I think I haven't had the chance to praise Her Majesty The Queen for convincing half of the noble family to agree to this new law. It's outstanding and I'm genuinely impressed.", said Blaisdell while he tidied up the documents on the table. He's flashing his trademark grin at Marie.
"There is a perk for being the squandering devil, Minister. I know who owns the most expensive jewelry and how they get them. Nothing works as well as a little bit of blackmailing.", she answers while mimicking his smirk. Talking crudely always be the highlight of her interaction with said minister. The both of them never talk in rose-colored words. Blaisdell is first and foremost a slick politician. He never considers his strategy as morally good or bad. His consideration is whether it will cause a riot or not.
"If you are done with your task, you may leave the room, minister." The sudden coldness in Louis's voice startled both Marie and Blaisdell. Louis addresses him without even looking up from the documents that he signs. Blaisdell looks momentarily taken aback by the sudden reprimand. Blaisdell might be anything but he isn't an obtuse. He catches the hint and nods before quickly retreating from the room.
Now it's just the two of them in the room. It's a bit awkward since the moment Marie refused his comfort and now Louis's mood has suddenly dropped adding to that. It's their first interaction after weeks of being separated, and it looks like Marie has pissed him off. Good job, Marie Antoinette.
A minute passes by but it feels like an hour. No one takes the initiative to start up a conversation. Louis is still busy scribbling on whatever it is. She fidgetted her fingers and stared at his figure. She can't stand this silence. It feels suffocating, every second feels like a punishment and she doesn't even know what she get punished for.
"I'm done with my task, should I leave the room too, Your Majesty?", it might be not the wisest thing to provoke him like this, but she was tired, and her heart still ached. This situation surely didn't help her alleviate the pain.
She watches him go still for a couple of seconds. Then he sighed and wiped his face with his hand in frustration.
"I'm so sorry, Marie. I'm just, I feel— oh God, how do I say it...", he sounds extremely frustrated and now he throws his head in both of his hands. Now she also become more agitated. Nothing has made Louis this frustrated in a long time. She wonders how much she pissed him off and thinks maybe the best thing for now is to leave him alone to calm down.
"I can leave you alone for now if you want," She stands up, "and I apologize if I make you upset, Your Majesty." She nods and quickly turns away towards the door when suddenly she hears quick footsteps and a hand on her arm.
"No, Marie, My Queen, I'm not— I'm not upset, at least not at you. I'm so sorry I made you think so." The frustration is still evident in his face, but his eyes stare at her with an incredible amount of softness that locks her. "Can you stay here for a little while, please?", He pleads softly at her with those eyes. The eyes she misses so much. The desperation in his voice almost made her knees weak.
The longing suddenly overwhelms her. She misses him so much that it hurts. She could barely contain it when she saw him earlier. And now with Louis so close to her and hearing him plead to her with so much desperation, she finds it impossible to hold herself.
"I miss you," she whispered those words at him so softly that she was almost sure he couldn't hear them. Louis wraps his hand around her waist and the other caresses her face. She melts into his touch and leans into his hand.
"Do you miss me?", Marie glanced up at him.
"I almost dismissed the meeting the moment I saw you entered the room." There's something heavy in his voice. The touch of his finger on her lips is so soft, yet his eyes are darkened.
His response makes her smile. She knows how much he loves her. But it is always nice to know that they're as infatuated as the other.
"Do you still feel upset, Louis?", she closes her eyes and lets herself feel and melt at every caress of his touch.
"I have you all to myself now, why should I?", he kisses her eye.
"I was frustrated because Blaisdell keeps bothering you from the start and has your attention. I know I shouldn't feel so but I can't be rational when it concerns you." His kiss is so gentle, much like everything else about him. His eyes, his words, his voice, his manner, and his touch. Even as his lips kiss her nose, she can feel the gentleness out of him. It's what she misses about him the most. The world treated her like a disgrace, something that should always be prodded with sharp things, but Louis treated her like something he worshiped, one that could only be treated with love.
"And I miss you so ardently, my love.", he finally landed his lips on her. His kiss feels so soft. It feels like he's trying to savor every bit of time that passed without him kissing them. Marie welcomes them. If anything, she might be too ardent at welcoming his lips. She grips his collar and brings him to the edge of the chair. Their kiss started to heat up when she pushed him to sit in that chair. His hands are now on either side of her waist. Without wasting time, she sits in his lap, puts her hands around his neck, and kisses him again like she is starving. Louis responded with as much ferocity, until the meeting room that was filled with politics now only echoing an indecent sound of lips smacking and groans. Louis hastily pulled away, leaving Marie looking dazed with red glistening lips.
"My Queen, I don't think this task is something that we should've done it here, what if we bring it somewhere else?", he was panting while staring dazedly at Marie's lips. He caresses it and drags his eyes to stare into her.
"Why, I concur. Looks like that frustration of yours has nothing to do with Blaisdell either." That successfully drew a hearty laugh from his husband. Marie kisses his lips quickly before she stands up from his lap and takes his hand in her.
"My bed-chamber misses you too.", she said in a low tone, making Louis stand up from the chair and wilfully dragged by that pretty hand he always longed to hold.
The End.