"B-but Lady Charl-"

 

"That's Queen Charlotte, esteemed envoy," said the Queen. "My kingdom thanks you for your concern, but your offer is not one I feel I can accept at this time."

 

"I-if I may, your Grace, " the envoy continued "our reports suggest that your forces have had significant trouble with the raiding parties from the Northern Wastes. Your marriage to Prince Elliot would forge a powerful alliance with the Kingdom of Estmendie, which would allow both kingdoms to move much of their garrison forces against the northern raiders." Queen Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

 

"The Prince would also bring a tremendous bridewealth," the envoy went on, "which would go a long way to shore up your kingdom's struggling finances. Respectfully, your Highness, I don't understand your reluctance to accept our offer."

 

"Clearly," the Queen quipped. But the envoy was right about the offer. Estmendie was negotiating from a severe disadvantage. For all that her own kingdom suffered under the northerners' incursions, Estmendie fared even worse. A sufficiently stable alliance would let both kingdoms reallocate most or all of their troops off of their shared border to address the threat from the North. The shock of an effective doubling of the kingdoms' resistance would throw the raiders off balance, and they fought significantly worse when on the back foot. Planned well and executed with haste, it could end the war in a single push. But the only alliance Estmendie would accept was one forged through political marriage, and she was unwilling to accept those terms.

 

"Your reports are incorrect. Our finances are in quite adequate shape, and our forces are holding steady. The northerners' supply lines are insecure, so pinning them down and stopping their momentum will weaken them drastically. They cannot maintain a prolonged offensive, and they will eventually have to retreat. On the other hand, marriage would introduce an entire royal family into my court politics at a time when what I most need is stability, not to mention the possibility that your Prince Elliot would immediately become a rival during the ongoing transition of power following King Reynald's passing. I also have to consider that Elliot's fealty will remain toward his King and that he will to bring my kingdom under the Estmendine crown, which however remote is a possibility I cannot accept. And finally, do everyone a favor and rescind your offer to pay a bridewealth. Your kingdom cannot afford it."

 

The Envoy moved to interject, but the Queen continued. "If I assume your offer is made in good faith, then I have to accept that a kingdom already in financial ruin from this war is offering my kingdom a huge portion of its available cash in addition to its most profitable lands. You would either fall to ruin and leave my Eastern border once more exposed, or I would be forced to bring your lands under my own crown and support them economically as they recover. Neither scenario is acceptable to me."

 

"M-majesty, if-"

 

She cut him off again, impatient to end the exchange. "I'm afraid my decision on this matter is final. I offer you an apology for the news you will have to deliver to your court."

 

The envoy bowed, and strode out of the room.

 

Charlotte waited several, quiet seconds after the door shut.

 

"...he's gone, Mistress~" she whispered.

 

The room immediately dimmed, both from the cloak of shadows rolled down over the high windows and from another spell which shrouded the room itself and prevented any noise from leaving the room. The vaulted ceiling of her throne room filled with uncountable points of light in just as many brilliant colors. Charlotte rubbed her inner thighs together in anticipation.

 

A bright voice came from all around the room. "Mmm, I dunno pet, that guy sounded like he had a pretty good deaaaal~"

 

Charlotte shuddered at the word "pet." She already felt herself sinking simply out of habit, and she couldn't help but love it. She allowed her eyelids to droop for all of a second, before a warm body appeared in her lap and caused them to widen again.

 

"U-um, Mistress Sophie said I'm not allowed to marry..." Charlotte stammered, gazing into the mischievous eyes of the "advisor" currently straddling her.

 

"That's right," Sophia cooed, "and you're a good girl for refusing~"

 

Charlotte whimpered in response to the praise.

 

Sophia had only joined the court as an wizard-advisor within the last year, but her ascent through the ranks was unmatched in its speed. It was barely a season before she was whispering her "wisdom" directly into the new Queen's ear. And now, she couldn't be more pleased by the whimpering submissive plaything that "wisdom" had reduced her to.

 

"We wouldn't want a hubby or wifey snooping around your private life would we?" She continued, punctuating the question with a wiggle of her ass. Charlotte moaned unashamedly and stared needily into her Mistress's eyes.

 

"And do you know what good girls get, pet?" Sophia asked with mock curiosity. "Good girls get rewarded~"

 

Sophia was met with another moan as she brought a hand under Charlotte's dress. "Be a good girl for me and repeat your mantra while I fuck you on your throne, pet~"

 

Charlotte closed her eyes and began to recite the words Mistress had seared into her mind. "need to submit, love to obey, need to submit, love to obey, need to submit..." She continued in a loop, increasing in pitch as her Mistress plunged two fingers inside her. She was already soaked, she dimly noted, and the submissive haze had already settled in her vacant mind. It shouldn't be surprising; mindless obedience was Charlotte's natural state, after all. "need to submit, love to obey..."

 

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of submission and physical bliss.

 

Queen Charlotte awoke in her bed chamber a number of hours later. She sat up and stretched, before changing clothes and passing an order to the guard stationed outside. She would need to figure out a backup strategy to deal with the northerners, without the alliance with the Kingdom of Estmendie she'd been hoping for. This would make the defense of her kingdom much harder, but the terms of the alliance were unacceptable. No marriage, no hubbies or wifeys. "Mistress wouldn't allow it," she thought to herself with a giggle.

 

"Good girls get rewarded. Need to submit, love to obey, need to submit..."